Geography / Geology Field Trip
from Gwyn Evans
Here are Meirion Jenkins and Tom Evans caught in unconventional attire after what
looks like a field trip. We don’t know when the trip took place or to where. However,
we do know that this particular bus entered service in 1956, so the date of the trip
must be during or after that year. If either of the boys pictured on the Western
Welsh bus see this, and know what was going on, please let us know.
Well, within ten days of this photograph appearing Ian Hargrave (ABGS 1953–60)
emailed in saying: “A guess at this—A geology field trip to an area of the
Cotswolds somewhere between Stroud & Gloucester, circa Summer 1957. Armed with newly-purchased
geological hammers, we ravaged the landscape, vying with each for the best ammonite,
brachiopod or even trilobite, returning triumphantly with what seemed to be half of
Gloucestershire. The fresh-faced innocent sitting behind the front seat, grinning at
the camera is, I think, me aged 15, Form 4A. I well-remember that day”.
Meirion Jenkins came to ABGS in 1949 after spending two years teaching in Lancashire.
During WW2 he was a meteorological officer in the RAF. Shortly after arriving at the
school he took charge of Geology teaching, and much later in 1978 he became Deputy Headmaster
(Pastoral). He retired in 1980, and died in 1996. He came from Bury Port in Carmarthenshire.
Tom Evans, a past pupil of the school, spent almost the whole of his career
as a teacher at ABGS, 1948–79, as Head of Geography. He came to ABGS after spending
two years teaching at Ardwyn Grammar School, in Aberystwyth. During WW2 he served from
1941 in The South Wales Borderers, and saw active service in the Normandy (D-Day) landings,
and in engagements in France, Belgium and Holland. He retired in 1979, and enjoyed an
industrious retirement until his death in November 2011.
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