Bell baxter lives section I former Pupils Contents

Angela Toner

Elizabeth Toulalan

"P.E. staff at Bell Baxter", she writes "are to be congratulated for the way fate was encouraged. In 1964 they took pity on me - I was more enthusiastic than talented! - and sent me off to the Scottish Schools Championships. Amazingly, I won and defended the title successfully the following year. Considering that in 1963 the event (the long jump) had been won with a leap of about 3 feet further than anything I could manage, the gods were certainly smiling upon me.

As I was, therefore, labelled "sporty" ………….*, in 1965 I went to Dunf.

"During my years there, I began really to enjoy my athletics and got my first trip to Iceland in 1966. In 1967, however, the East team was short of a hurdler for the annual East v. West match and, although I had never been over a hurdle in my life, I broke the Scottish Record. I had arrived"!

After graduation, Liz took a post in Hatfield teaching English and PE so that she could be coached by National Coach and future novelist, Tom McNab. Recurring knee problems caused her to return north, where she married Sandy Sutherland, himself a noted field events athlete.

Liz goes on: "In 1970 I competed in the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games and reached the final of the 100 metres where I was either 8th or last, depending on your point of view. However, I did get my first GB selection to Holland".

Injury, requiring surgery, kept Liz out of athletics for a time, but later in 1971 she took her place in the GB team, and she began to discover, she comments, that airports and athletics stadiums do not change much, wherever they are.

Selection for the 1974 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand was ruled out because of the arrival of her first child, Joanna, (who is now studying Law and French at Edinburgh University and plays basketball with the Scottish Junior Team).

"Now was the time", says Liz", to try something new, and the 400 metres hurdles took my fancy. In 1976 I was offered a Winston Churchill Fellowship and travelled to South Africa, and in 1977 I held the Commonwealth Record for the event - I still hold the Scottish Record. Also at that time I was voted Scottish Sportswoman of the Year.

"During the 1980s I spent time having Catherine and Malcolm and then attempting to bring them up to be reasonable beings. They both play basketball. In fact everyone in the family plays except me - I just wash the gear. But the two younger ones are showing an interest in Athletics, so who knows?"

Liz decided at the end of the 80s to go back to school and began to study for Higher Spanish. She is now working for CSYS French and hopes to go to Edinburgh University in 1994 to study French and Spanish.

The family's holiday haunt is a cottage in the East of France.

(* Self deprecatory remarks about academic talents excised!)

Catherine Tracy

Debbie Trail

Arthur Trezise

BBHS 1959-65

The following quotes are from an interview with Artie in the Scotsman in 2003:

‘I had a good time at school and really enjoyed it, but hated the routine of going to the same place every day, and it probably madfe up my mind that I'd need to find some kind of employment that didn't involve that kind of commitment. Paradoxically I became a teacher myself…

‘I liked sports at secondary school and there was a lot of it - rugby, cricket, tennis, athletics, basketball, gliding, orienteering, skiing, swimming, climbing, cross country - amazing for a state secondary in the 1960s. The sports teachers must have worked 6 1/2 days a week coaching us after school, taking us to games and so on. It was very much central to the school and helped us to identify with the school.

‘…We put on terrific musicals, Oklahoma, Gilbert and Sullivan, that kind of thing, and I took part in them all except in sixth year when I stupidly banished myself from taking part so I'd pass my exams.

After some mention of something called a ‘belting league’ (what? - in Bell Baxter of yore?) and of trouble on the train on the way to Rugby internationals (not possible!), Artie was asked if he had a favourite teacher:-

‘I liked the Geography teacher, Sandy Adamson. We all respected him because he taught us how to learn. He was good at getting people through exams, and when you're a kid, that's what you think education is about. Tommy Muir, the French teacher, was extremely short-tempered with anyone below fourth year and after that turned into a loveable eccentric with a real love of France and its language. We had an art teacher, John (sic) Goodall, who got us playing with paint. It was like taking 15 year-olds back to P1. There were people who did excellent work, because this guy allowed us to explore the medium.’

(Actually the teacher's name was Oscar Goodall and he 'phoned the Newsletter Editor to ask if there had been another art teacher in the School with the same surname! It was Oscar who created the tiled art work which adorned the frontage of the 1960's building, since concealed by the alterations - Ed).

On leaving school Artie went first to Edinburgh University and later to Strathclyde, where he started in the hotel school and then turned to business studies. He took his teacher training at Moray House and taught for 2 years at Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy. Asked what he had learned outside formal education, he replied ‘That education is nothing to do with passing exams, and the most talented and interesting people aren't necessarily the folk who did well at school.’

Artie Trezise was appointed MBE in the 1999 New Year's Honours List. In the year 2000 he went to India, joining in a 2,000 km motor cycle ride across the southern part of India from sea-level to 6000 ft and including a wide range of climatic conditions. The ride was organised in aid of the Children's Cancer Trust of India. Artie and his wife Cilla are best known for their popular children's show "The Singing Kettle".

Over the years, the Singing Kettle has grown from being a small show for children, touring playgroups and schools, to the biggest box office draw in the UK.

Early shows were based on clues for songs inside brightly coloured kettles. While this principle is still central to the action, plot lines and stage sets are now built around imaginative story lines, transforming the original concept into a spectacular musical for the whole family.

Cilla Fisher, Artie Trezise and Kevin MacLeod with Gary Coupland have turned children’s theatre into an art form and their unique performances have become the bench mark for fellow professionals everywhere.

They have performed in hundreds of venues, from the Palladium in London to the Town Hall in Campbeltown, from the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock to the Royal Palace in Jordan. BAFTA award winning and decorated with MBE’s for services to children’s entertainment, audiences worldwide are hooked on their madcap musical adventures flavoured with cheeky Scottish humour. Adults and children alike find themselves singing the songs together long after the performance is over.

Artie is the driving force behind the team who write, produce, design and promote the Singing Kettle videos, audio presentations and live shows. He is married to Cilla and they have a son James and their daughter Jane is a former member of the group.

All about Artie

Raised in Cupar, Fife and attended Castlehill Primary School and Bell Baxter High School.

Gained BA in Business Studies at Strathclyde University and a teaching qualification at Moray House, Edinburgh.

Taught English at Rosehall High School, Coatbridge and Business Studies at Balwearie High School, Kirkcaldy.

Gave up his teaching career to go on the road as a folk singer with his wife, Cilla Fisher.

Over the years, Artie and Cilla have played most of the major folk festivals in the world, appearing throughout Europe, the Far East, Australia, Canada and the USA.

Artie and Cilla represented the UK as the BBC representative at the European Broadcasting Festival in Finland.

Artie is a keen motorcyclist and also holds a Heavy Goods Vehicle licence.

Awarded the MBE for Services to Children’s Theatre.

Much to his surprise Artie is in demand as a speaker - he has given talks on the Singing Kettle's work and songs to American tourists, Danish school teachers as well as local organisations.

Born St Andrews, Fife on 3rd April 1947.

The following piece is taken from a list of prominent Fifers (FP100) published by the Fife Free Press Group.

THE colourful Singing Kettle are still enjoying sell-out performances throughout the UK and beyond, more than 25 years after they were formed by Cilia Fisher and Archie Tresize, a husband-and-wife team from Kingskettle who had already made their mark as folk singers.

Cilia and Archie's first venture as The Singing Kettle was a children's album featuring everything from traditional Scottish rhymes to songs learned on their folk tour of America. For certain tracks, real children were used - including their daughter Jane - creating the first set of 'Kettle Kids'.

Then they had the idea of turning the album into a stage show, which they took to primary schools all over the country.

This proved to be an instant with youngsters, and the show evolved into a more plot-led piece of musical theatre.

It was around this time that Cilia and Archie were joined by their friend Gary Coupland, who provides musical accompaniment on keyboards, accordion, trombone and saxophone.

Such was their popularity that the trio went on to become the first group since the Beatles to be honoured with an MBE each. For a time the line-up included Cilia and Archie's daughter Jane, but she left to join an electro-band and was replaced by Kevin McLeod, the former stage manager.

Early shows were based on clues for songs inside brightly-coloured kettles, a gimmick that remains their trademark and is still central to the action. However, the plot lines and stage sets are now developed around imaginative story lines, so that the original concept is transformed into musical entertainment for the whole family.

Their shows were once described as 'pantomime without the boring bits.'
Over the years the Singing Kettle have presented their own specially-written shows, including 'The Boogie Woogie Zoo', 'The Time Machine', 'Pirates', 'Wild West Show', 'World Tour', 'Funny Farm' and many more. They have recorded several albums for children, and in 2003 they released 'The Singing Kettle: Singalong Songs from Scotland', which was the first recording to be widely distributed outside the United Kingdom. In addition, The Singing Kettle have released several DVDs and made five television series with BBC Scotland.

As well as their UK tours, they have also taken part in command performances before Prince Charles and the Royal Family of Jordan.

In 1993, The Singing Kettle opened a shop in Kingskettle, which is visited by fans from all over the world.

Read more at www.singingkettle.com