Many thanks to his siblings Philip Davies (S:1971 -1978) & Elizabeth Green (née Davies) (S:1965-1972), for sharing this with us. Our thoughts are with his family, fellow Sidcotians and friends at this challenging time.  

Chris sadly passed away on Friday 11th October 2024

From his brother Philip: 

When I started at Sidcot I was always referred to as “this is Chris Davies’ brother” by senior pupils and staff because my brother (9 years my senior) must have been a significant character in Sidcot School life.

Whilst at school, he excelled at sports such as cricket (playing at a county level with Somerset Stragglers), hockey, rugby and particularly athletics. I remember one of his contemporaries telling me that they put itching powder in Chris’ shorts to slow him down for a house rugby match! (I don’t think it worked - it probably just made him go faster!). He was awarded colours for so many sports there wasn’t enough room on his blazer for them all.

Running and mountaineering became Chris’ passions as an adult. He competed for Welsh colleges in cross country and later in life he competed in the first two London marathons with a best time of 2 hours 28 minutes. He was particularly proud of a top fifty place in the Sydney City2Surf race (with about 40,000 runners) in 1985.

Whilst at Sidcot a very significant part of Chris’ energy went into the caving club (the SSSS). He had been inspired by his father to take up caving before arriving at Sidcot and weekends for him would be usually be school sports matches on Saturday and then caving on Sunday. He was inspired by the Sidcot Old Scholar, Willie Stanton who was a regular caving partner with Chris’ Dad. Chris revelled in the opportunities provided by the 1968 floods to explore new caves and extended cave systems. He was amongst the first to explore and survey Mangle Hole on Sandford Hill the accounts of which were published in caving journals at the time. He was also very active whilst in the SSSS at the Bos Swallet dig where they managed to break into previously undiscovered cave passages. Phil took on Calcium for himself and his brother as part of our periodic table of Sidcotians as the caves are one of the best places to see it. 

Just after Chris left school he went on a caving trip to France with three other Sidcotians; Chris Williams, Phil Laity and Steve Crabtree (all OSs). Chris had planned a caving trip to the Pyrenees in the summer after leaving Sidcot. Although they were not able to complete the original plans for the expedition the four of them were able to explore the fascinating collection of caves in the Dordogne region near Les Eyzies in France.

Whilst at Sidcot Chris also revelled in the opportunity to take part in the archaeological dig at Christon near Loxton when the M5 was being built. The account of this can be found in the 1970 “The Island” magazine.

Music was also a large part of Chris’ school life at Sidcot – he was an accomplished pianist (performing in school assemblies) and clarinettist. He loved singing in the school choir and when in later life he had great difficulty speaking his carers were thrilled to discover that he could still sing. In his last year at Sidcot he was Deputy Head Boy and was awarded a Minor Leaving Scholarship.

In the holidays after leaving Sidcot Chris had a job as a guide in Gough’s Cave in Cheddar. He was obviously quite successful as you could hear him walking back home with his pockets full of the loose change that visitors had given him as tips!

Using that loose change then Chris planned to travel to Europe with a contemporary, Chris Williams (OS). They fulfilled an incredibly ambitious itinerary, using a mixture of trains and hitching lifts, that extended right down to southern Italy. This hunger for travel that Chris had was never satiated and he bragged repeatedly in later life that he had visited at least 108 different countries.

After Sidcot, Chris qualified as a teacher with a BEd from Cardiff and then went on to study for a MSc in cave geomorphology at Swansea. He was a student in Wales at a time when Welsh rugby was at it best. John Bevan, one of Chris’ friends who he played bridge with at college, scored that fantastic try against New Zealand for the Barbarians in 1973. Another student who had been through Chris’ college a couple of years ahead of him was a scrum half who had been one of the first to perfect the spin pass. When I arrived at Sidcot I was already able to pass and tackle in the way that Chris had taught me. It was Gareth Edwards who was that student scrum half a couple of years ahead of Chris who was my coach’s coach.

Chris then taught at Barry in South Wales then had a year’s job exchange in Sydney, Australia. He became aware of the United World College network of schools and got a job at Waterford Kamhlaba UWC in Eswatini (Swaziland). It was the first multiracial school in southern Africa and Chris started working there before the fall of apartheid. It was, and still is, a truly remarkable school. For Chris, it was built on the principles of racial and sexual equality that he been exposed to at Sidcot. He became Deputy Headmaster and then later Headmaster in a local school nearby.

During, and subsequent to his time as a teacher, I have been repeatedly reminded by his pupils that I met, that he was one of those remarkable inspirational teachers that can change your life. It was not just what he taught in the classroom (with his infectious enthusiasm for his subject - Geography) but the energy that he put into out-of-school activities. He took repeated trips to places such as Snowdonia, the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa and  Victoria Falls to name but a few. His pupils spoke about him with respect but also with affection.

Unfortunately, he suffered a long period of ill health before he died. For me it was particularly moving (when he had profound dementia), I showed him some black and white photographs that Chris Williams (his best friend at Sidcot) had taken in Italy in 1971. A smile of recognition and happiness immediately spread over his face.  

From his Sister Elizabeth:  

During his time at Sidcot he had some excellent achievements in sport and in his studies. For me, as his sister, it was more than that. He was two years older than me and as I followed in his footsteps, he was always someone that I admired and looked up to. One area where he achieved greatness was in the sporting side; there wasn’t a sport that he didn’t take part in. To me watching him running the longer distances, where most would be struggling; huffing and puffing, Chris would be sprinting in and often breaking records. But he was also part of teams, and was a key member of the rugby, hockey and cricket teams. Along with that, he was popular amongst his peers and worked hard at his studies.

He and Philip were avid cavers during thier time at Sidcot, after School Chris spent many years teaching in Wales as well as Africa, and several of his ex-students have told me that they found him inspirational in their studies in Geography but also off site on field trips as well as athletic events he was a valuable and encouraging support.

Chris’ last years have been spent in Wales, but unfortunately, he was not aware of his surrounding as he suffered from dementia and during his last few years his memory failed him.

I’m sure that it is for his enthusiasm and his never-ending energy that he will be remembered.