The Salopian Summer 2023

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 117
issued an ultimatum – either the snakes went or she did!
John’s last posting in East Africa was to the West Nile District of
Uganda. At that time, probably the area’s best-known son was
Idi Amin, who had risen to command the Ugandan Army. One
weekend the Army organised a tribal dancing competition and
Amin hosted the affair. The writer of this piece, John’s younger
brother Colin, was staying with John and his wife, as were
Colin’s Housemaster, Robin Moulsdale, his wife Julie and their
children. We were all spectators at the dancing competition
and, seeing our group as almost the only Europeans present,
Amin came over to John and invited all of us to cocktails at
his compound. Halfway through the evening, Amin’s pilot
arrived on a stretcher, covered with blood, having “fallen
off a pavement”. But the event ended on a high note with a
conga round the grounds, led by Amin, with John’s wife Jo
immediately following and therefore gingerly clutching Amin
(who was dressed in his regulation boiler suit) round his already
ample waist.
John left BAT when an opportunity arose back in the
UK, to be full-time Hunt Secretary of the Pytchley Hunt
in Northamptonshire. John and Jo (herself a very able
horsewoman) never had fewer than six horses in their stables.
Those years were followed by several at a veterinary science
charity, The Animal Health Trust, and latterly by another
spell as Hunt Secretary, this time for the Beaufort Hunt in
Gloucestershire.
John’s retirement years were almost as full as those that
preceded them. Losing Jo to leukemia far too young (but
some years later teaming up with Leila, who was to be his
partner for the rest of his life), John threw himself into the
work of conservation charities across the world, including
several expeditions led by Colonel John Blashford-Snell, to help
indigenous peoples in Amazonia. At the age of 79, John was
sleeping in hammocks in the rainforest, as well as, much closer
to his Wiltshire home, assisting with the re-introduction of Great
Bustards to Salisbury Plain. In his early 80s, his previously good
health failed him and he died, aged 83, on 21st August 2021.
[Colin Mackenzie-Grieve (M 1964-68)]
Philip Gale Marshall (DB 1960-65)
“I am not a man, I’m dynamite!” was one of Philip Marshall’s
favourite phrases, although it was borrowed respectfully from
the legendary Frank McEachran’s book of Spells. ‘Kek’, in
turn, leant upon Nietzsche for inspiration. Like the explosive,
Philip Marshall made his mark. Born in Shrewsbury in 1946,
the second of four brothers, Philip arrived fresh-faced from
Prestfelde to join Stacy Colman’s Day Boys’ Hall in 1960. Within
that decade of change, Headmaster Jack Peterson gave way
to the reformer, Donald Wright, while Colman gave way to
‘Jock’ Saint as Housemaster of Day Boys. Yet, like many boys,
Philip was influenced particularly by his form master, D.J.V
Bevan, about whom he reminisced fondly and frequently.
Philip was a solid performer on the sports field. His triumphs
included gaining his Army Proficiency Certificate in 1963,
being in the cadet force and earning his novice boxing medal.
After knocking a boy unconscious during one match, Philip
became disillusioned with the sport, preferring the slightly more
gentlemanly options of football and cricket.
While Shrewsbury’s broad education stoked Philip’s lifelong
interest in history and art, he was not a starring academic.
Indeed, throughout his life, he held a healthy suspicion of
academics generally, preferring common sense, worldliness and
hard work above examination grades. Perhaps this attitude came
from his time at Shrewsbury? Almost immediately after becoming
a Salopian, Philip’s masters expressed doubts about his ability to
join the family’s accountancy practice. In his summer 1961 end
of term report, Housemaster Colman confirmed that his initial
doubts about Philip’s mathematical skills were justified. By 1964,
his maths teacher, ‘Percy’ Childs, confirmed that he was weak at
this subject.
Yet, as Shrewsbury’s motto confirms, if all is right within, trouble
not, and all was right within Philip. Against the advice of his
teachers, he aimed high and knuckled down to his professional
accountancy qualifications, leaving Shrewsbury for Birmingham
to work for Peat Marwick and Mitchell, now KPMG, en route to
becoming chartered. He joined the family accountancy business
in 1971 but his heart was really in business, which explains why
he joined a struggling engineering and car sales firm, becoming
a director in 1972 and chairman later, until his retirement. Thanks
largely to Philip’s shrewd financial management, common sense
and sound people skills, Lewis Marshall Holdings grew into one
of the largest and most respected engineering businesses and
retail car sales outlets in the county, scooping several national
awards. It also brought Shropshire representation to some of the
most well-known motorcar brands for the first time, including
Volvo, Subaru and Hyundai. His contribution was recognised
with an invitation to join the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures
and Commerce.
Philip married Sheena Kinnear in 1975 and they settled in Great
Ness, just outside Shrewsbury. Two children followed, Robert
(R 1994-99) and Suzanna (b. 1984). Philip threw himself into
a well-deserved retirement, enjoying history, art and travelling
and being a loving grandpa to his three granddaughters, before
encroaching Alzheimer’s restricted his ambitions, although
pneumonia ensured that he did not succumb to it ultimately.
Like dynamite, his sudden passing in August 2022 leaves a huge
hole in the Marshall family, which is also reeling from the deaths
of his brothers, Keith (b. 1943) and Garth (DB 1964–69) nine
months later.
[Robert Marshall (R 1994-99)]