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A.O.S.A. 2002 ANNUAL REPORT |
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This Magazine
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was with great sadness that I learnt of Clifford Morgan’s death. I will always remember his acting out of the Battle of Culloden before a captivated class, he really made history come alive! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I thought of Taff. I saw pale green exercise books and childlike pencil sketches of "The Discus Thrower" and "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” I remembered a class of chattering children falling silent upon hearing his distinctive footsteps approaching the History Room and seeing his face appear in the small window of the door. I remembered clearly an occasion when three of the more boisterous boys in our class arrived late and pushed their faces up against that window and - Oh! - I remembered that wonderful Welsh voice as he said, much to the amusement of the rest of us, "I don't know what they do to the enemy but my God they frighten me!” Taff personified the school for Old Scholars so long as he was seen around Great Ayton striding along, straight backed, smiling at and tipping his head charmingly towards the people he passed. So the school has definitely gone for good now. But I think not. To paraphrase Chris Scaife, during Meeting on the last ever Old Scholars on site before Wimpeys moved in, and as tears gently rolled down more than a few familiar faces: even though the school (and Taff) will no longer be here, so long as the people who have had their education and personality nurtured, and therefore their life affected, by them are still touching the lives of other people all over the world, then the essence of the 'Friends' moves on. I was 41 on Wednesday but last year, when I spent a magical half hour talking to a man who never lost the ability to teach you something new and to engage you totally, I felt 11 again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1976 I arrived from Canada to complete my "O" Levels at Ayton. More than any other teacher at the time or since, Clifford Morgan deeply influenced my outlook on academics. As my history teacher, he brought the subject to life, gave it colour, sound and context. It was a class to look forward to (and to be prepared for!) and I owe my love for history to Taff. I am thankful. After reading so many heartfelt tributes, it is clear that his was life worthy of great celebration. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What sad news to hear of Cliff Morgan’s death; he was the spirit of Ayton. A great support to all of us up on top field playing for the school in football & cricket. I have always kept my shoes polished thanks to him. Memories of Cliff will stay with me forever. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was with great sadness that I learnt this morning of Clifford Morgan's death. I am so glad that I was able to attend the OS Reunion last June and spend so much time talking to him. I am glad too that I told him he was one of my favourite teachers! Yes indeed, the notes on the blackboard (which was actually green) were rather lengthy and inscrutable! But do you all remember what a wonderful storyteller he was? His lessons were like a soap opera and nearly always ended with a cliff-hanger (no pun intended!). We had to wait until the next lesson to find out whether King Charles really did have his head chopped off! My thoughts are with the whole family. Goodbye Taff. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is with considerable sadness that we learned of Clifford Morgan's death. He was always interested in others, cheerful and a great role model. Clifford enriched the lives of all of those with whom he came in contact. His adoption of the round as opposed to the oval ball was of itself remarkable for a Welshman. Our deepest sympathies go out to Suzanne, David and Claire. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To the best and most anecdotal history teacher ever, and a great and supporting friend. I wouldn’t have got an A at ‘A’ Level and taken a History degree without you Mr. Morgan! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a pupil at Great Ayton from 1945 until 1950ish, I can remember Clifford (Taffy) Morgan, arriving at the school, getting married and living in the houses built on the Little Ayton Lane for the teachers. I was not the most academic pupil, far from it, but I am sure that the influence that Mr. Morgan and the other teachers had upon me at that time did me no end of good in, what eventually became a very successful career. I have recently retired and have time to sit back and reflect on what used to be; you, Mr. Morgan and the staff of Ayton will I feel sure, be one of my fondest memories. Thank you for everything 'Taffy' Morgan, you will be missed Sir. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sad news indeed. - I will always remember Clifford (Taffy) Morgan as my history teacher, a formidable yet fair character who always had the utmost respect of his class. I recall the pale green multi paged folios we were expected to fill with copious notes from his lessons, which I remember were always filled with an accent of adventure and daring-do even for the most mundane of subjects. I’m only sorry I never got to meet him in later life. But if a man is measured by the mark he made on others he certainly was a man to be remembered and respected. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the death of Clifford another era in Ayton's history has come to an end. He was a man of good humour, awful handwriting (remember trying to copy his notes from the blackboard?) A real Aytonian through and through, I remember him with affection. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was saddened to hear of Clifford Morgan's passing. He leaves us with such vivid memories - the figure up on the balcony at break-time, looking down on us raucous and rebellious teenagers with such patience and tolerance from beneath a shock of red hair. I doubt whether he was aware of the immense influence he had on generations of scholars, who will treasure his memory. If anyone ever exemplified Fox's admonition "Let your lives speak" it was Clifford Morgan. ooo0O0ooo Can I just say how touched we have been by the tributes to Dad on this website. Dad was devoted to the school and was deeply affected by its closure. However his lasting legacy is with those he taught and the comments here show what an impact he made on people and have been a great source of consolation to us.
David Morgan, 30th June, 2001. |
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I
arrived at Ayton in the same year as Clifford Morgan. To a lonely small
boy who needed a role model CM fitted the bill perfectly. He carried
with him the aura of a much wider experience of life: of dash and
derring do. Stern but rarely severe, he was also kindly, wise and witty
in all the ways of our small world. An inspiring sportsman and a
teacher, he led me to that abiding love of history which has permeated
the rest of my life. I admired him very much.