Ex-pupils pay tributes to ‘warm and unforgettable’ teacher Celia
FORMER pupils of a retired Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School teacher who died last month have paid tribute to a woman they said was “truly exceptional”.
Celia Clout, an English language and literature teacher at the secondary school, died on Tuesday, April 21, in a care home in Codnor, aged 87.
Celia came to Ashbourne shortly after graduating from Somerville College in Oxford, where she had read English.
Past pupils say her talent and character touched many of them profoundly and a handful have set out tributes to her, remarking on her warmth, intelligence and the impact she had on their lives.
Graphic designer and cartographer Adrian Smith was taught by Celia from 1958 until 1965 and was in her year group throughout the third year.
He said: “By the end of that first year at ‘big school,’ the form had developed a real fondness for Miss Clout; respect, and an anticipation for her well-structured lessons.
“I think we had all started at QEGS at the same time, in fact, but we were the school ‘tinies’ and she was the glowing and enthusiastic expert on all things to do with literature and the English language.
“We felt that Celia had chosen us to be her form, we even believed that we were her favourite students! What joy!
“She did treat us with a genuine affection I think, whether we deserved it or not; I hope that we adequately reciprocated, because Celia made our year in her charge a very positive experience.
“Her lessons became for me, and many others beside I am sure, a dependable highlight of each day, accepting, as I think most of 3C would agree, we preferred the English lit to the more rigid, rule-based English language. Celia delivered both with equal professionalism, humour and tolerance.”
Mr Smith recalled that Celia dressed “colourfully smart” and explained how she always commanded respect from her students as she entered a room in her black gown, always looking “cool, fresh and completely in charge.”
Another pupil who has fond memories of being in Miss Clout’s form group was Malcolm “Theo” Ward, who attended QEGS between 1961 and 1968.
The chartered engineer said: “Celia was a breath of fresh air when I was a pupil in the 1960s.
“Amongst the staid and dusty classrooms her warm and friendly personality shone out, helping and guiding us students through our lessons in the hope that we might achieve some examination success, despite our frequent lack of ability in the subjects.
“Our form teacher for a year, she was only a few years older than ourselves and as result we all felt that she was in tune with our hopes, fears and ambitions.
“Fondly remembered, even after half a century.”
Brian Wheeldon, now a veterinary pathologist, left QEGS in 1966 and describes Celia as “the friend who taught me English.”
He said: “Her breezy warmth and enthusiasm were just what I needed to feel at ease and give me confidence to try my hardest.
“I visited Celia on several occasions in later years - I finally managed to call her Celia on these visits - after she suffered a cruel succession of unrelenting illnesses which had shrunk her world drastically. But she could still clearly remember pupils she had influenced over the years and there were many like me.”
Professor Wheeldon explains that, when Celia was interviewed at QEGS in the late 1950s, the then headmaster Mr Kimmins offered her the position on the spot and she decided to take it. “It was her first teaching interview - and she never left the school throughout her career”, he said. “Many Ashburnians benefitted from that decision.” Another pupil who went on to become a scientist, but whose school life was shaped by Miss Clout, was John Hickman, now an academic cancer researcher who was first taught by her in 1959.
While he was 17 and studying A-level science, Miss Clout led a compulsory “Use of English” course that ran alongside the scientific studies.
She was 29 at the time and Professor Hickman says he can clearly recall her pencil skirts, modest high heels and flowing black academic gown.
He said: “Celia swept into the sixth form room to prize open my hungry mind for modern literature.
“There was a diet different from Dickens and Shelley, instead discovering Aldous Huxley, Iris Murdoch, Muriel Spark and others.
“A disruptive, inspiring and brilliant teacher, most importantly she was fun. She was warm. She was unforgettable.
“As I fantasise about choosing my favourite book on the Desert Island Discs programme and discussing major influences on my life with the late Roy Plumley, Celia Clout would be right there.”
Celia was a breath of fresh air when I was a pupil in the 1960s.
Malcolm Ward