Graeme College Matrics 72: Patrick Knowles writes ...................

Who would believe that 40 years after walking out of Tempelton Hall after our last matric exam we'd be back again, much wiser, more grey / less hair (at least for Mick Francis), somewhat less recognisable (to be tested this weekend!) and, for some, closer to our retirement years.
A quick synopsis of my life includes a few years of studying, a two year stint in the army, a move to East London as a school teacher, six months touring Europe, Canada and USA, swopping the chalkboard for a financial calculator, one marriage (then a divorce), moving to Johannesburg, many years of playing league squash, coaching soccer, running many, many 10 km races and a dozen or so half marathons, completing a number of 94.7 and Cape Argus cycle races, a couple of knee ops, obtaining my deep sea skippers licence, two wonderful kids, two careers, meeting my life partner ..........
In detail ....... after school I studied at Rhodes and obtained a B.Com degree. I then did my military training which was initially for one year and was then changed to two years. I then returned to Rhodes and obtained a post-graduate education diploma. I started teaching at the Commercial High School (later Stirling High School) in East London in 1980 where I remained until mid-2005.
I then swopped careers and joined United Building Society in East London and moved to Johannesburg (United, later Absa Bank head office) in 1988. I performed various functions at various banks and started specialising in structured trade and commodity finance. Along the way I completed an MBA degree and a few other banking diplomas. I'm currently with Nedbank Capital in Johannesburg and head up the soft commodities department which deals in an array of commodities from cotton, cocoa, rice, sugar, wheat. We finance both the import and export of these commodities in bulk forms (shiploads) mainly to / from other African countries. In the course of business I've visited about 20 different African countries, the least memorable being Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Conga (DRC).
I was married to Marlene Smith (VGHS) but divorced after about 17 years. We had two children, Lyndene and Matthew, both of whom are studying part-time through Unisa. I met my current partner, Gill, about 12 years ago who will be in Grahamstown with me for this 'extended' weekend.
I've generally kept fit over the years in a dual effort to keep my back as flexible as possible and to keep at least some of the extra kilos away. Metabolism unfortunately seems to slow down with age!
Over the years I've been part of many get-togethers with Old Graemians in Johannesburg. The unfortunate thing is that our enthusiasm tends to wane in years that the Graeme rugby team does not participate in the various Easter rugby festivals here in Johannesburg. I occasionally see Mike Mills, Wade Buckley (1973), Garth Butcher (1970), Roy de Wet and Ashley Francis (1970). John Arnold, Nigel Pitt, Richard Jourdain, Bruce Bailey (bless his soul!) and Selwyn Gill also lived here in Johannesburg for many years, with Gerald Brookshaw (1973) and Brian du Toit, "noord van die boerewors kordyn", in Blue Bills country. It's always great to relive memories and chat about the good times at Graeme. I also see David Bilsbury (1973) from time to time who is currently settled in Port Elizabeth – he relived a story of a dog peeing on someone's leg whilst standing to attention on the main field during a cadet parade over the Founders' Weekend!
Whilst the outcome of the Graeme 1 st rugby and cricket teams may wax and wane over the years, the school often amazes me with its successes in other avenues – some years ago Graeme won the national Mintek (Mining Technology) Science quiz and were presented with the trophy here in Johannesburg. Not bad for a small school from the Eastern Cape! I've also picked up that one of the boys obtained Protea colours for bass fishing and another 2 received either provincial or national colours for surf fishing in the seniors event.
Anyhow, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing you guys again this weekend. Let's make the most of it. The next reunion will probably be our 50^th which scares the hell out of me!
I've enclosed a few photos of myself / family and a few other Old Graemians you might recognise. Some of the photos are from the 2010 Soccer World Cup, hence the regalia.