Dave Pollard (Trustee)

1940-2010

Dave PollardDave was born in Battersea in 1940 and was the oldest of three brothers. He attended Belleville Road Primary School where he won a scholarship to Emmanuel School as a day boy. He always said that he felt like a fish out of water at Emmanuel and it was consequently not among the happiest periods of his life. Emmanuel did however have one large compensation, for it was here that he learned to play rugby, which was to be his life long passion.

Leaving school at 16, Dave started work as a trainee draughtsman for Eve Construction in Wimbledon, where apart from a two year period early on when he left to become an agency draughtsman, he remained for his entire career. He studied day release and at night school at the renowned Brixton School of Building (now part of South Bank University), gained his Structural Engineering qualifications and became a Senior Design Engineer specialising in the design of the foundations of transmission towers in locations all over the world. In fact, following his retirement from Eve (which had metamorphosised several times, through Eve Transcom to eventually become part of the Babcock conglomerate) he continued to work there part time, as a consultant
Designer right up until the time of his illness.

In 1965 Dave married a Battersea girl, Barbara Sinclair and they remained happily married until the time of his death. They had two sons, Steve born in 1967 and Matt in 1971, who in their turn produced three grandchildren for Dave and Barbara. Apart from an early brief spell when they lived in Rainham in Kent for three years, Dave and Barbara have always resided in Worcester Park.

Shortly after leaving Emmanuel, Dave started playing rugby for Old Wandsworthions as a result of his friendship with one or two of the old boys who also lived near to him in Battersea. As a teenager playing rugby for Old Wandsworthians in austere post war Britain, he was always grateful for lifts to far flung venues like Old Elthamians, Barking Park and Old Gaytonians from kindly car owning toffs such as Ian McLean, Micky Brown and Bill Forester.

Dave lived for his rugby and played at all levels throughout the club including playing for 1st and captaining the 2nd and 3rd XV’s. Although his playing career ended when he was in his late forties, his association with his beloved Dub’s lasted over 50 years in total. He continued to serve the rugby club, the Old Wandsworthians Association, and latterly the Old Wandsworthians Memorial Trust in a number of capacities over the years, right up until his death in August 2010. Amongst the many posts he held after he stopped playing were President of the club and latterly, a Trustee and the Trust Secretary.

As well as serving Wandsworthians in all its manifestations, Dave still found time to be a golf society secretary, do a twice weekly workout at the gym and support his grandson Sam Pollard (an aspiring rock drummer) whose band “The Theory of Six Degrees” have played at Glastonbury. Dave continued to do all these things, despite being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in the spring of 2010, right up until he became hospitalised in mid summer 2010. Several generations of Dub’s will have fond memories of Dave. In earlier years with his trademark pipe, and always with his beard and deadpan sense of humour. Everyone liked him, everyone misses him. He is truly
a hard act to follow.

Vic Lever

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