RIP - Peter G Collins (HOSTEL, 49 - 54)

Peter was born in Monmouthshire in May 1936 and was educated at a Newport Grammar school for a year then afterwards at Christ College Brecon for five years. He was a member of the 1st XV Rugby team for two years and 1st X1 Cricket team, a house prefect and member of the Army Cadet Corp (CCF). Due to November snow and by mumps the following year he missed out on playing rugby for Brecon against Llandovery College.

On leaving School in autumn 1954 he became articled to Walter Meacock & Co Chartered Accountants in London & Newport. He played rugby for Newport Athletic Club and later Usk RFC. Qualifying in 1960 and to gain professional experience he joined Price Waterhouse & Co in Fredericks Place, Old Jewry, London. While living in London he played rugby for London Welsh Dragons at Old Deer Park Richmond. Following an injury while playing against London Scottish that finally put a stop to him playing serious rugby, he became the team’s secretary for some years.

In 1966 he joined ICI Treasurer’s Department Millbank and was sent to Plant Protection Ltd, a subsidiary of ICI Agricultural Division in Kent for two years before moving to the subsidiary’s Finance Department at Fernhurst Surrey. In 1971 he was given responsibility for looking after the financial affairs of ICI’s joint venture crop protection business of Zeltia Agraria SA in Spain and Portugal and Teijin Agrochemicals in Japan. In late 1973 he was seconded to ICI Solplant SpA a wholly owned subsidiary of ICI Ltd based in Milan Italy. While there he became a member of the Milan Cricket Club (‘The MCC ‘as the club was known locally was run by John Dexter, brother of Ted the English Cricket Player). The MCC had its home cricket ground based on the Dexter’s family farm set in a beautiful location high above Menaggio on Lake Como. Away cricket fixtures covering summer weekends took him to interesting places like Zouz Boys School in the Engadin Valley near St Moritz, Geneva International School, the English Papal College in Rome, etc.

Persuaded by his Ex- pat colleagues in Milan he took up skiing and on many weekends during the Winter months went up to Cervinia with them and to other ski resorts in the Aosta valley in Italy. On one of his early family skiing holidays from Milan to La Plagne in France he happened to be sitting on a chair lift with another guy who as it turned out was another OB namely Neil Chapman (Orchard House) hence started a long friendship spent over many years and many bottles of vin rouge!

On completion of his secondment to Italy, Peter returned to ICI’s newly formed International Agrochemicals Business at Fernhurst, as Senior Financial manager managing the function and staff looking after the accounting, taxation and insurance records of the Business for ICI’s Head Office Treasurer’s Department Millbank.

Always interested in country walking from a young age encouraged much by his father and particularly later at school where his Sunday afternoon forays into the Brecon Beacons countryside and Whitsun treks to walk up Pen Y Fan with his school pals gave him a lifelong interest in exploring the outdoors country side its wild life and developing his interests in landscape photography. (Much encouraged by ‘Shogg’ / Mr Isitt). On retirement he joined several local walking groups in Midhurst and Petersfield and explored the footpaths and byways of the South Downs National Park. With his Ski Instructor daughter Victoria living for some years in Queenstown NZ, while visiting her he walked some of the South Island’s footpaths such as the Routeburn, Milford Track and paths on Stewart Island south of Invercargill. When both his daughters married and moved to Switzerland he often went walking in the Alps and in those areas where he had skied with his family during the winter. For many years he was a ski buddy to a Guernsey charity that took disadvantaged children from the Channel Isles on skiing holidays to Flaine in the French Alps.

While living in Midhurst Peter’s interest in his early days were Midhurst Round Table, Forty-One Club, Midhurst Rugby Club, Tennis Club, Camera Club and sailing with his neighbour from Chichester Harbour Marina. On his return to Midhurst from his Italian secondment and following in the footsteps of the

many men in his family he became a Freemason. He was initiated into Midhurst Lodge and joined Midhurst Royal Arch Chapter and Midhurst Mark Masons Lodge. He was for many years Treasurer of all three. He also joined other Masonic Orders and Lodges in Bognor, Chichester and Brighton.

In his early days in Midhurst, he regularly attended the Parish Church and for many years was auditor /examiner of its annual accounts. Later on, he went to nearby All Hallows Church at Woolbeding regularly and for over fifteen years and was auditor /examiner of the PCC’s annual accounts there too.

He is survived by his two married daughters Victoria and Alexandra both of whom remain resident and work in Switzerland and his three grandsons Tasker Olivier and Orrin.