WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
The Millennium marked the thirtieth anniversary of the world premiere of 'Heirloom' at Padgate College of Education.
The original cast members and their families are living in various parts of the world and are integrated in a variety of professions including education and drama. The Internet is therefore the obvious means of exploring what became of our student friends of yesteryear and sharing this information on the site.
No information will be included without the permission of the person concerned, so it is important that those responding state clearly what facts they wish to include about themselves.
It is hoped that the photographs from the 1970 production which are to be found peppered all over this site, will trigger off bouts of nostalgia and happy memories to those who were there at the time.
REMEMBER ME ?
LAURA LIDDELL (nee JEFFERIES)
Laura Liddell (nee Jefferies) was the Company and Stage Manager for 'Heirloom.' She studied at Padgate from 1967-71 before taking up her first post as a drama teacher in Edinburgh.
Having left to start a family, she returned as a peripatetic drama teacher working in primary schools.
She married for the second time in Aberdeen, where her second child was born. During this time she worked as a child-minder and play group leader.
Following the birth of her third child, she took a teaching job as part of a team providing multi-disciplinary projects to primary schools called the 'Keep Aberdeen Tidy Project.'
As Laura and her husband, John Liddell, were keen skiers by this time, they welcomed the opportunity of a move to Glenshee, opposite Balmoral Castle, where they still live. Laura's involvement in environmental issues in Aberdeen led to her being offered a position at the Ballater Field Centre, which provided facilities for residential school visits.
When the Centre closed for refurbishments, she took up a full-time teaching position in the small school near to where she lived at Crathie. Her role included that of producer of the annual Nativity Play for members of the Royal Family, with a cast supported by her own children.
After seven years, Laura moved to Ballater Primary School as an infant teacher, before being transferred back to the Field Centre, which has more recently become an Environmental Education Centre. She was Acting Teacher-in-Charge for eighteen months, until the closure of the Centre at the end of the year 2000.
Having taken early retirement, Laura has remained on the supply list, working in neighbouring schools. Their children having left left home to pursue their own careers, Laura and John deemed this an opportune time to purchase a property in the Southern Alps of France, for the Winter skiing and the Summer sun.
In common with many of us who began our careers at Padgate thirty plus years ago, Laura often wonders what happened to her fellow students- and considers it rather strange that in all that time she has not seen any of them!
If you remember Laura, please contact her at LauraDLiddell@aol.com and prove that you still exist.
Thank you, Laura, for providing these details to launch the 'Where Are They Now? section of the 'Heirloom' site. If you would like to add your details, too, please send them to: andrewmccann@dramateachers.co.uk
ROGER de WOLF
Roger de Wolf was one of the team of directors involved in the production of Heirloom. Having gained a B.Ed in 1971, he lived and taught in France for a year before returning to take up a career in the theatre, as a Stage Manager, actor, director and writer, in rep and in Theatre in Education.
He then spent eight years as a successful freelance theatre and opera photographer before running a rural community development project in West Somerset (based on a Playbus), for the next six years, becoming active at regional and national levels in the National Playbus Association, co-ordinating training events and delivering workshops. In his spare time he trained and practised as a volunteer young people’s counsellor. Having gained a Diploma in Social Work in 1992, Roger worked as a Probation Officer in both Gloucester and Bath.
Over the last fifteen years, Roger has built up a freelance practice in training, team-building, consultancy, university lecturing, non-managerial supervision, and groupwork. He is particularly interested in communication skills, drugs awareness, working with men and masculinity, team development, and the management of change and conflict.
Rather than turn completely freelance, Roger keeps a foot in the “real world”, and currently has a part-time job with the Bath Area Drugs Advisory Service, which involves training, supervision, practice teaching, client work with problem drug users, and assessment and liaison with other professionals. He now lives blissfully in a cluttered house in Bristol, with his wife (who works for WOMAD), and, on occasion, his 2 daughters, 3 stepchildren and 2 grandchildren, as well as musicians and artists from all over the world. His party piece is “Where Do Flies Go In The Wintertime”, an idiotic music-hall song remembered from a Padgate panto circa 1971.