Our Dad, Peter, was born and grew up in Nuneaton, the son of Edna and James Cox, and big brother to John. Dad had a unique combination of interests, talents and pursuits throughout his life. Even from a young age his competitiveness shone through rugby which we understand he played very well, and at County level we think. He was a born leader, and always seemed to be the one leading anything he was involved in. When asked as a small boy what he wanted to be when he grew up, he simply said he wanted to be “a boss”. He met our Mum, Janet, at a 6th form conference. They were in the same discussion group, and Mum remembers that Dad did all the talking. Their paths crossed again at Leeds University, where Dad studied Physics, and Mum was at Bingley Teacher Training College. They attended lots of balls in Leeds together during the rock n’ roll era of the fifties. During Dad’s university holidays he had a temporary job as a milkman. This involved delivering milk bottles to doorsteps with the help of a horsedrawn cart. Luckily the horse knew the round well and knew where to stop. Dad and Mum were married in 1959 when Dad was 23 and Mum was 22, and spent their honeymoon in Jersey before settling into married life in a little flat in Coventry, where they had both begun teaching jobs. One morning in those early days they saw a little puppy in a petshop window, and that was how they bought their very first dog, Buster. They relocated to Woolverstone Hall school in 1961, and I was born later that year and Steve in 1963. Dad taught physics, eventually becoming Head of Science, and also coached rugby, and later rifle shooting and archery. With over 50 acres of grounds rolling down to the river, and lots of friends for us all, it was a great place to live. It was during this time that Dad started an Animal Club, acquiring a donkey, goats, guinea pigs, rabbits, mice and rats for the pupils to look after and enjoy. In 1970 Dad & Mum moved away from the school to live in Elmsett, with the freedom to expand their menagerie and embrace “The Good Life”, with a dream of self-sufficiency, growing vegetables and fruit, producing milk from the goats and eggs from the chickens. Other animals included 2 horses, a succession of border collies, various cats (to keep the mice down), 80 guinea pigs - bred for showing, and numerous rabbits. Over the years there were lambs, pigs, geese and turkeys bred for “for the freezer”. We remember 2 pigs in particular who were called Thatcher and Tebbit. Dad was an “outdoors person”, often to be found “down the garden” or “on the field”, which was a happy place for him. |