Son pays tribute to former Darley Dale head teacher

Ken Wareham, of Darley Dale, passed away as a result of old age on June 28 aged 91.

Mr Wareham, who was born in Shropshire in 1922, was head teacher at Stancliffe Hall Preparatory School, in Darley Dale, from 1961 until his retirement in 1984.

His son, Richard Wareham, of Darley Dale, said: “He prided himself as a schoolmaster, first and foremost, and believed in good pastoral care, sound teaching and bringing out the best in all those children in his care.”

Mr Wareham joined the army in 1942 and was commissioned at Sandhurst into the 24th Lancers. He landed on the Normandy beaches on D–Day in 1944, leading his troop of Sherman tanks.

During his service to the army, he met his future wife Catherine, known as ‘Cath’.

Richard continued: “After leaving the army in 1946, he spent a year at London University preparatory to joining H.M. Colonial Service in Nigeria and the Cameroons as an education officer and latterly as principal of a leading government secondary college there.”

After Nigerian Independence in 1961, the couple returned to the UK with Richard and his brother Adrian and took up the role in Darley Dale.

Even after his retirement, Mr Wareham was dedicated to education, continuing as a bursar and chaplain at Stancliffe Hall and serving for six years on the Independent Prep Schools Association Council.

Richard said: “As a keen geographer, he loved travel and introduced many children to its joys by leading groups of annual cruises, mostly in the eastern Mediterranean, and he served for many years as chairman of prep schools cruising.”

Richard added that his father was a devote Christian.

He added: “He became licensed as a reader in Darley Dale Parish and was closely associated with St Helen’s Church and with St Philip and St James’s, Hackney. He was a long standing member of the Matlock Rotary Club, being president in 1987.”