The whole of the Rich’s community will have been saddened by the recent passing of Bob Hanney. Bob joined the staff as a PE and Mathematics teacher in the early 1960s from a school in Southend-on-Sea having trained at St Paul’s College in Cheltenham. He was an outstanding athlete with a Personal Best of 10 seconds for the 100 yds.

He worked alongside Bill Bradford in the 1960s and 1970s to create a formidable coaching team of the 1^st XV, including the highly successful 1972/73 XV. Bob was a former pupil of East Dean Grammar School and returned to the Forest to coach Cinderford’s 1^st XV. He was a great supporter of Cinderford and Gloucester RFCs and would have been delighted to see Josh Horrobin and Robbie Nixon developing their playing careers at the two clubs respectively.

Having established himself at Rich’s, Bob took over from David Joseph as Head of PE and later joined the Senior Management Team as Senior Master.

After a highly successful career at Rich’s, Bob retired in 2001. However, he kept in close contact with the School and followed the Rugby with a keen eye in particular. The foundations he helped lay in the 1960s and 1970s were invaluable and made a significant contribution to both the culture and position of Rich’s Rugby today.

Bob’s family would like to invite friends, family and past pupils who knew him to his funeral. This is set to be held on 24 August at 2pm at Gloucester Crematorium.

Bob is pictured here with last year’s 1^st XV Captain Robbie Nixon.