A tribute to Ian Little, 1949-2026
Ian’s funeral will take place at 1130 on Thursday 16 April in the Rowan Chapel, Stockport Crematorium, Buxton Road, Stockport SK2 6LS.
There will be light refreshments available afterwards at West Heaton Bowling Tennis and Squash club, Prince’s Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport SK4 3NQ.
All are welcome but please could you RSVP paulchillingworth@chethams.com to give an idea of numbers, ideally by Friday 3 April.
Family flowers only.
With thanks.
We are sad to announce the death at the age of 76 of former English teacher Ian Little.
Ian Little joined Chetham’s in 1973, as a newly qualified teacher, not long after the School started its life as a specialist music school. He was for many years Head of English, and was immersed, in the early days, in the extra-curricular life of the School, putting on plays and collaborating in whole-school music productions. He was a keen and talented amateur pianist, and was involved in boarding for many years. He retired in 2014 after an astounding 41 years of full-time service to the School.
Ian was resplendent and revered in his role as a thoughtful sage, slightly iconoclastic and certainly anachronistic. He was a staunch defender of what he considered to be right, and he held such importance within the School that, on our move to a new building in 2012, his chalkboard was duly taken down and refitted in his new room!
To colleagues and students alike, he was a lovable eccentric and there are many happy memories. When he had marking he would eschew the confines of his classroom whenever he could, to find solace in the Chetham’s Library, or a local coffee hostelry, rather like the Parisian intellectuals of the Enlightenment. Indeed, coffee was his elixir and a leitmotif. He was even known to send a student out to the coffee shop in the station on an errand when the need arose. On one occasion a spillage occurred. Ian’s prime concern was not the mess created, but the fact that his cup was half as full as it had been!
He had a literary quote for all occasions: I recall when on canteen duty, he wrily quipped ‘They also serve, who only stand and wait’! He was the intellectual backbone of the staff, and refreshingly for many, had a healthy scepticism for trendy educational initiatives which history would duly confine to the scrapheap within five years.
Ian did not court the limelight, and shunned unnecessary fuss, to the extent that on his retirement the Head was genuinely concerned that he might not show up to his final Prize Giving ceremony, during which she had intended to formally mark his contribution to the School! Student search parties were hastily despatched to his various local haunts to find him. When one group returned with their prize, it was clear that, uncharacteristically, Ian had every intention to attend after all, as he was wearing a suit – an extremely rare occurrence!
Ian was held in high regard by his colleagues, but Ian’s greatest fans were undoubtedly his students. He was their Mr Chips: they adored him, and he opened their eyes to life and passions beyond the stave. As one former student said, ‘he made you think’. He had the wonderful gift of captivating the imagination of every year group, and he was a worthy Dean of the academic division.
We were and are all the richer for him and his astounding service.
9 Comments
Martin Bussey
Thank you for publishing this tribute. A staunch colleague and support, both to me and more importantly, his pupils. Often extracts from Ian’s lessons were relayed to me via pupils coming to my lessons, and we shared many experiences vicariously. He was a true teacher – comments from those he taught are witness to the impact he had.
Victoria Davidson (nee Mitchell-Luker)
It amazes me to think that decades after I wandered through Tennyson with Mr Little for A level English in 1987, he was still there helping the next lot through. It’s also a shock to realise how comparatively young he must have been. I will be forever grateful for the love of English that he and Dr Donald inculcated in me.
Mark Cresswell
A wonderful man and English teacher who did his best to give me a proper grounding in the world of literature. Thank you Ian, you are fondly remembered.
Simon Scott
I remember Ian. A lovely eulogy.
Rachel Carby (nee Barnes)
I am so sad to hear of Mr Little‘s passing! He was definitely one of my favourite teachers! I remember his coffee cups very clearly as he’d always turn up with one to our lessons (from the station!) I loved his lessons – an incredible man.
Lee Wright
Mr Little instilled a love of learning for its own sake that’s remained long after the few years I was fortunate enough to have him as my English teacher.
Admittedly, I was a terrible student at the time but, somehow, he always made you feel like it was possible to live up to his example of good moral sense and intellectual curiosity.
After doing poorly in my A-Levels (I was far too focused on music), I started reading voraciously, and ended up giving up music to pursue philosophy, mathematics, and artificial intelligence, partly because he showed me that I ought to do better and, crucially, that I could.
We always seemed to go for coffee at the station at the same time, nearly every day; I’m sure he thought nothing of it, but the little chats we shared there meant a lot to me and helped shape me into the person I am today. I’m sure thousands of other former students have similar stories. Thank you, Sir.
Chiyan Wong
what a beautifully written tribute. Mr. Little’s ethos transcended the subject that he taught. Thank you.
Ian Palmer
Ian Little was primus inter pares within a remarkable group of teaching staff I was lucky to study under during my years at Chet’s. Thanks to Ian I went on to read English at Cambridge, and I can state 100% that the person I am today was shaped and formed in his classroom. Lessons with him were witty, erudite, mind-bending even, and his primary interest was in making us rounded, well-read, thoughtful individuals, and not exam machines. He adored literature and “lesson plans” were anathema to him. He would simply open the book we were studying at a random page, put his finger on a sentence, read it out, ask us to parse it, and then conversation would flow taking in literature, philosophy, art, music, religion (his oft repeated reference to our “post-lapsarian world” would never be too far away), plus witty historical facts (he had a soft spot for Mad Prince Ludwig of Bavaria). I remember one lesson which simply began around the question of why William Golding had spelled the word “lightening” rather than “lightning”.
My annotated copies of “The Tempest”, “The Importance of Being Earnest” (not “Ernest”!), “The Spire”, “Richard II”, “Paradise Lost”, “The Go-Between” and many more, are treasured possessions.
He himself was deeply inspired by his colleague and mentor Dr Trevor Donald an equally legendary Chet’s figure, who I fear is no longer with us.
I stayed in touch with him over the years, and I regret that I did not follow up with him when the annual Christmas Card did not arrive last year.
I have so many, many happy memories of him both as a teacher and as a friend, and he will forever be in my heart.
“May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”.
Hannah Yip
I was very sorry indeed to hear about Mr Little’s passing. I’ll always be indebted to him for introducing me to T. S. Eliot, Milton, D. H. Lawrence, and many others! Thank you for a wonderful tribute.