Colin Dower

Retires After 49 Years

TOM LAGDEN, HEAD GARDENER, HAD SOME WORDS TO SAY ABOUT COLIN AS HE LEAVES: fallen in the wars, and the allotments that previously existed where Epworth Close now stands, providing daily produce for the School kitchen. Most notably though, Colin remembers the solar eclipse of August 1999. “It was a huge event on the sports terrace where anybody was invited. We had loads of people come from all over the country to camp out and watch the eclipse. I was there to help set it all up and act as sort of security throughout the night. But no one slept – everyone was there with their telescopes looking up at the sky all night long!”

Today Colin has mixed feelings about retirement, but is looking forward to spending time with his wife of 43 years, Julie, and visits from their four sons, who all live in Cornwall. When asked if he had any big plans for the coming years, Colin’s only immediate jobs are all the house improvements he has had plans for, but mostly just to “wind down”. Colin leaves a legacy of having designed and planted all the gardens at the Prep site, which previously did not have any planting at all. Colin also designed and planted the Celebration Garden at the Senior site.

On behalf of the School, we wish Colin a well-deserved restful retirement.

“From what I understand when Colin went to the Prep site, his first big project was to turn the headmaster’s old overgrown garden into the mixed border you see outside the canteen. Since I have known him he has always been looking for new projects to improve the site, with a raised bed at the front being his last addition. He has an extensive knowledge and passion for horticulture, plants and wildlife. He has been ahead of the curve managing the site in a sustainable way to improve biodiversity before it was popular to do so. He is also hardworking and tidy in his work – in fact, I’ve never seen such a clean tractor!

I believe he set the standard at the Prep for the rest of the Gardening team, and in the nearly five years I’ve been here, it has been the standard I have worked to and hoped to achieve. He has been an inspiration to me and the rest of the gardeners and is a well-respected member of staff. He has always been there if I have a horticultural question and has always been happy to help and guide us. He helped us to design and plant the Celebration Garden. Even though he hasn’t worked at the Senior site for several years, his all-round knowledge has been invaluable; from the gardens to the cricket pitches, he is a source of knowledge.”

Lower Sixth psychologists put their questionnairedesigning skills to the test earlier this year, applying their knowledge of attachment types to their own research, finding out what Sixth Form students at Truro School felt about attachment to Cornwall.

They asked eight questions, from which they analysed attachment types:

Securely attached to Cornwall (home base, don’t mind going away, but love to come back and miss it a bit when away)

Insecure-avoidant attachment to Cornwall (look forward to leaving, don’t miss Cornwall when away)

Insecure-resistant attachment to Cornwall (love Cornwall so much they feel homesick and displaced when not in the county)

66 Truro School Sixth Form students responded to the questionnaire.

The results were that 39 people had lived here 10+ years; half were securely attached and half insecureavoidant, with only 1 person being insecure-resistant. 1/3 of the other 27 people, who’d lived in Cornwall

What does it mean to be Cornish?

for less than 10 years, were securely attached to Cornwall whereas 2/3 were classified as insecure-avoidant.

This seems to show that more securely attached students tend to have grown up in Cornwall. However, many students were securely attached who hadn’t, showing the strength of feeling for the county. A significant number also showed insecure-avoidant attachment, indicating that they are looking forward to moving on to new things and new places. This shows that they are positive about university and life beyond Cornwall.

A final question was asked, “What does it mean to be Cornish?”. Chloe, an Upper Sixth Psychology student, practised her thematic analysis skills in summarising the varied responses to this question:

Personal heritage and emotion linked to Cor nwall (my home, pride, community, lived and grown up in Cornwall, born here, distinctive heritage, emotional when hearing “This is my Cornwall”, will never forget Cornwall, knowing people and places, very important, identity in Cornwall). One student responded with their own poem:

“I live, breathe and sleep, dream of Cornwall.

I feel the Kernow in my blood, When I cross that Tamar I feel heart-wrench. I believe in the independence and strength of Cornwall. LONG LIVE CORNWALL. I will never leave.”

Heritage and traditions of Cornwall (pasties, scones with jam then cream, surfing, rugby, mining, tea drinking, slow pace of life, other traditions)

Geography of Cornwall (beach, weather & rain, seagulls, rural, coast, a beautiful place)

Language used in Cor nwall (emmets, accent, “my lover”, “my superstar”, lingo)

Dislike of outsiders (emmets, xenophobic, anywhere past Devon is up north)

Inability to answer the question because “I’m not Cornish”. This implies that an understanding of what it means to be Cornish is something deeply personal and varied between people, to the extent that someone who feels they aren’t Cornish sometimes can’t explain what being Cornish is.

But what does it mean to be Cornish as an Old Truronian? Does your Cornish identity change after leaving? Is having gone to School in Cornwall something you are proud of?

Thanks to Jack, Lola, Diana, Ben, Toby, Henry and Chloe for giving up their time to analyse a large quantity of data. And thanks to the 66 students who took their time responding to the questionnaire.