Past Pupils

Kenneth Rodwell (1934)

Kenneth Stanley Rodwell - Attended Tottenham Grammar School 1928 - 1934.

Last known Address:
81 Halstead Road,
Winchmore Hill, London, N21 3DR

Born July 13, 1917
Died 2008

The following is a tribute written by Kenneth's daughter, reproduced here with permission.

It seems particularly appropriate for me to speak about Dad’s life, as he often referred to me as the Family Archivist and it was Dad’s vast fund of family knowledge and his enthusiasm and support that inspired me to delve into our family’s history.

Together we traced the Rodwell family back to Valentine Radwell, a drover and sheep salesman who was born in about 1712 in Aylesbury. And it was in Aylesbury that Kenneth Stanley Rodwell was born in 1917. Ken’s father, William was a policeman working for the Port of London Authority and his mother Elsie had been in service. Elsie had returned to be with her mother for her confinement and Kenneth’s arrival was not only a proud moment for his parents but was greeted with delight by his grandmother and five aunts all of whom took huge pleasure in having a new male to spoil and indulge.

And so it was that Ken’s life started as it was destined to continue, always the centre of attention and fussed over by generations of female members of his family. His grandmother even referred to him as “My Lord” and I get the impression that his every wish was her command. Although Ken grew up in Tottenham, his ties with Aylesbury remained strong and he would regularly spend the summer holidays with his grandmother there. 

 From an early age he took a great deal of interest in money – earning it, saving it, investing it and, to a lesser extent, spending it. An early entrepreneurial activity was during these visits to Aylesbury when he would position himself at the bottom of the foot bridge that crossed the railway line and for a small fee would help the young mothers of the town by carrying their prams and pushchairs across the bridge. This, he informed me, was a most lucrative exercise requiring no capital outlay whatsoever.

 When he was eleven he gained a place at Tottenham Grammar School and during his teens he became an enthusiastic cyclist and competitive swimmer.

He learnt to play the saxophone and clarinet and developed a passion for his beloved Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. On leaving school he went to work at the head offices of Sainsbury’s and later, while studying accountancy, was employed at the North Met. offices of the local electricity company.  As a money making sideline he started to play regularly in local dance bands and it was on one such occasion that he met our mother Joan, who herself had a beautiful singing voice and with whom he shared a love of jazz and big band music. We are fortunate that as a lasting legacy Dad has left us many recordings of his music.

 Ken and Joan’s relationship was put on hold by the war. Ken joined the RAF and Joan went into the ATS. Dad didn’t choose to talk about his wartime experiences but we do know that he was awarded his pilot’s wings, attained the rank of sergeant and served in Palestine and Egypt. Recently my sister, Jackie and I came across his leather flying helmet and a large collection of Ken and Joan’s letters written during the war. We only dipped into a couple, not wishing to intrude, however it was immediately obvious that they were full of loving, emotional and caring sentiments showing a side of our father that we had never really known.

 Ken and Joan were married in December 1945 and my sister and I were born a few years later. We grew up in Bush Hill Park and later Winchmore Hill. Our home was always full of the sounds of jazz records coming from the huge gramophone that held pride of place in the front room, our mother singing along to “Music While you Work” and all those wonderful shows on the Light Programme such as “Ray’s a Laugh” and “The Billy Cotton Band show”. As everyone here will know, Ken loved a good joke and his jokes and wicked sense of fun were ever present throughout our childhood and right up until his death. He prided himself in having a joke for every occasion and always wanted to know if we had heard any new ones to add to his repertoire.

Once sweet rationing was eventually lifted, Dad initiated “Thursday Night is Magic Night”. He would arrive home from work on a Thursday evening with his Evening Standard under his arm as usual. This would be dramatically rolled into a cone shape and Jackie would be despatched to the toy cupboard to find Sooty’s magic wand. While our attention was being diverted, and I’m sorry to have to break this to you now Jackie because I know you really always did think it was magic, Dad would hide two chocolate bars inside the cone. There would be a great flourish of the magic wand and the tubes of Smarties, Crunchie bars or Fry’s peppermint creams would be tipped out into our eagerly outstretched hands. We thought that he was amazing.

While we were still young, something happened that was to change Ken’s life. He was invited to join the masons and thus began his association with the Bush Hill Park Lodge. Jackie and I referred to his Friday night lodge meetings as “Going to Cubs”. We always knew when something particularly important was going to happen at Cubs because for a few evenings beforehand, Dad would seem to be taking far longer than usual to read his Evening Standard after dinner. In fact, he wasn’t reading the Standard at all but instead was learning his words for the next meeting from a mysterious little book which he was hiding behind his newspaper. Many of his Masonic brothers subsequently became our family friends. I particularly remember George Williamson and  Jack Beaumont and who could forget our dear neighbour Eric Rawlins and the comedy double acts that Eric and Ken performed at Ladies Nights that left our sides aching from laughing so much,

In the sixties he joined the Local Government Management Services Unit as an Organisation and Methods Officer. I am sure that this must have been the ideal job for Ken who was dedicated to maintaining order in all things and no doubt he licked those London Boroughs into shape in no time. Finally, before his retirement Ken spent his remaining working years at the London Borough of Barnet. 

 Sadly our mother died in 1993 but in the years that followed Ken found companionship with his partner, Gwen.

 When looking back over Ken’s ninety-one years, one thing is certain and that is that it was a long, happy and healthy life. Dad instilled in us a duty to work hard and always to do what was right, to be truthful and honest in all things and we have done our best to pass these values on to our own children.  

 To paraphrase Irving Berlin, The song might be over but there are so many melodies that will linger on in our hearts and we will miss you, Dad.