I got tagged by Alan Davey to report my best 5 teachers. Here we go:
1. All-time tops would have to be Mr Curwen who taught us Latin in Ysgol Penrallt and Ysgol Glan-Y-Mor in Pwllheli. He achieved the impossible: gave (me, at least) a love of that dead language. He used to throw pieces of chalk about the room and shout at people a great deal but was deeply-liked and respected by us.
2. Staying with Glan-Y-Mor, I have an abiding affection for Mr Maldwyn Jones, our Maths teacher. He insisted we used ink pens and is therefore solely responsible for the way this leftie's handwriting style developed. I loved Maths and I loved the way he taught it.
3. Mr Trevor Kelk, English teacher at Hutton Grammar School, Preston. I had Trev for English 'O' and 'A' levels and he was a breath of fresh air (quite a feat for a man who smoked as much as he did). He encouraged us to explore the meaning and the power of the literature we studied and to experience it for ourselves. Thanks, Trev.
4. At ETCW we had a bunch of great lecturers - Iwan Rhys Jones, whose description of the furtive pathach will live in the memory forever; Dr Gibbard and his delight in all things Welsh; Dr Gledhill and his wearied distrust of cant (I have no idea what he thought of Kant, however); Tom Holland, who taught me to ask questions and rightly gave me my lowest essay mark at college; Trevor Burke, who exemplified humility and showed its attractivness and indispensibility. Naming one would be unfair, so please forgive me: from Peter Milsom, at ETCW and then together in ministry: the ways of grace.
5. Last, but certainly not least, Mrs Janice Montague who taught Law at Coventry (Lanchester) Polytechnic in the 1980s. She was stunningly beautiful and wore the most attractive spectacles; Tim Gray and I used to sit mesmerised through her lectures and seminars. She was the sole reason I chose to take the Law module in my final year.
