The Salopian Summer 2023

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 93
Alasdair Forbes (SH 1964-68)
After leaving Shrewsbury, I kicked
around aimlessly for a while, before
going into journalism in 1972, starting
as a reporter on the Cheshire Observer,
then as a sub-editor on the rival Chester
Chronicle. In 1978 I was tempted into
a sub-editing job on the Saudi Gazette
in Jeddah. There followed similar jobs
in Bahrain, Cyprus and Dubai before I
landed in Hong Kong in 1988, where I
ended up as editor of Asian Business,
a monthly magazine that circulated
from Australia to Japan and across to
India. After the Asian financial crash of
1997 ruined the publishing business, I
moved to Thailand as managing editor
of the local Phuket Gazette, and then a
similar role at the Phuket News.
Following the 2014 military coup in
Thailand, I was denied a renewal of my
media visa (on which my work permit
depended), so I opted to retire. I was
by then 64, so it seemed the right thing
to do.
Pen, my wife of 43 years, and I now
split our time between our house in
Phuket and another in her home town
in Srisaket, close to the Cambodian
border. I keep myself occupied with
watercolours and she with the gardens.
Robin Harrison (1963-68)
Robin married Rachel Barlow on 26th
November 2022 and is living near
Knutsford in Cheshire. Rachel has two
sons from her first marriage who were
in Oldham’s, Richard Barlow
(O 1988-93) and Charlie Barlow
(O 1990-95).
Francis Argyle (M 1964-69)
See photo on page 59
I was not particularly happy at school,
was useless on the games fields and
ended up with an A-level disaster.
I always enjoyed escaping from the
Site to go bird-watching and this
hobby is still with me and does, on
occasion, provide me with some
gainful employment. My greatest
achievement at school was to qualify
for a UK Bird-ringing licence and I
am eternally grateful to teachers Peter
Mawby, Peter Gladstone and my late
Housemaster Robin Moulsdale for
help and encouragement towards this
achievement. I have kept the licence
up to date and used it continuously.
In 1978 I gained the Israeli equivalent
licence which I also still use and I
am the longest-serving bird ringer in
Israel. I attended the Hertfordshire
College of Agriculture 1970-1973. I
was Bird-ringing Advisor to the Iranian
Imperial Government 1974 to 1978 and
Volunteer lead bird ringer for Israel
Nature Protection Society (SPNI) at
Eilat in 1978 and 1979. I married Nurit
Cohen from Israel in 1980. I was a selfemployed
nurseryman in Tamworth,
UK, from 1980 to 2009. I am now
retired in Israel, and a dual UK/Israel
citizen. I was volunteer lead bird-ringer
on a part-time/seasonal basis for the
SPNI between 2004 and 2015 working
mostly in the Hula Valley. Between
2010 and 2020 I was employed by
three Israeli Universities on shortterm
contracts to assist PhD and MSc
students with ornithological field work.
I am currently employed at Hefer Valley
birds research station in Israel. Over the
course of my life I have birdwatched
in 40+ countries, bird-ringing in 14 of
them, with a world list of over 5,000
bird species seen so far. My latest
destination has been Mongolia to help
develop bird-ringing there. A third trip
there is planned for this summer.
Simon Morris (DB 1964-65,
Rt 1965-69)
I qualified as an ACA with the Institute
of Chartered Accountants in England
and Wales in 1975. Following a cabaret
session, I was invited to teach students
in London with an accountancy trainer
for their professional accountancy
exams, later joining Financial Training
plc. In 1984 KPMG, a client asked us
to assist their Zambian office students
for the ACCA exam preparation. This
was an epiphany. I learnt in Africa
that skills transfer in developing
countries can transform lives and bring
empowerment. From 1988 I spent five
years with the ILO and KPMG Ireland
and Price Waterhouse starting aidfunded
accountancy schools in Zambia
and Botswana geared to professional
and technical exams. In Botswana I
started an MBA with the University of
Manchester, graduating in Vanuatu,
when with British Aid, we designed
a certificate course, which articulated
into Australian further education,
then making ourselves redundant by
training Ni-Vanuatu to take over. I
migrated to Australia in 1998, moving
to Darwin in 2005. The 1999 vote for
independence in Timor-Leste brought
the destruction of 70% of homes
and 80% of schools and government
buildings. Most Timorese live in the
country areas as subsistence farmers,
with 50% of children under five having
stunted growth due to malnutrition. I
have been visiting Timor-Leste since
2009, with their Ministry of Finance
students completing accounting and
business degrees at Charles Darwin
University in Darwin. I hope to start
an aid-funded project in Timor-Leste
bringing accountancy skills to the
wider community and strengthening
the capabilities of existing accounting
graduates.
John Tattersall (O 1965-69)
John was delighted to be honoured by
the King in the New Year’s Honours
List with a CBE for service to the
finance sector. This was principally in
respect of his role as Chair of UK Asset
Resolution since 2016, and a board
member since 2010, with responsibility
for returning the former mortgage
lenders Bradford & Bingley plc and
NRAM (formerly Northern Rock plc)
to the private sector, selling off their
mortgage and personal loans, and
repaying the taxpayer in full for the
cost of the bail outs of both banks
during the financial crisis of 2008-10.
His service to the finance sector also
includes his work in financial regulation
as a partner at PwC until his retirement
in 2009, and subsequently in various
other roles, including as a member
of the Independent Commission on
Equitable Life Payments, advising the
UK Government on compensation
to Equitable Life policyholders, and
as Chair of the Financial Services
Commission, the financial regulator
in Gibraltar. These roles have been
alongside his work as a non-stipendiary
priest in the Oxford Diocese of the
Church of England since 2007.
1970-79
Paul Blackburn (M 1968-72)
Pictured overleaf are myself and Dr
Huon Gray (M 1968-72) (on right
in picture) partaking in Sporting
Clays in an Edmonton club during
the marvellous Prairie summers of
2022. I’m now retired from a lifetime
of global consulting work, having
undertaken major projects in Canada,