David Heywood (OE1951-58)
Dave was a member of the outstanding cadet force led by Colonel Hill during his time at Emanuel. One day, there was to be a big presentation with all sections present along with school officials, dignitaries and parents. There was to be a band as part of the presentation but the usual band members were in disgrace for some misdemeanour. Dave, along with some friends, volunteered to be bugle players in the band in order to avoid tedious marching practice. However, the disgraced band members had removed the mouthpieces of the bugles so practice was all but impossible. The day before the presentation, with the promised delivery of new mouthpieces failing to arrive, Dave and the other bugle players, J Bond, Pat Reel, Bill Bean and Terry Clark hatched a plan. Bond was a fantastic bugle player so they decided that they would all pretend to play while Bond performed for them all.
On the day, everyone marched on in all their finery and when the command ‘General salute’ was given, they took position. The drums rolled, the band started to play and a terrible squealing noise was emitted from Bond’s bugle. A disgruntled Colonel Hill came swiftly over to find out what the problem was. On being informed that nobody was in a position to play the bugle, Hill was both angry and embarrassed. The four shame-faced bugle players were marched off immediately, leaving an embarrassed Colonel Hill to face the assembled throng. It turned out that Bond’s trumpet had been sabotaged with paper stuffed down it.
David met his CCF conspirator and lifelong friend Terry Clark (OE1950-57) on his first day at Emanuel. They are still firm friends now and godparents to each other’s children, despite Dave living in Australia.
On Dave’s last trip over to England, Terry arranged a meeting between Dave and Bill Bean (OE1950-55) who had been at Belleville Primary School and Emanuel with Dave but they had not seen each other for 50 years. They met in a pub near Fulham FC and as they saw each other across the room, they both broke into the Emanuel song.
Dave says he loved Emanuel and everything about it. He went into the civil service after leaving school and then decided to train to be a teacher. He was lured by an advert on the London Underground to seek out a better quality of life in sunny Australia and went there in 1970.
Dave’s first teaching post was in ‘the bush’ in Somerton, 450 miles from Sydney. He was surprised to find that the school comprised of 17 students and he was the sole teacher there. Dave spent three wonderful years there with no attention whatsoever from the education department.
He then went on to study an Arts degree majoring in History at the University of Queensland before teaching in various schools including the prestigious Brisbane State High where he became acting headteacher of the Philosophy and Logic department. Dave is still teaching ancient history two days a week at a Queensland private school.