We have received the sad news that David 'Daz' Slater, of the class of 1962, died on 1st September.
Posted on Tue 10 September 2024
We regret that we must announce the death of David 'Daz' Slater, on Sunday 1st September of natural causes.
The funeral will take place on Thursday 26th September at 2:50 pm at Stourbridge Crematorium, and afterwards at The Wildmoor Oak, 2 Top Road, Wildmoor, Bromsgrove, B61 0RB. Anyone planning to attend is asked to contact Mark Slater on mark.slater@edgebound.co.uk or 07976 657489 so that catering may be arranged accordingly. The family kindly requests no flowers, but donations, if desired, may be made to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
Mike Wilson has kindly granted permission for his eulogy of Daz to be published here:
'Firstly, can everyone hear me?
Good afternoon. That is a slight misnomer, as perhaps I should have said 'sad afternoon', but we must also today have joyous memories of an absolute gentleman, who, in his lifetime, amassed a truly remarkable set of achievements, both at school and in his working life.
Where does one begin with a tribute to David Slater, better known variously as 'Daz', 'Laird of Pepperwood Towers', 'Satchmo' (which was between me and him, but, how it started, I have no idea) and 'Sherlock' as he is now known to the Old Farts. By the way, one of my nicknames was 'Suede', which was a result of me proudly showing off a pair of suede shoes I had bought, but, I hope in a moment of devilment, he always spelt it 's-w-e-d-e'! To this day, Paula still calls me 'Suede'.
Looking firstly at Daz's sporting accomplishments, they began at Bennett Street, when, alongside Colin 'Baccy' Lloyd, Peter 'Porky' Vaughan and Bryan 'Cowles' Cowley, he won the Oscar Bentley cup, which I am told involved Worcestershire junior schools. A quick calculation shows them as knowing one another for 76 years, whereas I can claim only 69 years.
The lads' nicknames also changed over the years, courtesy of Daz's sense of fun. Colin became 'Mustapha' for reasons best known to himself; Peter became 'Captain', promoted for his superior map reading skills; Bryan became 'Tommy the Traveller' owing to his frequent holidays; and I became 'WOK' or 'worried of Knowle'.
We all passed the 11+ and went to King Charles I, but I palled up with him only when we agreed to sit together when we moved up in our 3rd year. That, in one way, was a mistake, as, sitting at the back of the room, my eyesight had suddenly deteriorated and I could not read anything on the blackboard, but, being a true friend, Daz allowed me to lean over and copy his writing.
I stayed with the family, when a bunch of us lads went stock-taking at his father's firm, and I can vividly remember his dad waking us up with a cup of tea in the morning from their Teasmade. During the evening, while Daz started his revision for exams, Michael, Daz's brother, better known as 'Mouse', and I would be playing French cricket on the patio. We would then all play Hearts before retiring to bed.
Later that year, for some reason, Daz, Mouse and I decided that it would be a good idea to hitchhike to Borth, but with his Dad taking us so far and also fetching us back. We did manage to cadge a lift on the bed of a lorry with several cars' owners also taking pity on us, and we eventually arrived in Borth.
Along the way, we camped in a field, but on a slight slope, which resulted in the inevitability of us sliding out of the tent while asleep – a good job it did not rain. We did have a great holiday in the sand dunes and on the beach.
No tribute would be complete without noting his scholarly and athletic achievements as recorded in his school record up to 1962 and it will be easier if I read it verbatim:
Slater, D. 1954–62. Blounts house and it is reported he became a very popular house captain, VI form Science, Prefect, Jack Aston Medal awarded for Gentlemanly Athletic and Scholarly Qualities. He won the Staff cup for the Under 13 Cross-country. Played 2nd XV rugby along with participating U 14, U 15 and Seven-a-side teams before captaining the First XV in 1961–62. District Intermediate 800 yards Champion 1959–60. Governors' Prize for School Services. Full rugby colours. Played for W.H.S. R.F.U. 1961–62. Member of Badminton 1961–62 and Basketball teams 1960–62. G.C.E. 1959 then Advanced Level and Scholarship 1961–62. He passed Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics at A level before studying Engineering at Loughborough College.
The lads all went our different ways after school and, although I visited Paula and Daz in Yorkshire, we did not really meet up again until the Old Carolians' dinner in 1989 when they were living in Pepperwood Towers, but it was as if we had never missed a day, as the welcome and the banter was as strong as ever.
We both took early retirement in 1999, and it was soon after that we began planning our 'expeditions' along with 'Porky' when Daz, in his inimitable fashion, produced sweatshirts for our second expedition when we went to Snowdon. The logo was 'Zimmer Society' with knitted in underneath. A range of mountains, a pickaxe and a rope and then Snowdon Expedition 2004. I am reliably informed they were courtesy of his son Mark, and I still have mine!
By this time, 'Baccy' had joined with the Old Farts after he took early retirement.
These 'expeditions' – Lake District, Peak District, Snowdonia, Clent , Cader Idris, Clee Hill, Brown Clee, Brecon Beacons and many, many more local walks. We were sometimes accompanied (where possible) by Sasha and Bonnie (Porky's dog). One issue was that Daz had real problems controlling Sasha, especially near water – a typical Labrador.
You may be thinking what happened to the bloomer stories, but I cannot remember any major faux pas. He did surprising things, such as, when we were climbing Cader Idris in visibility of about 10 yards, he suddenly disappeared up ahead; no amount of shouting to wait for us yielded an answer. We caught up with him at the top and he explained we were too slow! However, we suddenly realised that we were close to walking off a steep edge and it was only due to Captain's map-reading skills were we put on the right track. On Snowdon, he also wanted us to walk along Crib Goth, which is a narrow peak exposed to the elements – but he was soon told, in no uncertain terms, he would be on his own, so he abandoned the idea. On another trip to Snowdon, we were walking back down the Miners' track, when he suddenly decided he would run the rest of the way down because he informed us he 'felt like it'!
I know I have rambled on, but I have tried to highlight the depth of our friendship created over the years, and, because of his organisational skills (he always drove us to most places), the camaraderie was centred on Daz.
Latterly, 'expeditions' have been replaced by pub lunches, where we were joined by 'Tommy the Traveller', and we were all able to put the world to rights with Daz expressing his feelings about 'the box tickers of the local council' and how great Brexit is, and tucking into his favourite pudding, Eton mess or a Knickerblocker glory. I must have more than 200 photos of our expeditions, including our visits to various hostelries, so I will always have a photographic record of our times together.
Turning to his philanthropic nature, he was a true gentleman, who willingly gave his time and expertise as a trustee on King Charles the First's School Foundation, which gives money to the School and the students; Loughborough College; Pepperwood Woodland Trust; the Old Carolians Association Committee (including the Annual Dinner, for which he organised place settings showing what you had ordered; the Summer Event barbecues, for which he provided chairs and tables; and running the website); and helped Paula with organising seating and parking for the U3A garden party at Pepperwood Towers. A truly remarkable and generous person with his time.
Did he go always go away with Paula on holiday? No way, as he loved nothing more than going to the gym; mowing his substantial grass area; trimming the hedges; working in his well-kitted workshop, where there was a place for everything and everything in its place; servicing his machinery and generally keeping the Pepperwood Towers estate tidy; and eating his M&S ready meals.
I hope this has given you a flavour of the talents, character and personality that I knew as 'Daz'. Just one final tribute – I came across a word the other day, which is slang for a close and trusted companion or pal, and that is 'crony'. So, Daz, my schoolmate, friend, walking and dining companion, and crony, rest in peace.'