Keith Horncastle (OW 1961)

(20 September 1942 –  14 January 2023)

We are grateful to Keith’s sons Mark and James who have written these words about their father.

Keith was born in Grays, Essex on 20th Sept 1942. The family moved to Littlemore, Oxford in 1945. When he was nine Keith contracted scarlet fever which, considered to be highly contagious in the 1950s, meant he was confined to his bedroom for an entire school term. This early setback did not, apparently, hinder his learning ability and he was persuaded to take the entrance exam for Magdalene College School and be interviewed. Keith was pleasantly surprised to be told that he was being admitted to MCS having answered the question as to what sport he played, during his interview, with his response having been “Tag, in the playground!”

MCS – Sept 1952 to July 1961
Keith had very fond memories of his time at MCS and whilst there he played for the rugby U12, U13, U14 and the U15 XV team. He was also involved in the Printing Society, ensuring that programmes and tickets were produced for many theatrical productions including The Pirates of Penzance. In 1960 Keith rowed with R.W. Standing and won the novice event for scratch coxless pairs and in 1961 was both a School and House prefect. He was also the captain of the 3rd XI Cricket team in 1961 and the librarian of the Scientific Society.

One of his contemporaries during his time at MCS was Will Wyatt who wrote a book titled Oxford Boy about his time growing up in Oxford. In this book, Keith was referred to as “A clever, gentle boy called “Bruno” Horncastle was… a kind and friendly ambassador to new boys in their early months, pushing his round spectacles back up his nose with fingers stretched wide and a surprised look”. Bruno was the nickname given to him due to his bear-like tackles in rugby, with the reference to a famous polar bear born and raised around that time at Regent’s Park Zoo called Brumas.

St Catherine’s College, Oxford – Oct 61 – June 64 followed by a research year
Although offered a place at Bristol University, he went to St Catherine’s College, Oxford where he studied Chemistry. He continued playing rugby whilst at university, which included a tour to Germany, and recalled playing one game in thick fog which enabled them to play with 17 on the pitch! Keith was involved in OXMENT, a society that examined the different aspects of mental health and became Chairman. He fondly remembers the final College ball in 1964 where an unknown band at the time called the Rolling Stones performed!

Keith left Oxford in 1965 having completed a 3-year course and a research year. His research year was spent at ICI Pharmaceuticals based in Alderley Edge, Cheshire. He soon realised that work in the laboratory was not for him as he wanted to help people and interact with them, so he took the PGCE teaching qualification which meant he was able to teach Chemistry to children. Having started his teaching career in Exeter, Keith wanted to make learning more interesting to children and strived to be both innovative and enthusiastic in his lessons. He is actually credited with introducing some material into the Nuffield textbooks that children studied for many years.

Within three years he was Head of Chemistry at Frimley and Camberley Grammar School. His school was then merged with two other schools into Collingwood Comprehensive, creating a school for over 1500 pupils. Having witnessed the reorganisation of these schools Keith wanted to be more involved in the administration of schools and moved to Buxton, Derbyshire where he became an Area Education Officer for Derbyshire County Council. He then worked in local government supporting education for over 20 years, retiring in 1997.

He met his wife, Val, whilst at university and they married at St Aldates Church in Oxford within 12 months of their first meeting. They were married for over 50 years, with Val sadly passing away in late 2015 following a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Together they devised and then produced, with the support of Chris Andrews, who runs a publications company in Oxford, the Memory calendar which was launched in 2015 (see photo) to help those suffering with dementia to focus on one day at a time with useful prompts. Keith promoted it tirelessly after Val passed away with articles about the calendar appearing in many newspapers, even in the Belfast Telegraph!

Val’s illness led to Keith becoming active with the Alzheimer’s Society and in his later years he spent much time with both local businesses as well as Junior Doctors as part of their training process imparting his knowledge about the condition from a carer’s perspective as well as being instrumental in setting up a Dementia support group in Buxton.

Keith was a keen gardener, a tireless campaigner for the local community in Buxton, an avid reader, crossword solver, and walker (see photo below). Sadly, Keith was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May 2016, shortly after Val passed away but he managed to live for almost 7 years after this diagnosis making sure that he got everything out of his life.

Keith is survived by a younger sister Ali, a younger brother Dave, two sons, Mark and James, and five grandchildren.