EULOGY FOR SIMON – written by Frances Fyfield and Liz Mott
SIMON GREGORY… OR … GREGORY HOLYOAKE
Born Gregory Charles Holyoake on 4th July 1948 at 102 Middle Street – Redan – a property belonging to Sir Ernest Bruce Charles, a barrister and local philanthropist who lived at Bruce House on the front. As a small child Simon lived there with his parents Sydney and Hilda and his maternal grandparents.
His grandfather Morgan Jones (Pop), a miner from Swansea and his grandmother, Jesse (nee Trippiear) (Nan), from the Manchester area, were given a place to live by Sir Ernest. ‘Pop’ had met him on a seafront bench and was bemoaning the fact that it was hard to find a place for his family to live. There was considerable division at that time between the incoming miners and the local community who would not take in miners as tenants. Sir Ernst Bruce Charles became Simon’s godfather, hence his middle name, Charles.
Simon was not close to his father, Sydney Holyoake, who came from Derby (one of 8 children) and had fought in Burma in WWII. He worked in a gentleman’s outfitters at the current site of Bigg’s the opticians. But he was very close to his mother, Hilda, who was a popular local teacher, and to his grandmother. In the 1950s he and his parents moved to a Prefab in Upper Deal which was celebrated in one of Simon’s many books, ‘The Prefab Kid’. He loved living there and it made for a pretty good childhood. Many will recall that he produced and performed it as a play. And as a boy he’d had a paper round, as did his childhood friend Lynn Archer, for Heaths, the newsagent, on the corner of Middle Street and King Street where Margherita’s now stands.
He trained in Divinity and English at Culham College, a teacher training college near Oxford and later went on to attend Rose Bruford College of drama in Sidcup. He embarked on a long career as an actor performing in repertory around the country and in several pantomimes alongside many famous actors like Richard Todd, Wayne Sleep, Jon Pertwee, and Kathy Staff of Norah Batty fame who became a lifelong friend. He worked at the Polka Theatre, Wimbledon for a while and was Ratty in Wind in the Willows. Much of his panto work was for David Lee a renowned pantomime director. And in Aladdin his role as the evil sorcerer Abenazar was pretty scary I’m told. He was also a member of the Gotcha team for Noel Edmund’s ‘House Party’ playing tricks on unsuspected celebrities. Later on he performed in a number of productions by Gordon Clarkson who runs a theatre company in Thanet.
He was a make-up artist who could change his appearance and demeanour comprehensively which may give some clue to his chameleon-like personality. Alongside this he was a magazine journalist beginning with the Observer in 1976 going on to contribute to The Lady, Country Life, Kent Life, Bygone Kent, This England, The Evening Standard magazine and many more. He was for some time chief photo-journalist for Kent Life. Among the many articles he wrote for This England were ‘James Bond in Kent’, ‘The history of Christmas cards’, ‘A History of Ice Skating’, ‘Fashion in the Fifties’ and ‘Life with the Lyons’, about the radio celebrity couple from the USA, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, whose granddaughter Penny lives in Walmer..
He became more of a full-time book writer in the early 1980s beginning with ‘Old Deal & Walmer‘ and wrote a total of 12 illustrated books featuring his beloved Kent. In 2021 he wrote his thrilling young adults’ novel, The Rattling Cat, illustrated by Susan Beresford. His final book was the epic biography of Dick Whittington entitled Paved with Gold, which is a definitive biography of the life and times of Dick Whittington.
Often his books were collaborative and all beautifully illustrated, a couple of them with paintings by Tom Burnham: ‘Deal & Walmer – A Celebration’ and ‘Kent Windmills & Watermills’. He set up a troupe called Deal Players and wrote, produced, directed and performed in many plays mostly based on local historical characters. He was fantastic in rallying a cast and an audience. One such was a commissioned play produced for the Deal Festival in 2017, ‘Parson Carter’s Daughter’, with his friend Lynn Archer in the title role of Elizabeth Carter, the renowned blue stocking who lived in South Street Deal in the 18th Century. Other actors were Emma Jones and Carol Kewley and Dave Norman among others. Another was a play entitled Wellington at Walmer which was performed inside Walmer Castle.
He also instigated a number of charitable fundraising performances, walks and talks for Walmer Parish Churches. And, for The Samaritans, he produced and directed a series of performances entitled Samarifun which took place at the house of friends in 2014. It featured a performance by him as his well-known dotty toothy vicar, Revd Pilke. That event raised over £2000 for that charity.
He was a prolific writer, actor and teacher. He taught for 5 years at Deal Parochial School and then was a supply teacher at lots of different schools in the area. He conducted many historic tours of Deal and Walmer and saw himself as one of Deal’s foremost historian which indeed he was. He loved the town, his only town and enjoyed sharing his knowledge of its colourful history. Throughout his career he was a regular contributor to editorial content in the local East Kent Mercury, producing many double page spreads for that paper.
One of his biggest sadnesses in life, although he made light of it, was that his father had never appreciated him for his achievements. His talent for mimicry was legendry. He’d imitate his father to defuse the disappointment and was extremely funny at it. I always wanted him to create a sketch impersonating him but it was too close to the bone I guess.
Simon was at his core an active Christian and churchgoer and knew the content of The Bible better than most! He didn’t affiliate himself to a single church but frequented by rotation most of the churches in and around Deal.
One friend in discussion with him about the existence of angels subsequently received a 3-page hand written explanation of their hierarchy and purpose. His head must have been busting with knowledge that he could impart at the drop of a hat. The depth of all the research that he did for his books gave him an enormous level of knowledge.
He was a big animal lover and especially a cat enthusiast having had two black & white female cats, Lucy and then Ronnie, and he often helped friends with dog walking when they couldn’t. Ronnie has kindly been given a new home by Simon’s longtime friend Mary Irwin who was a costume designer who worked with him in the theatre. In 2002 for the late Queen’s golden jubilee Simon dressed as Queen Elizabeth II in an outfit made by Mary and he toured many of Upper Deal’s streets and attended a street party. Later, in a slideshow, you’ll see photos taken by Harold Chapman of this occasion.
Simon was usually to be found around town on his bicycle, even until not long before his death. Always a rather snappy dresser with waistcoat and jacket, a cap and a satchel slung across his chest plus usually a rather fun pin or brooch on his lapel.
And frequently to be seen heading for Sandwich Bay by bike in pursuit of his all-over body tan!
Simon, a lover of life, was capable of enormous generosity both with his time and with gifts, regularly visiting friends who were sick and dropping of bunches of flowers or cards to cheer people up.
He was pretty secretive too and economical with information relating to himself. I only found out his age a couple of months ago! He had I think a rather enigmatic personality. A perfectionist who was not always receptive to criticism. He was also quite good at taking offence and would often deal with this by writing the offender a letter explaining where they had gone wrong. Somewhat disconcerting to say the least for the person involved.
But one wonders if he knew how much he was appreciated for what he did for friends and the town or whether he realised just how much he had achieved. Gone too soon and in a sad way. But what a life he had! Here’s to you Simon and to your onward journey. Your contributions to your town and to your friends will not be forgotten.
Funeral held on Monday 22nd September 2025 at St Andrew’s Church, Deal.
