St Edward's Rhubarb 2018

32 ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

OSE Obituaries

AIKMAN – On 1st May 2017, Robert (Robin) Colville Aikman (G, 1945-1950). The following obituary has kindly been provided by Mrs Aikman: Robin’s working life had three strands: Aeroplanes: After leaving university with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering he spent two years in the Royal Air Force rising to the rank of Flying Officer. He then had five years in the aircraft industry. For part of that time he was an aerodynamicist working on the Fairy Delta 2. This was a research aeroplane with a Concorde-style wing which, in 1956, set a new World Air Speed Record by flying at Mach 1.7. It was a very advanced aeroplane for its time. Computers: Then, in 1960, Robin moved into computing. After some years with a computer manufacturer he moved into a large services company eventually becoming Managing Director of the IT consultancy division. He then left to set up his own IT consultancy which he ran for nearly 20 years. He was kept very busy during this time – mostly in the UK but with significant periods in the USA. Wine: Also for some 15 years Robin was owner and manager (together with his wife Maureen) of an English vineyard. They produced some excellent dry white wine, which was sold quite widely in the UK, and were particularly pleased when it was stocked by a well-known store in Edinburgh. For some four years Robin and his wife owned and ran The English Wine Shop in London. The vineyard was sold in 1996 and Robin retired. He and his wife moved from London to Hertfordshire in 2000.

In retirement Robin’s interests included: old cars, old aeroplanes, genealogy, calligraphy, old watches and walking. In recent years he did less walking but, in 2000, he did pioneer a new long- distance walk. This runs from Hadrian’s Wall to London Wall and is 365 miles long. Robin walked it solo in 26 days. Robin was a dedicated and much- loved family man and will be sorely missed by his wife, twin daughters and four grandsons. ALEXANDER – On 11th March 2017, William James Alexander (B, 1964-1968), brother to John (B, 1961- 1964) who kindly provided the following words:

One of the only advantages of departing this life early is that all your friends can attend your funeral and this was certainly the case with Will (as he was called within the family) as Pershore Abbey was packed to the rafters and amongst them a strong contingent of friends from St Edward’s who heard him played in to “The Lark in the clear air” and played out to “An Coulin” both traditional Irish airs. Will was born in Pershore, Worcestershire and lived the majority of his life there when he was not in western Ireland where he spent increasing periods of time. He went to The Wells House Prep. School in Malvern before going on

to join his brother, John, in Sing’s. In those days the best advice was to keep your head below the parapet and Will was very successful at this. As part of this strategy he soon joined the Piscatorial Society and spent much of his time tramping the Oxford canal with rod in hand and on occasions (usually at weekends and with the assistance of a bicycle) getting to know the Windrush. Towards the end of his time at the school he decided that by applying for a school travel scholarship he might be able to explore the rivers of southern Ireland. This led to four Sing’s schoolboys having an epic holiday of fishing in the day and singing and drinking at night, but unfortunately the members of the party had forgotten the requirement to give a lecture to the school on their return. After St Edward’s, Will went on to study history and archaeology at Exeter University, discovering an idyllic life renting a converted mill house on the River Otter at Bickleigh. After completing his degree Will spent a year at Wye College in Kent completing an M.Sc. in landscape, design and ecology. This experience fostered in him a lifelong love of trees and of the natural landscape. He decided to follow his brother into the law and the two of them practised together as solicitors for more than thirty years in Worcester before both retiring together and closing the practice in 2011. After this Will spent nearly all his time living in his house in County Galway amongst the friends and craik that he loved so much. He never found the time to marry.

V A L E T E O B I T U A R I E S

William Alexander