Geoffrey Taylor

[David Ahrens]

I am just informing the forum that Geoffrey Taylor, who lived in High Easter, Essex, sadly died on 24th October 2017. 

Geoff was very keen on carnivorous plants and was quite well known in the Society. The first Kathleen Pottinger Trophy was won by him with a superb S X Courtii.

The funeral will be on the 8th December in the south chapel at Chelmsford Crematorium. There will be a gathering at the Punch Bowl pub afterwards, in High Easter. 

[Nigel H-C]

This is very sad, I remember Geoff well from the nineties, and was wondering only recently what happened to him.

Nigel HC

[David Ahrens]

Thanks Nigel, I was beginning to think that I was the only person who remembered Geoff.

Before I got married to Sue, I used to spend Saturday evenings round Geoff's and we would talk and talk over a coffee all evening, although Geoff would often like something a little stronger.

Geoff was brought  up in north London and went to Latimer School, the same school as Bruce Forsyth, and very close to the same years. Geoff didn't know Brucie at the time. Geoff did national service and was based at a RAF base in Glouceshire. The sergeant major would wake them all up each morning shouting

"Hands off cocks put on socks".

American aircraft would sometimes be looking for the airbase but could be a little lost so they would transmit by radio so that the airbase could get a fix on the aircraft and give it instructions. The pilots would say " I don't want her, you can have her, she's too fat for me" over and over again until the groundcrew got a fix.

On the day of leaving the airbase, Geoff and the others were lined up along the railway platform. The train was coming in with the new recruits on board. The sergeant major shouted "OK men, lets show them how it is done" and had them all lined up. Someone thought, sod it what can he do to us now, They had to let them go, there  wasn't enough room in the barracks for everyone. So the line started swaying like one of those Chinese dragons. The sergeant shouted"This is mutiny" but there was nothing he could do about it.

 Anyway, I am sure that you don't want to here hear any more rubbish, it's not about CP's. I just thought that I would share a few memories about Geoff.

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by David Ahrens

[keith shoesmith]

Very nicely done, always had time to have a chat and as very approachable.

 

[Nigel H-C]

Beautiful reminiscences.