The Salopian no. 157 - Winter 2015

76
OLD SALOPIAN NEWS
challenging opponent at beach cricket in Anglesey, ably
supported by the Coopers. He was also an above average
squash and fives player.
National Service followed in the Royal Navy and he saw
active service in the Suez Canal aboard HMS Theseus.
A return to academia found Keith studying history at
Christchurch, Oxford.
When my father retired from dental practice, he decided to
downsize from the Town Centre. We moved to The Rocks
overlooking the old Shrewsbury Golf Club. Who were our
next-door neighbours? Keith and his delightful father, Ian,
who had recently retired from his ophthalmic practice on St
John’s Hill, where we had also lived.
Qualifying as a solicitor via a firm in Liverpool and the
Guildford Law School, Keith joined Dennis Salt, the oldest
firm of solicitors in the town. They eventually merged with
Wace Morgan, which involved an office move from 10
Belmont to 2 Belmont to become Wace Morgan Salt and
subsequently Wace Morgan. Keith was Senior Partner from
1995 until his retirement in 2002. He had been President
of the Shropshire Law Society, was extremely popular and
in consequence had a vast array of clients; in every way a
solicitor of the old school. Upon retirement he was actively
involved in witness support at Shrewsbury Crown Court and
also on the Alms House Committee of the Drapers’ Company.
Keith had two great passions in his life other than his family
and his professional career: golf and Shrewsbury Town FC.
Keith was involved in the Golf Club’s move to Condover,
but before that, in 1970, he had been Club Captain. He
was President in 1983. Playing in the final of the Club
Championship in 1969, which he won, his opponent’s
caddy was one Jane Hindley – who later became his wife.
He also won the President’s Putter three times and played
county golf for Shropshire on many occasions. Father and
son are to be found on many of the honours boards.
Ian McIntosh tells me that he and Keith were about to
celebrate 70 years of continuous support of The Town.
We certainly all went together to the two Wembley play-offs
against Bristol Rovers and Gillingham. We lost both. At least
in the season we have just finished, we gained automatic
promotion. Keith was delighted.
Our thoughts are very much with Jane, Rachel and Jason,
Simon and Leyla and their respective children, Jo, Harry,
Ben and Zahra. The numbers attending the funeral service
were a tribute to Keith as a husband, as a father, grandfather
and as a friend. He was indeed a pillar of the community
he served and he leaves it enriched in so many ways. For
myself – my thanks for 70 years of wonderful friendship.
Bill Grant (SH 1962-66)
Bill Grant, who died suddenly while
coaching rowing on the River Wear,
was born in Sunderland in 1947
and spent most of his life in the
North East. He was brought up in
Whitburn, where he lived with his
younger brother and sister, Jim and
Jann. He went as a boarder to prep
school at Knaresbrough in North
Yorkshire. A school report from this time shows that while
he achieved 95% in maths (a trait inherited by all three of
his children), in English he only scored 33%. Apparently
there were problems deciphering his writing even then! The
rest of his school days were spent at Shrewsbury, where he
started to row and also coach. Bill was extremely shortsighted
and a sport in which someone else tells you where
to go was probably beneficial.
He did an engineering degree at Durham followed by a
master’s in Business Studies. He continued his rowing both
for the college and the university, competing at Henley
twice and thus becoming eligible to join the Leander Club,
a membership of which he was very proud. During the
summers he worked for Brathay Outdoor Centre and took
surveying expeditions to Norway, Iceland and Greenland.
Bill ran the family jewellery business after his father’s death
until he retired in 2007. From 2000-02 he was Chairman
of the National Association of Goldsmiths, a role which
his father had also held. He was a member of two livery
companies and enjoyed attending their formal functions
in London and as a Freeman of the City of London was
entitled to attend the election of the Lord Mayor.
Bill loved sailing and achieved his day skipper and coastal
skipper qualifications. On a sailing course in Salcombe
in 1987 he met Jenny. They conducted a three-year
relationship 350 miles apart and Bill spent many hours in
his BMW on the M1 and M5. Never one to make life easy,
he drove south to meet Jenny’s parents the day after the
hurricane in 1987.
Bill and Jenny married in 1990 when Bill was 42. They
had three children, Richard, Catherine and Emma, and
Bill delighted in their progress through school. All three
children became Sea Scouts and Bill became District
Treasurer for the Scouts for a while.
The church was always important to Bill. He served on
the PCC in Whitburn, became Churchwarden there and
was pivotal in building a meeting room within the church.
Not satisfied with this, when he moved to the church in
Cleadon, he joined the PCC and became involved in the
design and building of the Chapter House here. Bill went
on to join Deanery and then Diocesan Synod and finally
Bishop’s Council. He was also Chair of the Redundant
Churches Committee.
Once in charge of the family business, Bill had no time to
row himself but he maintained an interest and attended
Henley regularly. In fact we believe he only missed 1990
when he was on his honeymoon and 1994 when, with a
child of 23 months and another of one month, permission
was refused! After retiring, he again became an active
member of Durham Amateur Rowing Club (DARC)
and bought a sculling boat. He obtained his umpire’s
qualifications and more recently was working towards his
level 3 coaching. These activities involved power boat and
first aid courses which he enthusiastically organised for