The Rob Steel that I knew
By Neville Lane
The following collection of photos marks some of the times I have had with Rob. They bring back some great memories for me.
1978: The picture on the right is at Ullswater in the Lake District is of Rob, John, and Andy eating Kendal Mint Cake, which sustained us through our trip. I remember that we intended to do a mixture of camping and bed and breakfasting. The first night we pitched our tent, but I was surprised to find that the others had got out while I slept, owing to the fact that the ground – and our bedding - was soaking. We spent the rest of the time in B&Bs/Youth Hostels.Rob’s navigational skills, which included finding the best places for a beer, were a feature of the holiday.
On the left Rob taking his turn at the oars on Ullswater.
1979: The photo on the right was taken outside the house that I was renting a room in (in Coleridge Avenue, Carshalton) just prior to setting off for a tour of southern Ireland with Rob and Graham. My house almost backed on to the football ground at which I joined Rob for several of the Robins’ games. The photo to the left was in southern Ireland. The holiday was a mixture of several of the things that I came most to associate with Rob: cycling, landscape, beer and music.
Rob on crutches in Dovedale and relaxing on a Greek beach
1980: Holiday in the Greek Islands. Those were the days when you could sleep on the beach (which we did) and leave your rucksack of belongings there if you went off for the day (which we also did). We spent most of our time on this holiday on the beaches, reading our books and just unwinding after a year’s teaching. I remember going across to Antiparos from Paros on a small boat, but not being able to come back on the day we had intended because the sea conditions were too rough. The boat-master just shrugged his shoulders and said that we would just have to wait until the sea calmed, which it did a couple of days later. We went to a few other of the Cyclades islands this year and the next, just relaxing and enjoying the sunshine during our school holidays.
1981: I was teaching at Danes Hill, a boys’ prep school in Oxshott, while Rob was teaching at Wallington Boys’ Grammar. We arranged a couple of Easter holiday trips together, taking about 15-20 boys between us, first to the Peak District and then to the Lakes. On the day before we were to set off for the Peak District Rob broke his foot, however, he determinedly decided to go ahead with the trip. I really don’t know how he managed to cover the distance, but somehow he did.
1984: Rob was my best man when I married Jane in Kenfig, South Wales, in September 1984. The two of us spent the night before the wedding in a small B&B in Porthcawl. I remember that Rob was very disappointed indeed about the paucity of drinking holes in the town. On the morning of the wedding we did have a bit of a panic because Rob couldn’t find his underpants, but the wedding itself went smoothly enough though.
1999: Here is a photo of Rob on a visit to Devon, on a cycle ride with Jane, Richard and Emily, and afterwards against our garden wall. He had a great way with our children, always being at ease with them and making them smile:
2012: Rob’s house – Tower Cottage in Carshalton – seemed to typify him and I loved to visit. Here he is outside the conservatory:
2014: Here are a couple of photos of Rob’s wedding party and one of Rob in the kitchen at Tower Cottage the next morning. The top photo shows Rob and Jacqui, then Rob with Paul, me, Patsy and John. The bottom photo shows the brothers Scales who put on a splendid vocal performance as always.
2016: Jane and I stayed with Rob and Jacqui in Downton one night. We were very impressed with the work that they had done on the garden at Headlands House in particular. This photo of Rob and Jacqui was taken on the route of what should have been a public footpath, which Rob was very annoyed to find had not been kept clear:
2017: Here is Rob with Patrick and Graham at Headlands House during one of Graham’s visits from America: