Graham Ramsden R.I.P.

In addition to being our resident lighting expert for around fifteen years, Graham was also solely responsible for creating and diligently maintaining this web site, which has been the envy of many an amateur dramatic group over the years.  Sadly Graham passed away on 24th July 2013, after some years of ill-health.

The first time we were introduced to Graham was in January 1998 when he walked into Over Church Hall during one of our rehearsals for Fiddler on the Roof.   The director, Christine Turner, asked him if he sang Bass or Tenor. The shock on his face said it all, and she thought that he was about to run!  "I have only come to see if you wanted a person to do the lighting" he said, and from that day onwards he has remained with us, doing the lighting for many of our shows.

He designed the lighting plots, ordered all the lighting, rigged it up, programmed the lighting desk, and then either operated or supervised the operation of the desk.  He was also good at training up the various youngsters who were keen to learn about lighting, and was able to take a back seat where appropriate, but was always there to help if needed.  Probably not many realise the amount of time Graham put into each show, planning, programming and optimising the set-up when no-one else was around. This was typical of this very private man.

He also helped to write our Constitution, which was an unenviable task for anyone to undertake.   Whilst we argued about the detail of what should go in there, Graham was an absolute rock and always managed to get to the heart of the matter quickly with his pragmatic common-sense approach, even when we all got over excited.  It's great that, even though he eventually had to withdraw through ill health, he still saw the Constitution finally being adopted by the group.

Graham even arranged a trip to Wallingford for The Over Players so they could be given a tour of the fantastic Corn Exchange theatre, which is maintained and run by the drama group that he was involved with before moving to Over.

Unfortunately in later years Graham's health problems started to get in the way, forcing him to cut back on his input.  However he remained a loyal supporter of the group right to the end and we are grateful to have known him.  Our thoughts are with his partner Margaret and family, to whom we are also grateful for their generous help and support.

Graham was a super, generous and supportive man who will be very much missed.