In May 1990, I got married to Polly whom I met through my interest in cricket.
Our daughter Sapphira was born to us in January 1997. Shortly thereafter we relocated from London in December 1999 to reside in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, and so far have enjoyed virtually every minute of it.
I still have an interest in cricket, but alas it has dwindled over the years, so much so that I will not be playing in the Summer of 2002 for any club (though I may be tempted on the very odd occasion to play when chance permits for any team). Instead I prefer now to concentrate on my family
life and pursue other interests such as photography and videography in the process.
I am also very keen to find old acquaintances from my Suntrap days. The ultimate goal would be to have some form of re-union despite the fact that the school no longer exists on Hayling.
Jez.
November 27th, 2001
Student Photo Album
Page One
For those of you who don't know brothers Jerry and Peter (Suntrap web site administrators) this page will give you a small insight to who we are but for those who know us, here's an update on how we've progressed in life, what we've done and where we are today.
We arrived at Suntrap on Tuesday, September 10th 1974, very nervous and uncertain.
I left England in August of 1987, moving to the United States to begin a new life. I've been employed, since my arrival as Manager of an auto parts business.
I'm happily married to Annie and we live in Queens, New York.
My hobbies include computer games and graphics but on days off, I enjoy playing golf with the wife or camping outdoors and horseback riding. Cricket & football (team sports) are not the choice of sports, here in America. My new interest is to play and watch American football.
Another important part of my life is the active participation in church. I guess the days spent at St Marys and later The United Reform Church whilst on Hayling Island, has led me back to the spiritual life. I became a Lay Eucharistic Minister with the guidance from Rev. Roy Waywell (who also happens to be a fellow Englishman) so I'm now part of a larger family of All Saints Church, Richmond Hill, New York.
Pete
November 24th, 2001
Peter.
I know for myself, that I seldom missed home, as Suntrap was a breath of fresh air, in more ways than one. Those days remain the best of my childhood and I often wish, the clock could be turned back, even if, for an instance. Jerry and I were both known for our interest and ability to play cricket, although we did mature in other sports whilst at
Suntrap and Hayling Secondary. One popular sport was "Rounders" which boys and girls alike, would rush from a busy day in school, to play with Sister Dempster who'd pitch the ball. Another favourite, was when the boys challenged girls or was that girls challenging boy's in football. The girls sported a very good team led by Yvonne Nelson who by herself was a very talented player. Wow! Those girls certainly showed us boys a thing or two on playing
football.
Many good memories which also included tag games with kids eluding capture by going on the school roof. How about muckin around in the laundry room or night time kissin with your sweetheart in the darker areas of the school premises and who could forget those last nights of school term when everyone played up. We would angle the dormitory doors to spot the night nurses approaching from the refection off the glass which allowed us to jump into beds before they arrived. Popular night time events included pillow fights, "dare" or simply sneak between girls and boys dormitories but one night even a fire extinguisher (water) fight took place. Good luck to those who were caught but great stuff and wonderful memories.
I was never one to learn with school books so upon leaving school in 1981, I made the decision to work and through an apprenticeship became a professional sheet metal worker, welder which included the construction of "emergency backup generators" I totally enjoyed this line of work but the welding was seriously affecting my asthma so after six years plus in the business, I quit and found myself on a plane to a new horizon.
Sapphira at age two and half before the relocation to Milton Keynes.
Jerry.
Like my brother Peter,
I too felt that Suntrap
School was a 'breath of fresh air ' and am thankful for the major influence and experiences it had on both our lives. There are perhaps three main reasons for why, unlike other children, we liked and enjoyed our stay there so much.
One would definitely be the
'cultural' marriage from our
ethnic background of
'Indo-Caribbean' (Guyana)
with that of the 'western'
world. The other would be
related to the domestic
problems at home in
Chiswick, London from
which incidentally led to the
separation of our parents in
1975, and their eventual
divorce in 1976.
The other reason, and
certainly for me the most
important one was that I
enjoyed it so much as I became part of what is generally considered a "much larger family" and I guessed it helped to be fairly popular too amongst both the children and staff.
Even to this day I am often reminded of the reputation I had with the girls!
I remember all the fun I had, playing cricket, football, jacks, rounders, swimming in the sea during summer and all the other mischievous things we got up too. From shopping on either the island or across the bridge in
Havant, Chichester or Portsmouth, to the Youth Hostel trips and other School trips undertaken.
In 1977, Peter and I were sent out to attend the Hayling Secondary School along with Teresa Wasowicz and Jill Scott to help improve our chances on the education front.
After leaving Suntrap in 1980 I went to the Hammersmith & West London College in Barons Court London. Just as well, as I needed to improve upon my grades obtained at Hayling Secondary as I was perhaps sent there just a
little too late in 1977 to make the necessary adjustment and so achieve as well as I should have done. Here at College, I acquired some GCE 'O' and 'A' Levels over the course of 3 years before embarking on a career in the Telecommunications industry.
My career kicked off in British Telecom in 1984, working within their payment collection department before progressing to the accounts and credit control department.
I left British Telecom in October 1988 to take up a role within Mercury Communications (as it was called way back then) and have been with Cable and Wireless ever since. The latter years being in the capacity as an Information Analyst.
