Philip Edward Anderson (OB 1945-1954)

Written by Martin Rowland (OB 1951-1961):

A chartered surveyor and leading figure in the village community of Godstone, Surrey, Philip Edward Anderson died on April 13th 2024, aged 88. The funeral took place at St Nicholas Church, Godstone on May 2nd . Tributes were paid by his son Matthew, daughter Julia and granddaughter Sophie.

Born in 1936, Philip grew up in Brentwood with parents Muriel and Frank, brother Bill (OB) and sister Judy. He would cycle home from school every day, preferring his mother’s cooking to school food. Bill gave him a box of Dinky toys on his tenth birthday and he kept them all his life.

At Brentwood school, he excelled in academic studies and on the sports field. He shared North Town’s house cup for athletics, captained the house cricket team and was a member of the School shooting team. There were many escapades with close friends Bill Capps and Tony Aspinall. His love of cars extended to a Ford Anglia, Wolseley Hornet, Ford Cortina, Hillman Hunter, classic Audis and Mercedes. In later life, he drove an old Vauxhall Astra with moss growing out of it.

In the mid-1950s, Philip drove around Scotland and went on grand tours around Europe with Tony Aspinall on his motorbike, with an emphasis on Italy. Much later, he went to Puglia to research family history.

At London University, he studied estate management, gained his B.Sc and later qualified as a chartered surveyor. With John Wheeler, he formed Centros, a property development company where he worked for 35 years. John shared his love of sailing. With Mike Dew, the adventurous trio often sailed across the Channel but spent much time in the Solent. There were many family holidays on Silver Discus and Silver Sea.

Over the last 25 years, Philip was very active in the village of Godstone, particularly after he retired. His love of old buildings and his surveying skills led to his involvement with the Church of St. Nicholas and its associated almshouses. In the late 1990s, he was lured into taking responsibility for the fabric of the Church, joining the Friends of St Nicholas and St Mary’s Homes committee. Projects included the
reconstruction of the Lychgate, the well at St Mary’s and repairs to the stained-glass windows. He secured Lottery and Community funding for the three-year process of re-enforcing and re-shingling the church spire. He even mastered the fine skill of adjusting the church clock.

Philip shared a love of architecture and history with his grandchildren, especially Sophie. “When I showed interest in a particular topic, his eyes would light up; and he would share with me some of his incredible knowledge and interest. His attention to detail and passion gave him so much joy. His research in preparation for our visit to the V&A made the trip as informative and memorable as possible. Grandpa wanted to educate us and leave us with lovely pockets of family history via his extensive photo albums.”

He set up stalls for the village fete, hosting fish and chip suppers and arranging garden parties. He won prizes for vegetables, photography and models and was a keen fund-raiser for the RNLI and other causes. He loved gardening, growing vegetables, designing flower beds, mowing the grass in The Priory (?) and tending his box plants. He turned the garden into an oasis. Here he could watch birds, surrounded by flowers.

At University, Philip met his wife-to-be Shirley. They married in 1961 and had 34 very happy years together before her death in 1995. He is survived by the couple’s son and two daughters, seven grandchildren and his second wife Maureen, whom he married in 2013. He joined in her London social life while she took to the village.

Matthew Anderson said his father’s passion for architecture, renewal and restoration, was tempered by his dedication and wisdom in never rushing a decision. “Dependable and reassuring, his thought-through approach worked perfectly for looking after listed buildings: faithfully gathering points of view, gaining consensus and persuading boards to part with carefully reserved funds.” He felt a quote from Civil rights activist George Washington Carver summed his father’s approach to life: “he found happiness and honour in being helpful to the world.”
 

Written by Tony Aspinall (OB 1948-1953):

Philip spent his whole school life at Brentwood from the Prep in 1944 to Upper six modern in 1954 during the time of Headmasters Mr Hough and Mr Allison. His brother Bill preceded him.

He was a strong athletic boy and excelled in most sports. Studying in the ‘Modern’ line it was the era of Mr Hodgson, Mr Rennie, Col Waldron etc. It was also the era of a chronic lack of school accommodation resulting in ‘temporary’ concrete classrooms and finally, in the lower sixth, even a corrugated iron Nissen hut being called into use.

The building had a plain concrete floor, heated by way of a central coke stove (for which there was but one bucket of coke). In winter this meant sitting in class in overcoats, scarves and hats. Conversely in summer it was so hot it was necessary to sit outside on the grass. There were some advantages, the hut was so far from the common room it took masters ages to arrive at this sorry outpost of education. Today’s pupils would not believe it!

In spite of this Philip did well in his A levels and gained a County Major Award. He studied to be a Chartered Surveyor at the College of Estate Management and at first worked for the Ministry of Agriculture doing a national survey of the condition of farm buildings, this required him driving in all weathers around England in his 1931 open Wolsey Hornet. He then joined messrs Wimpey for a while and during this time in the 1960s he moved to Godstone in Surrey where he lived for the rest of his life.

Finally with his friend John Wheeler from college days he founded ‘Centros Properties’ which became a very successful company specialising in commercial properties and shopping centres throughout England and for a time in America. In this period he began his association with the Worshipful Company of Paviors in London and an interest in raising money for charities, particularly for the Lifeboats.

Philip had many hobbies, from historic buildings and architecture to gardening, sailing and model railways. His later special interest was for a local church. Here he was in his element not only raising the grants for the repair of the church  and its spire but also for adjoining almshouses as well as organising the works. He thus became a much respected and valued member of the local community.

He married Shirley in 1961 and had two daughters and a son. Sadly Shirley died after a long battle with cancer in 1995. Later he married Maureen who survives him along with his children and seven grandchildren.