Obituary for Alfred Cork, headmaster of Blackminster School, 1959-1977, who has died aged 84. During his long spell at the school he saw the introductin of the comprehensive system and the raising of the school-leaving age to 18 which meant that the school went from being Blackminster Secondary Modern to Blackminster Middle School. During the war, he was in the RAF, bin both Bomber Command and the Pathfinder Force, and awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London for his research in the field of natural history and latterly became a Fellow of the College of Preceptors. He retired with his wife, Joyce, to the Essex coast; he died in Colchester General Hospital on 24th May 2000 following a stroke.