Alumni Classnotes
RVC alumni share with RVC4Life members some of the remarkable events in their lives and careers since graduation, as well as memories of their time at the College.
Sylvia Clephan Jones (1940 Graduate)
Sylvia attended the College in interesting times. She was there in 1937 for the opening of the Hobday Building by the King and Queen.
When the war started in 1939, Sylvia and her peers continued “seeing practice” until the evacuation was completed. The 1st and 2nd years were sent to Reading University, the 3rd years to Sonning and the 4th and 5th years to Streatley.
They returned from “seeing practice” in January of 1940 and worked without a break to meet the finals deadline in the summer, which Sylvia passed and then qualified in July 1940.
Following graduation jobs were scarce but Sylvia was fortunate to be employed by Mr Buxton in Finchley, North London. Her salary was 4 guineas a week and she paid 30 shillings for board and lodgings. She was immensely proud of her achievement and never ceased to love her work.
Professor Colin Burrows (1969 Graduate)
Colin Burrows was described
as “a true leader in continuing
professional development and
veterinary education” and “a
pioneer in the field of small animal
gastroenterology”, by the President
of the RCVS as she awarded
Prof Burrows with an Honorary
Fellowship (pictured above).
Colin is currently the professor of medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida.
He is also known for, and respected
by, thousands of veterinarians
because of his pivotal role in
the North American Veterinary
Conference, held in Florida
for the past 26 years. Colin
is now Executive Director of
the conference and has been
responsible for its growth into one
of the world’s largest veterinary
conferences.
Prof Burrows also
organises additional conferences in
Peru and Barcelona each year and
edits the most popular journal in
the US - NAVC Clinician’s Brief.
Peter Laing (1952 Graduate)
Even as a small boy I compulsively wrote stories, and at school I suppose it was expected that I would to go on to study English and History until I decided, when I was fifteen, that I was going to be a vet. But I have been fortunate to be able to integrate my love of writing into my career. Of course it has all been technical stuff; scientific and technical articles and series, the preparation of detailed post-mortem and on-farm-investigation reports, the construction of teaching courses and lectures, and finally a textbook on poultry disease and management.
After that I decided, after a lot of thought to call time and concentrate on creative writing. I had already started a novel for children, which actually almost wrote itself and soon turned into a full length book. It was about a London girl from the time she first wanted to be a vet to the moment when she got a place at veterinary college. The story took place mainly in Herefordshire and the Welsh borders where her uncle was a vet and where she spent most of her holidays and became more and more involved in the cases in the practice. Factually of course, like James Herriot, it called widely on my own experience and it had, in my opinion, something important to say about real life in the country. The book was seriously reviewed by three major publishers but finally rejected because it was too vet-orientated to command mass sales and because the plot and the girl’s personality remained secondary to the factual content of the story, which they liked.
So since then I have been learning to be an author! I did a year’s correspondence course, attended an excellent Arvon residential course, and joined a writer’s group. I soon learnt that writing well and having a message to tell does not on its own impress publishers and achieve publication, but that one has to write what will command mass sales and market it and one’s-self aggressively! I went through stages from being completely despondent to now being able to be objectively critical of my own work and I have had some small successes. So quite recently I picked up that original manuscript again and decided to rewrite it as a novel; a love story told partly in flash-back from when the central character Becca, (now qualified), has married Andy, the boy she met on that first holiday at her uncle’s practice long ago.
Not cool? Dated? Am I past my sell-by date?? We shall just have to see! But writing it has vividly brought back to me what being a vet was really like; the job I would not have changed for the world.
Marjorie Jordan (1931 Graduate)
Marjorie Jordan (pictured
with a framed scroll from the
RCVS) was one of the first women
to qualify as a veterinary surgeon
and this year celebrated her 100th
birthday.
Miss Jordan entered the profession at a time when the options for women were limited. She initially found a university place at Liverpool and then transferred to the RVC once it started accepting female students. Resistance within the profession towards accepting women made it difficult to secure a student placement. Fortunately, as a result of her own tenacity and the intervention of her pathology professor, she was offered a position at a practice in Sevenoaks, Kent, which led to an assistant role when she qualified in 1931.
Locum work brought the opportunity to join a small practice, running it singlehandedly for many years before taking on a partner. Retiring in the mid-60s, she remained as a sleeping partner until the practice was sold.
As well as her veterinary career, Miss Jordan has a long-standing interest in Staffordshire Bull Terriers. She was a founder member of the Southern Counties Staffordshire Bull Terrier Society and was later made a Life Vice-President. She has judged Staffordshires in many shows, and was the first woman to judge the breed at Crufts.
George Bradley (1950 Graduate)
After graduating in 1950 George went to work as an assistant to partners Edgar Rowlinson and Sam Hewitt in a mainly large animal practice in Ulverston, Lancashire (now Cumbria).
In his 32 years there George met and married a local girl and had two children. He became a partner in what developed into a thriving six man practice and retired in 1982 to Tenerife.
After eight years in Tenerife George and his wife moved to France where his daughter had started a business and a family.
On the death of his wife Moyra in 1997 he returned to England, where he still enjoys his vegetable garden and a days fishing.
George is still in contact with Jet Jones from his year and they have met for the last few years in Chester to have a meal and chat about old times.
Ian Keymer (1952 Graduate)
After being discharged from the army in Aldershot on April Fools Day, 1947, Ian was due to start at the RVC in October 1948. However, two weeks before the Autumn term of 1947 began, somebody dropped out and he was offered the vacancy.
He was then 24 and, so he has been told since, he was regarded by some of his fellow students, fresh from school, as being rather old and bolshy. However, many students were even older than him and had experienced difficult and sometimes terrifying times during their wartime service. Ian had been downgraded from infantry training due to health reasons and served in the Royal Army Pay Corps. Having served with a non-combatant corps throughout most of his army service, he actually felt easier with the school leavers than in the company of hardened ex-combatants.
Ian was nervous when staring college as his school examination results were not exactly ideal for the first year of the course. Unfortunately, Ian’s science master at school was called up in 1940 and therefore his knowledge of chemistry and physics was rudimentary when he left school to be called up in September 1942. However, whilst stationed in Leeds he was fortunate enough to be able to study chemistry at night school and passed this subject there in the school certificate.
Despite this extra study, Ian’s chemistry oral examination at the RVC is especially memorable. Dr Clarke the lecturer and internal examiner was a great ally of the ex-serviceman. On entering the exam room, Dr Clarke immediately put Ian at ease with a beaming smile and even the external examiner seemed reasonably benevolent. Ian suspected he was a borderline case and a good oral was needed to get him through. It seemed to go well and after about 15 minutes he was told he could leave.
As he approached the door in not very well disguised haste there was suddenly a call from the external examiner “Oh! Keymer, you did not finish the last question in the written paper. I expect you did not have the time?” “Yes sir, that is correct” Ian spluttered, grasping the door handle. “Well never mind,” he said, “as it happens there is time to do it now, before we call the next student.” Panic set in as they seated him at a table and presented him with the question, to which he did not know the answer!
After a minute or two of silence, Ian suddenly thought of a means of escape. “Sir, you need to know the atomic weights of the elements in order to answer this question, and Dr Clarke told us we were not expected to remember them all”. Dr Clarke leapt to his defence, “Yes, that is quite correct, I did say that.”
After supplying Ian with the weights of the elements in question the examiner said “Now you can get on with it”. The clock on the wall ticked away and Ian’s heart beat quickened and his mind went blank. After what seemed like another 30 minutes rather than three, the examiner said “Right, what’s the problem?”. Ian did not admit defeat and still hoped for an honourable escape, so said “Sorry sir, I can’t concentrate with you two staring at me!”. After pointing out that Ian would soon have to overcome that problem as once in pratice clients would be watching him examine their animals, the examiner and Dr Clarke turned their backs to let him get on with the question.
After another period of agonising activity the turned round and confronted Ian with the inevitable remark “Lets face it, you can’t do it can you Keymer?” Ian was forced to reply with a no and he was released into the corridor feeling utterly dejected.
He later learnt that he had passed, by 1%!
Sadly, this was not the case for physiology which Ian failed along with around 20% of his year. Ian believed this was due to Professor Amoroso’s alternative agenda; to prove the point that he needed an extra term for his physiology and embryology course!
However, Ian looks back at this as the best thing that happened to him at College as he joined a club of Christmas students all of whom had failed at least one exam. They all developed a more relaxed outlook on life and most studies even became enjoyable.
Ian was sorry to graduate in December 1952 and leave Streatley, but he thinks his time at College mellowed him and prepared him for the unexpected.
Alumni Wedding
James Hopkins and Beverley Wilson first met in September 2001 in Connaught Hall where they were both living whilst studying at the RVC. James was in the second year and Bev was in the first year. They got together in May 2002 at the May Ball in Hawkshead and in February 2004 James proposed at the top of the Eiffel tower during a long weekend after his fourth year exams.James graduated from the RVC in 2005 and Bev followed in 2008.They married on a warm and sunny day in St. Brynach’s Church, Nevern, Pembrokeshire on the 20th September 2008 and celebrated afterwards with over 100 guests. Among guests were friends and family including many RVC graduates.James and Bev now live near Lampeter with their two Labradors.
Memories of a 1947 RVC Graduate
With thanks to one of our 1947 graduates for sending us this picture, taken at Streatley in July 1944.
RVC Staff and Students at Streatley, July 1944
This graduate also wrote us a letter about her career -
When I qualified I wanted to go into large animal practice – not easy in 1947. I attended an interview in Leicestershire and the senior partner raised his eyebrows and said firmly no lady LA practitioners here – how times change! I attended an interview in Derbyshire and was offered a job in a 2 man practice, no lady LA practitioner had worked for them before so the vet was quite a brave man! The salary offered was £7.00 per week and out of the £7.00 I had to pay £2.00 per week for full board in my digs. I took the job and was very happy there and got on well with the farming clients. I stayed there until March 1949 when I left to marry. I then lived in Buckinghamshire and then Cheadle where my husband and I purchased a practice in Cheadle in 1955. I worked at this practice until my retirement.
My First Job In Practice by Arthur Ashford
In a previous issue of Eclipse, I asked readers to send me articles about their first job in practice. Arthur Ashford has very kindly sent in the following article:
My first employment after qualification was an assistant in a mainly large animal practice in Devizes, Wiltshire.
Not long after I started there the Principal went on holiday leaving me in charge. Early one evening I received a call to a cow with ‘milk fever’. The cow was down just inside the entrance to a large wooden barn, filled to the roof with hay. After an I/V injection of calcium the cow was soon sitting up. Suddenly I heard a slight ‘crackling’ noise. I looked up to see, to my horror, the hay touching the roof was in flames.
Very soon the falling burning hay set the barn floor alight. I picked up the calf and ran for the entrance of the barn. Fortunately the cow, concerned for her calf, staggered to her feet and with the help of the farmer followed me outside. By now the whole barn was ablaze and the heat was extremely intense. The farmer and I ran around to adjoining buildings, opening doors and gates releasing cows and young stock.
As far as I can recall there were no casualties, but there was chaos in the local village, cattle were still being rounded up the following afternoon.
The cause of the fire was thought to be rats chewing through a cable damaging the insulation.
Alumna, Felicity Bullamore Runs for RVC
Felicity Bullamore graduated from the RVC in 2001. Felicity writes about her experience of the Great North Run in aid of the RVC.
We decided to do the Great North Run after seeing your articles in the alumni magazine. It wasn't difficult to raise the money but the training was quite hard work. We were scheduled to do a triathlon in the July so the training for that came in handy, but putting in enough miles for all the training runs was pretty tough.
We were extremely lucky that the weather was very good on the day of the run, but not so lucky when we were held back by having to start with the charity runners. This meant we had to run the first 5 miles getting around the giant elephants and bananas!
Finally we managed to break clear of the fancy-dress wearers and go for it with the more serious runners. We heard some support from the bridges as we were going along from people who recognised our t-shirts. The last mile was very hard for Phil but we managed to fight our way through - the views were amazing for those last few miles and made it a very special finish. The massage afterwards made it all worth while. We'd definitely do it again and would recommend it to any one who may be considering it - it's a great day out!!!
Felicity raised an amazing £600 for the Animal Care Trust.
Garden Photo Shoot – A Photographer’s Year Book of Garden Wildlife
by John Thurlbourn
Some of you may know John Thurlbourn. He worked at the RVC for9 years and during his time at College he lived in one of the houses inthe New Cottages Lane. The garden sparked his interest in wildlife photography and he spent a year recording all the animals that visited.
Garden Photo Shoot includes over 200 photographs, many close up, which superbly chronicle an entire year of wildlife. John shows that an English suburban garden contains a veritable zoo! His book shows that, with sympathetic management, wildlife can be enhanced and will thrive in any British back garden.
John also supports many of the Royal Veterinary College AnimalCare Trust’s events by taking amazing photographs for them, the Trust is very grateful for all his support.
Garden Photo Shoot is published by Brambleby Books, ISBN: 9780955392832 and is available online at Amazon and all good bookshops.
Captain Robert G Mares (1941 Graduate)
After qualifying and seeing service in the army during WWII, I was appointed to the then Colonial Service which led to an interest in Africa and the Tropical Medicine course at ‘Dick’ hence: 1958 DTVM Edinburgh and in 1968 I gained DAP & E London School of Hygiene. Around this time I was working on an article on Herbert Watkins-Pitchford involving me in many visits to the HQ of the Royal Army Veterinary corps. Here I met the Director Brigadier Jepson, who asked me if I would care to write a continuation of The History of the Royal Army Veterinary corps. I realised that this would mean a study of history in greater depth and in 1995 I achieved a BA in African History from SOAS. Further study of history with special reference to the colonies and Africa became more of a hobby than a career objective and I started an MA in Imperial and Commonwealth Studies at Birbeck College, London. I was struggling with this when it occurred to me that I could better use the facilities of London University to renew my efforts at writing The History of the Royal Veterinary corps. Regretfully I could not find tutors sympathetic to my intentions or with adequate knowledge of military history. Thus my academic career came to an unsatisfactory ending.
Can you help?
The History of the RAVC has not yet been published but a fairly good typescript with maps and pictures exists – Robert holds a copy as does the RAVC. Some of the chapters have been used for talks and some published. If anyone wishes to make an attempt at writing the final chapter, or concluding comments, Robert would love to hear from them. Robert, now 90 years old, concludes by saying ‘It seems we have run out of putative veterinary historians but I still have enough brain left to be able to provide information to anyone interested who requires help or encouragement to take an interest in this or any other aspect of veterinary history.
If you can help in any way please contact Vicki Laing in the Development Office.
Michael W Fox (RVC Graduate 1962)
Michael sent Eclipse this picture of the RVC class of 1962 visiting May and Baker Drug Co in Essex in 1961. Michael is pictured in the centre of the front row.
Peter Anthony FLINT – RVC Graduate 1961
I retired from General Practice in 2001. Sadly I became a widower in September 2003. When asked ‘what are you doing now’ I normally reply ‘I could potter around the house and garden for England.
I would be pleased to hear from any old friends, particularly students who may have seen practice with me, many of whom, in fact, do keep in touch.
Bob Ablett – RVC Graduate 1947
I was delighted to receive the first edition of Eclipse, and having been the Hon. Treasurer of the Alumnus Association some years ago it was nice to see it flourishing and very active.
Having retired, I passed the entrance exam at Oxford and graduated at the age of 75 – at that time the oldest graduate in the college. Subsequently I have received a Masters degree at the University of Wales and another at the Pontifical University in Ireland. I was also honoured with an invitation to Harvard as a ‘Visiting Scholar.
Last year my first book was published ‘Do Animals Have Souls – A short history of the interpretation of biblical animal texts in Christian Theology’
Brian Spar (RVC Graduate 2003) & Angela Spar née Kynaston (RVC Graduate 2002)
We moved back to my hometown in New York, USA after college and were married in February 2005 in Woodbury, NY. Several of our classmates made the long trip over for the wedding which made the day even more special.
We are now both in small animal practice on Long Island and have a 19 month old daughter named Ella grace and two cats, Ainsley (a British import) and Silvio. Brian, when not chasing after Ella, may often be found at the gym or outdoors training for his first marathon. Angela enjoys her Stroller Strides exercise classes with Ella and searching for our dream home.
Zoe Luxton (RVC Graduate 2001)
Since graduating with a BVetMed, I am now a Veterinary Officer for the Department of Agriculture in the Falkland Island. Although have only been home working in the Falklands for 18 months (after five years in Suffolk) it is obvious to me already how easy it is to slip out of touch. I keep in contact with a few close friends but it’s always nice to find out what other alumni are up to.
I have been doing work in The Jason Islands which are the most North West of the Falklands Archipelago, and are home to 65% of the world’s Black Browed Albatross and numerous Magelanic, Rockhopper and Gentoo Pengions, Cormorants, Petrels, Skuas, Striated Caracaras and smaller birds. Working with a vet from Argentina, we were blood sampling and swabbing albatross and penguins to see if any viruses that could cause avian influenza are present in the population. Here is my article.
A trip to Steeple Jason Island – 21st – 25th January 2008
Dr Marcela Uhart, a field veterinarian who works for the Wildlife Conservation in Argentina, visited Steeple Jason 5 years ago to blood sample and take swabs from several species of marine bird. Swabs are taken to see if any viruses that could cause avian influenza are present in the population and blood samples are taken to run a general screen to see what other diseases are present. In 2003 the presence of disease was low. There were some orthomyxoviruses detected (which is normal in large bird populations) but not the H5N1 strain that causes ‘bird flu’. When Marcela contacted the Veterinary Department about this 2008 visit to re-sample the populations on Steeple Jason Island she asked if we could supply an extra pair of hands. After thinking for about 1 second I quickly typed an acceptance email to Marcela and made a mental note to find my padded waterproofs.
Marcela and a colleague Flavio Quintana, a marine bird biologist from WCS, flew in on Saturday 20th January. We flew to Carcass Island the next day with the rest of the team. After a round of tea and sea sick pills, we were all aboard a rather small boat and 5 rather choppy and nauseous hours later we landed in brilliant sunshine at The Neck on Steeple Jason.
After dumping our stuff at the bungalow it was straight to work and we went off to catch 3 Black Browed Albatross to deploy some new GPS trackers that also record detailed information regarding body position as the bird is flying, feeding etc. giving Flavio an excellent insight into their habits.
The sight as the albatross colony comes into view is breat
htaking – small white dots as far as you can see, sitting on the ground, sitting on the water, gliding on the wind. If life in general had some classical music as a backing track at all times it would be 100% magical. It is only 99% magical however, purely due to the cacophony of courting parents and hungry babies and the ever pervading smell of bird poop! The GPS trackers were attached to 3 adults as Flavio cheerfully worried ‘I hope they return by the end of the week for me to retrieve the £3000 worth of trackers on each of them’. Yikes.
Monday was foggy and calm, perfect for working with Albatross as they are all sitting on the ground with nothing to do anyway as they need wind to fly. The plan was to blood sample and get swabs from up to 50 albatross, Rockhoppers and Gentoos. So off we went for phase 1 – Albatross. You need to be experienced to catch and restrain an albatross as one good chop with that beak and you are likely to be missing a finger, so Flavio had to do the heavy work while Marcy and I collected samples and Jim was in charge of labelling, defrosting and chilling the samples. We were taking swabs from the trachea and cloaca of each bird. Blood sampling an albatross proved to be the trickiest part of the day. Marcela has worked in the field with seabirds for many years and really struggled to hit the spot in several birds. I only managed to bleed a few and I’m pretty sure that was more luck than judgement. After each bird was bled and swabbed we put a tiny dot of orange spray on its head so we didn’t accidentally leap on the same ones twice.
The next day was fantastically sunny. Flavio went off to stare at the sky and will the 3 with the GPS trackers to return, Nic went off to count Rockhoppers and Marcy, Jim, Sarah and I got to work in possibly the best spot in the Southern Hemisphere. We were perched on the edge of a small colony above a rocky beach with great views of penguins and albatross coming and going. With the bright clear weather we could see Grand Jason in the distance and all the thousands of albatross fishing in the very blue water below. We started off swabbing the fledgling Rockhoppers. They are easy to catch and once they have had a wriggle they tend to settle down and actually get quite relaxed sitting on your knee. The most dangerous bit with these guys is bending down to scoop them up as they live among the albatross – and baby albatross vomit vile oil on you when threatened. Marcy and I both ended up with stinking oily fringes – I can honestly say that having a face full of albatross vomit is possible the most revolting thing that has happened to me. Ever. We swabbed 34 babies and then caught 10 adult Rockies to blood sample and swab. Again, they are reasonably easy to catch as long as you are quick, but you have to get them under control quickly as they are FURIOUS!! In one fluid movement you have to catch them, hoist them under your arm and have a firm hand on the back of their neck. In the next fluid
movement they need to be popped between your legs and their head pulled gently up so that your partner can get a drop of blood. The final phase was Gentoos. This is without doubt the hardest work!. The Gentoos have a well worn ‘motorway’ up through the tussac from the beach to the colony. Catching a Gentoo involves squatting very quietly behind a tussac bog with your partner in crime on the other side, equally well hidden. Both of you listening carefully for the slap slap slap of unsuspecting gentoo feet. As they waddle past, you grit your teeth and take a blind leap out behind the penguin. Chaos then ensues as you and your partner narrowly avoid concussive meetings of heads and throw your entire body weight onto a flapping gentoo – who still manages to get up and run off. The fluid movements of penguin catching are somewhat forgotten as you frantically attempt to control beak and flippers. By the end of the session we were lined with neat, flipper width bruises on every available limb. They are, however, pretty co-operative to bleed and swab once restrained and rush off looking mildly upset when released as opposed to the Rockies who turn around for a final snip at you when you release them. After 46 Gentoos we had finished our project, just in time as ones knees were starting to feel the strain.
Olaf Swarbrick (RVC Graduate 1948)
Olaf sent Eclipse this photograph taken in Holme Park, Reading, after most of the RVC was evacuated to Reading University at Sonning and Streatley during the Second World War. Olaf tells Eclipse that lectures were held in a hut, while dissections were carried out in the stables. The student on the far left of the second row was Peter Storie-Pugh, who was incarcerated as a P.O.W in Colditz and went on to become President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Olaf has collected an amazing document containing the signatures of as many people in this photo as possible, if you are featured here please contact us so we can add your signature too.
