The Salopian no. 157 - Winter 2015

OLD SALOPIAN NEWS 77
other members of the Club as well. After the death of his
friend he took over the job of Boat Warden. Bill spent many
hours in Durham each week and was very happy cycling up
and down the towpath, shouting at people.
Bill was a kind, funny and very gentle man. He was easily
moved to tears but renowned for his unmistakeable,
infectious laugh. He was also very frustrating - there can’t
be anyone who knew him well who hasn’t asked a simple
question requiring a yes or no answer and five minutes
later, after an explanation of the theory and possible
consequences of various actions, still had no idea whether
the answer had been yes or no!
He was meticulous in everything he did, very much an “If a
job’s worth doing it’s worth doing properly” sort of person
and many of us have benefitted from this attention to detail.
But Bill had a constant optimism that people would benefit
from knowing how to do things properly, and it is a mark
of the huge generosity of his character that he would pour
so much energy into helping people without ever worrying
too much about whether they would appreciate it as much
as they should.
His memorial service was attended by more than 300
friends, including Michael Wright and other Salopians with
whom he had maintained a lifelong friendship.
At a well attended ceremony in September at DARC, his
sculling boat was presented to the Club by his family and
formally named after him by one of his long-term rowing
and mountaineering friends, Nigel van Zwanenberg (S
1962-66). Bill was a very kind and loving husband, an
inspirational father and a true and loyal friend.
Robin Grey (SH 1934-38)
Robin Grey grew up in Cornwall, messing around on boats.
The reason he went to Shrewsbury was that his family
home bordered on to Clement Attlee’s estate and he was
friendly with the Atlee boys who attended Shrewsbury.
Remarkably, fast forwarding to Cape Town 60 years later,
where Robin’s teenage grandson was living, a family by the
name of Attlee moved in next door with their teenage son.
They were apparently related to the same Attlee family and
the two boys became firm friends.
A year or so after Robin finished school, World War 2 broke
out and he enlisted in the Royal Navy. By the end of the
war he was second in command of a small submarine called
HMSub Shakespeare and had seen some exciting action in
the Far East. Although he had some positive experiences
during the war, such as shore leave in Ceylon which was a
place he loved, he was a pacifist and abhorred the idea of
the war.
Once the war ended he married his sweetheart Margaret,
left her with his family and went off to scout around
Southern Africa, then sent for her once he had chosen
where to settle. She travelled on one of the last commercial
flying boats to make the trip, mooring overnight off the
coast of Italy, then on the Aswan Dam, then Lake Victoria
and finally arriving on the Vaal Dam near Johannesburg.
They subsequently settled in Cape Town where Robin
started a successful small business which he ran until he
was into his late seventies.
Having retained his love for the sea, he sailed his yacht
Swansong in Table Bay and further afield several times a
week for many years. He and Margaret always felt England
was their home and returned to visit friends and family
annually in their last 40 years together.
At the age of 94 he became very frail and having put all his
affairs in good order, took the step of ending his own life,
two years after his beloved Margaret had passed away.
Denys Haughton Jones (DB 1942-46)
Denys was the middle child of William and Gertrude Jones.
His father was a pharmacist and ophthalmic optician with
a number of chemist shops and ophthalmic practices in
Shrewsbury, including on High Street and Pride Hill.
During National Service, Denys was stationed at
Lossiemouth where he was a photographer with the Royal
Navy. His recollection was of being warned that to lose
his camera out of the aircraft whilst on flying missions was
even more serious an offence than that of a rifleman soldier
losing his rifle. He had a lifelong interest in and love for
photography. Of Lossiemouth all he would ever say was
that it was the only place he could remember where the
wind could blow you back uphill on a bicycle!
Following National Service, and after qualifying as an
ophthalmic optician, he entered into partnership with his
father. In due course he took on the practice from his father
and branched out to run practices in Welshpool, Newtown
and Bishop’s Castle in addition to the Shrewsbury practice
at 108, Abbey Foregate. He served on the Shropshire
Ophthalmic Committee, including a period as its secretary.
Denys had a love of travel and much enjoyed driving
through Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Italy where he
made many friends. With his wife, Hazel, they visited their
friends on the continent throughout their married life and
continued to enjoy these trips during retirement. In their
earlier years Hazel and Denys were members of Shrewsbury
Operatic Society, Hazel as a performer and Denys working
backstage. Denys had a love of music and over the years
built up an extensive and wide collection of music.
He died on 6th January 2015, one week short of his 86th
birthday. He is survived by his wife, Hazel.