History of Fairey Surveys Ltd
Geoff Milsom celebrated his 99th birthday at White Waltham, with old friends from Fairey Surveys, on Saturday 13th May 2023.
Photograph courtesy of John Tompkins (with Ken Fostekew taking his own photograph).
Ken Fostekew has passed on some of his photographs from the birthday celebration, and here is a better photograph of the cake:
Mariette has sent us an update (7th April 2023):
“Bobby went into the local residential home earlier this week. Along with his favourite book….”
Bob’s daughter Mariette found the website, and Bob has been sharing reminiscences of his times in South America, Africa, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and of the people he knew at Fairey Surveys. His story of Christmas in Saudi Arabia is already on the website:
Christmas in Saudi Arabia 1967
Mariette has sent us this photograph today (21st February 2023) with the message:
“Bobby sends his love to you all”
If anyone would like to get in touch with Bob or to be remembered to him, please send your message and contact details to admin@faireysurveys.co.uk and we’ll forward them on to him.
Click here for a bigger picture.
The annual reunion was held at White Waltham Cricket Club on July 22nd 2022, after a break of two years. If you have not been to one of the reunions, but would like to come, email us at admin@faireysurveys.co.uk, and we’ll put you on the 2023 mailing list.
Funeral arrangements have arrived from the
family:
Monday May 16th, 3:30 pm, Easthampstead Crematorium, Bracknell.
News has come from John Tompkins that Malcolm Eaton died on 14th April. Funeral details will follow when we hear from his wife Josie. He was at Warren Lodge Home in Wokingham for the last six months, but had been ill for three years.
Malcolm joined what was then the Air Survey Company in 1956 (on the same day as John Tompkins!).
With Bix Clark, Malcolm headed up the Livingston office of Fairey Surveys, which was set up in 1973. Below is a photograph of Fairey Surveys Scotland staff from about 1974, sent in a few years ago by John Scarrott, and another which is the earliest photograph we have of Malcolm in the cricket team (but there are a number of others!), presumably at White Waltham Cricket Club, where there are also photographs of him on the walls of the clubhouse.
Update from David Furneaux:
The address for messages of condolence is: David Furneaux, Seymour, Whitchurch Hill, Reading RG8 7PG.
For those unable to attend the service, David has arranged a webcast which will be broadcast live, and then available to watch for 28 days after the event. Below are the Username and Password for the webcast along with the times it will be available to view. You can login to the website at any time to view a Test Webcast, which we would recommend doing in plenty of time before the service:
| Username | sate3288 |
| Password | 771753 |
| Service Date | Friday 19th November |
| Service Time | 1:00 pm |
| Service Viewing Time | 12:56 pm – 1:50 pm |
| Website | https://watch.obitus.com |
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Sad news has come in from David Furneaux, Tony’s son. His email is shown below:
Tony passed away on Monday 25th October at his care home in Henley. He was going downhill due to his dementia but succumbed to a chest infection. He was 94.
His funeral is on Friday, 19th November 13:00 at Reading Crematorium. We will have some drinks and snacks afterwards (TBA) to celebrate his life. Could you please communicate this to all his ex work colleagues as I’m sure you will have contact with many of them. Also, If people wish to attend the after event, could they let me know so I have a rough idea of the numbers for catering.
My Dad loved his time at Faireys. He always talked of his fondness for the people he worked with and never had a bad word to say about anyone.
Thanks,
David Furneaux
Please let us know at admin@faireysurveys.co.uk if you want to attend the after event, and the responses will be passed on to David Furneaux.
Below is a photograph of Tony at the 2004 BBQ at White Waltham, which seems a real classic, and another taken at work, where he wasn’t quite so happy!
Neil Chisholm (FSL 1969 to 1976) has found our website, and many of us may remember him. He has sent a current photograph, and two older ones – one with Malcolm Eaton at White Waltham Cricket Club, and one from late 1976 with his Fairey Surveys tie. He has included his email address if anyone would like to get in touch direct.
In his own words …..
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NEIL CHISHOLM
I know this is taking COVID-19 distancing to ridiculous levels but this is Neil Chisholm ‘speaking’ to you from 884 km (549 miles) away. I realise that some of you may not know who I am but some may well remember me (and several more might well wish they didn’t) when I was at Reform Road for exactly 7 years from September 1969 (a mere 51 years ago!) to September 1976. Did also return to Maidenhead for a two-week spell (in 1977?) to run a CPD photogrammetric training course for operators but that doesn’t really count.
Lawrence Scott and Eric Holland had offered me a position straight from Glasgow University and I began as a photogrammetric operator (69-71), moved on to Project Control (71-73), then in the field as a land surveyor (73-74’ish) and finally as Mapping Research Officer (74’ish-76) where I worked closely with Bill Cheffins on various projects. So, although I was at FSL for only ~1/6th of my working life, it was the first 1/6th, and it was very influential on my subsequent career and I have very fond memories of happy albeit hard-working times. “Delivery of a job to specification and on time” was the FSL mantra and I like to think that it has been ingrained in me ever since.
I still remember the names of most of my past colleagues in each department (far too numerous to mention here) and the photographs in various places on the Fairey Surveys website jogged even more memories (and sad to see the passing of a few of them). I saw too the photograph of the 26 July 2019 reunion and I must admit to a twinge of regret that I hadn’t known about it – and the location would also have been especially nostalgic for me as I had played 7 seasons for White Waltham CC (so I both worked and played with Malcolm Eaton!).
It’d be great to hear directly from as many past colleagues and friends who feel so inclined and the easiest way would be to use the email address below. I have asked Gillian Wallace to add me to the database of folk to be contacted about future reunions as I reckon it might be worth the ~1100 mile round trip to catch up with (and surprise) some ‘well kent faces’ (whilst they, and I, are still functioning!).
With many memories
Neil
email: neilandsheila@madasafish.com
P.S. Left FSL to join the staff of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and after 21 years there moved to Inverness to assist in the creation of the new University of the Highlands and Islands. Retired in 2010 and am an active Rotarian and a keen curler (still in Inverness).
Geoff Milsom has let us know that Peter Redford, one of the Fairey Surveys pilots, has died, though as yet there are no other details. Peter and his wife Val were at the 2019 reunion at White Waltham, and are on the left of Ken Fostekew in the clubhouse doorway on the reunion photograph – shown below.
When we know more, it will be added to the post here.
We have had an email from Vic Rathbone’s daughter and son to let us know that he died on 8th April 2020 at the age of 92:
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Peter Green’s daughter Ann-Marie has let us know that there is a change of time for the funeral. It will now be held at 13:30 on February 14th (not 12:00 as previously stated), at the Reading Crematorium, All Hallows Road, Reading RG4 5LP.
Sad news has come in from Jan Karalus that Peter Green died on Wednesday 22nd February 2020. Peter was a Land Surveyor with Fairey Surveys for many years, and during his time there worked on surveys for some historic infrastructure projects. To mention just a few: the Channel Tunnel (both sides), the M!/M6 motorway link, Dungeness “B” power station and the Humber Bridge. He (and his Mk 1 Land Rover) were remembered by Ross Dallas, in an article on land surveying at Fairey Surveys in the late 1960s (link below).
Land Surveying article by Ross Dallas
Dave Hadden, who joined Fairey Surveys as a new graduate in 1976, wrote of his memories working with Peter (link below).
Dave Hadden tribute to Peter Green
A trawl through the Fairey Surveys Newsletters (all on the website) has come up with the following articles about the high precision surveys that Peter did – two have photographs that look very like him:
FSL Newsletter 11, November 1973: Nuclear Power Survey
FSL Newsletter 13, October 1974: New Equipment for High Precision Survey Unit
FSL Newsletter 18, January 1978: Dungeness “B” Report wins prize
FSL Newsletter 22, January 1980: Survey Control for Bridges
More recently Peter was regular fixture at the reunions at White Waltham Cricket Club. There is a good photograph of him on the 2013 reunion photograph, which was posted with a key to the attendees (Peter is #17):
Peter’s daughter Anne-Marie has sent in this photograph of him taken on 27th December 2019.
The funeral will be at Reading Crematorium on 14th February at 13:30 (please note change of time from 12:00 originally published).