Old Fullerians have paid tribute to a sportsman and bon viveur who was “passionate about everything Watford”. John ‘Wilf’ Cook, an ‘Old Fullerian’ - a former pupil of Watford Grammar School for Boys - died on February 4, but he left a longstanding legacy in Watford. Mr Cook moved to the area in 1940 after being bombed out in London during the Blitz. He completed his studies in 1948/9 but acted as chairman of the Old Fullerians’ Association over several periods between 1966 and 2007.
John with the Chairman and Vice Presidents in 2012 Michael Groves, current chairman of the Old Fullerians’ Association, said: “John was passionate about everything Watford, his old school, its Old Boys’ Association, and the cricket club for whom he played for many, many years and of course, Watford Football Club whom he supported.”
10. Mary Portas used to live in Bushey.
10. Former children’s laureate Michael Rosen attended Watford Grammar School for Boys in the 1960s.
11. Watford has made huge contributions to the printing industry. Rotary photogravure was a technique which was first used in Watford to reproduce very fine, high quality fine art prints and then it went on to be used to produce colour magazines. All the ladies’ colour magazines, like Woman’s Weekly and Woman’s Own, were all printed in Watford, as well as most of the colour supplements for the Sunday newspapers.
12. Melanie C aka Sporty Spice lived in Watford for a spell.
Ian Scleater conducted many amateur operatic societies in London and the Home Counties The arts in Watford has lost one of its greatest supporters. The former director and honorary archivist of the Watford Palace Theatre Ian Scleater died last month at the age of 90. Yet there were other aspects of his full and varied life that are perhaps less well known. Mr Scleater enjoyed working his allotment which he held for 40 years up to his 90th birthday. He was also very proud to have flown on one of the first British Airways commercial Concorde flights from London to Bahrain in February 1976.