Ffarwel i 'Syr'

This afternoon I attended the funeral of my old primary school head teacher, Walter Williams, or "Syr" as he will be forever known.

The funeral was held in Dinas Mawddwy where he taught and lived for most of his life and the chapel was packed to the rafters with generations of ex-pupils.

'Syr' was our mentor and our friend. Arriving as an eight year old at Dinas Mawddwy School (31 pupils) from an inner London primary where I had experienced 30 pupils in one class comprising of 17 different nationalities was something of a culture shock.
I remember that I couldn't get over the fact that here was a teacher (and a head teacher at that) who took part in school games like football and cricket, who read to us every Friday afternoon and took us on nature walks when it was too hot to learn.

Walter Williams taught us many things including how to swim in the river Dyfi (I'm sure Health & Safety would have something to say about that nowadays) and an appreciation for music - every day after School Assembly, he would play us classical music for half an hour and at the end of the week, there would be a quiz.

He was a teacher who believed that every child had a talent for something and he was determined to find it. I will always cherish my schooldays in Dinas. We were one big happy family. Of all the pupils who turned up to pay their last respects today, everyone agreed that there was absolutely no contest. 'Syr' was the best teacher we'd ever had.

Walter Williams was a committed 'old fashioned socialist' but he never brought politics to school. He was also deeply religious and the most important thing he showed us was :


"Treat others as you would be treated ".

Those were his words to live by.

'Syr' passed away last week, eight weeks short of his 93rd birthday. He had led a full and productive life and was beloved and admired by many.
I don't think it gets better than that.