John Fenning - skier and good friend. My first real memories of you are sitting on a chairlift in Piancavallo being offered slices of orange and a flat hot cross bun! But I am ahead of myself. I joined Frank Montgomery School staff in Sturry in 1985 B.F. (Before Fenning) as an experienced leader of school residential trips but none involving skiing - I had experienced too many sports injuries to know that skiing 
would be a step too far. In the autumn of 1988 B.F. the leader of the school ski trip asked me if I’d be interested in replacing her injured colleague and then husband on the 1989 B.F. ski trip. I explained my total lack of skiing experience but was still recruited. 
Fast forward a few months and there I was sitting on that chairlift eating a flat hot cross bun looking for snow in a snow-free ski resort. During the trip I discovered that you had been a volunteer parent on a ski trip run by Betty Chapman, then Deputy Head of The Towers School in Ashford, where Sandra was a pupil. When Betty became Headteacher at Frank Montgomery in Sturry, she invited you to continue your role as an adult leader on the ski trip. 
Despite that lack of snow in Piancavallo, I was hooked and became the next  leader of the school’s ski trip in 1990 with you as my No.2. I was Purple 1 and you were Purple 2. Why Purple? Another story! As a newbie to skiing, my ambition was to be able to ski like you, always looking so relaxed as you glided down the piste. When I became frustrated that my skiing progress was slow, you reassured me that, with time and practice, I would become as good as the others around me. With ski school and your encouragement, I finally managed to begin to look approximately like a skier. Over the years at Montgomery you continued to be there for me, even arriving at the dry slope for the kids’ pre-trip practices. Sandra was there as another adult leader and on that first trip in Piancavallo I had been allocated to share with Rob until Sandra pointed out that she was now married to Rob and would quite like to share with him! In later years I have continued to thank Rob because he ended up in plaster and I replaced my Ill-fitting ski boots with his pair. Many was the time I was asked by the teachers from other schools how I managed to get so many teachers to volunteer for the trip. I explained that several weren’t teachers. I told them that Sandra was a midwife because we covered all eventualities! On a few occasions when my school football team managed to progress in the Kent Cup, I asked you if you would referee as an “independent” official and you agreed of course. 
When I moved on from Montgomery, I obviously asked you whether you were willing to continue helping me on the ski trips. The children from a third school now benefited from your patience and skiing advice. I wonder how many of those children now take their own children skiing and pass on your advice? I fondly remember sitting in hotel corridors after “lights out” swapping sporting tales. Once en-suites became the norm and the kids had no excuse to roam the corridors, we just carried on sitting in corridors telling our stories. We started non-school ski trips and you and Jean joined ex-students from over the years, skiing and reminiscing. 
Oh happy days and fantastic memories, including you introducing us to Amaretto, your homemade Singapore Slings and my first pair of non-hire skis - another story. 
Farewell Purple 2. Thanks for all those memories and your quiet guidance.