Bill Parker, legend teacher at St Leonard’s the n Durham. RIP.

Hair Flick

Hair Flick

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Probably only a few on here lucky enough to have had this bloke as a teacher and mentor but what an inspiration he was to those of us whose lives he touched.

@Billy Fish @Thackeray and our dearly departed @foggy will know just how selfless and thoroughly devoted he was, taking some fairly rough arse kids from a comprehensive school in Durham to kick serious arse in the rowing world, rubbing the noses of the best public schools in the U.K. and also across the world.

He fought tooth & nail for the council to buy our first carbon fibre boat and oars to at least get us on the same playing field as the posh arses. We used to go to regattas in an old pit bus, belching fumes in our wake, my Dad bellowing out “Ha’way Leonard’s!!” in best pitmatic across the lake at Holme Pierrepoint as we came in with a silver medal in the national championships, leaving the parents of some of the best public schools in the country wondering who these oiks were.

Great times, raising a pint to you, Bill.
 


Aw man that's really sad, he was an amazing inspiration to generations of Leonards' kids. I have cause to visit most of the University boathouses to this day (will be visiting them all in June), and always make sure I tell the students about the Bill Parker legend. Great memories.
 
becs said:
Sad news. The school rowing teams are still going strong.
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The great thing was he brought through lasses crews as well as the lads, long before it was the done thing. I think my year was the first that had the lasses out in the old clinker boats. Still in touch with a few of them to this day, and they all have great memories of the laughs we had down on the river.
 
Is this the plot for Cool Runnings 2?

Sounds like a big loss to the school, area and all who knew him though.
 
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filfy said:
He was fit as a butchers dog , circuit training in the gym was intense, my o level woodwork teacher as well
RIP Nosey
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I was tiny for my age at school so was the cox but still did all the same circuit training, cross country, weights etc as the rest of the crew. All part of his psychology of knitting us as a team.

He used to get us down Finchale canoeing, sailing up Derwent water and doing all kinds of outward bounds stuff up at Howtown near Pooley Bridge on Ullswater. Cracking times. Great life experiences. Set me up for a real love of all kinds of water sports (no!) for life.
 
Sad news, Bill was my design technology teacher in sixth form. Fantastic bloke. When I only achieved a B he stopped the boat he was rowing to shout 'how did that happen?' when I worked at Browns that summer hiring boats - a job he got for me two years before. Legend.
 
He kept bees, and the bees lived out in weardale iirc. We went out there to collect the honey from the hives. Fish and chips in Langley Moor on the way back.
Hair Flick said:
With Clive?
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Yes Clive Hole - still with us I think. He used to live in the boathouse - had to walk through his front room to get from the workshop to the oarhouse to carry out the oars. Had a mad vicious dog called George who made it 'interesting'.
 
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Paul3845 said:
He kept bees, and the bees lived out in weardale iirc. We went out there to collect the honey from the hives. Fish and chips in Langley Moor on the way back.

Yes Clive Hole - still with us I think. He used to live in the boathouse - had to walk through his front room to get from the workshop to the oarhouse to carry out the oars. Had a mad vicious dog called George who made it 'interesting'.
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He used to have hives at the school.
 
In the nineteenth century rowing was a fairly popular working class sport, in part because of working on the rivers. There were rowing races on the Tyne, and no doubt on the Wear as well. See also Doggetts Coat and Badge on the Thames
 

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