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Mick Boyes
George Michael Boyes was born in Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham, on 28 December, 1939. His family had been natives of Yorkshire for generations but his parents had moved shortly before his birth, thus rendering him ineligible to play for the White Rose. He did, subsequently, don the creams at Headingley, but County representation proved elusive.
Mick attended Holy Trinity School, making it necessary, four times daily, that he run the gauntlet of the boys from Oxbridge Lane, Mill Lane, Bowesfield Lane and St Cuthbert's. He set out immaculate in maroon blazer and tie but the sartorial elegance was short-lived.
At least he learned to fight; running was out of the question - then, as now. After school, he went to Durham University, one of the world's most respected seats of learning, and completed an honours degree in chemical engineering. Subsequently, he worked in industry for a year, followed by a year teaching, before returning to Sheffield University, where he studied for a Diploma of Education, majoring in physical education and mathematics. He managed a number of diversions as well, including playing cricket with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
Believing that young men should travel south for opportunity, he moved to Tunbridge Wells in Kent, where he had accepted a position at what is now the Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys. He continued his characteristic sporting involvement, playing cricket with Tunbridge Wells and rugby with nearby Crowborough. There is an institution called 'The Cross Keys' in the London Road where Mick, always a 'gentleman of a convivial turn' would often hold court.
He was appointed to teach mathematics at Carey early in 1970. The Headmaster, Gerard Cramer, had not met him, engaging his services from afar. It would be uncharitable to suggest that a personal interview would have made a difference, but Mr Cramer could not have known the impact Mick was to have on the life of the School. He received an offer from Scotch College at the same time, but the position required physics teaching and Mick's preferences lay elsewhere. Carey was fortunate that they did.
He taught mathematics with extraordinary flair. His style was a little idiosyncratic, to be sure, but his classes were unforgettable. The Sporting Globe racing guide provided rich resource material for the study of probability, and cricket score sheets were invaluable aids to mathematical calculations. Holding the view that time spent 'baby-sitting' was wasted, Mick traded his emergency class schedule for a number of periods of Physical Education and taught the subject enthusiastically for the rest of his career. He developed his own peculiar style. It was not uncommon to see him line up two soccer teams, throw a ball into play and then adjudicate the ensuing melee from the centre with an occasional whistle when the mayhem became too extreme.
His co-curricular involvement was extensive and illustrated his all-round sporting ability, particularly in team sports. He coached, at various times, Australian football, cricket, rugby and soccer and hockey, being teacher (he would prefer 'master') in charge of cricket from 1984 to the present time and coach of the Boys' First XI from 1992-96.
This is a trenchant reflection of the great motivation of his life: his love of all forms of sport and his profound knowledge of its minutiae. Do not try to set yourself up as an authority in Mick's presence: it is a fruitless exercise.
Who won the Brownlow Medal in 1937? Which horse ran second in the 1890 Melbourne Cup? How many batsmen have made 100 before lunch in a Test Match? Ask Mick. He'll know. He played sub-district cricket with Hawthorn-East Melbourne for three years, finishing as captain, and then with Caulfield for 21 years, four of them with the First XI. He was a doughty performer with the Box Hill Rugby Club, playing as scrum-half and fly-half with the First XV for ten years, before retiring to the colourful, but less physically-demanding Fourth XV, known, appropriately, by the affectionate sobriquet, 'The Unquenchables'. He still in the North Island. He had an ice-cream in one hand and a parcel of chips in the other. He alleges that I handed him a 'battered mussel', after which, in his own words, he 'breathed in at the wrong time'. The result was that his trousers finished up around his ankles and he was left juggling the hot and cold food with no means of restoring the status quo. I was utterly unable to assist and neither was any of the other spectators, all being helpless with laughter. Mick, of course, laughed as heartily as anyone, but made sure, subsequently, that he dressed so as to avoid a repetition of the incident.
This is close to the essence of the man. He has a quick and ready wit, used at his own expense as much as anyone else's; his self-deprecating good cheer and bonhomie are legendary throughout his vast circle of friends; and his sound common sense is often salutary. When former students ask after their old teachers, Mick is invariably mentioned. 'Mick's still there? I remember...' - and the story that follows may be apocryphal but is vastly entertaining; and it is told with warm affection and much laughter.
Bill Pugh once remarked, 'You know, I think Mick may make it to heaven before any of us; the only person he has ever damaged is himself.' He may well be right.
Authored by Mr David Morgan, Head of English.
Source: Carey Chronicle 1998 (pp. 19-20)
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