John Nichols (OW 1957)

The Waynflete Office has been informed of the death of John Nichols, aged 88. We are grateful to John’s son-in-law Dan for sharing these words about his life:

Tony was born at home at 61 Sheaveshill Avenue in Colindale NW9, London to Francis and Eleanor Nichols. In 1939 the family relocated voluntarily out of London and John grew up in Summertown, Oxford,  with his older siblings Mike and Sheila; where the family lived with Eleanor’s parents. John’s dad stayed in London and worked for the fire service throughout the war.

John attended Magdalen College School in Oxford (1947-58), where he excelled in sport, taking colours in rugby (1st XV), rowing (1st VIII) and winning the inaugural javelin school record for 121ft in 1956. He also developed a passion for performance; singing in the choral society, and drumming in the Jazz Society and Dance Band – he was a published poet too! John was a prefect and also a Lance Corporal in the CCF.

Following MCS John joined the scientific team at Harwell as an apprentice in 1958 in the Alpha Wing of B220 doing research with Plutonium, Oxides and Iodine. He was part of a gang known as the Flowerpot Men, including Tony Hough, John Wilkins, Jeremy Green, Alec Inns, Ged Flynn and many others. And it was on the bus to Harwell that he met his best friend John Finch in 1967.  He carved out a solid reputation for being a well-liked, educated young man, who was always up for “a good conversation”, often about the world’s troubles! But he was always cheerful and chatty. His beat combo “the JNSound” often played at Rugby club dos in the 70s and 80s and Christmas lunches in the social club.

John married Patricia in the mid-60s and they had two daughters Julie and Andrea.  The marriage ended, but fortunately John found love again with Anne. Having met at a Musician’s Union Dance in 1972, they married in 1974 and lived in Cholsey where they had two children, Darren and Rachel.

As well as JN Sound, John was a drummer in his own covers band, White Line. But, also as a member of the musician’s union, he often subbed into other bands including – Education, State Affair, Vic Good, amongst others; and even, as famously recounted by Alan, stepped in from the audience at an event where the drummer of the band Livewire went sick a couple of hours before the gig! He could carry a song too! And he played clarinet in the Silver Band.

As a keen singer, he took the lead in Mikado, with the Abingdon Operatic Society, after a few supporting roles. He gave it up for family, the rehearsals having been brutal for a lead role, and he never had to dye his hair again!

John enjoyed cycling holidays (as a youngster); caravanning with the family; car tinkering; and famously making his own fireworks!!

After Maggie’s decimation of the nuclear research industry, John found himself made redundant (albeit on a CS pension) at the age of 53. He found a few part-time roles, which of course he threw himself into like only a scientist can.  Whether chauffeuring for Rowstock cars, or slicing fish on the fish counter at Tesco, John’s bright personality and intelligence led to unprecedented sales at the counter and many return customers! John Finch fondly remembers that the queues were so long as he told the often lady shoppers how to cook their fish even though he had absolutely no knowledge of how to cook, himself, that poor old John never got to actually speak with him!

Once the children had left home John fully retired, enjoying bowls initially with the Wallingford club and latterly with the Goring Heath club and Cholsey Short Mat club too.  John and Anne went on a couple of cruises but also enjoyed coach trips in the UK, with many “drives out” for lunch or just to enjoy the countryside, especially in bluebell season.  Latterly, John enjoyed being a member of the Day Centre in Cholsey, often playing the fool and keeping spirits up once a week. He also enjoyed doing pencil drawing portraits of other attendees of the Day Centre. John’s photo is in the archives as he was one of the original founders of the day centre as an established part of Cholsey life. It was important to note that once he started attending, he really enjoyed the sessions there.

Intelligent, organised, funny and friendly, John was always up for a chat, to put the world to rights, to complain about the Tories, to explain about metallurgy or chemical interactions, and to enjoy engagement and interaction.

As an amateur investor, John loved poring over his stock holdings and loved even more telling others of his successes mostly, although there were some minor failures or slip ups too!

Having had several knee replacements, in 2021 John fell while playing with the grandchildren in the garden and broke his hip.  The replacement was a success, but the recovery from the operation was hard going – post-operative infections were tricky to resolve, as he didn’t handle the Anaesthesia very well.

Following some pain on his knee, John went into hospital on the 11th March, where he underwent knee replacement surgery (his fourth!) but struggled to shake the arthritic sepsis in his knee.  Valiantly fighting, John passed on 12th April, of ILD/Metastised Prostrate Cancer

John is survived by Anne, 4 children (Julie, Andrea, Darren, Rachel) and 4 Grandchildren (Caroline, Stuart, Teddy, Tommy).