Old Princethorpians

OP Paul Smith (1975-82) contacted us back in early November to let us know that his good friend and fellow Old Princethorpian, Adrian (Ade) McBride had very sadly passed away a few weeks before aged just 51.

Paul remembers...

We both left the College in 1982 and attended Oxford Poly (as it was then) keeping in touch as the years passed. Adrian’s two brothers also went to the College and his elder sister Dominica also taught at Princethorpe for a while.

I went to his funeral last week which was well attended  - although we both went to Princethorpe a long time ago, I am sure some ex pupils and staff will remember him fondly. We both studied A-level and O-level Economics with the recently retired Peter Griffin who may recall us but I guess alot of pupils will have passed through his classes since we left.

His funeral also highlighted his love for poetry which I know was heavily influenced by our English teacher Barbara Carpenter who taught us both at O-level.

We thank Paul for getting in touch and our thoughts and prayers go out to Adrian's partner, his children, family and friends.

Huge congratulations to Fiona Lane and her partner David Smith on the birth of little Freddie Smith-Lane.

Fiona left Princethorpe in 2000 at the end of Year 11. And from there she went into the family business, they have a bait farm and a fishing tackle and country clothing shop in Coventry, W.H.Lane & Son, which she now runs with her two brothers who also went to Princethorpe. David and Tom Lane.

Fiona got engaged to David Smith earlier this year and Freddie Smith-Lane was born on Friday 5 Feburary 2016, weighing in at 7.15lb at Warwick Hospital.

We wish them all the very best with the joys of parenthood!

James Goodfellow OP, who died tragically in a motor accident on 1 December 2015, aged 30, is remembered warmly by Princethorpians for his friendliness, kindness and fairness.

James was someone who contributed much to the musical life of the school under the guidance of Sue Francis. He was easy-going, good-humoured and able to get on with everyone. He had grown accustomed to being surrounded by school life as his father was employed by Rugby School, where James had worked during school holidays.

On leaving school, James had a growing love of agriculture and the countryside and ultimately established his own company, The Wild Oven, based in Stratford-upon-Avon which catered for weddings and outdoor events. James could turn his hand to anything, including cutting a hole in the side of his immaculate Land Rover Defender to accommodate an oven which was used to cook delicious food, all sourced from British farms.

James’s entrepreneurial skills won him the respect of many and he was always wonderfully supported by his parents and a wide circle of friends to whom we extend our deepest sympathy. James was Goodfellow by name and good fellow by nature.

Many congratulations to OP James Ferris who got married to fiancee Simone Costello on 23 May 2015.

James is Assistant Head at Princethorpe's Junior School, Crackley Hall and Simone is a Clothing Supply Chain Analyst for Sainsbury's Supermarkets.

We wish them both every happiness in the future!

Congratulations to OP Cressida Woodcock who is getting married to her fiancee Joshua Swales in the Cotswolds on Saturday 1 July 2017.

The happy couple became engaged in Monaco in September 2015.

Joshua works in recruitment in Birmingham and Cressida is a Contract Consultant for Manpower in Lutterworth. The couple live in Rugby (where Cressida is from) but Josh originally harks from Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire.

We wish them both all the happiness in the world!

OP Matt Parsons has been working at the College since 2012, here he recounts how love blossomed for him and fiancee Kate at Princethorpe.

Kate Boothroyd arrived at Princethorpe College as a new Spanish teacher in September 2012 and I started the summer before as a Design Technology teacher. We got to know each other later in the summer term as we both went on the Year 7 French trip. From then on we became closer friends and as time passed we became inseparable. She became my best friend and we realised soon after that we had feelings for each other, so we decided to date.

Things moved fast. We spent the summer touring round France in my camper van and realised that we wanted to spend our lives together. On her birthday on October 8th and after only seven months of dating I asked her to marry me. To my delight she said yes and we are getting married on 21st October 2016.

Princethorpe has given me so much. Not only a fantastic education, a wonderful job, superb friends and endless opportunities, it has given me the person that I've been looking for all my life. My soul mate, best friend and love of my life.

A huge congratulations to Cat Welch (nee Silcock) and her husband Julian on the safe arrival of their third son, Francis Alexander Benjamin Welch.

Francis, or Frankie as he is known, was born in a pool in the living room at home on 14 October, while his brothers (Fred, aged six years and Felix, aged three) slept upstairs. He weighed in at 8lbs 2oz.

Frankie was baptised on 15 November. Cat's brother Donald (1991-1993 Princethorpe) is godfather to all three boys.

We wish the whole family all the very best.