OSAmag88

Ralph 'BEN' batchelor
Dear Peter
Stef Batchelor
3rd October 2018
He lost his long fight (15 years) against
cancer but is now out of pain. He will be
buried in our wood tomorrow. Being a
very private man he only wanted very close
family, his brother and sister, our children
and grandchildren to be present. He will
be remembered with a Cricket Tea, and his
favourite bat will go with him.
Precis of Ralph’s Life Story
Ralph was born in Stranraer, in Scotland,
on 12th May, 1942, to Ralph and Betty
Batchelor. His father was stationed in
Scotland in the RAF during WWII.
Ralph’s elder sister, Valerie, was born the
previous year. Betty and the children
returned to London in 1944 to live with
her parents at 23 Cavendish Road,
Harringay, where Ralph’s brothers, John
and Phillip were born.
His first school was South Harringay
Primary. Valerie had the unenviable task of
taking him to school and hearing constant
reports of, “Your Ralph is outside Mr.
Wilson’s door again.” Mr. Wilson was the
headmaster and administered the cane.
Ralph was usually in trouble for climbing
on the roof to collect the football or
fighting with his best friend, Eddie Plumb.
When taking him anywhere, Valerie always
said, “Ralph, please be good.”, but he never
was.
Ralph took the 11+ exam and was not
expected to pass because he had paid little
attention to his lessons. The class teacher,
Mrs. Gaze, asked those who had passed to
move to the side, and when Ralph went to
join them, she thought he had made a
mistake and asked to see his letter. He had,
in fact, passed the 11+ exam, and went to
the Stationers’ Company School for Boys.
His major interests were football and
cricket, and he continued to be in constant
trouble, leaving at 16 to work at Frederick
Sage, shopfitters, specialising in buying
timber and veneers, eventually gaining
HNC in Business Studies at evening
classes and becoming Purchasing Manager.
Ralph married Stefanya on the 1st of May
1965; having bought a house near
Royston and commuting to London,
Ralph was “headhunted” by one of Sage’s
suppliers and after working in Stourbridge
and living in hotels searching for a new
home for 9 months only meeting up at
week-ends, they moved to The Farm in
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 8
1971. Villagers apparently commented
“What do those two young people want a
big house like that for?”. Three years later
Grey was born, followed by Abigail in
1977 and Hannah in 1984, so the house
was soon filled.
You may be aware that Ralph better known
at OS as Ben formed part of a famous half
back line on the football field together
with Charlie Cruden and Mike Hasler
that carried the team through various
school years with a great deal of success.
He continued to play football and Cricket
for the Old Boy’s Association, however
this now had to be limited to yearly visits.
Despite working away regularly, Ralph was
always active in village life whether playing
cricket or in more recent years sitting on
the recreation ground committee and
working for the youth club.
Two years after moving to The Farm, he
was out of a job and decided to start his
own business as a Steel Mill’s Agent
finding customers for German and Italian
producers of very specialised steels. This
entailed a lot of travel throughout the UK,
Europe and latterly India, travel was always
something to be relished and enjoyed. His
young German and Italian colleagues, now
some 40 years older, have all said that his
experience and tutoring taught them a
great deal about negotiating and business,
expressing their admiration for his
generosity and honesty.
A wonderful father and grandfather,
savouring all the humour and love that
these roles bring with them. He recently
said that his only regret in life was not
living long enough to see the grandchildren
grow up and flourish.
He and I had wonderful memories of
happy times with old friends at OS
Football Matches and Cricket matches
from the early 60’s until our last visit to
Botany Bay a year ago. I have lost a good
man.
Stefanya (Steve)
Tribute
It was sad to hear of the death of Ralph
Batchelor known at School and by his
OSA friends as Ben. Why Ben no one
seems to know. He and I first met a the
School field on our first games trip there.
We were both in the same group of players
from which the year team would be
selected quite how they arrived at that
group I do not know and others would
come and go later. Ben, Charles Cruden
and I formed the half back line from the
1st form through to the 4th form when
Charles was called up to the 1st XI. We
all had a lot in common including
supporting the blue and white half of
North London.
Whilst at School Ben often joined me to
go to the West End on a Sunday night to
hear the recording of Hancock's Half
Hour as my father was able to get tickets
and Peter Critten and John Geering often
joined us. Another night we went to the
Adelphi Theatre where a very young
(probably about 18) Shirley Bassey was in
the supporting cast.
When we left School all three of us joined
the OSFC but we were not in the same
teams and so our friendship remained. I
recall that Ben was always good company
when I worked in Sheffield I found that he
often visited the City as his daughter lived
there as well as he did business there
buying and selling steel.
I remember travelling to Ben and Stef's
25th wedding anniversary in Shropshire.
and how well they entertained us.
Finally it was Ben who found me in the
Builders yard in Harringey after we had
been out celebrating the AFA Cup win
with another stalwart of our Ginner Johns
who also sadly passed away in December
last year.
Mike Hasler
Barry Macrae
Barry McRae died on 8th Oct. 2018 aged
83. He had been suffering from dementia
and had been in a home for 3 years. where
he died from an infection.
Barry was born in Harringay in 1935 and
lived there until he married Sylvia in his
twenties . He then moved to Wood Green
and then Potters Bar. He went to Stationers
school in 1946 having passed the
scholarship (now 11+). Clever and outward
going he was briefly in the academic form
in the 2nd year.
However, he played a great deal of sport,
mainly football, and moved to more
modest forms in later years.
After his "O" levels , aged 16, he joined
Gordons Gin where he worked until he
was 61. He was chief buyer for many years,
one level below board level, and received
many invitations to a variety of functions
including Garden Parties at Buckingham
Palace, Although he received free cases of
gin " for entertainment purposes" he
always preferred beer and whisky to gin.
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