Paul Block (Spurgeon's 1977)

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of one of my best friends at School, and with whom I had fortunately been able to keep in contact with at least sporadically during the 44 years since we departed Alleyn's.  Age 62 is far too early, but a long illness eventually overcame him, and he died on 18 March 2021.  Paul was an outstanding sportsman at School, a regular feature of the First XI football team, and a top athlete during summer, cracking the 2-minute mark for the 800 metres among many other then impressive achievements.  Outside of school time, I also have fond memories of Paul and I queuing for hours outside Parliament to access the public gallery and listen to MP debates in The Commons.  We were both heavily into politics at the time and receiving tickets from a local MP for Prime Minister's question time was a real highlight.

Southampton University also benefited from Paul’s sporting prowess before he graduated with a BA Hons degree in History in 1980.  He then moved on to King Alfred's College, Winchester to gain his teaching qualification (PGCE) for a year where he met Ruth, his eventual wife of 33 years.  Next, came a move to West Sussex where he took up teaching English and History at Great Ballard Preparatory School.  There he progressed to Deputy Head teacher, put on school plays, and coached football and cricket.  His varied CV then took a different turn as he left teaching to work as an independent financial advisor and, subsequently, a mortgage advisor at an estate agency in Winchester.  He eventually became manager of the entire agency.  He was clearly pretty good, as I recall he actually arranged a mortgage and sold me an insurance policy at one point!

Then it was back to teaching for 8 years as the owner and head teacher of Kirtlands, a small preparatory school in Broadway, Worcestershire.   He followed that up with 6 years as owner and head teacher of Harecroft Hall, a day and boarding school in West Cumbria.  Not being a person to decline a move away, Paul then migrated to Guernsey for a year to teach English at The Ladies College in St Peters Port.  More recently though, he became involved in the Cumbria Youth Alliance, a charity dedicated to helping disadvantaged young people. He also became Chair of Trustees for another charity, Promoting Autonomy and Change (PAC), based in Carlisle.  PAC provides therapies (talking, drama, art, play, equine) for children and young people. Passionate about this cause, Paul became CEO of PAC, and thoroughly enjoyed this role, actually chairing a meeting two days before he died. The last time I met Paul in person was at a ceremony of dedication of my marriage, in Petts Wood in June 2017. It was so good to see him again, but so sad that this was to be the last time we met, barring conversations on the phone when we frequently reminisced on memories of our times at Alleyn's.  Sports and Paul Sherlock, maths and Mr McCartney (we weren't the best at maths!) not to mention field trips organised by Geography teacher Jim Buckman.

Paul was married 33 years and had four children, He owned a variety of cars including a Datsun Cherry, Ford Capri, Daimler, BMW convertible, Land Rover Defender, and Shogun.  He loved Chelsea Football Club, had a profound interest in politics, but enjoyed good food, and relaxing with whichever family members were at home, not to mention walking with the dogs on the Sussex Downs, Cotswolds, Lake District fells and local meanders. Paul will be much missed by everyone who knew him.

John Powell (Browns 1977)