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Challenge me if you can dispute this statement, but in the history of BHCHS I don’t think we came anywhere near producing an international cricketer. Vince Mulholland (BHCHS 1977-83) has now achieved that distinction. But he has gone even further. Representing England in the Over 60s World Cup held in Canada last month, his heroic efforts secured victory in a crucial semi-final match against Australia when he took the wicket of the Aussie’s leading batter, Peter Solway, just when the Australian looked set to pile up a big score. Vince is an all-rounder, but it was his fiendishly accurate medium pace bowling that helped England to victory during the early rounds. It was this pinpoint precision that trapped Solway lbw giving the England side a much-needed wicket maiden.

This set up what should have been a thrilling final against New Zealand. But the Canadian weather had other ideas. While Europe was melting in the seemingly endless heatwave, over in Southern Ontario they had several rain affected matches. Sadly, the final was a complete washout. Not even Messrs Duckworth and Lewis could help. But at least it meant England shared the title. I was delighted that Vince agreed to an exclusive interview with Old Bucks News soon after his return home to Loughton.

GF: How and when did you first become interested in cricket?

VH: I was the youngest of six children, and my earliest memories are playing in the back garden with one of my older brothers. Because he was bigger and stronger, he would beat me at every sport we played but it gave me a taste for competition.

GF: Were you encouraged to play cricket at BHCHS?

VH: Yes, Lionel Marsh was very keen on cricket. We played some school matches, and he also supported us by organising net practices. I vividly remember one occasion. It was my turn to bowl at him, and someone pointed out that he wasn’t wearing pads. He made some kind of dismissive comment that he was only playing against youngsters. I hit him on the leg, and he wasn’t happy. It was a moment for me, surprising him with my bowling and making me feel that I wasn’t too bad at this game.

GF: How did you then progress from school cricket?

VM: My walk home from school along Roding Lane took me past Buckhurst Hill Cricket Club, so I started there while still in the first year at school.

GF: Apart from getting your start in cricket, how did you feel about the rest of your time at BHCHS.

VM: To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it that much. I found it quite a tough environment it must have done me well as my exam results were not too bad. But the sports events and especially cricket was definitely a highlight.

GF: Did you play other sports there?

VM: I played for the school at football but having to wear glasses from age 13 meant that football was a problem, but I still played! I also was pretty good at badminton competing in the West Essex games, and athletics. I also remember playing quite well at chess, a highlight with that was a match against Chigwell school where I won my individual game.

GF: Did you ever consider playing cricket professionally?

VM: Some of the Essex professional players, including Ray East used to come to Buckhurst Hill CC to coach and they kept an eye on my progress although there was no formal junior academy back then as there is now. At this point it was just a sport I really enjoyed and never thought of it as a possible career. Being the youngest of six in a family that was not particularly affluent, a big drive for me was to earn money.  I had a paper round by the time I was 13 and I wanted to get a steady job as soon as I left school to help my family.

GF: Did you carry on playing cricket at club level?

VM: I had a few years out from playing during my late teens but then started back again in my early 20s playing for the Leyton Orient Supporters CC in some friendly games. I then joined Ilford Catholic CC playing League cricket. I have played first team cricket ever since, also becoming an active member of committee’s including the League Committee.

GF: Were your parents supportive of you playing cricket?

VM: My dad was from Ireland (he was garrisoned in Loughton in WWII where he met my mum). Being Irish, cricket was not really played there then and so he didn’t understand the game that much, but both parents were very supportive. My dad sadly passed away in my 20’s but my mum became really interested in cricket and always followed my progress, organising the teas for around 20 years when I was playing league matches.

GF: Were you inspired by any of the top cricketers in those early years?

VM: I admired many of the leading Essex players, especially Graham Gooch and John Lever, and I would often go and support them at Valentine’s Park when they were there. But if I had to pick one player who particularly inspired me it would be Ian Botham.

GF: What I noticed particularly about your bowling in the recent World Cup matches was your ability to hit a perfect length with almost every ball. Is that something you have always been able to do?

VM: I’ve always been pretty accurate, and I used to be quicker, being able to swing the ball in the air a lot more. Quite often my team mates call me “the metronome”.

GF: Although it was your bowling that was successful in Canada, I know you are listed as an all-rounder. Has that always been the case?

VM: Actually, I used to be more of a batsman. I opened the batting for my club for many years and was often top scorer in the club. But early on in my time at the club, when we were struggling in a match, I offered to bowl and picked up four wickets. The captain said, “Oh, we didn’t know you bowled.” So, from that point on I started bowling in every game and soon became the top wicket taker. Now, as far as Essex and England are concerned, I am a bowler who can bat.

GF: What did you do in your working life?

VM: As I mentioned, I was determined to get into work as soon as possible, and although I started in the 6^th form, I got a job opportunity working in a local sub-post office at Woodford Green, so I left school at took the job. My manager there became a great friend. She quite soon told me that I was way too good to stay in that small sub-office and that I should get a job at The Post Office where they would, in her words, “pay me proper money”. I did just that. Within a year I was working in central London and rapidly got promoted. While working in the property section, the business sponsored me to become a qualified commercial accountant. This gave me further great job opportunities, a highlight being part of the joint venture team between the Post Office and Bank of Ireland that set up the Financial Services business. I left the Post Office with 30 years’ service and worked freelance for a few years, and then with KPMG in mergers and acquisitions. But when my mother got quite ill, I had to work less so I could care for her. After she passed away, I decided to spend more time on cricket before I formally retired in March this year.

GF: When did you first think that you might become an international cricketer?

VM: I’ve always played club cricket to a decent standard, and always competed in the top divisions whichever League I played in. When I got to the prime age of 50, I contacted the Essex manager to ask if there was a chance of playing for the Essex Over 50s. I quickly got a game and a year later was made captain of the 2^nd team. Within a year, we’d won two titles, and realised that I was playing a good standard when compared to my age group. This inspired me to keep myself as fit as possible. I went on to win 6 finals as Essex Captain, playing in the 50’s side until last year. In a conversation with someone who knew an England player after a national cup semi-final last August, I was asked my age which was then 59. He said they were always looking for new blood in the England over 60s side. Just two weeks later I had a call to go to the Midlands for a Tri-Nations tournament. I did pretty well and soon afterwards I got a call asking me if I’d like to tour India in January with the England Lions. That tour also went well, and soon after I got the call to play in the England 1^st team, as I turned 60 in March this year.

GF: What ambitions do you have now?

VM: Playing for England is the pinnacle for any cricketer, and I never expected to wear an England kit, nor to be so successful in the World Cup. It is a privilege an honour to represent the country and I will continue to do all I can to be part of the squad. But as you can imagine there are always more players coming up and reaching 60 so you have to do something quite exceptional to hold a place in the team. But I still love playing, love the team aspect of the game and I am always competitive. So, I will carry on pushing the barriers as best I can. Early next year, there is a tour to India and in the autumn, England will be visiting Australia for an ‘ashes’ tour. Of course, I would be delighted to be selected for these tours.

GF: It’s been great talking with you Vince, and congratulations again on your superb performance at the World Cup.

Thanks to Michael Turner (BHCHS 1981-86)for alerting us to a potential new development in Roding Lane. Based on this map, it appears to be around 6 times the size of the original proposal that made no progress after two years of consultation.

Michael found this on the public Facebook group Buckhurst Hill Life and so far there is no other information about the development, or even who is responsible for it. So until more information emerges we should not assume that it is even genuine.

If anyone finds out more please let me know.

I have just heard that Ted Moran (BHCHS 1946-51) died on 5th September at the age of 91. The sad news was given to me by his daughter Liz Webber who has kindly kept Ted in contact with us through the last few years, and it reminded me that there are so many relatives who have help us in this way. They are among the unsung heroes of the Old Buck network.

Ted had a remarkably varied and busy career as a teacher, spending a large chunk of his adult life teaching in various countries in Africa. He gave us a comprehensive summary in our November 2003 edition, soon after we’d traced him via Friends Reunited. See page 18 for Ted’s contribution.

More recently, and thanks to Liz, we had managed to re-connected with Ted again after he had returned from South Africa. We reported this in January 2023…..

Here is an even more recent photo of Ted, celebrating his 91st birthday. Again, thanks to Liz for sending this.

John Glasscock (BHCHS 1967-74) is keeping busy bringing music to appreciative audiences and helping worthwhile charities at the same time. Seen here with some of his band, John is on the left.

John writes……

I have been running a jazz band since 2003 when a group of us who attended an evening class, ‘Play Jazz’, at a local college formed a band and played at the open day of a local children’s hospice. Since then we have played at local venues in and around Basingstoke including village fetes, birthday parties, weddings, and jazz themed lunches.

I am a member of the Basingstoke Bridge Club and one of the members suggested that we should have a bridge club jazz band to play at the club Christmas party. That was in autumn 2023. Since then we have played regularly for community groups – including care homes, events supporting charities or mental health groups. We use these events to promote the bridge club and the benefits that playing bridge offers for mental health and social well being. We don’t charge for performing but we suggest a small donation for a charity which each of the band members nominates.  We have 7 members of the band with a wide variety of experience. However, we all get great pleasure from sharing our enjoyment of playing together.

For me, the most memorable moment was when we played for a group of people who suffered with mental health issues. At the end, one of the carers approached me to thank the band and said that she had been looking after a lady for over 2 years, during which time she hadn’t spoken a single word. But through our performance, she sang along to a number of the tunes that we played (well known jazz standards) which brought a tear to her eye.

So as well as sharing the joy of making music together we all get immense satisfaction from hearing the positive feedback that we receive from each of the groups for whom we play.

I have just heard, via a mutual acquaintance, that John Harvey (BHCHS 1942-47) died on 28th July. He lived in Chingford.

If you click the link below, it will open a PDF that contains all the printed editions of OB News. It is a very large file, so you will need patience to view the whole file. I am also uncertain whether the file will enable a full search. But it should allow you to view all editions.

Click HERE for the file of printed editions.

For the digital editions, from January 2022 to January 2026 you will still need to visit our archive website HERE.

Jim Faulkner (BHCHS 1949-56) died on 21st August 2026. Jim had been an organiser of the legendary “49ers”. I have got the funeral details, and hope to publish an obituary in due course. Also, I have been advised that there will be a video of the funeral and I expect to be able to share this with anyone who would like to see it.

By David Pattrick (English, 1973-88)

To join the staff of BHCHS in 1973 as I did was in some ways to leap back in time – some of the older staff seemed to be not just from an earlier decade but from a previous century, and some of the younger to have been acquired like furniture, ready-aged. John was a shining exception. Foot-loose and all too evidently fancy-free, he bounced balletically into the staffroom as fresh at the end of a period as when he left, full not only of energy but also flamboyance and élan; I never sat in on one of his lessons, but walking past his room was to see classes transfixed at a virtuoso performance. There could be heard laughter: in some other classrooms, learning hurt. Ex-students reading this may not have realised that the curtain did not come down at the end of their lesson but was merely the prelude to a five-act extravaganza followed by the post-production party. His Woodford pied à terre was a social hub – for the only society that mattered, of course – even if its dimensions did not permit the swinging of a cat; not that one would have attempted this with his ferocious ginger tom, Fazzoletto (named not only for girth but, as in Verdi’s Otello, an instrument of doom). To be with John socially was to be amazed and similarly inebriated by his joie de vivre – he lit up a room when he entered: like Falstaff, not only witty in himself but the cause of wit in others. Actually, the comparison with Falstaff would have been more appropriate in his earlier years – his home displayed a birthday card with the legend “Billy Bunter loves Rita Hunter” – Miss Hunter an amply constituted Wagnerian soprano. By the time I met him, he had lost a lot of weight, fitting into 28 inch waist trousers; he cut out the comb-over, grew a moustache and, thanks to a pay rise for teachers and the magic of credit cards, his wardrobe, record collection and debt grew exponentially.

There was though something obsessional, almost manic about the maintenance of this façade and it did begin to take its toll. He always suffered from insomnia and had periodic bouts of depression – there were occasions when he simply walked out of school. In my production of Twelfth Night, for example, he was a marvellous Sir Andrew Aguecheek, but until the actual performance, I was in doubt whether he would take the stage. In the event, something – call it esprit de corps, or more likely rioja – got him through it. Sadly, a mooted staff production of Rattigan’s Harlequinade with him in a rôle that suited him perfectly (pure ham, darling) never materialised. He was happier in John Rippin’s musical arrangements for the optimistically named Buckhurst Sinfonia, where a prominent part in the percussion department satisfied all his leanings towards melodrama without taxing him beyond having to count up to four – something which, as John Rippin said, was beyond the musical abilities of the side-drumming Deputy Headmaster (allegedly a maths graduate).

It would be all too easy to classify John as a typical opera queen, but his response to music went much deeper and was a major factor in his life. In fact he almost did not become a teacher – he wrote to the head of Covent Garden begging a job of any kind there; Sir David Webster, for better or worse, interviewed him and talked him out of this. I remember him explaining to me how Tosca at a vital moment believes God will forgive her jealous outburst in church (and ultimately her murder of Baron Scarpia) because passion and pain are intimately intertwined. He knew by heart the Italian text for this opera and understood from the inside its sub-text. John never stuck to the predictable – hearing one beautiful aria by Dvorak, he went out and bought as many obscurely Slavonic operas as Barclaycard would let him. Obviously, we were fascinated by one entitled “The Devil and Kate”: we both thought Miss Coulson would win that battle, though, to be fair, she was particularly kind to the two of us she called “my boys”.  If you had asked me to guess which composers would never figure at his funeral, Sibelius and Handel would be high on the list, but there they were.

The aria he loved that spoke to and of him most eloquently came from Strauss’s Arabella: Aber der Richtige. Glorious music: she sings of the man who is the right one – “he will stand before me, all at once, his eyes on me, mine on him, and no more doubting will remain, no more asking, and I shall be happy and obedient as a child.” John dreamed of this happening to him. But Arabella also sings, in the prelude to this aria: “A man may quickly mean much to me, but suddenly he means no longer anything.” And this was closer to John’s actual experience, running the risk of queer-bashing, of arrest and, at the end of the 1970s, the threat of Aids. Sadly, as far as I know, he had no enduring loving partnership in his life. In fact, any friend whose emotional proximity became uncomfortable he would quite ruthlessly cut out of his life. Several at his funeral who had been his closest friends at one time, who (like me) had loved him, had stories of the hurt this rejection entailed. He had a gift for inspiring affection, but not, arguably, one for reciprocity.

I had only intermittent touch with him after he left BH: I never knew whether his subsequent placement at a North Essex unit for pupils excluded from mainstream education was his choice or a peculiarly cruel effect of the ironically named “carousel” for distribution of jobs after the school closure. At any rate, it gave him a fund of stories about the “penal colony” as he called it.  And yet, in a way, being relieved of responsibility to do anything other than survive to the end of the day rather suited him. He often told me that his ideal job would be as a “trolley dolly” at Tesco; when he left Brentwood School to go to Norfolk, long before he might have been expected to retire, this was a step in the direction of such release.

I have played the organ at enough funerals to know that when all the personal qualities of the deceased have been adumbrated, the question is left, what did this life achieve, what did it amount to? I can say that the years I was close friends with John at BH were quite wonderful. Knowing him changed me as a person; I still throw in phrases that were part of his lexicon: “May these be the worst of our days” as a toast; “Shitbags” as a swearword, or “sacs de merde” when in France; “We need to sacrifice some more virgins” when the weather turns beastly. There are pieces of music I cannot listen to without thinking of him, imagining him there; arias revisited with sadness after his death. And yet, that time came to an end. I believe though that his years at BH were, like those of Miss Jean Brodie, his prime; lucky those ex-students reading this who had him as a teacher or form tutor. He was – excuse the clichéd pun – a class act.

I cannot close this without a tantalising postscript. Throughout his time at BH, John, like Kenneth Williams (whom in many other ways he resembled) kept a diary – obsessively, a page of A4 every day. He was a gifted writer (and lively correspondent) as well as raconteur; I imagine these diaries give a far better picture of his life and the life of the school at that time than any increasingly vague memories of such as myself. As in the famous cartoon of his beloved Jane Austen, perhaps they may be deemed fit for publication “when all the effing and blinding are taken out”.

Vince Mulholland (BHCHS 1977-83), possibly our only international cricketer, is currently in Canada as part of the Over 60s England touring side competing against many other cricketing nations.

You can dip into the programme HERE. Turn to page 15 for Vince’s profile.

Vince took a wicket for England in their first match, against Scotland on 10th August. England won the match by 9 wickets. Their second match is against West Indies, just getting underway now. So if you are quick, you may see Vince in action because all the matches are being live streamed HERE.

Several year groups are now starting to take a table at our Annual Dinner at Theydon Bois Golf Club on Tuesday 6th October. This year we are returning to the traditional sit down meal and an innovation this time is a choice of menu! Don’t miss out. Why not contact your mates and join us.

Click HERE to navigate to the Dinner details and booking form.

As always you are welcome to use me to communicate your interest in reconnecting with people from your year group whose contact details you may not have.

Here is a summary of bookings by year group so far (year group is start year)