Tributes and Memories

Eric Kemp CO55 1937 - 2023

He ran away from Truro School after being falsely accused of stealing, only to be returned several hours later by a friend of the Headmaster Mr Creed (TS 19461959), who had seen him walking on the road not far from Camborne, trying to get a lift back home to St Ives. In the early 1970s Eric became involved in politics and was a Liberal Party Councillor for St Ives.

Eric Kemp passed away peacefully on Sunday 26 February 2023 at home, aged 85 years.

Eric was an only child, born to John and Ann Kemp on 26 June 1937. He was educated locally in his home town of St Ives, Cornwall, until he was 12 years old, when he went on to attend Truro School as a boarder. Eric describes the many events of his times at Truro School in his book Yes Dad, I Want to Go to Sea; how he changed from a finicky eater to one who would eat almost anything as the food in those days was not plentiful.

Eric had a long and varied maritime career after his training at the Thames Nautical Training College on The Worcester, moored on the Thames at Greenhithe, Kent. He always said that it was the strict and harsh routine on The Worcester that toughened him up for life.

He married Jill England, a teacher and local St Ives girl (d 2015). They had two sons, Ian and Jeremy; three grandchildren, Sam, Chloe and Erin and one great-grandson, Theo.

Eric had a strong Christian faith and was a local Methodist preacher for many years; it was this incredible faith that sustained and comforted him during the final two years of his life.

Eric worked for long periods of time away from home, travelling to and from West Africa. He eventually studied and qualified as a Master Mariner and gained the

From RNLI

position of a ship’s captain on the Queen of the Isles, a passenger vessel travelling from St Ives/Penzance to the Isles of Scilly. He was immensely contented to be back with his family in St Ives.

He went on to be a self-employed Trinity House pilot for Penzance harbour, and these were happy times. Whilst working as a pilot, Eric became the Secretary of the St Ives Lifeboat, a position which he retained for 10 years. Eric then worked as a Fisheries Officer before taking early retirement in 1999 to spend more time with Jill.

In 2000, with more time on his hands, Eric accepted the position of Chairman of the Newlyn Fish Festival. Eric had a good tenor voice and was a member of Mousehole Male Voice Choir for 23 years, until his diagnosis of leukaemia forced him to withdraw. During his retirement, Eric also decided to start writing about his father’s long maritime career. There followed two more books, this time documenting his own life and career. Eric’s fourth and final book, A Sailor’s Odyssey in the Palm Line, was completed in the last few weeks of his life and it will be published in the summer of this year (2023).

TRIBUTE BY ERIC’S FRIEND, PENNIE HALLOWS

Eric was involved closely with the RNLI’s Penlee Lifeboat station over the years; he went on two ‘shouts’ with Penlee and was secretary of the RNLI’s St. Ives Lifeboat Station for 10 years. He served on the Trinity House vessel Stella, was captain on the Queen of the Isles and was pilot for Newlyn, Penzance and St. Ives. Eric will last be remembered closing his career as Fisheries Officer at Falmouth.

Simon Fairless CO80

1962 - 2023

At Truro School, you quickly get taught three key life learnings: (a) be true to yourself, (b) it is all about family, (c) when you decide on a job/career, make sure that it’s one that you enjoy, as you will be doing it for a long time. Simon lived these three life learnings to the full.

Anyone that knew Simon would appreciate his slightly quirky sense of humour, his tremendous loyalty and his passion for creativity. Simon took his flair to the rugby and cricket fields. He was an outstanding running full-back, in an era when the full-back was just supposed to catch the ball and aimlessly hoof it as far as possible down the paddock. As a member of the front-row union our preference was always for scrums and lineouts, and a rest, rather than trying to keep up with Simon’s off-the-cuff runs.

A swashbuckling cavalier batsman, he had no fear of even the fastest of bowlers. One fine innings for the Albert Taverners against Brixton, he held the Taverners’ innings together by going onto the front foot, a Sir Viv Richardesque performance.

A proud Geordie, the Toon were always close to his heart, even in the days when it was more popular to support other teams. Simon remained true to himself, and always knew precisely where Newcastle were in the league. A keen and energetic hill-walker, Simon loved spending time in the Lake District and the Brecon Beacons.

My own enduring memory was walking the Pennine Way together with Simon and Paul Ferris. Somehow, we always seemed to find a pub, the most famous being the ultra-remote Tan Hill. At the end of the walk, Simon proudly took us to Wallsend to meet his extended family, and many an eye-opening evening was spent in working men’s clubs.

Family was extremely important to Simon; he was immensely proud of his two brothers, Stephen and Matthew, and their families. In the last 10 years, and especially during the pandemic, he provided much loving support to his parents.

Simon studied Economic History at Leeds University, leaving to work in Sales and Recruitment in London. He was a natural, but this was not what he wanted. In his 30s Simon made a dramatic career change when he decided to follow his life’s passion as an artist and photographer. He became very successful with a worldwide following and many prestigious commissions, and he leaves an abundant and prolific body of work.

There will be endless debates around which was Simon’s greatest work. Personally, it is his large-scale fine-pencil drawing of the London skyline. This took Simon nine years to complete off and on, and number one of 1,000 proudly hangs on a wall in New Zealand. The attention to detail in how the framed picture arrived, safely in one piece, the constant tracking and checking, tells its own story.

Simon could never sit around doing nothing, and his care for others always greatly shone through. He kept in touch with many of his schoolmates, the CO80, who still meet annually, with Simon always being one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. There will be an empty seat at the table this year, and a pint of Doom Bar, in mark of respect.

So Simon, we were given three life boxes to tick at Truro School, and without a shadow of a doubt you have magnificently managed to tick all three. Well done!

Go well, my dearest of friends.

Richard Granville Jones CO44

2026 - 2022

The Reverend Dr Richard Jones, known to everyone as Dick Jones, was a former President of the Methodist Conference, Chair of East Anglia District, principal of our training college Hartley Victoria, Lecturer at Manchester University, author of books and hymn writer of note. And a proud Cornishman!

He was also my dad, greatly loved and much missed.

He was impressed with all that Truro School had achieved in days of difficulty as well as ease, and always took a lively interest in the School. Both his grandson and granddaughter came to the School. And each year when I brought dad and mum down on holiday, we would drive through and he would tell us stories from those days. He attended with his older brother Cecil Jones (TS 19341940), and I have a photograph of him as a Senior Prefect, with him on one end and Robert Shaw, who became a famous actor, on the other!

Tribute by Richard’s daughter, Nichola Jones