To anyone who knew George Thomson during his years in the English Department at Yarm, whether pupil or colleague, it must seem incomprehensible that someone possessed of such a vibrant and irrepressible life-force might no longer be with us.  Sadly, George passed away, in his beloved native Liverpool, on 4th August 2025, just two months short of his 89th birthday.

Already with years of experience in the English Departments of two academic grammar schools, in Liverpool and Redcar, George joined the teaching staff at Yarm in the autumn of 1979 as the school’s first Head of English.  He found there a school still in its infancy but with enormous potential for the future, and George’s contribution to the forging of that future was profound.  All the same… some of his earliest pupils, and indeed colleagues, must have wondered quite what had hit them, as George’s methods and personality were undoubtedly far from conventional.  Enormously well-read, with a sweeping and profound knowledge of English Language and Literature, George’s primary aim was to ensure that the experience of learning should at all times be an enjoyable one.  If you are lucky enough to have been a pupil in any of Mr Thomson’s English lessons, you will know how much laughter as well as learning was involved, and how varied and imaginative were his ideas for the content of those lessons, which may often have seemed on the  surface to be spur-of-the-moment inspirations – and he was a great improviser – but which in truth were more frequently the product of careful, highly-original planning.  George liked nothing more than to escape the confines of the classroom and extend the learning experience to environments he felt more conducive to the matter in hand, which might mean a stroll down Yarm High Street, a treasure-hunt in the Friarage grounds or an A-level class in Strickland and Holts (though George had an extensive vocabulary, it did not, thankfully, extend to the phrases “risk assessment” or “health and safety”).

Beyond the classroom, George’s contributions to the life of Yarm School were many and diverse.  Almost his first action on arrival was to establish a “Literary and Debating Society” which operated successfully for several years, its activities embracing – beyond those implied in its name – quizzes, film viewings and excursions to places of cultural interest (the school’s daily timetable in its early days made such things feasible!).  For many years he took on the gruelling responsibility of acquiring and allocating appropriate book prizes for the annual, and eventually biannual, Prizegiving ceremonies.  His drama productions, though few in number (George might say “selective”), were conceived on the grand scale, and memorable, one highlight being an outdoor production of Sheridan’s The Rivals in the school grounds which featured amongst other delights the prospect of the then-Head of Art, Chris Harding, hurtling down the bank  towards the river in an out-of-control Georgian bathchair (oh, and it rained solidly throughout  every performance).  George also led, or participated in, countless theatre trips, though his high personal expectations of quality in a theatrical production and his inability to endure bad acting meant that on more than one occasion he spent the second half of a performance sitting in the bar.  

Staffroom colleagues will have memories of other aspects of George Thomson.  He was for many years a dedicated Common Room Secretary, in which capacity he delivered from his head-of-operations, the infamous “embrasure” of the staff-room bay-window, staff-meeting minutes of baroque eloquence – because it was more fun that way.  The staff common room was also where George dedicated much of his free time to the solving of the daily Times Crossword. If these things seem frivolous, it is also the case that George was always willing to give the benefit of his long teaching experience, his deep understanding of human nature and his profound compassion and kindness to any colleague who sought advice or support.

Outside school, George’s passions encompassed a love of opera, and most especially those of Wagner; a wide knowledge and appreciation of antique furniture, of which his various flats over the years always held an impressive collection, though very much for daily use, not display or investment; and a life-long love of cinema – when in his late days he found trips to the picture-house too arduous, he found solace and entertainment in the black-and-white movies of the retro television channel “Talking Pictures TV.”  His favourite film always remained steadfastly Citizen Kane – he had excellent taste.

The administrative responsibilities of a Head of Department were never much to George’s taste and he gave up the position in 1987, a decision he never regretted; the freedom then to focus his attention purely on classroom teaching made his next decade at Yarm School a deeply satisfying one, but in 1998 at the age of 61 he felt that the time was right to retire from the academic world.  It was another wise move; the rapid expansion of the school in subsequent years, though exciting for those of us who remained, would not have suited George, who was at heart very much a schoolmaster in the classic mould, most comfortable in a relatively small and generally traditional establishment.  He remained in the Yarm area for a little while, then settled for several years in a picturesque rural village in southern France, before finally returning for his final chapter to his true spiritual home, Liverpool.

Did I say that George’s irrepressible life-force was no longer with us?  My last conversation with him, at his bedside in Aintree Hospital barely a week before he passed away, and suffering from serious illness, included a discussion of the influence of Robert Louis Stevenson on French painters, as well as his serious determination to catch a few more black-and-white movies...so no change there.  A life-force like that doesn’t go away.

Gary Booth 

George’s funeral will be held at Landican Crematorium, Arrowe Park Road, Woodchurch, Birkenhead, Wirral CH49 5LW on Thursday 4th September 2025 at 10.00am.