Tony Hiscock 1940-2023
I first met Tony when I came to Canford to learn to ring. I was the last of the very many people he taught, some of whom went on to become distinguished ringers and to teach many others; and that will be his legacy.
No-one could claim to have known Tony well. He was a very private person, but he particularly looked forward to the ‘pub after practice’, where, over two pints of cider (never beer) he would regale us with his fund of anecdotes; and it was from these that I learnt a little about his life.
Until he went into care Tony lived all his life in the same house on Magna Road in Poole. An only child, his mother died when he was born and, although a great-aunt cared for him in early childhood, he was brought up by his father who never re-married. He attended the village school in Canford. When that closed, he was sent to Broadstone and then on to Poole Grammar School. On leaving school he was apprenticed to Rebbeck Brothers in Bournemouth and eventually qualified as a chartered surveyor. He told me that he also qualified but never practised as an auctioneer. Later he worked as a taxi driver before retiring. He enjoyed driving; so much so that he would take his company car on his holidays abroad, even as far as Africa – until his employers found out. He wrote up detailed accounts of these adventures in his holiday journals.
Tony had many interests and hobbies. He had a sweet tooth and learnt to make jam from the produce of his garden. Stamp collecting appealed to his orderly mind and he corresponded and swapped with collectors all over the world. His handwriting was illegible but he taught himself to type during his lunch hours at work. He learnt to speak several languages from Linguaphone records and sang with a couple of choirs. For exercise he enjoyed walking and his daily yoga.
But his chief love was bell ringing. He learnt at Canford in his early twenties and was elected to the Salisbury Guild in 1964. He served as Tower Captain for forty-odd years and as East Dorset Branch Secretary for sixteen. He received Honorary Life Membership in 2004. After the death of his father, the ringing community provided Tony’s social life. He attended practices every week night, helping out with other bands and Sunday ringing where needed. He loved ringing outings and was an enthusiastic tower-grabber. He liked to boast that he had rung the bells at Salisbury Cathedral – now Harare, of course. Tony was not keen on ringing longer lengths or high numbers of bells, but he rang a few dozen quarter peals, called a few and rang just one peal in 2001; an experience he vowed never to repeat.
Tony had a strong Christian faith and served Canford Magna Church all his life: in the choir, on the PCC, acting as Steeple Keeper and ringing the bells every Sunday without fail. He was someone who ‘enjoyed poor health’ and you quickly learnt not to ask how he was unless you really wanted to know. But he never let this interfere with his ringing. Although he gave up the Tower Captaincy in 2012 and, as his faculties declined, ringing at Branch practices and weddings, he continued to join the Canford Sunday band every week until he was no longer able to live independently.
A word people have used in relation to Tony was ‘stubborn’. He lived his life according to strict routine and found change hard to deal with. When challenged with the new his instinct was to dig his heels in. With the onset of old age this caused him problems as he was unable to alter his ways to make life easier, or to accept help. Although the decision to take him into care was made for him he did seem to adapt to the change and appreciate being looked after at last.
Kathryn Tyson
