[Sparkologist]

I only found out today that Ralph Bailey, the long serving headmaster of Accrington Grammer School and laterly Moorhead High School passed away on the 2nd of this month. He was headmaster whilst I was at Moorhead.

Here is the obituary notice that I ripped from a local newspaper website:
Ralph Bailey



A POPULAR and respected headteacher has died at the Clitheroe Hospital aged 77.

Accrington-born Mr Ralph Bailey was the last headmaster of the former Accrington Boys’ Grammar School and the first of Moorhead High School when it was formed from a merger of the grammar school and the Girls’ High School in the mid-1970s.
Mr Bailey, of Barrow, near Clitheroe, had spent the last year- and-a-half battling with motor-neurone disease, a degenerative illness which affects the muscles.
After attending Peel Park Primary School and Accrington Boys’ Grammar School, Mr Bailey studied at Cambridge University where he gained a degree in geography.
Following a stint working for ICI he decided teaching was his vocation and went into the profession in the early 1950s.
His first teaching post was at Sutton Coldfield, followed by a job in Stockport before he was appointed head of geography at Stand Grammar School in Whitefield.
In 1967 he became headteacher of Accrington Boys’ Grammar School where he served until it changed to become Moorhead in 1975.
He then remained as headteacher of Moorhead until his retirement in 1984.
This week family, friends and former work colleagues paid tribute to Mr Bailey, describing him as a natural leader who loved the great outdoors.
His son Kenneth, 52, said: “He had a very active life and one of the things he did when he retired was to help blind skiers on holiday trips.
“At the school he also organised an outdoor activity trip to Windermere for Year 9 pupils which was very popular. He was also involved with Clitheroe Golf Club.”
Former colleague Kathleen Jones, who served as Mr Bailey’s deputy, said: “He was a very popular man who loved geography and outdoor activities.
“He was a very lively man to work for and he certainly kept all the staff on their toes. He was also very active and an excellent tennis and badminton player.”
Current Moorhead headteacher Andrew Bateman said: “There are a lot of staff at the school who fondly remember Mr Bailey and a lot of pupils who remember the camps he used to take them on. He was a very dedicated teacher.”
As well as Kenneth, Mr Bailey also leaves daughters Christine, Jacqueline and Susan as well as grandchildren Hamish, Neil, Clare, Callum. Hannah, Harry, Sophie and Lucie. He also leaves a sister Myra who lives in Canada.
Burial will take place at Trinity Methodist Church, Clitheroe, on Tuesday.