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David James Welsh
THANKS to his formidable eyebrows and insistence upon discipline, David Welsh may well have instilled the pupils of Ashville College, Harrogate, with a certain awe. He was known as "Dracula" or "Drac" by many, and as "Feet" both in and out of school, thanks to his habit of standing with his feet at ninety degrees.
By the time he retired, he had been at the school 31 years, five of which as deputy head, and one term as acting headmaster.
David, who has died aged 89, was born at Edinburgh, the only child of Major David J. and Mrs. Hilda Welsh. During his childhood, the family moved to Stirling, to London and back to Edinburgh, where he went to Merchiston Castle School and from there to University College, London, to read Science.
Due to the outbreak of the War, the college was evacuated to Wales and he resumed his studies at Bangor University, from where he graduated.
In June 1940 he was called up and spent the next two years training, initially at Devizes with a heavy anti-aircraft battery, then in Somerset on a radar instructors' course, followed by a posting to a searchlight unit at Stratford-upon-Avon before he was eventually posted with the 8th Army to the Middle East, seeing action in Egypt, Sicily and Italy. When the war ended, he joined the Army Education Corps at Wantage, and after being demobilised in 1946, spent a year at the Institute of Education.
His first teaching post was as physics master at Ashville College, and so contented was he that he stayed there.
As a school master he was strict but even-handed; socially, he was kind and forbearing, a loyal friend, a generous host, a wise counsellor and one in whose spirit there was no guile. He possessed a delightfully mischievous sense of humour and an infectious laugh. He was one whose outlook on life, though well informed, was considered by some rather old fashioned, but by others refreshingly comforting and reliable.
A man of firm faith, and a traditionalist, he never abandoned the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the Authorised Version of the Bible. He served for many years as a Sidesman at St Peter's High, Harrogate, transferring to the parish church at Nidd, where he served as churchwarden until incapacity prevented him travelling.
Describing himself as "the world's worst, keenest cricketer", he was a long-standing subscribing member of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
He loved animals, was an enthusiastic walker, and his travels in Europe – particularly in Germany – continued after the death of his mother in 1994 with whom he had shared Wedderburn Bungalow near the Stray in Harrogate.
He enjoyed cruising the Western Isles, which he did in some style, and frequent excursions to the Lake District.
Freemasonry was of immense importance to him. He had entered Doric Lodge, Harrogate, in 1953, becoming Master in 1961. From 1987 to 1993 he was head of the Order in the Province of Yorkshire West Riding, then numbering in excess of 10,000 members.
A car accident in 2002 resulted in major surgery which he endured with stoicism and courage, and although his body failed him, his mind retained its vitality to the end.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
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