Nopadol Saropala was recently in the UK visiting from Bangkok, and managed to pay us a visit, along with Mohammad Hadi and Tim Burge 1967-1976. 

Dr Nopadol Saropala 1971-1977, Beaufort House

Teachers:

*Dr. Thresher-House Master and Biology teacher

*Mr Brown -Chemistry teacher

*Mr. David Rollit -Physics teacher. Sadly he passed away. He was a great rugby player and played for Bristol as well as for England.

Famous friends:

I was in the same class as Chris Broad the cricketer.

Tim travelled the world but is now back living on the other side of Purdown. Tim attended Colston’s Prep School which was across the road and was in Court, Aldington, and Roundway Houses.

Nop said “Tim was one of my closest friends. He was the cleverest in our class along with another chap named Jenkins. He certainly was extremely bright, good at sports (a cricketer) and a very pleasant person.

Tim and I were the only two students in our class who did Medicine. He went to Bristol Medical School and became a Plastic Surgeon. I went to The Royal Free Medical School for Women which was part of London University. I believe it was the first Medical School to admit women to study Medicine. I became an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, practicing in Bangkok.”

Nop said “ It was a lovely afternoon and I can’t thank Andy enough for walking us around. I think he was just as excited to learn what the school was like fifty years ago, as we were, to visit the school again. The first stop after we met Andy was the Design and Technology Department which in those days was called the Woodwork shop/department. Stepping inside immediately brought back memories. Apart from the 3D machine the place looks much the same. I could picture in my head the teacher who taught us to make all those wooden crafts /furniture even if I couldn’t remember his name.

Glancing at a shelf the wooden dowels rods caught my eyes. They were the ones I used to make a small fruit bowl with. Next was the tuck shop which is now the OC office I believe. 

The grounds and pitches look the same today fifty years on. The buildings look exactly the same from outside but obviously on the inside the interior decoration has been modernized. 

I would have liked to have gone inside the science building but it was locked due to it being the school holidays. On the ground floor was the Chemistry lab where Mr. Brown worked and taught. He was also the House Master of Mortlake House. Upstairs was Biology where Dr. Thresher taught us how to dissect rats and frogs. I never thought that that skill would be the stepping stone to my career.

More than anything else I wanted to walk down the path which we took when we went for the gruelling 2.5 and 5 mile runs and Andy took us as far as the Forest School.”

You can read more about Nop’s career in the up and coming Chronicle.