Hard on the heels of the news of the demise of Titch Bowden came the sad tidings that Glyn Evans, 5th Headmaster of Bishop's, has died after a period of poor health. There will now be very few members of staff at BWS who will have worked with Glyn, as he retired from his Headship in 1992. He retained his loyalty and love of the school however, and was a regular attendee at Founder's Day until a few years ago when frailty made the journey too much of a challenge.
BWS Head Masters from L to R, Barnett, Blackledge, Smallwood & Evans taken in 2003
I turned to Joe Newman, my predecessor as Deputy Head at Bishop's, who worked for many years with Glyn to give a view of the man. His comments depicted a thoroughly decent and civilised gentleman who, in many ways, was a Head in the traditional mould. He joined the school in 1974, at a challenging time for educational finances and with the threat of comprehensive re-organisation perennially hovering just off stage. Bishop's dwindled in size because of these existential threats, but because of Glyn's tenacity and good judgement we made it through to the 1990 centenary and beyond. One of Glyn's foremost abilities was the capacity to discern what would work in the long term to the benefit of the school and its students. That meant that he was able to hand over Bishop's leadership to Clive Barnett in the early 1990's with its future secured.
I met Glyn regularly over the years. Each time he travelled down from Lavington to Salisbury to do some more 'exotic' shopping and visit the Cathedral he would pop in for a cup of tea and a chat in my office. On every occasion I was delighted to see him; for me, as a relatively young Head, he carried with him the feeling of an earlier age of education, one that predated many of the cumbersome add-ons like league tables, value-added data, digital platforms and the like. He was, above all, a good and caring man who was devoted to his family and he remained very loyal to the school of which he was Head for some 18 years.
Even at a time when hope for a better future is growing, sorrows do still occasionally visit in battalions.
SDS
