So although Barry took his 11+ in the Summer of 1955, was
successful and started Grammar School in the September, Ivan
and I returned for another year with Mr Johnson in J4, being
joined by the likes of Geoffrey Rouse and Michael and Gerald
Pollard. That year’s breathing space gave me time to
grow up – my Summer 1955 report said “inclined to
play about” (teachers didn’t beat about the bush in
those days!). By Summer 1956 my report recorded “Gwyn is
working well, and I wish him well at the Grammar
School”. Yes, to my total amazement I had passed the
11+, and this changed the course of my life forever.
We lived at 45 The Butts ( the same house had been 19 The
Butts, 19 Short Butts, 21 Mill Croft and Red Row and all
within my father’s living memory!), and with our front
gate being about 3 yards nearer the school than Michael
Whymer’s who lived opposite, I was, for several years,
the nearest to the school. Geoff Rouse, who lived round the
corner in what had always been Mill Croft, had also passed
the 11+ at the same time, and we agreed he would call for me
on our first morning and go together, which brings me to my
opening sentence.
We arrived at the bottom of the drive, there was not a red
Eastern Counties double-decker anywhere (Bristol LNG 266 or
MAH 937) , nor indeed any other living soul. “Well”
said my friend Geoffrey, “I suppose we ought to go
up”. (the eagle eyed will already have spotted the
corrections Mr Taylor made to my first English essay entitled
My First Day at School).
The two of us walked up the curving drive together; then,
our first dilemma, with no-one else in sight, where did we
go? Surely not up to the huge front door with its imposing
pillars? Perhaps to the right and to the door at the end of
the long passage where my father had delivered bread to the
Morbeys? Just in time, we heard voices coming from the left,
and made our way round to the playground – sorry
Quadrangle – where we found other boys in equally clean
black jackets with bright red piping and matching school
caps, all with leather satchels and looking as if they had
been mass produced on a factory assembly line.
Although there were many older boys around, nobody told us
where to go or what to do. Suddenly a great cheer went up as
a member of staff swept out of the Cloisters (in their
original position at the end of the conservatory which served
as an assembly hall), across the Quad and headed towards the
white classrooms in matching style to the long building,
which even at that hour in the morning smelt of school
dinners and was the kitchen/dining hall.
“Odour issuing from kitchen: - A
very ancient and fish-like smell – Shakespeare”.
The master in question I learnt later was Mr Atkinson, the
Music Master (how did he get the nickname Amos?).
But what enthralled me, and the image remains clear in my
mind to this day, was his black gown blowing in the wind.
Gosh, the masters at this school dressed like those in the Billy
Bunter stories so beloved by my father – this
school was a real school!
“After a while, a prefect came and told us where to
hang our caps and satchels. Then the bell rang, and everybody
ran to the door for assembly” (another quote from the
first English essay).
I assume we must have been given our brand new red School
Service book at this point (which I still have and used
at the 2009 Reunion Dinner), otherwise we would not have been
able to follow the service.
After assembly, all the first years were directed to that
wonderful panelled room which had been the Morbey’s
billiard room and overlooked the drive. Here we were greeted
by Mr Armitage and two members of staff who he introduced as
Mr Taylor and Mr Saunders “being the kindest members of
my staff who will look after you in your first year”. He
then read a list of names, the boys being told to follow Mr
Saunders and would be form 1S. The rest had to stay in the
panelled room and were to be 1T under Mr Taylor. I was in 1T,
along with Michael Pollard and Geoff Rouse – for the
first time in our school careers, Ivan and I went our
separate ways.
Mr Taylor quickly had us sorted into alphabetical order,
with Aves, Bailey, Barnett, Baumber just inside the door
[there is not yet a full list on our website as the 1956
School List is yet to surface], through to Venney, Warne
and Woodruffe seated in the bay window. I was two rows from
the window, and two up from the back of the class, in front
of Maxwell, and behind Pierce.
Mr Taylor went across to a wooden cupboard behind the
roller blackboard and took out a very large pile of National
Geographic Magazines which we were told to read. These
were quickly found to be of great interest, including a
number of photos of naked African ladies and were more
interesting than the copies of Health and Efficiency
which appeared with great frequency in the windows of Edgar
Bailey’s shop in Cross Green, on which boys always
reported when returning from school dinners at The Shade and
were held in the Pavilion on the Recreation ground!
Exercise books were distributed, different colours for the
different subjects: dark blue – English; light green
– mathematics (whatever were they? We didn’t do
mathematics at The Shade!); mid-blue – Latin; turquoise
– French; dark green – Biology (what was that? See
maths above); yellow – History; orange – Geography;
and pink – Religious Instruction. No prizes for guessing
which book lasted all five years and still hadn’t
reached the middle – yes, it was the pink one! “R.I.
lesson – Christians titter, Shaw, (stage
direction)”
My first English essay records “Soon we went out to
play (shades of The Shade and not corrected by Mr Taylor to
‘it was time for break’), and as everybody was
making for the field we went too to have a game”. At the
2009 Reunion Dinner Barry Lowe reminded me that for at least
the first term he spent breaks chasing me round the quad
– thank goodness neither of us are able to run far now!!
After break, we returned to the National Geographics,
but were also given blank paper timetables. Mr Taylor started
to write in his inimitable style, on the roller blackboard,
the details of our 1T timetable which we had to copy before
his writing disappeared over the top of the board –
remember all those year 1 notes for Geography and History
which had to be copied at breakneck speed? All this activity
took us to Dinner time. (timings for 1956 were:-
8.40 registration/assembly;
9.00 – 9.40;
9.40 – 10.20;
10.20 – 11.00;
11.00 – 11.10 break;
11.10 – 11.50;
11.50 – 12.30;
12.30 – 1.30 dinner;
1.30 – 2.10;
2.10 – 2.50;
2.50 – 3.30 end of school).
The afternoon continued in much the same vein with the
trusty National Geographics, but broken by the
selection of the 1T football teams. Mr Taylor decided the two
team captains were to be Docherty and Tassell - I suspect
because both had older brothers who had already proved their
worth chasing the flying leather. Being in the next row,
Tassell soon homed in on me, clutching his list and asking
which position I played in. Which position? What was he
talking about? At The Shade, football, played on Soham Town
Rangers ground, involved everyone except the person in goal,
trying to score, and Ivan’s memories are the same.
“I still need a full-back, will you do it?” he
asked. I agreed, not knowing what I had let myself in for,
but will return to the sequel in a moment. (It was of course
only when the initialled fixture list went up the following
week we realised why such a nice man as Mr Taylor, had the
nickname “RAT”!)
My first essay achieved only 5/10 with the comment
“too much repetition” – well what did he
expect? The day had been very repetitive. But still, this
Grammar School education was easy, and with total incredulity
my parents greeted my statement that all of our learning came
out of National Geographic Magazines!
And so to Day 2, and reality. How naïve could an 11 year
old be? At 8.40am the bell rang for registration; as I
recall, Register had to take the register to the table at the
top of stairs before joining us in the Conservatory/Assembly
Hall where the duty master towered above us as the whole
school filed into what must have been an incredibly small
space!
“Staff’s entry into
Assembly:- They glide, like phantoms into the wide hall
– Keats”;
“ But hush, my sons, our tyrant Lords are near –
Goldsmith”
At the appropriate juncture, the Head duly appeared out of
the classroom to the left, staff arose (boys were already
standing). If only I had taken note of that assembly –
the theme – COURAGE with opening words from I Cor. 16 v
13 “Quit ye like men and be strong”. With vigour we
sang hymn 39 “Through endeavour, failure, danger”,
accompanied by Mr Atkinson on the piano. Lessons from Eph 6,
and Bernard Shaw’s play Joan of Arc followed,
with prayers led by Mr Armitage “O God, who knowest us
to be set in the midst of so many and great
dangers……”. We returned to our form, Mr Taylor
ignored us and sat writing. Why on earth didn’t he bring
out the National Geographics? The door opened and Mr
Lawrance entered…
“My Word” said Mr Taylor, “take your
writing instruments and ruler, and follow Mr Lawrance who
will look after you for the next period”
Like lambs to the slaughter, we followed up the stairs,
round to the right, and down the long corridor to the room at
the far end on the right above 1S. I have often wondered the
purpose of those two rooms in the days when as Beechurst
it was lived in by the Morbeys – they just didn’t
seem to blend in with the magnificence of the rest of the
building and were in full view as one came up the drive.
But to return to this first period. I quickly learnt the
meaning of Mathematics!! They were what at The Shade we
called “Sums” or “Arithmetic”. I had
hated them there, and quickly found I hated them at SGS as
well. My first entry in my maths book on September 13th, were
for fractions, the first one being: -
½ + ¼ + 1/6, and to my amazement I find I achieved 10 out
of 10. It didn’t last long, the following day with such
horrible fractions as 2/21 + 1/14 + 5/42 it had dropped to 6
out of 10, and by 26th October with 1/3 x (½ + ¼) x 1/5 not
surprisingly marks had dropped to 5 out of 10!
This homework also included the cryptic word BODMAS which
in 2010 I had completely forgotten, but the modern technology
of Google tells me is an acronym for Brackets,
Order, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction –
a secret code enabling us to tackle the right sequence of
doing things mathematically which electronic calculators do
automatically! Of course, if one had parents who had not had
a Grammar School education, you really were on your own when
it came to homework.
We survived our first lesson, at the end of which we were
led to the classroom below to Mr Saunders for Latin. Here we
heard about vowels and consonants. We had “done
vowels” at The Shade, but what on earth were consonants?
It took several lessons before I plucked up courage to ask.
After this period, Mr Saunders led us back up the passage,
through the hall, down the conservatory and into the room at
the far end which looked out across the lawn.
Here we met Mr Riley and our first French lesson. On
learning my name, he said “Wuh… I know your
father”. Yes, father delivered bread to the Riley’s
three times a week – there was to be no escape! “After
French lesson: Mangled, and flatten’d, and crush’d,
and dinted into the ground – Tennyson”
After this baptism by fire, the rest of the day was lost
in what I believe is called shell-shock! For those who are
wondering what we were doing wandering round the school, I
will try and explain. It was what I understand to have been
an experiment at the start of that term, one in which masters
stayed in their own rooms, and classes moved to them. By half
term, it had been decided that having 300+ boys on the move
along corridors and up and down the stairs every 40 minutes,
had not been a good idea. For one thing, there was the wear
and tear on the building, and the sheer noise had penetrated
to the inner sanctum between the Geography room (under the
clock) and the French room. At half term, Mr Armitage decreed
the experiment was at an end, and that boys would stay in
their classes, with members of staff moving to them. At least
we no longer had to endure those awful chairs with canvas
backs and seats in the Maths room.
Later that first week, whilst we were in Latin, Form 1S
was observed charging up the metal staircase diagonally
opposite (remember the wonderful sound those steps made?)
– Where were they going? We found the answer the
following week, art with Mr Askem, of whom Geoff Rouse
remarked “he looked so young I thought he was a
prefect!”
“In the Art Room: Once more within
the Potter’s house alone I stood, surrounded by the
shapes of clay – Omar Khyyam”
During that first year, from the Art room, we looked out
across the largest building site I had ever seen, as the new
Assembly Hall and Laboratories took shape. Before the
superbly curved rear wall of the hall went up, I remember
looking down as the stage area was built with its two
doorways leading from the back passageway to stage right and
left and thinking “One day I will act on there”
which I did in The Word, The Sheriff’s
Kitchen, and The Bartered Bride, and prompt for
Twelfth Night.
The beginning of the following week saw our first visit to
the Biology lab with its stools, benches and gas taps, and
cupboards containing all those dissected specimens - this was
a world away from The Shade where the subject would have been
“Nature Study”. Our first Biology lesson defined
the difference between “Living things and Not Living
things” – you can’t beat starting with basics!
I don’t think I ever reached the end of a Biology lesson
without jumping, as the bell, fixed on the lab’s outside
wall, marked the end of a period.
In Geography and History, both taken by Mr Taylor, we were
introduced to those two stalwarts of ancient times who
accompanied us the first year – Nick Shaw and Widow
Bampton – remember them? It was Nick Shaw who lived as
Old Stone Man whose main concerns were food and safety. He
was there in Neolithic times growing grain, and a few pages
on in the exercise book in ancient Egypt working his shadouf
lifting water to irrigate his fields! In Geography, in the
“two experiments to prove the world is round”, Nick
Shaw was the man sitting on the shore looking out to sea and
watching the ship come over the horizon, and he was the man
placing his three poles in the Bedford Level.
On the first Tuesday afternoon, the last two periods were
Games and, being the Autumn term, football. I had been
dreading it, not only as I had discovered as a full-back I
was supposed to stand around and do nothing until the
opposing side approached and to prevent them from scoring,
but more so because it had been made clear that after the
match, everyone was expected to strip naked and shower!
I was surprised to find that only about half the players
went for a shower, and the number rapidly decreased as the
weeks rolled by. But as 45 The Butts not only had no
electricity but no running water either, and as one whose
only bath was once a month with the water heated in the
wash-house copper and carried through to the tin bath in
front of the kitchen fire, the copious amounts of hot water
in a shower at school was next to heaven! But let us return
to my position as full-back.
I think it was about the third week of term, and how I had
missed it the previous weeks I don’t know. The game was
going well and there was little happening at our end of the
field when at 2.50pm, a low whistle wafted across the fields
near the Horse Fen level crossing. I stood transfixed as an
elderly Great Eastern E4 2-4-0, almost certainly 62785 and
now part of the National Collection, made its way towards
Soham. Whilst gazing at this wonder, the opposing team
charged past and scored a goal! At the end of the match and
near the Memorial Gates, Tassell ran across to me, his face
blazing with anger “You’re sacked” he shouted,
“if it hadn’t been for you, we would have won the
match”. And so for the next five years my football
career was in the “Remnants”.
PT over the five years was conducted out of doors in the
Quad, even in the depth of winter and with frost hanging
everywhere. Mr Thomas only started taking us in the third
form when exercises extended across the lawn, now under a
road! “P.T. Classes: The misery in fit magnificence;
Heaving in pain and horribly convulsed – Keats”;
“Stranger, pause and ask thyself the question,
cans’t thou do likewise? If not with a blush retire
– Dickens”
Early on, Stuart Poole had landed his role as Mabel in The
Pirates of Penzance. I in my role as Patrons’
Secretary for our local Barrow Savoyards I spent 2009
wondering as adults performed the opera how an earth Stuart
mastered this incredibly difficult and demanding musical role
whilst coping with his first term at SGS. As a result, music
lessons under Mr Atkinson, saw 1T singing the ladies’
chorus parts, such as “climbing over rocky
mountains”. As he walked amongst us, he suddenly hit me
over the head with his tuning fork and told me to shut up as
I growled. How I eventually came to be part of The
Bartered Bride will have to be told later! “Music
lesson:- Hear those tuneless numbers wrung By sweet
enforcement – Keats”
First period Monday mornings was either History or
Geography and was always interrupted by Miss Lowe, the
House-keeper, collecting Dinner Money. Miss Lowe conducted
her business at a speed appropriate to her years, and you
could see Mr Taylor becoming increasingly agitated, hopping
from one foot to the other as the precious minutes were
wasted and he was unable to scribe the appropriate notes on
the blackboard. As for us it was a very welcome interlude!
Returning to Latin. I don’t remember the text book we
used, but each lesson included a block of basic grammar such
as declining a noun eg: Mensa (why should anyone in their
right senses want to address a table “O Table”?),
or conjugating verbs eg: Amo – I love, along with some
basic vocabulary. Why, oh why did the compiler of this
excellent work think 11 year olds after only 3 lessons needed
to be able to translate the sentence “I love nude girls
on islands”?
Was I the only one in 1T who in that first year dreaded
Thursday afternoons? Latin and double Maths. As the year
rolled on, Thursday Latin sessions were spent construing a
classical work (The Iliad?). We worked round the class in
alphabetical order; as the period progressed I hoped –
no prayed – that the bell would ring by about the time
it was Norman Long’s turn. Sometimes I was lucky, I had
escaped, and spent the next week realising I was not going to
escape next time. All of this anxiety was compounded by being
followed with 80 minutes of Maths with Punch –
need I say more….. for who could forget his instructions
regarding punishments - “in ink, on paper and by
tomorrow.”
The last period on a Friday afternoon alternated between a
Form Period and a Club period. Everyone had to sign up for a
club – I looked in vain for a Model Railway club, and it
was my mentor Geoff Rouse who drew my attention to the
“Junior Dramatic Society” under Mr Saunders.
“Come on Gwynie (my name was never shortened) it’s
acting and that sort of thing”, so the two of us joined.
I shall always remember the afternoon “Sid”
produced the school tape recorder and for the first time I
heard my own voice – as others heard me – I cringed
then – I cringe now!
At Remembrance-tide, my mother dutifully gave me money
“to buy a poppy”, and was far from pleased to find
it had to be left in a plot near the Memorial Gates. Every
year, last thing on the Friday afternoon, the whole school
made its way to the gates, Mr Armitage would come across
complete with mortar-board (the only time we ever saw it) to
conduct the Act of Remembrance, Brian Halls played The
Last Post, we then laid our poppies in a square marked
on the lawn. Did we ever reflect that those men remembered
had been boys not many years before us and known to some of
the staff? I suspect not.
In the first two years, the Summer term was marked by
swimming in the Open Air Pool at Newmarket. We arrived on the
‘bus (Eastern Counties or Fordham & District?) just
after 9am confronted by a chalk notice hanging outside which
read “temperature of the water today 42º” ie: just
10º above freezing. The changing rooms were dark, dank and
smelt of stale water and sweaty bodies. Did anybody actually
learn to swim in those lessons? I certainly didn’t, nor
at teaching training college some 10 years later. It was only
in my last parish and in my forties when we took the Youth
Group – plus younger brothers and sisters – to the
local leisure centre, that a five year old girl came up to me
with her swim-ring and said “Vicar, I think you need
this more than me!” that I was goaded into learning.
I entered the mile for Sport’s Day, and as expected
was knocked out in the heats which were always run off during
morning lesson time – I don’t recall which
second-year had put me up to that one! But my essay on
“Sport’s Day” records the following:-
“In several races M. Pollard from 1T came
first. The cups and certificates were presented by
Mrs Thomas, and for the first time that afternoon the
sun came out really warm. J. Laycock and M. Whymer
walked off with many of the cups and certificates.
Laycock had been in training for months, so we all
expected him to do really well”.
Being in a room on the front of the building, we were able
to watch all the comings and goings, including that dreaded
white caravan in October which heralded the annual visit of
the school dentist. Several of us were convinced that with
his crew-cut and rimless glasses, he had been trained in a
German SS camp! We also saw staff cars. Mr Taylor’s
Ford, registration “LMX 126” – why does this
one stick in my mind and today I can hardly remember my own?
The Head had a black Standard Vanguard, which I thought
looked cheap and tinny, whereas Mr Thomas drove not just a
car, but one which strictly speaking should be called a
“motor-car”.
I remember his dismay in our fifth year when with great
reluctance he changed his beloved “Lanchester” for
a modern car. “Mrs Thomas is too embarrassed to ride in
the old one” he reflected sadly. Ivan has reminded me
that at some stage the Head bought a luxurious grey Armstrong
Siddley Sapphire – yes now that was a car!
With today’s concern about passive smoking, how on
earth did masters survive their staffroom? “Occupants
of Staff Room:- In a circle round the doorway, with their
pipes they smoke in silence – Longfellow”
So to the second year when 1T became 2F under a newly
arrived English teacher, Mr Frampton. Our classroom was the
white one at the end of the dining room. Life was pleasant
over there. For one thing it was quiet, and we quickly found
staff took longer to reach us between periods! The only
disadvantages were the ill fitting windows, which not only
let in the draft, but also copious amounts of fen soil when
“the blows” were on. The afternoon periods were
also re-arranged starting 15 minutes later and finishing at
3.45pm – Soham boys were not allowed out until 4pm, once
the ‘buses had cleared, but it allowed us time to retire
to the Library and read The Manchester Guardian!
In some ways the timetable continued as before but with
selective staff changes. Maths split into 3 sets, I was in
“B” under Mr Housden; Latin now came under Mr
Waller; History being taken by the newly arrived Dr Grassi,
who at that stage had not achieved his doctorate.
Two new subjects were added to the curriculum, Woodwork
under Mr Tabraham, and General Science under new staff member
Mr Parrott, who managed to twist his huge form in and out of
his Austin 7! We were, of course some of the first boys to
use the new Science labs, opened formally on 4th October
1957, and what a delight to be able to look across the
fields, especially as the double period took place first
thing in the morning and at the time when the Harwich to
Liverpool boat train went over to haulage by a Stratford
“Britannia”. Even Mr Parrott would stop, listen and
comment on its melodious chime whistle giving its warning to
Angle Common Crossing and the Soham signalman ready with his
key-token to Barway Siding.
In woodwork, it was a surprise to learn “the most
dangerous tool in the workshop is sandpaper – months of
hard work can be ruined in seconds by its overuse”. It
was also a shock to find that “English” carried
over into Woodwork!
“Can I plane this piece of wood now, sir?”
“I have no idea whether you can, Murfet, but you
may”.
Which year was it that the Head agreed, but later
regretted, to allow sixth formers recite poetry they had
written about members of his staff at an end-of-term
assembly? The only one I remember was:
“Who does Mr Tabraham think he’s trying to
deceive,
Hiding his handkerchief up in his sleeve?”
I think it was the Autumn term 1957 the school was hit by
‘flu, so much so that even RAT succumbed and things were
so desperate Punch was drafted in to “ref”
the Remnants game of football. He loathed talking in class,
and quickly made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate it on the
field either. I still remember his “The next boy caught
talking will be off-side”!
As in the first year, the Winter term saw football give
way to cross-country running. The usual route being down the
field, about to become The Village College playing field, out
through the meadow at the bottom (now a coppice), across the
Horse Fen level crossing, over the Horse Fen to the middle
drove on the far side which we always knew as Gault Pits
Drove and now almost inaccessible, eventually turning left up
onto the main Wicken road, left again to the railway bridge,
down the drove (where in the third form smoke could be seen
betraying the presence of Taffy with his pipe, and his stick
to encourage walkers) to the Horse Fen and back to school.
The usual weather meant we were really in need of a shower,
but few boys bothered. “Non-shower-takers after a
cross-country run: - I wish You were conducted to a gentle
bath And balms applied you – Shakespeare”
On one occasion, there was a blinding blizzard all morning
and into the afternoon. We gathered in the conservatory to be
told by RAT that because of the weather, the cross country
was cancelled, only to be greeted by a cry of dismay. Seeing
we really were keen, he agreed to see if he could staff it.
He returned to tell us it would be a shorter route –
along the path by the tractor shed, across The Butts, down
Allotment Lane, left into Cherry Tree Lane, “Turn left
again at the Cherry Tree, Mr Saunders has agreed to
be there (great cheer)”, and back up Fordham Road.
Running in those terrible conditions was a real experience!
I thought it was only Mr Waller who had put me in
detention - for major Latin grammatical errors, but
examination of my Maths book under Dicky shows
otherwise! On one page of homework, the extensive working of
algebra has “ROT” written across it, the one below
has “RUBBISH”, not surprisingly the next page had
written in red - “detention next Thursday”.
The big event of the Summer Term was fund raising for the
much longed-for Cricket Pavilion. I can do little better than
jog your memories, as it did mine, by quoting my essay on the
subject, although a better version may be found on page vi of
The Soham Grammarian Christmas 1958 written by John
East! But here is my offering………
HOMEWORK
“Before the Summer Fair”
For weeks before the Summer Fair, the whole school
– forms, masters and boys – were busy
trying to raise £30 each form before the day, and
making plans as how to raise a further £20 on the
day itself. Every form and master tried to beat their
rivals in raising the most money.
Before the great day, 2F tried several ways to
raise money because for weeks the total never seemed
to get much over £1. Then suddenly the total began
to rise. First there was the wool collection which
for weeks consisted only of 2 pairs of socks, and it
was through Mr Frampton’s frantic efforts we all
looked through our bottom drawers and raise a grand
total of 22/6.
Clay helped us raise money by bringing a bottle of
beans and letting us guess the amount at 3d a time.
Pollard and Barnett organised Chess and Draught
games, and it was great seeing who would get through
to the next round.
The best workers in the form were Warne, Sandham
and Daly. Warne and Sandham stuck to the harmless
occupation of selling stamps, whilst Daly dieted (or
so it seemed) the whole of Wood Ditton on cress.
If I were to tell you of all the things 2F did on
the day, I would be here all day! Probably the best
item was our Raffle which consisted of five very good
prizes. B. White, a new-comer to the school, did very
well bringing a dog-racing game which raised a lot of
money. We also had an exhibition consisting of
Meccano models (mine was a lightship with flashing
light), Aeroplanes and Robots. Daly also brought his
wireless set that he had made, which at times made
noises and others kept silent!
2F did very well and raised the largest total, not
only on the day, but the largest all round. I think
Mr Frampton should be congratulated on doing a very
fine job.” (why didn’t I record the total
raised??)
I do remember the exhibition, which was held in the room
over-looking the lawn and in which we had had our first
French lesson. I recall Daly’s total embarrassment
trying to explain the workings of his, by now silent, radio
to Mr Bacon, Chairman of the Governors. A few minutes later
it was my turn to try and explain the workings of the
flashing bulb in my lightship – that such things could
work automatically seemed beyond him! “Mr
Taylor’s comment on Pavilion builder – Many and
many a day he thither went, And never lifted up a single
stone – Wordsworth”
When the Hall was used for exams, assembly took place in
the Dining hall, usually last thing on a Friday. We sat
lengthways with the table in the centre for the Head and Mr
Ford. On one occasion I was on the front row opposite this
table. Mr Riley as Duty Master ordered me to swop places with
the boy in the row behind so that Mr Armitage would not have
to gaze at my very muddy knees and trousers!
The third year marked the Great Divide – the
separation of the Sheep from the Goats. Those good at Latin
went into 3L (Latin), those good at Woodwork into 3T
(Technical). What if you didn’t shine at either? In
July, my parents received a letter informing them that after
consideration, their son was to go into 3T. If only I could
find my reports I could confirm this, but I think it was
under Mr Parrott but cannot recall the room (unless it was Mr
Riley’s old room over-looking the lawn)
In Maths, I continued in Set B, this time under Mr
Saunders, where I maintained a steady 24th out of 24.
Subsequent years saw Mr Scott in charge and the position rose
to 3rd out of 24! English became divided into three sets;
again I was in Set B under Mr Frampton – a keen exponent
of “Ridout” and its mysteries of the English
language. “A” sets were always held in the
“L” room, the “C” sets in the
“T” room, with the “B” sets wandering to
find a free room, which is probably why I can’t recall
our Form Room! French in 3T came under the charge of Mr Hart
who as I recall “longed for his revolution”.
Woodwork continued under Tabby, remarkably I still have the
holder for 4 eggs which is still in use, as is my last effort
of a tray, of which on seeing one of the joints caused the
comment “What do you plan to keep in this hole Murfet,
chickens?”
Two new subjects were added for those of us in Technical
side – Technical Drawing with Mr Tabraham in the TD room
which in 1956 had still been Mr Ford’s Chemistry
Laboratory. (Where had the TD room been before this?) Under
his guidance I learnt how to set out drawings and still use
the skills when designing buildings for my model railway.
The second subject was Rural Science, and for the first
time I came under the wing of Mr Ford. This was a very much
watered down Biology course, but with practical work outside
in the garden and our very own plots. Mine was in the lee of
the high wall looking straight down to the new Assembly Hall.
Whilst we enjoyed the fresh air and freedom of being able to
talk during lesson time, Chas was able to enjoy an extra
“Manikin” cigar! He taught us how to propagate
geranium cuttings, and I have kept my late uncle’s
variety going now for nearly 30 years. We learnt how to grow
tomatoes – and had to pass the information on to my son
a few years ago who still thought it was quantity not quality
that counted.
Geography now came under the control of Mr Thomas. If RAT
wrote on the board at high speed, Taffy dictated notes at
equally high speed – no wonder my hand writing
deteriorated! Much that we learnt is now history eg: the
coalfields; but the list of rivers flowing out of the
Pennines still rings true “Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe,
Aire, and Calder”. And who could forget the wonderful
lists of a town’s products “nuts, bolts, pins,
screws, locomotives, china tea pots – put ‘em all
down” – where on earth could that have been? –
will have to re-read the notes! “Entry of elderly
Geography master: - He entered, but he entered full of wrath
– Keats”
1959 saw G. Murfet in The Bartered Bride –
yes look at the photograph, I am there as the bear! A
wonderful non-singing, non-speaking, non-dancing part! The
costume was then “stolen” by Vasek trying to make
his escape.
It was in the third year, I was introduced to a lad to
whom I had never spoken – he had always been in the
“other class/set”. His name was Robert Powell and
had a great interest in railways including the late lamented
Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway which had
straggled its way from the Midlands to Norfolk, and had
closed Feb ’59. From then on, every break was spent in
majestic perambulations around the quad and field discussing
the future of railways and our joint hopes of working for
British Railways.
In the 4th year, we were allowed to wear long trousers for
the first time, wear black school jackets without the
red-piping and became Seniors instead of Juniors The 4th year
saw a further shedding of subjects and concentration on those
we wanted to take at “O” level. I don’t think
Tabby missed me in Woodwork - dropped for History. I was
sorry to drop Art for Geography, but a hoped-for career on
the railway told me it was the better option. Although I
don’t have my last painting which was of Soham station
(!), I still have one of “The Fishmonger”. No, it
wouldn’t win the Turner prize! The 4th year saw a steady
improvement in my Form position – I think the last, that
Summer, was either 5th or 3rd.
So on to the 5th Form. Here we were allowed to go to
school without the school cap – I still have mine, and
the last jacket (also red and black football shirt – it
didn’t get that much wear and tear in the Remnants!) For
the first time, it was decided the top half-dozen or so in
General Science should drop both that and Rural Science and
take the “O” level Physics instead. I was one of
those, and we had to complete what the Latin side had taken 3
years to do, in essentially 1 year. For the first time in my
school career I came under the tutelage of Mr Fleet, and
remember the occasion he had incorrectly wired mains powered
electro-magnets “The atom darkness in a slow turmoil
– Keats”.
Mr Tabraham taught the Mechanics side of things, and we
suspected at times he was only about one lesson ahead of us!
I had dropped TD on entry into 5T to escape Tabby (there is
no justice) and opted for Agricultural Biology instead under
Mr Watts. “I always get the refugees from TD” was
his response. This subject and French were taken in the Lower
6th, so my “O” level list was: Maths, English
Language, English Literature, History, Geography and Physics.
There has been no mention of cricket. How was it that
standing in rows in the Quad with a bat and rehearsing
forward defensive, back defensive, and all the other shots,
everything went well, but as soon as one was on the field at
the crease and that wretched red ball hurtling towards one,
it all fell apart? Yes, you’ve guessed it – 5 years
in the cricket Remnants as well!
I have little memory of this last year apart from
attending an interview with the British Railways staff
officer at the newly opened Great Eastern House in Cambridge.
He informed me that “A” levels would serve no
purpose on the railway, and I would be better, given good
“O” level grades to start work the coming
September. He was most disappointed when I told him I
didn’t want to work in his shiny new office, but at a
station – I think Robert had said similar.
In those days, once exams were over, one didn’t just
drift away as students appear to these days, but were “Rosy
terms in idle languishment – Keats”, soaking
up the sunshine on the lawns and wishing it could go on for
ever!
So to the last day. Our form room was the one at the top
of the stairs, overlooking the lawn. Just before going down
for our last assembly, a few of us were leaning on the
balustrade on the landing taking a last look, when Taffy came
up. “If we feel odd, think how he must be feeling”,
said Geoff Fuller. Taffy was retiring the same day, after
over 100 terms. For the last time, I sang “those
returning make more faithful than before” and realised
unless I had totally stuffed-up the exams, it would not mean
me. So five years came to an end!
One morning in the holidays, there was a knock at the
door, and there stood Mr Riley clutching pieces of paper. I
wondered what he wanted. “They are your exam results,
boy; and quite good ones they are too!” So they were,
and to my amazement I had passed all 6, and the following
Summer was awarded a prize – The Midland Railway
by Hamilton-Ellis and I find, under the paper dust jacket,
the school crest is emblazoned in silver.
Just for the record, I started on the railway 2nd October
1961 in Ely Parcels Office. In the Booking Office were two
other SGS stalwarts, Tony Payton who retired last year after
50 years, and Stan Harley whose job I took over in March 1962
when he moved to Cambridge.
In 1956, space travel was still in the future. The
Edwardian era was as remote from us, as we are from
today’s pupils in Beechurst, and I have been
retired nearly as long as I spent at SGS! It was a very
different world.
These paragraphs sum up life at SGS in the late 50s-early
60s. Yes, there is much already forgotten; yes, perhaps there
is not as much use of adjectives, descriptive writing etc as
the English department would have liked. But as I reflect on
having been retired nearly as long as I attended SGS, I
recall the words of Corporal Jones out of Dad’s Army
after a difficult experience “………,
Ah, but it was a good life!”
Yes, thank you Soham Grammar School.
B - Gwyn Murfet - first
long trousers - this is a surprise, as it is
dated August Bank Holiday 1958 which is just prior to
entering 3T. I thought long trousers only came in
when one entered the 4th form. I also note that the
jacket is black, piped red, so this must be just
before the third form. This is the photo I had in
mind as the summer prior to the 4th form, but then
the jacket would have been wrong!
Does anyone have a better memory than me on this
issue? |
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