(PC 1959-65)
“It is with great sadness that I have to inform you my dear wife of 51 years, Christine Myra Askew (nee Moore) passed away on the 3rd November at the age of 74.
She attended Stockton Heath Primary before going onto Penrhos.
Chris went to Catering College in Liverpool and as part of her training, she learnt Silver Service and spent the summer at the prestigious St George’s Hotel, Llandudno.
After successfully qualifying, Chris decided that catering was not for her after all, and she decided to become a nurse spending 4 years at the original Liverpool Royal Hospital which in those days was when Matron ruled the roost.
Christine became the site nurse during the final part of the construction of the Fiddler Ferries Power Station and even had to climb up one of the towers to assist an injured contractor. Chris then moved to Runcorn’s Bass Charrington Preston Brook Brewery.
Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with MS and as her health slowly began to deteriorate, she was then diagnosed with Breast Cancer, which she overcame, but then she started to suffer from Alzheimer’s and the combination accelerated the decline in her health and ability to be self-sufficient. Chris very bravely fought all these illnesses stoically, with little complaint and much hiding of her personal discomfort.
Chris leaves behind her husband Christopher, daughter Julia and son Stephen and her Grandchildren, Hollie, Jacob, Ella, and Emily.
Kind regards
Chris (Her Husband)”
(PC 1936-45)
“It is with great sadness I let you know of the death of my mother, Sonia (Burkett) Brown, on 10th November 2022 aged 94.
She had 2 years in Junior School before the college was transferred to Chatsworth House under the guidance of Miss Smith. She was proud to have been ‘Chatsworth Girl’ and spoke fondly of her time there. For many years we were members of the Chiltern and Thames Valley Branch OPA enjoying meeting up with other ‘Old Girls’, sadly nearly all of whom have predeceased her.
After my father’s retirement my parents moved to Wollaston from High Wycombe to live 3 doors away so we were close in every sense of the word, even more so following the death of my father 14 years ago.A much loved mother, grandmother and great grandmother she will be missed beyond measure by her family.
RegardsCaroline (Brown) Rivett”
(PC 1945-50)
"Originally from Bury, Shirley went to Penrhos aged 13. Her younger sister Christine (Chris) joined her later. Shirley’s first 2 terms were spent at Chatsworth House, as the schoolchildren were evacuated there during the war. It sounds very glamorous, but Shirley often talked about her time there and how cold it was. She remembers skating on the frozen lake and one of her closest friends, Kathleen Gill (known as Gilly) awoke one morning with her pig-tails frozen to the pillow. Despite the harsh winter Shirley had a good time, made lots of good friends and retained a life-long love of Chatsworth.
Whilst at Penhros, Shirley was in a running team (relay) and won a competition to throw a cricket ball the furthest. She also played tennis.
Shirley made life-long friends during her time at Penrhos. It was here that she met Betty Crighton, later Betty Kelly, who lived on the Isle of Man. Both before and after her marriage, Shirley spent many holidays on the island. Her 4 grandchildren were with her on her final trip in 2018.
After school, Shirley went to teacher training college in Greenwich, London. She then returned to Bury where she remained for the rest of her life."
(PC 1955-61)
Helen sadly passed away in November 2022. She will be sadly missed by all at the Preston and North Lancashire branch of the OPA, where she never missed a meeting.
(RS 1940-43)
"Professor (emeritus) Alistair Christopher Rose-InnesMA (Oxon), DPhil, DSc(Manchester), FInstP, FIEE, CEng, MRSS(04/Dec/1926 – 24/July/2022)
Christopher Rose-Innes was part of what is known as the Greatest Generation; born during the Great Depression, and whose formative years were shaped by the Second World War. He attended Rydal School, which was normally in Colwyn Bay but its buildings had been requisitioned by a government ministry for the war. It was then temporarily housed in Oakwood Park which had previously been a hotel. It was a very sport-based school but in spite of having little sporting skill, he had a very happy four years there. After achieving his School Certificate, equivalent to O levels, He had just one term in the sixth form before in 1943 going up (aged 17) to Merton College, Oxford, to read Law as his parents deemed he should become a solicitor. However, in 1944, on his 18th birthday, he volunteered to join the Royal Navy. The Navy for some reason thought studying Law qualified him as a Radar Instructor and sent him to Northampton Polytechnic to study electrical engineering. Following training he was promoted to Petty Officer (he claimed, one of the youngest in the Navy at that time) and became an instructor on ranging radar for anti-aircraft guns. Post WW2 his last job with the Navy was supervising dumping of tons of radio and radar equipment into the river Clyde as it was feared that if these were not disposed of, the electronic industry would stagnate for many years.
On returning to Oxford, Christopher switched to Physics and having completed his undergraduate degree stayed on as a post-graduate. After three years of research, he submitted his D.Phil. thesis. Then there was a hiatus; his thesis disappeared! It should have been sent to the external examiner Prof. Andrew at Bangor University, but it was sent instead to Prof Bangor at St Andrews University. It was eventually tracked down and he was awarded his doctorate.
Following Oxford, Christopher worked on semiconductor research at the Services Electronics Research Laboratory (SERL) where he undertook pioneering research into the production and properties of semiconductors which could have useful properties for electronics, infra-red detectors and the like. While at SERL, he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship meaning he spent a year at Rutgers University, New Jersey. The young family travelled to New York on The Queen Mary and stayed in New York at the Tudor Hotel for a few days during which time he picked up a hire car, which was one of the perks of the fellowship. This was the time when American cars were at their biggest and glitziest. The Chevrolet Bel Air was 8ft wide with just two forward gears and did eight miles to the American gallon. It had automatic gear change and he had never driven an automatic before. The garage attendant gave him minimum instruction and he drove out into 5th Avenue. A car approached, he braked and the engine stalled. He then found he did not know how to restart it: so was stranded across one of the busiest thoroughfares in New York while a great traffic jam built up both directions. He had never felt so lonely in his life. Eventually a bus pushed him to the side and after some experiment he discovered how to start the car.
On returning to SERL. Christopher wrote his first book, an introduction to semiconductors. He was then given the job of setting up a low temperature laboratory at SERL. He was given £5000 (quite a lot of money in those days) and told “don’t come and ask me how or what you spend it on, but it must be working in three months’ time, and by whether or not you achieve this you will be judge if we were right in hiring you”. The low temperature laboratory he designed was an innovation because it used liquid helium which could now be bought from BOC Ltd to make the low temperature and consequently apparatus could be simpler and more versatile because each did not have to incorporate its own refrigerator. This design became the blueprint for many other low temperature laboratories and was described in his book Low Temperature Techniques. This and the co-authored book Introduction to Superconductivity ran into multiple editions and were translated into several languages. They remained one of the standard books on the subject and were still on the recommended reading list when his grandson was studying Physics.
In 1964, Christopher was offered a post at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). In 1966 he was appointed as the Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering and rose to become Vice Principle and then Dean of the university. He was awarded the UMIST Medal in recognition of his services to the University.
During his time at UMIST, Christopher was appointed Royal Society Visiting Professor to Poland and so in 1971 drove his growing family across Europe and into communist Poland. This was during the Soviet domination of that country which meant that everyday life was very difficult with little available in the state shops and long queues. Fortunately, his wife Barbara’s skill with languages enabled her to learn Polish quite quickly so she could shop in the local markets. Also use was made of the `Official` Black Market where one could buy things with foreign currency, otherwise unobtainable in the ordinary shops.
Despite the difficulties, the Rose-Innes family had a very enjoyable four months in Poland, largely because of the hospitality of the Polish people. One evening a week the British Ambassador, Nicholas Henderson (later Ambassador to the United States), held open house for any Brits who happened to be in Warsaw. He would ask Christopher to tell him about everyday Polish life because he and his staff were excluded from this.
One of his responsibilities while at UMIST was as Chairman of The Campus Beautification Committee. He was thus responsible for the commissioning of much of the public art on the UMIST Campus, including the Vimto Sculpture and Archimedes’ Eureka Moment.
Retirement meant Christopher could concentrate on becoming an artist himself. So, while his wife read, gardened, and filled the house with music, he drew, painted, and filled the house with sculptures.
Following the submission of a portfolio of his works, Christopher was admitted to The Royal Society of Sculptors (MRSS). He was active member of the Stockport Art Guild and was elected President of the Guild in 2007. During his presidency the Guild celebrated its 100 anniversary and was named Art Club of the Year by The Artist Magazine.
Christopher’s wife, Barbara, died in 2021 and he is survived by one son and two daughters."