THIS is a 75-year-old photograph showing just some of the pupils who attended the old Darwen Grammar School.
We have most of the names of the 71 pupils who are lined up for the cameraman – along with groundsman Mr J Barton, who is on the left.
Maybe you recognise some faces yourself from that sunny summer’s day in 1939?
Seventh from the right, on the next to the back row, though, is Tom Richards, who was born in Darwen in 1927.
As a youngster he was an enthusiastic Scout with the Duckworth Street Congregational troop and became a King’s Scout.
After school, Tom went to work at Walpamur, as a sales representative, where he became friendly with Blackburn-born Geoffrey Taylor, organist at St Silas’ Church for the past 20 years.
This week, Geoffrey paid tribute to his friend, who died recently in Melbourne, 55 years after emigrating there with his Darwen-born wife Jean, to take charge of Walpamur’s Australian business concerns, which included the buyout of a company called Top Tip Paints.
The couple stayed ‘down under’ even after Tom left the company in 1967, after a takeover, but they never forgot their home town.
And if you ever take a stroll in Darwen, you might see four benches, inscribed Tom and Jean Richards, Melbourne, which the couple have donated.
One is set in Bold Venture Park, opposite the pond, another is sited on the steep path from Belgrave Road, leading up to Darwen Tower and two more are outside the entry to the tower itself.
Said Geoffrey: “Tom never forgot his roots and wanted to give something back to the town; he has been a benefactor to the people of Darwen.”
Tom has a sister, Ivy, who lives in Lower Darwen.
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