[5] In 1960 another Dean Close teacher, E. S. Hoare, was manager of the team and Carnill spent a year at Geelong Grammar School, Victoria, on exchange.

He went to Dean Close School in 1951, appointed by A. N. 'Tony' Gilkes, the then Headmaster, on the personal recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, to teach Hockey and History, in that order.

The Headmaster sought to rebuild the School's previously good Hockey reputation after the problems resulting from World War II.

Supported by two very able colleagues, E. S. Hoare, himself a former international, and C. A. P. Tuckwell, formerly West of England, the quality of hockey rose and by 1957 Dean Close School was producing such players as R. I. Ireland, who later captained Cambridge University, Wiltshire and England and who also played for Great Britain, together with W. J. Benton-Evans and F. C. Welles, who were to play for Wales and Scotland respectively.

It gave Denys much pleasure to discover that, apart from one year, there was continuous Dean Close representation in the Cambridge v. Oxford Universities annual Hockey Match 1957-74.

One former colleague comments: 'Denys was in charge of the Department when I joined Dean Close for my first teaching post as a young man.

Friday evenings were lecture time when Denys would invite guests from political life to talk to our students.

It was a time where controversial issues would often be discussed and Denys was marvellously open-minded, prepared to listen to viewpoints with which he disagreed.

Over the next ten years, the Fair grew into a large annual event, raising thousands of pounds for local charities as well as the Social Service Group.

A former colleague wrote: 'Denys had an optimistic cast of mind and it was a joy to hear him walking along a corridor or across a quadrangle singing or humming to himself.

The same former colleague, himself no mean artist, writes: 'He was inspired by a famous watercolourist called James Fletcher Watson and when I look at Denys's mature work I think Fletcher Watson would have been proud especially of a wonderful series of paintings of local grounds where Gloucestershire played.

The first comment was "… [Denys] has always been the most humble of men despite being one of Britain's most prominent Olympians and undoubtedly one of its Hockey Superstars …" The second observed: "… A warm and kind person, incredibly sincere and down to earth …" The last said 'I loved working with Denys and I found him an inspiration as a person.