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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 7 albeit without taking an exam. Geraint organised a field course at Ashwell in Hertfordshire for his students, and that was the time for geology and physical geography to come alive for me. I remember a field trip he organised to the brickworks near Bedford, looking for fossils in the clay pits; however, it was a shock when Geraint asked me point-blank to give a vote of thanks to the brickworks manager who had enabled our visit. It was my first time of ‘pubic speaking’, but it was apparent Geraint had faith in me (much more than I had in myself ). Other than the love of geology he gave me, his biggest gift to me was helping me fill my last selection on my UCCA form for university application. I had selected four universities, but needed a fifth. I asked Geraint’s advice; of course, his answer had to be ‘Sheffield’, as he explained that he had enjoyed his undergraduate and PGCE years there – so he persuaded me to add Sheffield. But my last choice became my first, and although I attained the grades to get to all the universities on my list, the University of Sheffield was where I studied, both as an undergraduate and later as a postgraduate researcher. I have lived in Sheffield ever since, and never regretted taking Geraint’s advice. My last conversation with Geraint was at the end of 2017. I had just completed one With Tony Moffat of my ‘bucket-list’ challenges to climb Mount Stephen in Alberta, Canada, to explore the ‘Cambrian explosion’ outcrop on a guided hike by the Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation to see first-hand the discoveries of the first soft-bodied fossils that changed our views of early evolution of life on earth. It is apt to bookend my shared-life experiences with Geraint, from my first excitement into the world of geography, geology and fossils, with my venture to the Burgess Shales. There are no other teachers that kept in touch with me, but Geraint’s fondness of dropping-in on former pupils, members of staff, friends and acquaintances meant he was always in my, and I am sure in a vast number of others’, thoughts; I repaid the ‘dropping-in’ once, by calling in to see him at his mother’s home in Anglesey. It was amazing to have been taught by Geraint; he changed my life and interests for the better, and I am sure that he also made the world a better place. Ralph Braid Memories of Geraint I first met Geraint when he became our form teacher at St. Albans Grammar School for Boys. I was 14 going on 15 so he was in his mid-twenties. We met every morning in Room 10 which was his Geography classroom and there not only did he teach us Geography GCSE and A Level but gave up his own time to coach us through Geology GCE at lunch times and in after school sessions. Our friend Dave Fell probably owes his career in the oil industry due to Geraint’s innovation. We of course realised early on that Geraint did not sound totally Home Counties and the way he pronounced graph paper, with a short ‘a’, led to an early nickname of ‘Graff ’ Pritchard. However it was only when Dave and I went on his School camping trip to North Wales did we realize, to our amazement, that not only could Geraint pronounce the place names but he could chat to locals in Welsh! He once even suggested I should take Welsh as a foreign language but luckily I succeeded in my French re-sit and despite 3 years of Aberystwyth UCW never got close despite Geraint’s typical optimism. The major thing about Geraint from a pupil’s point of view was he would talk to you and not down to you, though there was often a drop of wisdom there as well. “Slow and steady will still get you there you know,” a comment directed to Dave and I as we tried to sprint up Snowdon’s Watkin Path. Geraint left St. Albans at the end of our lower Sixth but the amazing thing was he stayed in touch. He wanted to hear about Dick, Dave, Ralph and my Lakeland camping trip that had a strong emphasis on Physical Geography and then the next year, 1971, we screened our pastiche of ‘Easy Rider’ called ‘Woodstock 1¾’ to Geraint and his parents, who not only tolerated our Standard 8 film efforts and home produced musical accompaniment, but actually gave us a meal. It was a generosity of spirit that we came to associate with Geraint and at his funeral, in sight of Snowdon, Ralph and I realized we were far from being alone especially in the way he caught up with people on his travels around Britain and beyond. He tracked me down after I had married Frances and visited us and our young family on holiday near Dumfries (my daughter remembers he snored); he caught up with me at Gordonstoun and Glenalmond College (yes I followed him into teaching) and more recently to Fochabers sleeping in our caravan in the Gordon Chapel car park when my wife was the priest there. We met Marj and we loved it when they visited us in our retirement at Dunkeld. We too marvelled at the tales of travel, the interrogation over routes and stories of churches and chapels. 26
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 7 It was not only a pleasure to know and be taught by Geraint but his interest in others often helped validate one’s existence. He simply made the world a better place. James Forshaw ge It must be somewhat unusual that my first ever real contact with Geraint was to write him a letter to explain why Vince Togher had not done his geography homework!!! Vince was of course still a schoolboy but playing football for the Old Boys. We needed to get a squad together to play in the Old Finchleians six a side tournament which was on a Sunday. Now six a side on a full size pitch is a very demanding game and we needed more than the bare six. Vince was accordingly encouraged, cajoled, bullied and convinced he should play and was duly picked up and taken there. We told him we would probably lose early and he could get home early to do his homework. We of course had no such intention. We played brilliantly throughout and duly won the tournament and celebrated late into the evening in the bar. As time pressed on he became increasingly concerned and ultimately persuaded us that we should write a letter to Geraint to explain why he had been unable to do his homework. We duly composed the letter Geraint with the OSA committee after the 2013 AGM. for him and all signed it as the squad. I think he got off with a mild rebuke. Hopefully Geraint was showing his commitment to the OSFC. Our winning squad that day was Steve Presland, Geoff Blackmore, Ian Blackmore, Ian Meyrick, Ray Draper, Vince Togher and myself. David Hudson ge Geraint Pritchard was one of those select people who were, in effect, lifetime Stationers, boy and man. Like his illustrious colleague, Herman Symons, Geraint was a student at the Stationers’ Company’s School who, in due course, found his way back to that Institution’s hallowed and smoke-filled staff room. I first encountered Geraint when he joined the Geography Department in the 1970s, and it became clear at an early stage that not only was he going to maintain the traditions and standards of the Department, but he had plenty to offer to the School as a whole, in both administrative and social contexts. I was Examinations Secretary at the time, a time when the school examinations system was expanding and increasing in complexity, and soon Geraint joined me as a member of the examinations ‘team’. His attention to detail was invaluable in the meticulous checking of the complex interacting web of personal and syllabus data that had to be compiled for each candidate. This was in the days before computerisation, and Geraint constructed impressive pencil-and-paper spreadsheets on A1 graph paper for display in the staff room to aid and cross-check the process. Geraint and I shared stewardship of the A-level sixth forms for some years - he as Form Teacher of the Arts Sixth while I was with the Science students. As a teacher of geography and geology Geraint bridged the arts-science split in some ways, and members of both would be found on the many field trips that were parts of those courses. I joined Geraint on two of those trips to Malham in the early 1980s, the second of which saw me as emergency minibus driver after Geraint had severely injured his foot in a footballing incident a few days before: yes – he was as enthusiastic on the sports field as he was in the classroom. Undaunted, Geraint managed and directed the visit on crutches with plastered foot, and found ways of getting around the North Yorkshire countryside with few apparent limitations. Outside school Geraint was a keen explorer, and spent chunks of his holiday time travelling around the world, experiencing different aspects of physical and human geography which made him a 27
Page 1 and 2: NO 87 / JULY 2018 The Old Stationer
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Page 47 and 48: Digging out a cross from the cabbag

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