Nicholas John Ridsdale-Smith (OW 1955)

(25 July 1938 – 14 February 2024)

We have been informed by his wife Margaret of the death of Nicholas Ridsdale-Smith at the age of 85.

We are grateful to Margaret for these words about her husband’s life:

After leaving Magdalen College School and doing his National Service, most of his career was spent working for Hoechst Pharmaceuticals where he became their Training Officer.

However, his overriding passion was for acting and classical music. For over 20 years he was a member of the Richings Players – a local drama group – taking many major roles and later he became a member of the Windsor Theatre Guild. The Guild staged outdoor productions of a different Shakespeare play every summer in the Chapter Gardens of Windsor Castle. Again, he was lucky enough to be given several major roles, including Malvolio in Twelfth Night and Prospero in The Tempest. A group of the Guild members participated in several local drama festivals and to his surprise he won the Best Actor Award at one of the Henley Festivals.

He was involved in starting a light opera group called the Unity Players in conjunction with the Slough College’s Opera and Drama Lecturer staging many light operas, with full orchestra. He excelled in the Gilbert and Sullivan ‘patter’ songs. He also took part in the Slough College Opera’s performance of Rossini’s Barber of Seville followed by a notary in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Don Basilio in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Other major roles were performed by members of the Welsh National Opera. These performances were conducted by Warwick Braithwaite who had recently retired from working at both Sadlers Wells and Covent Garden.

On retiring from Hoechst he volunteered as a tour guide at Basildon Park (National Trust Property) and became a volunteer reader for Reading Talking News.

As well as volunteering, he took part in two short films for the Reading Film and Video Makers; Club. In the first he was a car salesman and the second a vicar. He also narrated a film about the installation of the Archimedes Screw Turbine for the Mapledurham Estate and narrated Love Basildon Park which was in the form of a guided tour for Basildon Park. This was shown in one of the ground floor rooms for many years, so visitors who could not access the upper floor were able to ‘see’ the whole house. Apparently the film is still available on YouTube!

He took up golf and began playing with two former Hoechst colleagues. However, it wasn’t an ideal sport for someone of his artistic temperament, but at least he enjoyed the fresh air and exercise!

He leaves his wife of 58 years, Margaret and two sons – Andrew and Adrian.