The Old Bordenian Association

Bob Davis was, without any doubt, the iconic figure at Borden in the late fifties. Blessed with a fine physique, he was a magnificent sportsman. His main love was football but he could seemingly turn his hand to any sport. Although he never liked cricket, he scored the only century of our period at school. He could throw a javelin a fair distance and hockey and tennis came easily to him. He was no fool in the classroom but what singled him out from the rest of us was his iconoclastic attitude to life at Borden. There was a James Dean-type rebelliousness about him yet he became head boy because George Hardy wisely recognised his cult status. It was a job he did almost casually but all respected him. I think many of us were in awe of him.

After school, however, this huge talent never really developed. He played football for Sittingbourne for quite a few years and he became a good golfer. He married and there are three children. Divorce arrived and Bob Davis then tended to drift. He never found a job which interested him enough to push himself. We often wondered ‘what Bob was doing’. That streak of rebelliousness never left him. I had not seen him for ages but when I heard of his death an enormous feeling of sadness and affection overwhelmed me. We look back thinking who were our heroes and Bob was the first of my life.

‘The Road not Taken’, a poem written by the American poet, Robert Frost finishes:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Richard Witts

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the OBA RSS feed!