Our contemporary from Wisborough Lodge, Shaun Mather, passed away in 2005, a loss mourned by the other contributors here since he was so unconventionally lively in his mails, as one can see from the following:-

January 18, 2003

Dear David and all,

David, Wherz you bin, mate? Whatever happened to your ISP assureweb? I lost contact, as a result of your change. Good to have found you again.
I revisited W/L during the August school holidays of 1952 and stayed with the MacDonalds for a fortnight. New extensions were done to the main building over the changing-room area to accomodate day only pre-school kids. I would really class it as a kindergarten. There were no boarders and the age of the twenty or so pupils could be counted on one hand. In all probability W/L closed down in the summer of '51, the Brook's family left then and all others ultimately followed within weeks. The piggery was well on its way by 1952. I often wondered how MacD ever got a Council permit to have pigs on account of the smell emitted within a closely settled community. Do you remember the old couple, Mr and Mrs Churchman, who lived in the cottage opposite W/L on the main road? Well, I don't think they would have tolerated the pong, flies and bluebottles - eh?

Yes, uncle 'Sin' and MacD loved their guns, you bet! There was a Jackdaw that was building it's nest on one of the chimney stacks of the main building, Mrs MacD was doing a song and dance over it and wanted the culprit removed. Mackie's 12 gauge was no good as it would be out of range and would have taken the chimney pot too, to boot. Uncle 'Sin' appears on the scene with his .22 to complete the operation. Miss Oliver was none too pleased as she had pity for the bird which was acting as nature intended and stood with her back to the proceedings doing her knitting. We boys were pensive, some excited, with the intended execution. Shot 1, a miss, the scared bird retuned with another twig. Shot 2, a miss, the persistent jackdaw returned again with yet another twig. Shot 3 was curtains. Applause all round but none from Miss Oliver.
Conservation was some thirty-five years distant, much to our shame!

One day Uncle 'Sin' produced a .22 revolver out of his bag and said that he could catch a bullet fired from a pistol with his bared teeth. Impossible Sir! you'd be dead Sir! we boys exclaimed. I'll prove it to you said Mr Brook.A volunteer to shoot at my head! exclaimed Brook. Borrisow put up his hand. Mr Brook showed us the empty chamber with one cartridge in place, then told Borrisow to walk back a few paces, turn around, take at aim at Brook's head and fire. Borrisow, a bit bewildered "Are you sure, Sir! really,really sure" then fires. Brook throws his head back and extrudes a lead bullet between the teeth with manipulations of the tongue. Uncle 'Sin" was the talk of the school for weeks and a bit of a hero too. Now, would MacD have allowed such an act to have taken place had he known in advance? I doubt it. I guess it would, nowadays, be classed as an irresponsible act within school boundaries. What about to-days mania for litigation - eh? A boy, under age, handling a firearm without specific training - food for thought! We know now, as adults, that the cartridge was a blank but back then we thought Mr Brook was next to Superman. All this goes to show that we now live in a totally different world. The saying "The Good Old Days" holds true!

The school train, Victoria station it was. Schoolboys everywhere - I was fascinated by the dress of the Blue Coat School as they walked the station platform. All the vivid orange socks highlighting the dowdy navy blue heavy smocks tied by a white cord. I loved Ronald Searle's posters for Gilbey's Gin depicting St.Trinian characters. W.H.Smith and Son Newsagency with H&E periodicals just out of reach. Oh boy, what fun! On the train we passed the Battersea Power Station, etc. etc. and amused ourselves by counting TV aerials, an innovation of the time, on the rooftops of homes as the train speeded past. I think the Southern Railway was the only railway electrified in the Country at that period. The train was powered by an electric rail along the track, subsequently placed overhead in later years for obvious reasons. We were at Billingshurst within the hour and from there by rickety old coach to the Lodge.
Best wishes to you, and all.
Take care!
Shaun

G'Day Rob, 'Cut and Paste' as you wish!

ANOTHER LETTER WAS AMUSING! ALSO A MAIL TO SHAUN FROM GEORGE:-

Another letter from Shaun to which Stephen replied he was "not guilty" of being a prefect or bossing:-

Stephen is caught out, ha ha, by your Scandinavian Hercule Poirot!
Or his memory caught him out.

Excerpt from close of ---- Original Message -----
From: Stephen Harvey
To: Anthony Weill ; Eve Stamm ; Robert Priddy ; David Pennington ; Fraser Pemberton
; Shaun Mather ; George Harvey
Sent: Saturday, 05 July, 2003 09:13

Regards to all  
Steve
(A prefect, remember, so just take care what you say)