OLD WYVES' TALES 69

OLD WYVES' TALES 69

FOR WYVERNIANS 1919-76

EDITED BY DENNIS J DUGGAN, ROCK COTTAGE, BROOK STREET,

WELSHPOOL, MONTGOMERYSHIRE. SY21 7NA

TEL 01938 555574 / 07985 405365 www.wyvernians.org.uk

APRIL 2011

REUNION MARCH 2011 We have now completed the incredible total of fourteen

consecutive reunions! The continued success of our annual get-togethers is a constant

source of wonder to many, yet interest shows no sign of waning. We had over eighty

people this year, most partaking of lunch. Numbers were slightly up on 2010 As we

never change the format of the reunions, the organising team (me, Stephanie, Brian

Screaton, Frank Smith, John Offord) have the routine off to a fine art. It takes quite a

while to unload everything and carry it upstairs. Panoramic photographs and copies

of The Wyvernian are put in date order, various items are pinned up or laid on tables.

The honesty bar is set up, nibbles put on the tables, the PA system tested, name

badges sorted. We begin at 9.15am ready for the official start at 11am, though the

first arrivals turn up well before that. This year we were ready in record time, so had

a chance to chat and take stock before the visitors began to flood in. Tony Baxter's

talk was standing room only, the Age Concern lunch excellent, and the AGM went

without a hitch. Although we had not done any canvassing, Brian and I were

unanimously voted in for a 15th term as Secretary and Treasurer! All too soon it was

time to pack up, and in a few months we will begin to arrange next year's reunion.

It was pointed out that what we do must be unique. Annual reunions for all ex-pupils

of a school from 1919-1976, not just a particular year. Use of Clarence House, which

holds so many memories for us and is still basically recognisable as our old school.

Old Wyves' Tales, which has grown from a small newsletter to a huge history file.

Andy Marlow's forthcoming book on the history of CBS. The large collection of

memorabilia. And not least the enthusiasm shown by so many Old Boys and former

teachers. Thank you all. The reunions will continue so long as we have the use of

Clarence House, and there are enough of us left to turn up and reminisce.

FROM DENNIS BIGGS 1949-56 I have been perusing the back numbers of

OWT, and they make fascinating and enjoyable reading. It was particularly interesting

to read some personal details of the teaching staff, of which I was completely

unaware, and I think it is a great pity we did not have a more personal contact with

our teachers. But I suppose that was impossible given the numbers of pupils to

teachers, and the prevailing attitude of 'us and them'. I regret I did not have time to

get to know some of the teachers better, such as Messrs Franey, Gould, Brushe,

Gimson, Whitbread etc, who were so inspiring and motivating. The only teachers I

knew on a more personal level were Messrs Smith and Kaye, who helped me when I

was Captain of the 2nd Eleven Cricket team. I marvel at the detailed recollections of

many of my contemporaries. One of my more vivid memories was of the Queen's

Coronation in 1953, which I have not seen mentioned. The city centre was highly

decorated with garlands and flags for the occasion, and we were each given a book,

Ratae, about the history of Leicester, which unfortunately I have lost in the

intervening years. I recall watching the ceremony on a neighbour's TV (in black and

white of course) and that the weather was pretty damp and miserable. I do remember

that we had a street party and bonfire, which was great fun, as all the neighbours and

children were in high spirits. The best street party of all was, however, at the end of

the war in 1945 when people really let their hair down. I lived in Wansbeck Gardens,

Humberstone, and there were two other City Boys pupils living in the same small

street, namely John Measures (a couple of years older than me) and Alec

Downes, two years my Junior. I would love to contact them again after such a long

time if they are members (Regrettably they are not - Ed)

I recall we visited the Royal Stratford Memorial Theatre, and think we saw Romeo

and Juliet with Dorothy Tutin. However I did go there on several other occasions in

later years, and may have my memories mixed up. The theatre has now been rebuilt,

so I look forward to a further visit in the near future. I remember seeing the school

play, King Lear, with a classmate, Tom Williams, in the main role who was brilliant. I

am convinced he could have been a professional actor, and greatly admired his ability

to take on this demanding role and learn all his lines.

We all seemed to be keen on jazz music in those days, and a few of the class bought

instruments and learned to play. I remember Trevor Adcock with a trombone, and

Graham Morton with drums or bass. We also had a violin virtuoso in our class - Lakin

(sorry I can't remember his first name) who played on several occasions to a school

audience. I wonder whether he became a professional musican. I spent most of my

evenings listening to the music of Ted Heath on the radio, Humphrey Littleton and

many other American jazz players. This was of course after a nightly session of Dick

Barton, Special Agent. After coming to live in London in the mid 60s I visited

Ronnie Scott's Club frequently, and was able to hear many of my heroes in person. I

have good memories of classmates such as John Hill, Peter Partner, John Tilbury

amongst others, whose names I have not seen mentioned.

The school dances at the Lancaster Hall were good fun, as were the classes where we

learned the rudimentary steps of ballroom dancing. I do not remember from which

school the girls came, but dancing was something I enjoyed and once a week I went to

extra classes at the Embassy Dance Club across the road from the school. It was an

enjoyable social skill, which stood me in good stead at university and during later

years on my travels around the world, and even today I enjoy dancing. I am grateful

to the ratepayers of Leicester for the free education I received at CBS, and for the

annual grants and payment of my tuition fees during my university education, and I

am annoyed that today's students do not receive the same support for their further

education. I am sure I have repaid the costs of my education many times over in the

high level of taxes during my working life, and I feel strongly that students should not

have to face crippling levels of debt on finishing their courses.

When I left school, my father insisted that I got an experience of the 'real world'

before going to University, so I took a four-year apprenticeship with the engineering

company A A Jones and Shipman, on Narborough Road South. I suppose that time

could be considered as gap years in today's parlance, but it meant I was much more

mature when I did go to Birmingham University in 1961. It also gave me the

opportunity to save and buy a car, which was a great asset in those days. I am sorry

that I have lost complete contact with the school and former classmates in the

intervening years, and I look forward to renewing acquaintances at the 2011 reunion.

FROM BERNARD CAPP 1955-62 The reunion invitation reminded me that the

last issue of OWT included a query from someone about Sambo McNulty, a maths

teacher who was my form master in 3 alpha in 1956-7. He left the school soon after,

and made the very unusual move to become a teacher at Ellesmere Road Secondary

Modern School, Leicester. He explained he thought there was more scope for ‘real’

teaching there. Presumably he meant that it was less bound by the GCE syllabus and

the like. I bumped into him in 1961 or 1962, and he was still teaching there.

FROM ERIK (ROGER) BELLAMY 1958-64 (Episode 3 of Erik's memories of

CBS - Ed) Having submitted memories of my time in 1 alpha, I have again put mouse

to mat and committed my experiences in 3 alpha to hard drive. (Mouse to mat doesn't

have quite the same ring as pen to paper)

Having survived the first year, my progress was from 1 alpha to 3 alpha (Amazing

eh?) We were still in the Lee Circle huts. I can't remember the name of our form

master, but my most outstanding academic memory was being put into the tender care

of Basher Brewin for maths. He adopted a totally different technique to Ken Witts,

who had nurtured us the previous year. To continue the gardening analogy, Ken

nurtured us, Basher force-grew his pupils. He did not suffer fools or leadswingers

gladly, and retribution came on swift wings - or should I say knuckles-ontop-

of-the-head? But there was another side to this 4ft 10" firebrand. If he could see

you were genuinely struggling his whole demeanour changed, and he would gently -

almost kindly - explain where you were going wrong. His personal crusade was with

units. If you had a question which involved units, be they gallons, pounds, feet etc,

and gave the answer as fifteen he would immediately yell, 'Fifteen what? Monkeys?'

accompanied by a re-arrangement of your hair style with his bony knuckles

emphasising each syllable. The only similarity between Basher and Ken was their

amazing ability to draw perfect circles on the blackboard. Was this skill restricted to

maths teachers? Wag Pace's attempts at the spherical shape of the earth was

laughable in comparison. In fact we did laugh... aren't kids cruel sometimes?

In 3 alpha, Dr Burrows introduced us to the delights of organic chemistry. An

outstanding memory of the practical side of this subject was the chemical reaction

which produced a bright-red diazo-aniline dye. We made this in large quantities, and

dyed white fabric red. Its permanence was proved by washing the fabric in Omo

(Anyone remember Omo?) That was fairly interesting, but not as interesting as our

own investigations into the dye's long-lasting qualities. I can't recall the victim's

name, it might have been a small lad called Iggy Smith. He put up a valiant struggle,

but could not prevent his hands being plunged up to the wrists in the strongest

concoction of the dye we could muster. It worked a treat, and the poor lad had to try

and conceal the vermilion stain for the best part of a week, when it began to wear off.

I don't know the COSSH (what's that? - Ed) position on the matter (Did COSSH exist

in those days?) but his hands survived. And as a bonus it did deter the boy from

picking his nose for a week.

About that period I discovered the delights of the Norfolk Broads, with the Green

Wyvern Yachting Club. For those who don't know, the GWYC was an amalgamation

of CBS and Alderman Newtons. Their blazers were green, our badge was a Wyvern.

Simple. I recall the club was organised by Chas Howard. For some of us the trip to

the Broads was a body-cram into the leather interior of his Jag, which could cruise

effortlessly at 80mph. A motoring miracle for those days. The fleet consisted of a

number of hired yachts, plus a beautiful craft owned by Chas and named Vanessa.

Each boat was crewed by a skipper and first mate, usually 6th formers, plus a

sprinkling of 4th and 5th formers with experience from previuous years. Finally there

was a motley collection og 3rd, 2nd and 1st years as winch-fodder and ballast. To

keep costs to a mimimum the yachts carried as many people as possible, and this

involved some unfortunates sleeping on the floor of the centre aisle. But that was one

step up from those who drew the short straws; they had to sleep in the damp and

smelly forepeak alongside the stowed - and often wet - sails.

The day's sailing usually involved an unofficial race to the next mooring. Our

school's competitive spirit spurred us on to any means possible to obtain maximum

speed from our craft. Not only did this imvolve setting every sail on the boat, but also

blamkets and tea towels to act as spinnakers. The last resort was to remove the

internal doors and bed boards for use as paddles. Loss of equipment incurred a

financial penalty from the hirers, so when my pal Keith Roberts managed to empty all

the cutlery over the side with the washing up water, desperate measures were called

for. He was persuaded, albeit reluctantly, to strip to his underpants before being

dangled over the side whilst held by the heels. He ferreted about in the thick black

ooze for thew knives and forks. The experience must have had a profound effect on

Keith, because that night he sat up in bed, still fast asleep, screaming repeatedly,

'Spoons... don't forget the spoons,' at the top of his voice. This caused pandemonium

amongst the rudely awakened and confused crew. A few thought it was some sort of

emergency, and in their rush to abandon ship tripped over the aisle sleepers. Some

jumped onto the bank, and some into other boats, which started further panic. Keith

slept through it all. Needless to say, he was not Mr Popular next morning, and kept a

low peofile for the rest of the trip.

If anyone else has memories of the Green Wyverns I would love to hear them,

especially any enlightenment on the subsequent sinking of Vanessa (Keith assures me

he was in no way involved with that incident (I seem to recall the sinking of Vanessa

has been covered in a former issue of OWT, if anyone has the dedication to read the

back issues - Ed)

FROM RAY MACHIN 1950-55 I was very appreciative of the article by Dennis

Biggs in OWT68. To me, it summed up most of my recollections of our old school,

but unfortunately our aims are being eroded big time. Best wishes to all my old

chums.

FROM KEITH WRIGHT 1948-54 Thank you for OWT 68. I was particularly

interested to read the item from Mike Turner, though regrettably am unable to help in

his search for photographs. When at school he had the distinction of a personal

mention in the Headmaster's report at speech day, having bowled R R Pedley out first

ball in the Staff versus Pupil match. It was game of Pedley to mention this, remarking

that Turner was a very suitable name for Mike! Despite the temptation to alliterate, I

used pupil rather than student, as I seem to recall that you became a student only on

entry to tertiary education in those days. Now it seems that progress in education is

such that secondary schools have students. Many years later I approached Mike,

when he was secretary of Leicestershire CC, on behalf of my son, to ask for the

annual accounts of the Club, which being in the public domain presented no

difficulty, as we had erroneously thought could be the case. Should Mike read this he

might like to know that my son's dissertation on the Management and Finances of a

County Cricket Club (actually Derbyshire) in a chapter in which he compared the

accounts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Worcestershire, went towards earning him

a Diploma in Management Studies (DMS) - a poor man's MBA.

FROM MIKE TURNER 1946-50 I can assure you that I will be very happy for

you to publish Keith Wright's cricket story. However I must admit that although the

story reminded me of a happy cricket memory, I can also confirm that I played against

R R Pedley sometime after I had left the school and he was the highest scorer in the

opposition team. I personally had a lot of support for my sporting activities at the

school, and I still have the bat presented to me as 'The School's Outstanding

Cricketer ' at my last Speech Day at the DeMontfort Hall. In my school leavers

autograph book, apart from R.R. Pedley's autograph and best wishes, I also have

signatures of all the teaching staff at that time. R Beaumont wrote 'With happy

memories of spinning cricket balls' and J.E.Wardle wrote 'May your life be straighter

than your bowling' !! I had a special affection for J E Wardle, as he used to give me

threepence ' for a bag of chips ' whenever I bowled him out in the nets ! Happy days!

FROM DICK LAWRENCE 1934-39 Thank you for OWT68. On every occasion

I avidly seek a contribution from a former schoolmate from the years of my

attendance at City Boys (1934-39) but am invariably disappointed! The consequences

of advancing years I suppose, although it would be interesting to hear if anybody

remembers me - I was known as Harry Lawrence!!!!

FROM GEORGE S MAY 1932-37 Born in 1921, I went to Thurnby C of E

School and gained a scholarship to CBS in September 1932. Because I was below the

average age of the form I was able to stay on until the end of the autumn term of

1937, and thus had one term in 6th form science. From Thurnby and Bushby the

following went to CBS: Roy Fielding, Arthur Fowl, Alec|Sherriff, Peter and Julian

Pawley, Pat Urquhart and myself. From Houghton-On-The-Hill there was C P

Davies, and from Billesdon, Humphrey(?) Wadkins.

The masters I recall are: Smith (Chemistry) Kearney (Science) Fisher (Religious

Instruction) H J Trump (History) Jeeves (French) Copley (German) Standing

(English) Miss O'Driscoll (Elocution) Carter (Geography) A G Carpenter (Maths)

R W Crammer (Headmaster)

Names from my form 5A: Joe Lester, Alec Pye, Jack Smedley, John F C Harrison,

Jimmy Oswin, Lancaster, Ken Preston, A Hurst, A Hirst, F Philp, Jack Sowden.

John F C Harrison went to Cambridge and became Professor of History at the

University of Sussex. He wrote a book, Scholarship Boy, published by Rivers Oram

Press in 1995. H J Trump, history master after WW2, moved away and much later

published a book on the history of Teignmouth, published by Philimore.

During the summer of 1937 our form (and perhaps others in year 5) had to take an

aptitude test as part of an investigation by the City of Leicester Education

Committee. In my case, it said I should be a scientific instrument maker, but there

were very few openings in Leicester for that kind of work. However, because I was

very keen on building my own short-wave radio receivers, and belonged to the Radio

Society of Great Britain, I was asked to fill in a questionnaire organised by a branch

of the Admiralty (DSIR?) In due course, in the autumn of 1940, I received a letter

from the Admiralty saying that my name had been put forward for work in a

government establishment. If I was interested, I should attend for interview at the

Admiralty, London. This I did, and was interviewed by Mr F Brundrett (Later Sir

Frederick) He offered me a job in the radio department of the Royal Aircraft

Establishment, Farnborough. I went there on 19th March 1941, as a result of

receiving a telegram on the 18th saying report to RAE tomorrow!

During WW2 I worked on airborne radio equipment, and particularly radio

interference from the then new RADAR sets. Not only in aircraft, but also in the

Fighter Direction Ships used off the beach head in June 1944, and on various landbased

radios that caused problems. Post WW2 I had a lot to do with the design of the

airborne equipment for the UK Directional Sonabuoy system in Firefly, Sunderland,

Shackleton and Gannet aircraft. I had to go to Patuxent River, Maryland, as part of

the team to demonstrate to the US Navy the UK Directional Sonabuoy. Much later

we did a lot of investagatory work on the problems of aircraft communicating via

satellites, both military and civil. Also during WW2 I did quite a lot of flying in

connection with the development of the MONICA tail-warning device in Lancaster,

Halifax and Wellington bombers.

Typical of the Scientific Civil Service, after becoming a Chief Experimental Officer

there was a desire to rationalise the number of grades, and thus I became a Principal

Scientific Officer, even though I was a Chartered Engineer by that time.

OBITUARY Brian Thompson, former teacher, passed away March 2011

FROM DAVID WIGNALL 1945-50 I have been re-reading the December Old

Wyves Tales and am prompted to comment, whether of interest to others I do not

know. On the matter of masters' nicknames, I would mention Mr Willan was known

as Tokyo Joe, Mr Wardle as The Count. He was known for using a City Boys school

tie round his waist to hold up his trousers rather than using a belt, and Mr Nockels as

Fat Arthur. Schoolboys are not known for their kindness in these matters. There was

an occasion during a German lesson with Mr N, during which German to English took

a back seat for a good portion of the lesson, when one of our number translated

whatever German word was on offer to English as Mardy. The proceedings were

halted for a time while the meaning of this word was explained to Mr N.

May I tell you now of two 'it’s a small world' coincidences. Firstly that the deputy

headmaster for at least part of my sojourn at CBS had been, in his younger days, a

teacher at Avenue Road School in Leicester, and one of his pupils during that period

was my mother. The other concerns a fellow pupil, Barry Scarborough. We started at

CBS at the same time and were in the same forms, 1 Alpha, 3 Alpha, 4 Alpha and 5

Alpha, although he was a year older than me. He left school a year earlier than I did,

but when I left and went for an interview with a firm of accountants, who should

come into the room where I was waiting but the said BS. Eventually he left work for

his spell of National Service, and a year or so later so did I. I was eventually posted

to RAF Watnall, between Nottingham and Ilkeston, and guess who was there! If you

said BS you can have top marks, in fact for part of our time at Watnall we ended up in

the same hut.

On the matter of a Staffordshire holiday camp, this was known as Shooting Butts and

I also went there for a two-week holiday, during which I remember we were told we

would not under any circumstances be going into Cannock, the nearest town, due to

there having been a number of polio illnesses diagnosed, and this was of course

before the discovery/invention/designing of anti-polio vaccines, so there was at that

time a lot of worry about the possibility of contracting the very serious illness.

FROM LAURIE FORD 1962-66 I noted in Old Wives 65 lots of references to Flo

Willan. I have strong and not too pleasant memories of Flo. I remember well the

tests referred to. I always thought the arrangement whereby the unlucky ones with the

lowest marks had to sit at the front was suspect, as those at the back with top marks

usually stayed there as it was easier to use crib sheets undetected! I also had the

unpleasant experience of being belted on the back for the heinous crime of not folding

my arms. Not surprisingly I failed biology (twice) at Northampton, which was where

I moved to 2/3 of the way through the fourth year.

A few memories about other teachers:- Bill Sykes: I think Paul Wheatley summed up

some of our lessons with Bill perfectly in the last 'Old Wyves'..

Wally Wardle: Those terrifying words 'I'm waiting'

Bill Gates: Bill joined around '64 or 65 and taught English. Was my form master in

the 3rd year, and always seemd very fair. He was from Leeds, and always happy to

debate the merits of City against Leeds (who were then a very strong outfit) He also

looked after the badminton club, of which I was a team member. Wonder where he is

now?

Geoff Elliot: Another of the Yorkshire mafia. From Sheffield, taught French and

started Rugby at City Boys.

Bunny Hutchinson: let's just say woodwork and I did not get on. I think I probably

split more wood than he had budgeted for.

Charlie Varley: inexplicably thought some of my art was quite good. I think he was

probably the only one!!

Tony Baxter: taught me Maths in the 4th year. Had it not been for him I would never

have passed Maths 'O' level, as at Northampton my maths teacher was - lets just say

not very good.

Ding Dong Bell: met with him on my last day before moving to Northampton.

Obviously had marginal impact upon him, as he thought I was going to Southampton.

I think my only other contact with him was when given the form that allowed me to

get a colours tie (for badminton).

Other miscellaneous Elbow Lane Memories: Record club: spent many a lunchtime in

the hall listening to the 45's. Some tracks heard again years later can take me back to

those lunchtimes. Though I do seem to remember that for a while the record club was

closed down, and when reopened you needed a pass to be allowed in.

2nd form yard: excellent facility for use of 2B only. Our own yard.

After-school football: played many a long game after school in the yard. Always

played better there than at Grace Road. Obviously a better player on tarmac. I was

never in any danger of getting into any City Boys football team.

Lunchtime handball: with benches as goals. A surprisingly well-stocked library. The

crocodile walk from Humberstone Gate to Elbow Lane.

Vestry Street swimming baths, with a sadistic instructor who pushed you in the water

whether you were ready or not. One such belly flopper put me off diving almost for

life.

FIFTY YEARS AGO Alan Pykett (1959-66) spotted this item on the Mr Leicester

Page of The Leicester Mercury dated March 30th. The son of an ambassador, and

grandson of a former Prime Minister of Indo-China, is now a pupil at the City of

Leicester Boys' Grammar School. Nguyen Van Thuan is a fourth-former, and he is

living with a Leicester family with two boys who are also at the school. Mr E J W

Bell, the school's headmaster, got to know the boy's grandfather, the former Premier

Mr Pham Huy Luc, in England just after the war. The ex-Premier came to England

frequently after this, and visited Leicester and the school. Earlier this year his son-inlaw,

who was being sent as Vietnamese charge d'affaires to the Ivory Coast, wrote to

Mr Bell saying he would like his 14-year-old son to come to Leicester. 'I think it is

rather an honour for the school, and for Leicestar, that he should coime here,' said Mr

Bell (Nguyen Van Thuan has been mentioned in passing a couple of times in OWT,.

Personally I have no recollection of him - Ed)

FROM JOHN HAMES 1959-64 I am semi-retired nowadays, and enjoying some

well-earned leisure time. Whenever I pass by our old school I think about the good

old days. I'm sure most of the pupils enjoyed their time there, even learning a thing or

two which stood them in good stead later on. Happy days. I still remember most of

the words of the school song, including the latin chorus, and can still picture Bill

Sykes playing it on the organ. Sometimes I sing it in my bathroom, with my dulcet

tones reverberating round the suburb of Evington.

AND FINALLY... Once again my stock of items for OWT is completely used up. I

am happy to produce the newsletter so long as you keep me supplied with articles. It

is up to you, the members. Even I am running out of things to say in my little endpieces!

I had a bus pass, valid for the corporation fleet but not Midland Red. The

passes were renewed each year, I think at the end of the summer term. The majority

of conductors (remember them?) only gave the passes a cursory glance as they passed

down the bus, but the occasional officious one asked that it be removed from the

wallet for closer scrunity. To me the Midland Red buses, with their plush moquette

seats and posh interiors, seemed exotic compared to the mundane Leylands and

AEC's of the corporation fleet. The latter's ticket machines had a row of six(?)

levers, being filled with tickets of different denominations. The Midland Red

conductors dialled in the fare, then turned a handle to produce the tickets. When

paying for a ticket one did not ask for a tuppeny one, or a threepenny one etc. The

standard phrase was, two please, or three please, that being the amount in old

pennies. It was rumoured that the passes were not valid after 5pm, so if you left

school late, either because of detention or some other form of activity, there was

always a frisson of concern (at least in my case) if you did not have the fare available

in case a jobsworth conductor decided to be awkward. Now the wheel has come full

circle, and once again I have a bus pass!

Dennis J Duggan 1959-64

April 11th 2011.