The family of a long-serving and respected college principal has paid tribute to him after he died from cancer.
Peter Mayne, a former principal of Paston College in north Norfolk, died on June 9 at the age of 72. He had lived with cancer for 18 months.
Peter William Mayne was born on March 24, 1950, and grew up in Leicester before attending St Edmund Hall, Oxford, in 1969 to read modern history.
After graduating, Mr Mayne’s professional life lay in education.
His first post was teaching history at a boys’ grammar school in Leicester, the headmaster of which was the father of the current governor of the Bank of England. There followed a variety of jobs in teaching, including implementing and supervising various government learning initiatives.
In 1996, he became the principal of Paston College, the sixth form college in North Walsham. This was a position he held until 2012.
His family said: “Peter's philosophy was that the students' interests always came first, and through the hard work of Peter and his team, the college grew and prospered under his stewardship.
“He was very proud of the success of the college and when Peter was presented to the Queen at the opening of the Millennium Library in Norwich, he took much delight in informing Her Majesty that his eldest student was more than 90 years old.
“After retirement from Paston, Peter kept in touch with the world of education through consultancy work.”
Mr Mayne was a member of the now defunct Rotary Club of North Walsham, raising money for local charities, and he was especially interested in its Young Leaders scheme from which several of his students benefitted.
He was also a campanologist – a person who rings church bells – and originally learnt to ring while at St Edmund Hall through the course organised by the Oxford University Society of Change Ringers.
With his wife, Beverley, whom he first met as a fellow student of Latin at Beauchamp College, Leicestershire – the beginning of a relationship of more than 50 years – Mr Mayne rang at towers in the Midlands and later mainly at Aylsham; many ringing tours were also undertaken. He was a father to Elizabeth and Edward.
For many years, Mr Mayne was a musician to Kemp's Men of Norwich, accompanying them in their repertoire of Cotswold Morris and contemporary dances, often based on the Norfolk long dance and composed by members of the Men.
He went on many tours with the Men in the UK, as well as to Germany and the Netherlands. He also played the melodeon, a type of button accordion, as a guest musician for the Woodside Morrismen based in Watford, Hertfordshire, where he again joined on tours in the UK and Germany.
All matters railway-related were an abiding passion. Model railway clubs, trainspotting expeditions, contact with the Reverend Teddy Boston (the original Fat Controller) and the narrow-gauge railway he built in the grounds of his rectory at Cadeby, Leicestershire, made sure the railway bug had well and truly bitten.
When he eventually fully retired, Mr Mayne upgraded to full-size train sets by volunteering on the North Norfolk Railway's Poppy Line as a ticket inspector and then a guard, before becoming a director of the company that maintains and runs the line, as well as chair of the Community Rail Partnership for the Bittern Line, where he campaigned vigorously for better services and stations and to increase the use of the line.
A well-attended service of thanksgiving and celebration of his life was held on July 5 at St Nicholas Church in North Walsham. Appropriately, it was a clergyman in the regalia of Kemp’s Men who led the prayers at the celebration.
Donations were made in his memory to Prostate Cancer UK via Gordon Barber Funeral Directors, Horning Road West, Hoveton, Norfolk, NR12 8QJ or online via dignityfunerals.co.uk/funeral-notices/09-06-2022-peter-william-mayne.
- To pay tribute to a loved one email norfolktributes@archant.co.uk
- To read more obituaries and tributes join the Facebook group Norfolk's Loved & Lost.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here