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Selby Brock was a teacher and loyal servant of Bradford Grammar School for 36 years, retiring in 1997. A BGS legend and a true gentleman known and loved by generations of Old Bradfordians, he devoted much of his life to BGS and our Cross Country Club. This page is a space for you to share your memories, photos, and reflections of Selby. His influence cannot be understated and he will be sorely m... more
Family and friends
Selby was my first form master (3T) in the main school in 1967 after starting in Thornville the previous year. A big class of 30+ but he got to know everyone and even used our first names which was unheard of! I don't remember the math but I do remember the whacks - gym shoe or ripple-soled running show (which counted for 2 of the gym shoe). I got...
I remember him but I bet he never gave me a second thought. One of the sadists who enforced cross country
Jonathan Brown I just came across this photo from I think 1972 or 1973 so for all the guys from that era here it is. Selby and Tony looking very young. Again so sad to hear the news and so good to see so many tributes and hear from so many old cross country colleagues.
Jackson RB 4D 1974/5 Mr Brock was my form teacher... and taught me maths. That year, I was taught English by a master who was new to the school. "Call me Steve" was his request at the start of our first lesson together. There was only one boy who did. As I remember, his lessons could be quite chaotic. Mr Brock, wisely, never tried to be one of us, ...
Julian Mawson Athletics Weekly article in 1990
Julian Mawson Runners World feature from 1993 reflecting on 25 years of Westwell camp
Andy Bottomley and I were talking about Selby and Tony at Christmas when we met up. Both created the life long memories of our time at school. Selby was incredible at timing his handicap races. Westwell running camps are some of my favourite memories; growing up; being with the best of friends and runnings lots of running. Rest in peace Selby, you ...
Julian Mawson Westwell 50 in 2018
Julian Mawson BGS Cross Country Reunion in 2019
I arrived at BGS in 1965 and did not understand mathematics at all. Selby Brock had a marvellous attitude to teaching maths and to helping boys who were finding their feet. The progress I made in that first year in Selby's classroom was a feature of supper table conversation at home. My father, who had initially taken on the responsibility of suppo...
I find it difficult to fully express the impact that Tony and Selby have had on me. 16 Years after leaving BGS, every time I put on my running shoes and head out of the door, I think of them both. They have not only given me a way of keeping fit, but of being most alive, most myself, most at home. I am all of these when I am running - running hard,...
If I remember correctly Selby was my form teacher in the third form in 1963. He never taught me but remember him as a fair and supportive teacher. Got to know him better since school with his work in athletics and his partnership with Tony Kingham keeping athletics alive in Bradford and West Yorkshire schools. He will be sorely missed.
I first met Selby in 1978. I had been talent spotted in the Clockhouse Lister Park run so as soon as I reached the "big school" I was in the Cross Country club, which really was the best of my schooldays. As well as the physical exercise, which people do for fun & wellbeing nowadays, being a member of the club afforded you the opportunity to mix wi...
Mr Brock, I knew you as a maths teacher and had nothing to do with Cross Country. As a Maths teacher I will always remember your patience, humanity, kindness and love you had for your students. 30 years have passed since I first met you and I was talking to my wife the other day about how lovely and genuine you were. I remember the lessons like ...
2nd year form tutor (Lenny Butler/Selby - how lucky was I?). Encouraged me into x-country club (ran weds afternoon a couple of times age 12, came last, hated it. I’ve worked in the running trade and design and sell running products for the last 25 years... go figure). I was usually quick enough to miss the Ballistic Board Rubber, though not always...
Such sad news. Selby was the epitome of a scholar, a gentleman and a legend. I joined the cross country club on arrival at BGS in 1965, and most of my fondest memories from school are down to the fun and camaraderie inspired by Selby (and Tony) on dismal winter afternoons slogging around Heaton Woods, happy days at Westwell, or over Guinness and c...
I was extremely fortunate to be involved in BGS Running Club in the late 1960's and early 70's a period which I can honestly say represented a golden era for the Club. I was one of many who had the pleasure of experiencing Selby Brock's tremendous enthusiasm, planning flare and encouraging voice during many a grueling cross-country running race. A...
Damian Collinge Selby was a wonderful teacher. Great memories of cross country camps in Kent and maths lessons where he bamboozled us with his flat earth calculations. Even took time to come and visit me in hospital when I was in his form. Some great times at BGS and Selby was to thank for so many of them.
Thank you Selby for making it ok not to understand a mathematical problem the first three times of explaining it, and taking the time to find an explanation that sank in. I still have that love of “getting” numbers and an A grade O level. Thank you for introducing me to the joys of cross country, I enjoyed running through the countryside for the sh...
Sincerest condolences. First crossed paths in 1965 whenin 4th form.Little did I know the effect Selby was to have on my later life. Not only did our paths cross in the classroom, but more frequently in co- curricular and extra curricular activities. Initially he was one of the masters supporting the Junior Dramatic Society- and while living in the ...
I first met Selby in the Transitus when he was teaching English, and I also got to know him through the cross country club. Somehow he and Tony Kingham managed to create a very successful club, at the same time keeping it sociable, especially at the summer camp in Westwell. Although he taught Maths in the lower school and English certainly to O le...
Hard to hear amongst troubling times. I always had a sense of admiration when passing 'Room 34' as I most remembered mathematics and schooling at their best. Selby (Mr Brock) was humanistic in his teaching but I have avid memories of the imprints of various hands on the lower end of the blackboard from previous students receiving the 'whack'. Sadly...
Sad news indeed. Selby was an inspiration to many, including myself. For the insane couple of years that laboured with Cross Country running ending up well into the lower echelons of the field, Selby was always encouraging. I think that he had found someone who was a worse runner than he. Hence the rugby pitch luring me back. I enjoyed his maths le...
When I joined BGS in 1970, Selby was teaching English (or was it Maths and English ; Or was it Maths, English and History?). I loved the fact that he was proud to be on the LP cover of Solti's Mahler 8, which Paul Shaw once gave me. Such a polymath, though his running was a trifle dodgy. My late wife, Hannah, LOVED the occasions , sitting with Ton...
I’m very sorry to read about Selby’s death. “Selby” was my form teacher in my first year “in the big school” in 1966. Of course, that was in Form 3BK. As others have mentioned, he made school and maths enjoyable. My deepest sympathy and condolences for all of his family.
It was Selby who got me into running as a 12 year old in 1972, and 48 years later I still run every day thanks to him. Some of the training sessions were revolutionary in their day, especially for school boys, and that’s why the BGS cross country teams were always so successful. He made everyone welcome irrespective of ability and always congratu...
How desperately sad to hear. Selby was a wonderful teacher, inspiring and kind. I was in 3BK in '66 (perhaps just two desks behind John Baines, Mark Barrett between us?) where he taught us maths. We counted ourselves lucky to have him as our form teacher. He later also taught me Eng Lit and History, in L6th and 6th forms, and was an inspiration i...
Selby Brock took me under his wing over the chess board in 1962-3 and not only taught me how to play but encouraged me to enjoy the game which I have continued to this day He even supported my desire to learn Russian to follow world class analysis of games being played there His passing only cements the warmth I feel when thinking back to those day...
Fond memories of Selby as a teacher and constant advocate for cross country running. He didnt manage to lure me away from rugby but he was always good humoured whatever the response. Great company down at the Duck of a Saturday night as well. AB BGS 1967-76
Such awful, sad news. So many tremendous memories of my time with the BGS Cross Country Club (1988 onwards). And, in the years since BGS, those few Saturday evenings that I have been able to pop into the Mucky Duck to join Selby and Tony for a Guinness have just added to the great affection I will always have for him. Selby was one of the very best...
I have fond memories of Selby at the BGS camp at Drebley. Perhaps 1965 or 1966 things weren't going too smoothly as he cooked breakfast - he came out with a wonderful sentence involving "recalcitrant eggs". I'd never heard the word before, but I've loved using it many times since.
I was taught History and Maths by Selby in 1966 on the bottom corridor, as well as doing a bit of cross-country; though my father’s chosen sport was swimming, it was cheaper. My abiding memories are Selby’s use of the Banda machine for handouts and the surge of 11 year olds to help with the distribution for an extended high of sniffing every sheet ...
Such very sad news. Selby is indeed a legend and I think this could have been said of him even when I left BGS way back in 1983. I had the privilege of not just being taught Maths by him, but also to be in his form and be a not very successful member of a very successful cross country club before realising that I was somewhat better at cricket tha...
Sincere condolences on the sad passing of Selby Brock. He was a great teacher and a cross country coach par excellence. I was very fortunate to participate in the School Cross Country team in the late sixties which performed normally successfully against other schools and always successful in championships. Selby was a great coach along with Mr Tho...
It is very sad to hear of the death of Selby: he was someone who was "always there" and it will be a long time before I can come to terms with his departure from us. He arrived to teach at BGS in my last year as a pupil, and continued as a colleague for many years; and we still ran into each other from time to time in retirement. His enthusiasm and...
This is sad news for generations of BGS runners who Selby inspired to achievements beyond their wildest dreams. He was my form teacher in 3T when I arrived as a weedy 11 year old with no sporting ability. He taught maths and history that year and, bless him, he never reached the end of the syllabus so I have a gap in my historical knowledge from ab...
I was a little - indeed a tiny - boy at BGS for only four terms, September 1967 to December 1968. Even so, some of the happiest memories of my sporting life came from cross-country with Selby - Jacob's Ladder, the Rose Run, my running short and 'ripples' running shoes, the legends that were Alan Scarfe and Ian Aldridge - names I remember easily fro...
When I arrived at BGS in 1990 I was quickly identified as not being suited to rugby and directed towards cross-country. In that sense, like Selby, fate pushed me towards running. Once in the club Selby's encouragement of my "plodding" approach led to running becoming a permanent part of my life. I fondly remember the training, Westwell (where I spe...
Selby Brock taught me maths 5 times a week between September 1977 and July 1978 in room 34. I recall that he was a good maths teacher and a veritable font of information about the theory that the earth was flat. I also remember that he had a penchant for calling miscreants and those who did badly in tests to the front of the room, forcing them to b...
Andrew Suddards Selby, along with Tony, was truly inspirational teacher. It is true to say that special teachers can influence you in a way that lasts a lifetime. Selby was certainly that for me and I will always be grateful for his amazing leadership of the BGS cross country club, where inspiration combined with enjoyment and a dash of magic. I also remember him as a great Maths teacher that cemented it as my favourite subject. Many vivid memories abound - of training runs whatever the weather, hard fought races and the thrill of competition, summer camps, singing on the coach home, and of course the Mucky Duck. He epitomised the very best leadership, bringing people together, firing up the passion - always in an inclusive way - and gently building a team that shone brightly in its achievements. Who could forget the slightly flat-footed running style, the passion for cheese and a pint, and the 24 hour track challenges - a giant of a leader that will be sadly missed.
Such sad news to hear the passing of a great man. When I think back to my time at BGS my fondest memories all involve the Cross Country club (1992-1999). Whether that be the brutal Tuesday 2 miles round the track, Wednesday's long run (preceded by an hour of football to 'warm up'), the trips to various races on a Saturday, or even the pre season tr...
I was at BGS from 1963-71 (first year was in Thornville). My first form in main school was 3Bk. BGS recruited many good teachers, though if I am honest only a few names come to mind now. That may say more about me than it does about them! However, one name that I always remember well and fondly was that of Selby Brock’s. I was not a rugby player...
I worked with Selby for many years and remember him as a valued colleague, a warm and kind-hearted man who was ever good company, generous with his time and never had a bad word to say of anyone. I am saddened to hear of his death.
As well as a cross country trainer Selby Brock made a great chess teacher, full of enthusiasm in the years after the Sunday Times award winning team led by George Botterill. He developed my interest in chess which has continued to today. I can still remember how he taught some of the basic concepts like “opposition”, and him showing us the cra...
James Maughan I read with great sadness and recall Selby’s remarkable leadership along with Tony of the X-country club and its generations of runners. We all benefited so much from his and Tony’s inspiration and the ethic instilled in us, run after lunchtime run, race after Saturday race, camp after Westwell camp. It was a club where all contesters counted and that made the club attractive to all abilities or when, in my case, running was a second sport. I’m grateful to Mike and BGS for arranging the reunion last year. Instinct within me made me do my utmost to attend and I timed a trip to the UK from where I live in Dubai to be there. All generations of runners (Brownlees included) fussed around him with his clipboard at the start line, at the fish & chip frenzy at the pavilion or at the Duck, bantering on his nuggets of club trivia. At school he taught me computing – another subject in his polymath repertoire. It was the Sinclair era (my brother 2 years earlier trudged to the Management Centre with punchhole cards). Selby inspected my ten lines of code (I was hoping to impress Pete Kewley that I was the new Keynes, calculating GDP) ‘’steady on Maughan, the computer’s not that clever – it can take 2 lines at a time’’. You can eat turkey any way you like, my preference will always be Brocked. RIP
Selby Brock was my first form teacher at BGS (3E in 1972), my maths teacher and he introduced me to cross-country running. His enthusiasm and enjoyment rubbed off on others and nothing was too much trouble for him – he even delivered my school blazer to my house on a Saturday evening after I’d left it in the pavilion changing room that morning. Th...
Such sad news to hear of Selby Brock's passing. A genuinely brilliant and inspirational teacher of the Old School - of maths, the flat earth, running and life's values. From day two at the school when I was given a reprieve from a whack (having forgotten my first ever BGS homework!) through the spot tests (no less than 8/10!) and black marks, cro...
Such a shame to hear the sad news. Selby was a huge part of life at BGS whether it be via his teaching, his leadership with Toni of the cross country club or his set up of those great camps in the summer. Sad to see him go but all the comments on this page show the huge impact he had on so many people, myself included
I mean Westwell not Wombwell of course - not edit available
Fond memories of Selby teaching me maths (I went on to teach maths until I retired 4 years ago). He tried to tempt me away from rugby (never going to happen) but soon realised that 200m and less was my forte although I did get within 50 yards of Ian Purdham when running an 880yd - once! RIP Selby.
The passing of a BGS Titan. His contribution to the life and reputation and teaching of our school is peerless. Another one of my school giants has gone. Rest In Peace Selby. For the record, as a prop forward along with Woodhead P. G. I invested considerable effort in finding a spot to hunker down in Hurst Woods to emerge on circuit 3 with a dece...
A games room littered with medals, plaques and badges - largely due to the speed and class of Richard Nerurkar and Andrew Leach. Selby was one of few who knew how to motivate me to achieve and he helped create moments that live long in the memory... Team victory at Disley Witty songs on the trip home And Westwell in Kent - the Wheel Inn is still ...
Tim Leach Very sad news, Selby was such a huge inspiration, humble, curious and patient as well as a fount of knowledge. Thanks to Selby I not only had a middling cross-country running career (something that was never part of any plan), but I also know what steatopygous means. I was also introduced to the delights of a “Sainsbury’s rasher” and ginger beer shandy (not at the same time) on the annual Westwell trips. Condolences to Selby’s family, Tony and other close friends.
It is 28 years since I left BGS but I often think of Selby. I was not the most talented runner, but he instilled in me a love of running that has endured and probably will endure for a lifetime. Running helped me through school and has continued to benefit my mental and physical health ever since. He genuinely cared for his students (I got lost whe...
The email saying that Selby Brock had passed away was one I never wanted to receive. In a school with many good teachers, Selby is one of the few that stand out in my memory. I am very sad that he has gone but I was lucky to have been taught by him. He was my form teacher and the only Maths teacher I had during my time at BGS and his friendly and ...
So sad to hear of Selby's passing, the cross country club he and Tony built gave me my fondest memories of school. The team spirit and comradery they encouraged made the club what it was. As a runner who found himself usually nearer the back than the front there was no less encouragement, as long as you put the effort in you were always a welco...
Tim Soutar There is little I can add to the comments already made about Selby the man and the contribution he made to us all. Instead, I’ve attached the 1969 Club photo which contains the first two teams from School ever to win at Disley: the U12s and the Seniors, 90 minutes apart. Surely one (actually, two) of Selby’s finest hours. Over 50 years later, I’m still proud to have been a scoring member of that U12 team, together with Simon Reynell, Mick Longthorn and Miles Atkinson. The observant among you will see it was run in October as a result of the foot & mouth outbreak earlier in the year. The first of many such wins, but we didn’t know that then. Thanks, Selby, for that and all the other great memories.
Sad to hear the passing of Selby Brock by one of his first class of pupils when he was appointed form teacher to class 3C in 1963. Looking back his arrival epitomised the sweeping changes of the swinging sixties and this new young teacher brought in a style and demeanour that must have seemed a revolution to the older established teaching hierarchy...
Like so many others here, Selby was a colossus of my early childhood. The guy may as well have walked around with a halo on, if he didn’t always wear his BGS colours woolly hat. I feel very lucky to have seen him last year at the reunion at school, and tried to tell him and Tony something about how much they meant to me as I grew up. But between ...
Sad news indeed, the loss of the inimicable Selby Brock. I never had Selby as a maths teacher (being in parallel 3d!), but of course he was already famous when I arrived in ’67 as the driving force, forging the fantastic cross country club, at that time with Keith Thompson. I was thrilled to read all the tributes, many from names of my era, and man...
Tragic news for all those who had anything to do with BGS Cross Country Running Club. As the messages already convey, he was a deeply respected and much admired by all who came in contact with him, be it in the classroom or out running. My first memory of Selby is with clipboard under his arm, being accosted after finishing 7th in the school race t...
Sad news indeed. After Keith Thomson "recruited" me for the cross country team, it was Selby and Tony Kingham who installed and developed my love for the sport, which continues today in my role as an assistant coach. I had one outstanding year and several mediocre ones in my tenure at BGS, but, regardless of results, Selby always supported and en...
Such very sad news. My contemporaries and I were among Selby's first pupils at BGS and I can recall that we were quietly in awe of this new teacher whose boundless enthusiasm and wide range of knowledge quickly impressed themselves on us. He never appeared to hold it against me that my grasp of Maths was slow to develop or that my rotund shape at t...
Very sorry indeed to hear of Selby's death. In the last couple of years I'd taken to visiting the Duck on the occasional Saturday night with Simon Blakey, and the renewed acquaintance with Selby reminded me of the old joke: "When I was 14 I thought my father was an idiot. When I turned 21 I was surprised how much he'd learned in the meantime." Not...
Terribly sad news My brothers and I went down to the Mucky Duck for old times sake when we were in Bradford early 2019 for our Dad's funeral. Guess who was there? Selby. After a long description of his regular bus route there and the arrival of Tony, the conversation flowed. Their memory of old boys was remarkable usually once the name was gi...
I ran cross-country in the early years at BGS and then sneaked off to play rugby for a few years before Selby and Tony lured me back in on the back of the promise of beers at the Mucky Duck!! Along with Andy Flint (Fric) and Richard Crossfield we were very bang average at senior level but made to look very good with Messrs Nerurkar and Leach as ou...
Selby's passing is terribly sad news. Like so many who have already commented Cross-Country with Selby (and of course Tony) at the helm provides so many of my happiest memories from my time at BGS (1989-96). I remember clearly my first foray around the school course at Heaton Woods, coming very nearly last. The advancement from there to being pa...
Selby made Maths fun! I think he taught us in the 3rd and 4th years in the mid-1970s. I can’t actually recall any other Maths teacher! He seemed to get the balance between ‘learning’ and ‘fun’ just right. Making the latter seem like it was happening most of the time (for me anyway) and the former happening by osmosis? I remember the ‘red herrings’ ...
Having discovered that BGS did not officially offer any of my preferred sports (football, tennis and golf) and having realised after 2 years at Thornville that I wasn’t cut out for rugby, rowing or swimming (too weedy), I was talked into trying out for the cross-country team by Selby himself. Suffice it to say, my first efforts were not particularl...
I arrived at BGS in 1967 from a state primary school in Pudsey. I found many of the teachers initially intimidating and unapproachable. Mr Brock was the opposite: welcoming, inclusive and effortlessly encouraging. And everybody knew him by his first name. He taught me maths in 3E and 4M and then said hello to me for the next five years whenever I c...
Clive Hirst Very sad to hear of Selby's passing and to realise that I can't now fulfil my plan to see him at the summer get-together in Westwell. Apologies for the photographs from Disley that feature Keith Thomson rather than Selby but that was what my dad took on the day (I thought many of you would like to see them). It's sad to have lost Selby and Keith within a year or so. Others may have already contributed team photos but just in case... Along with a number of others on this page I was fortunate to attend the first camp at Westwell in 1969. I remember the excitement on Bradford Exchange station platform as we met up towards the end of the summer holiday for a whole week away in our own company and under the expert guidance and care of Selby and Tony. Heavens, we might even do a bit of running! And who can forget that long walk from the bus stop? Having been a teacher myself, and for a time helping out with cross country running (though walking was more common amongst the boys in my outfit) I appreciate the enormous amount of time that Selby, along with Tony and Keith Thomson, devoted to us in the cross country running club. Cross country was my escape from rugby and a more than pleasant way to pass time before the cricket season began. Selby was always very coy about running himself but more than made up for it with his enthusiasm and the pleasure he took in seeing others succeed - as we generally did. Just one anecdote: Stuart Lindley and I had met in Bradford centre one Saturday evening and who should we meet in a pub but Selby, the man himself. We chatted for some time, covering the usual wide range of topics and when we got onto music Selby couldn't resist inviting us up to his flat to listen to Mahler and Beethoven to prove the point he had been making. Our plans for the evening were changed beyond recognition but we didn't care, we had a much better time than we had planned for. Teachers of Selby's quality are few and far between and he will be greatly missed.
I was in 3Bk in 1966-67 having graduated from Thornville to the "Big School". Any trepidation was soon dispelled by Selby's relaxed and approachable style even if this did sometimes result in a certain amount of ill discipline. We were arranged in alphabetical order in Room 37 and my desk was immediately in front of David West's. Inspired by Selby...
Julian Mawson Remarkable to reflect Selby kept meticulous course records between 1969 and 2006. Each of the 392 names on the U12 course, 178 on the U13, 353 on the U14, 252 on U16 and 229 on the Senior was as equally important.
Incredibly sad news. I don’t think that I fully appreciated the amazing cross country club that Selby and Tony had created at BGS till after I left school - the comradery, sense of fun, inclusion and encouragement that made running for BGS such a great experience. Selby was instrumental in encouraging me to keep running throughout my time at school...
Nick Johnson A true legend! I have so many memories of Selby, as a teacher, a stalwart of the cross country fraternity, a bus/coach driver, a 'bat n trap' mentor, a plimsoll thwacker, the BGS equivalent of Waldorf & Statler, and a jolly good chap! Much like a lot of my cross country colleagues, Selby's commitment and persistence for us to succeed, despite my/our (I know i wasn't the only one!) desire to 'skive' the park run, or turn up late to the track time trial is what pushed our school to be one of the best cross country clubs in the country! He never stopped supporting and pushing us on. In fact i can still hear him shouting words of encouragement like 'Come on Johnson, don't let him beat you' to this day! (Therapy is helping) Selby deserves all the wonderful words being shared, and will live on long in all our memories. Rest in peace Sir
As the various photos illustrate, Selby hardly seemed to change over the years and decades. Perhaps his apparent indestructibility is one reason why this sad news has come as such a shock to so many of us. He was just the same as ever on the recent "Westwell 50" camp, perhaps the only slight sign of advancing years being his opting out of the group...
Very sad to learn of Selby's passing. I saw his last year in Westwell, and many times before that. I'll miss him greatly. Selby seemed to understand us, with his easy, fascinating, conversation, his use of first names, his “red herrings. He seemed to see things our way, as in a line I recall from his Westwell joining instructions: “radios and o...
Q: How long have you been running? A: Over 40 years. Q: What? How old are you? A: 50 Q: What? You started running at 10? A: 9, actually. Q: How the hell did you get into that mug's game so young? A: Tony and Selby. Q: Who? A Tony and Selby. Q: Who? A: Oh never mind. They're over there, by the finishing funnel...the one with the bobble hat and clipb...
I have happy memories of Selby Brock. I didn’t run – though I do now – and I was only taught by him in my first year, 1965, taught maths and history, as a “new boy”, one of two such curious oddments, made welcome by him, in his form of Old Thornvillains. An excellent teacher. A happy teacher who created a happy atmosphere in all he did. Peter ...
I was shocked to hear from James Crafer about Selby's death, having just been told by my old ASVAC compatriots that Bob Tristram, a teacher at Whitcliffe Mount, who was Selby's main coaching adversary in the early days, had also died the week before. Truly the generational batons have been passed! Back in 1965 Selby taught maths and and astronomy t...
Andy Hardie Back when you were 13 or 14 you didn't really appreciate what advice or help was given to you. Apologies for the poor quality but 2nd photo shows Kirk RJH and Jeffrey RW proudly showing their Disley Badge must have been 1981?...So the look on their faces says...'we've done it...we are the champions...'... That is what Selby gave to so many...and we STILL remember it... 1st photo shows Hardie AJA , Jeffrey RW, Awan B, and Shaw-Smith RJ reaping the benefits of Selby and Tony's coaching...by winning the Tetley Bittermen Steeplechase in Halifax...circa 1984...Think of all those guys when we won 3 trays of bitter and probably only 15 or 16...! What a team spirit we had...WE were the best... Thanks to Selby's eternal optimism...we just kept going... My twin daughters caught the bug...they wouldn't have if Selby had not given me the thrill of running.. One still runs for County Durham. I brought her down to see Selby and Tony at the last reunion...so glad I did. He made so many memories...so my last word is .. Thank you Selby Brock. Andy Hardie
Eddie Shaw-Smith Given, to prove, proof: anyone spelling 'prove' with two ‘o’s will receive customary punishment. I recall Marcus Roberts duly obliged. Two miles on the track, Tuesday lunchtimes: Selby reading out the time on his stopwatch: five-o-eight, five-o-nine, five-o-ten, five-o-eleven… to great hilarity. 'Early one morning, just as the sun was rising; I saw someone running in the valley below. He was going slow - couldn't get his calves to go. All he could do was puff and blow.' Or, 'Get running, get running, get running you turd! You never come first; you always com third… Get running, get running, get running you turd! The sound of Sir Selby: “Get running you Turd!”'... The booming voice echoes across a Kentish valley or along a Yorkshire hillside. ‘CONGREGATE!’ A welcome sound as it meant five minutes' rest. I will always cherish these funny memories but there was something magnetic and guru-like about Selby's personality. You felt like an adult in his company rather than a worthless schoolboy. You discussed interesting topics such as flat earth theory and were challenged with excellent puzzles such as the 'ladder leaning against the package box' or the 'monkey and the coconuts', which had a 'clever bit' in the solution. Selby didn't suffer fools though and I was chastised on many occasions, such as when I calculated 40 lollipops at 10p each from Challock Post Office for the runners would set him back £40 or when I failed to peel the potatoes to Selby's exacting standards at pre-camp. It was always great to sit and chat with Selby back in the Duck with a Guinness, as I did on many occasions in recent years on trips back to Yorkshire from the Southeast. Selby was definitely the first to kindle my interest in maths which has never faded to this day, and neither has my keenness to stay fit. Rest in Peace, Selby. Eddie Shaw-Smith (BGS 1976-1984)
neil eccles i've been digging... the whole team photo is a favourite for a number of reasons, not least because i feel privileged to have run with such talented boys. it features all four shaw-smith brothers. selby and tony made this happen. three others are from the cheadle hulme relays, i think, and featured my 8 year old brother, who was illegally drafted into the C team after a late no-show. the last is, of course, the 'gun' at the start of the school course... all must have been around 81/82. three years later i was dragged away to manchester because my dad was stupid enough to gain a job promotion...to this day i feel cheated out of some golden years with selby and tony. and finally, my understanding is that the word legend ought to be used only in reference to those now departed...in which case, this great man has now passed into legend. he is missed already. neil.
I first came across Selby at the Bradford Schools Cross Country Championships at Northcliffe Park sometime back in the 2000s. Clipboard in hand, he had an air of something about him, I could tell he was in his element when amongst the running fraternity. I can still remember him on various racecourses, “come on Bradford, get a move on!” he would ...
Mr Brock led us up The Ramp on my first Wednesday afternoon run and from then on, I was hooked. Whatever your standard, you were pushed but also made to feel valued as part of the club. Selby’s examples of leadership taught me many things in my time at BGS: strive to achieve your potential, get the job done without fuss, I could go on… As if creat...
I think I'd come 22nd in a horrendous compulsory mud-fest round the school fields or a couple of laps around Lister Park, so I was a little surprised to be ordered to turn out in Heaton Woods on Saturday against Batley GS. It was a way out of rugby for me, but I can only say Selby (it's impossible not to say "and Tony") made a massive difference to...
Early one morning, Just as the sun was rising, I saw Selby running in the valley below. He was going slow. Couldn’t get his calves to go. All he could do was Puff and blow. Nothing that felt more like teen and team spirit than the bus rides home. The younger amongst us would sit near the front of the bus in our junior seats and wait in awed antici...
neil eccles gentlemen. i just had to publish this. it still puts the fear of the beard into me to this day. and when i think of what got me through that tortuous, nay torturous day, it wasn't the fear of the bearded one, as i thought at the time, it was the deepest respect for him, and the intense will to live up to his expectations. he was a true leader of men. and i shall never forget him. and having had a lovely online reunion with the simply wonderful rob shaw smith tonight, i'm going to follow his lead and call out some huge personalities of my formative years - angus leeming, tim metcalfe, simon smith. we took bingley to the cleaners on more than one occasion and we never flinched a fight. thank you, tony and selby, you gave us these memories. neil.
I was very sad to read about the passing of Selby Brock. I was at BGS from 1975 until 1984 and was fortunate enough to be taught Maths by Selby for several of those years. I was always petrified of the gym pump he kept in his desk, and strove keenly to avoid ever getting a third 'black mark' in his mark book which would lead to the inevitable. I th...
It's clear that Selby's untimely death has had a real impact on those that knew him even if it was for quite a short time. Maybe because with his passing something of ourselves has gone too, those formative years that, with the benefit of hindsight, we now know were really important. My memories are of the absurdly high standards Selby set alongs...
My first memory of Selby is of nervously walking over to him to apologise for missing the U12 trial race one Tuesday lunchtime in September. I had got the time wrong and had watched in horror as my future teammates raced past me while I chatted with friends. To a diminutive 11 year old, Selby seemed enormous. Despite that inauspicious start, t...
andrew bottomley Like everyone here, I was terribly saddened to hear the passing of Selby... so many of my memories of Grammar school are connected to experiences I had with the Cross-Country team. So many fond recollections of trooping off to some dark corner of Lancashire in that blue transit van; sneaking in a few cans of Skol on the way back after another astounding victory; of late summers in Westwell doing everything in our power not to do the one thing we were there to do, run; and of being yelled at/gently encouraged in that distinctly bellowing voice, "come on Bottomley, (insert moderate expletive) hurry up you lazy (insert moderate expletive)!" Ironically the story that resonates the most with me, and which speaks to Selby's incredible sense of humor, actually included that bellowing voice, addressing me to "slow down", as I was cascading through the hallway outside of his classroom. After beckoning me back, he leaned in to me and simply said, "why can't you run that fast on Saturday?" Both Selby and Tony were deep in my thoughts this past Christmas as I waddled around the old course through Heaton Woods, even stopping at the Mucky Duck on Christmas eve to see if any of the old guard was still following what was once a traditional social gathering. Alas, the place was run down and empty, perhaps a sign of things to come. The role of a teacher is to educate, and shape the lives of future generations, and I cannot think of any teacher in my life, who has had such a profound effect on me. R.I.P. Mr. Brock
Mr Brock - a life well lived and influential in the teenage years of many young people. Sport for all from the 1960’s; my own journey Involved moving from rugby to running. To a club of sporting excellence well supported with bobble hat and clipboard. It wasn’t just about the running - the U12’s supported the seniors and vice v ersa. It was really ...
I was very saddened to hear this news. Some of the happiest memories of my childhood are linked to the BGS cross country club, and the team spirit, and camaraderie that Tony and Selby instilled in their pupils. The joy of the camp in Westwell (Brocked Turkey), the songs on the bus after matches, getting whacked round the head by Tony for not concen...
Thank you, Mr. Brock. Though I only ran at BGS for two years before emigrating to Canada, I think of your profound and positive influence on my life quite often. After a long hiatus, I picked up running again two years ago and can honestly write that not one run goes by without thinking of the fond memories and pride of my time on the cross-count...
I came to the Senior school from Thornville in 1965. My only encounter with Selby Brock was through his excellent teaching of Mathematics and his equal expertise with a gym pump usually hidden in his desk. He was a genuine teacher and will be missed by many. Some very fond memories of days gone by. (1962-1972) O.B.