Chris Snuggs - Berners/Halls 58-65: Derek Thornbery achieved the rare distinction of becoming a legend in his own lifetime among those who know him best, his former pupils. Who could watch " Chips" or "Dead Poets' Society" without Derek Thornbery and his total devotion to and involvement in his life's work springing to mind? His creation of the Orwell House music phenomenon is legendary, but he was active in all areas of school life, often running a cricket team, for example. AND he was an excellent flautist in the school orchesta.

One other thing about Derek (and not the least important) was that he clearly loved the English language and was able to share and communicate that with and to us. English is extraordinarily rich and beautiful (as I am sure most nationalities would describe their own language before I am accused of languageism - or indeed racism). We read and listened to stories, we analysed language doing clause analysis (do they even DO that these days?); we explored new words and their etymology. I didn't know Neil Clayton, but I imagine he was similar, as was Patrick Hutton, who did Chaucer with us when we were a bit older. It was exhilarating with him to see the language of Olde England and how it has developed over the centuries. With DT, some of my most vivid and pleasant memories are of wandering across the main field on a summer's afternoon to a late-afternoon class of English with Derek T and him reading us a story: "Prester John", "The 29 Steps" or "The Ruhn" about an alien collecting human specimens to take back to their own planet - and so on. I'm pretty sure we also did precis with him, a really useful but demanding skill. The English language is at the heart of everything else really, and it was beautifully taught by DT.

And he was never short of a cheerful word. I remember sitting next to him in the orchestra during rehearsals for "Mother Courage". After a particularly long wait while the actors were getting their act together, he turned to me and said: "They also serve who sit and wait." Ignorant that I was, I only realized much later how clever this was!

He was truly "the right man, in the right place, at the right time."

Simon Jones - Johnstons 60-65: “I still remember during Rugby Choir practice if he heard somebody singing out of tune, he would stop the singing and instruct the culprit to sing on their own. He would also stop us during actual performances. He always wanted us to produce our best. Another vivid memory is that he occasionally used to jump up on the desk at the front of the class if he was getting excited about something he was telling us.”