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THE GOLDONIAN GOLDINGS PERSONALITIES
MR. R. H. PURKIS, brother of Mr. W. Purkis, joined the permanent staff on 4th November, 1936, after serving in a temporary capacity in the Printing Department. During the war years he served as Aberdeen Housemaster, and undertook the duties of Chief Fire Officer at the School. In company with the remainder of the staff, Mr. Purkis undertook many extraneous duties including those of tractor driving and sports master, I am sure it is not generally known that Mr. Purkis was the founder of the Bugle Band in 1941, which took the place of the School Military Band, and which today is the Corps of Drums. If one looks at the 'Honours List' for billiards and snooker, which hangs in the staff room, they will see the name of Mr. R. Purkis as 'winner' and 'runner-up' on more than one occasion. He was certainly a force to be reckoned with when it came to using a cue! Mr. Purkis has many hobbies including photography and music, and the one that takes up most of his spare time is music. He has been a regular member of the Hertford Town Band since its formation, and plays a euphonium and bass. This gift for music is something he has passed on to his son, who is also a member of the Band, but is content with a smaller instrument, the trumpet. In 1943 Mr. Purkis returned to the Printing Department and took charge of the warehouse and small platen room, and assisted with theory instruction. With the growth of the department, the warehouse work became a full-time job, and Mr. Purkis carried on in this capacity until 1957, when he was able to take up his duties as instructor in the machine department once again. It seems that members of the Goldings staff are unique in their adaptability, and Mr. R, Purkis has proved no exception. A. E. B. Danger UXB
Goldings 16th October 1940
I was scared stiff when a land mind dropped down. It hung up in the tree and it had to be got down. Well, our governor, the Revd. McDonald, he got the Bomb Disposal Unit in and they were a couple of naval chappies one was an officer and the other a rating and I always remember the officer went with the governor to lunch and the rating sat with me at the table having lunch. He was talking about his risky job and he said, "Well, you see, it's not a job you worry about, a pal of mine about six weeks ago was defusing this bomb and it went off and they didn't find a button." And that was his attitude, not to worry.
Then I remember the two of them walking across the field to take the fuse out of this bomb and them coming back afterward and asking us to go over because they'd done their job and I remember them packing up the silk parachute. And he showed me the detonator that came out of the bomb, the fuse, and he said, "Now I've got to get on with the next job, I want you to stand here and guard over this 'til the Home Guard come." By golly, had I got the wind up! And he said, "Whatever you do, don't touch a thing because sometimes they booby-trap these things" He told me of an incident where they took the detonator out of a bomb and the bomb disposal squad decided to drop into a cafe for a cup of tea. Some people saw this bomb or land-mine on the back of the trailer and thought they'd have something off it and the whole thing blew up. But when I saw the Home Guard coming across the field I ran to greet them because I was scared stiff! This was on a Saturday afternoon because we'd sent all the [Barnardo] boys away from Goldings - they were clear Of anything that happened. I'd been in the dug-out with the headmaster and his wife and on the Monday they came to take this land mine away, and they put it on the back of this truck, a kind of Land Rover, and there was a chappie sitting astride this land mine, holding a board saying 'Danger! Unexploded mine!'
REG PURKIS - 21st November 1909 to 4th February 2003 I attended the funeral of the above gentleman last week. My earliest memories of Reg are seeing him arrive for work at Goldings on a 50cc BSA Bantam motor bike. During his long life he tried several different occupations, until finally taking an apprenticeship in the printing trade. He began work at Goldings as a printing instructor before the second world war. After the war he attended a London college to gain C & G qualifications to enable himself to remain on the Goldings staff. He was a skilled craftsman and was pleased to pass on his great knowledge to the lads in the printing department. He stayed at the Goldings print school until it was closed in 1969 and then continued at the Barnardo School of Printing for the rest of his working life, retiring at the age of 65 in 1975. He was the man who introduced lithography to the Goldings print department. His main hobby was photography. He was also a dab hand at tapestry work. Many of which hung in his house. Reg had four children, a number of grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. He liked a pint of McMullens beer and a scotch chaser. He was such a good customer at one local hostlery that when he became 90 years old McMullens awarded him a pint of beer a day for the rest of his life. He had many friends in the locality and will be sadly missed. |
Reg
lived in Bengeo, and frequented the small pub along Port Vale The
Old Mill Stream on the old short cut. Reg would sit in the same seat
each day for his pint of beer that the landlord had approached Mc Mullens Brewery, and they awarded him a pint of beer for the rest of
his life.