owt70 rtf

OLD WYVES' TALES 70
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
JULY 2011
FROM KEITH M BOAT 1939-46 I enjoy reading OWT, but there aren't many of
my contemporaries left. I'm well over retirement age, but still have a stall on
Leicester Market because it's a way of life for me. Also I found that complete
retirement was not satisfactory - I missed the people. I have never attended a CBS
reunion because, believe it or not, I can't bring myself to go into Age Concern. I just
don'r feel old enough! Perhaps next year?
OBITUARIES Dr Arnold Burrows sent me the following information on April
12th. 'The current Evington Echo contains the following entry. We have to report the
death of Brian Thompson, a Methodist Local Preacher and a loyal and active member
of Mayflower since 1960. He served the church in many ways, and preached in all
the surrounding churches over the years. We thank God for his life and witness, and
we shall miss him.' (Brian was my form master in 1 alpha, 1959. Incredibly we met
again on the Ocean Majesty in 2002, during a cruise to Iceland. We shared a table at
lunch, and Brian spotted my Wyvernians sweat shirt - Ed)
Chris Jinks contacted me on July 2nd: 'The following notice appeared in the Deaths
column of the Leicester Mercury dated June 30th. 'Letts, Donald Gibson (Don)
Dearly beloved husband of the late Sheila, loving father of Anne and David, father-inlaw
of Ian and Stephanie, much loved grandpa of Sam, Amy, Ben, Liz and Michael
and good friend to the late Barbara, passed away peacefully on Saturday 25th June
2011 at Devonshire Court aged 94 years. Thanksgiving service at St Luke's church,
Thurnby, on Wednesday July 6th at 2.30pm, followed by cremation at Gilroes.' (Don
was a keen supporter of Wyvernians, and the last reunion he was able to attend was
in 2006. I always had a soft spot for Don, because it was he who recommended my
wife Stephanie be made an Honorary Wyvernian. On the quiet I think she is very
proud of that - Ed)
Peter Markham (1946-51) May 2011
John Simms (1940-47) May 2011
FROM DENNIS BIGGS 1949-56 First of all I would like to thank you and your
team for the excellent arrangements for the March 2011 Reunion. I attended for the
first time and was so pleased to meet up again with four former classmates. It was so
good to chat over old times, and of course the time passed so quickly to cover the
intervening 60 years or so since we first attended City Boys' School. I now have the
chance to maintain these initial contacts by E. Mail in the coming months, and already
look forward to next year's gathering. The organisation was faultless, and in
particular I enjoyed Tony Baxter's reminiscences of his school adventures and
experiences.
It was a pity we seem to have lost contact with so many former classmates. I realise
that some have scattered to the four corners of the world, and that some have sadly
passed away, but I have been wondering how it might be possible to locate others who
may still be living in the Leicester area. I wonder if an advert in the Leicester
Mercury before the next reunion ,with a list of names of Where are they now? might
bring some positive results
It was good to wander around the school building, and recall being in various
classrooms. The meal in the former gym was very good, and it brought to mind the
time I got a punishment from the Head Boy, Hardy, in my first weeks at school for
crossing the gym in outdoor shoes, rather going over the first floor corridor to get to
the dining hall. I did not do it again. Incidentally I did not look to see if the old dining
hall is still standing. I recall former pupil Peter Newton painting some quite good
murals in there. I met Peter at Birmingham University some time in the early 60s. Has
anybody had any contact with him?
The Great Hall brought back particular memories of music lessons with Bill Sykes.
He quickly recognised that I was tone deaf, and told me to stand at the back of the
choir and mime. However, I remember many of the songs, from Handel's Semele
Where'er You Walk, The Ash Grove, and from Jerusalem to The Camptown Races.
Later I recall Mr Gimson and Mr.Remington introducing us to more classical music,
which I appreciated in later years and have since become a member of the Barbican
Arts Centre in London to enjoy classical music concerts.
One subject which fascinates me is how some of the teachers were able to keep their
tempers without a torrent of swear words which would be common today. The worst I
can recall is hearing someone being called a bl.**dy fool. In fact I can truthfully state
that I did not hear or learn any swearing whilst at school, which is in great contrast to
today's youth when foul language is common on the streets and in the media. I am so
pleased that I am of a generation which was not tainted by such crude language. It
was a great shock to me when I became an apprentice in an engineering factory, and
had to hear such language. I suppose this shows how sheltered we were in those days,
and how our parents and teachers taught us good manners and behaviour. I wish that
those days would return for today's generation, but once the genie is out of the bottle,
that is it!.
I wonder how many of our teachers are still with us? Cliff Dunkeley and Bob Gregory
are still in touch with Mr. Brushe, and I have arranged to join them when they next
visit him. I would like to know if any other former masters could be contacted in a
similar way. Does anyone have such details, and would it be possible to contact
them? I realise that it is too late in most cases, but having missed 10 years or so of
contacts with the Old Boys' Association, I would like to catch up where possible.
(Dennis, it would be appreciated for late comers such as I to have a list of teachers
who are still around , and details of others who have passed on to classrooms in the
sky. I think that you would have the best overview of this.)
I will let you have some more memories and musings at a later date, but finally I
would like to say how impressed I was with the pedestrianisation of the area around
Humberstone Gate, the Clock Tower and the High Street. It came as a pleasant
surprise after an absence from Leicester of over 50 years to see these changes, and it
reminded me very much of German cities with similar pedestrianised shopping areas.
There is a lot which London could learn from such city planning in my opinion. It was
disappointing to see the disappearance of the Bell Hotel, The White Hart and other
buildings to make way for the -in my opinion - hideous new Shopping Centre, but
thank goodness our old school has survived.!
With my best wishes to you and thanks again for all your hard work and dedication to
keeping the memories of the City Boys' Grammar School alive.
FROM GEORGE S MAY 1932-37 Many thanks for OWT69. In 1981 I moved to
Wootton Bassett and joined the local Probus Club. In 1985 I became the 7th
President, and two years later Peter Jinks became the 9th. I was very surprised to find
that Peter had also been at City Boys (1933-38 I think) but we don't remember
meeting each other. Peter was a TAG (Telegraphist Air Gunner) in the Fleet Air
Arm, flying mainly in Swordfish. Post WW2 he became headmaster of a school in
Swindon.
FROM JOHN SMITH 1951-56 (I am printing the first episode of John's CBS
memories later in this issue, but there is one section I feel warrants an item of its
own. I was never taught by OFT 'Bob' Roberts, but like everyone else I was aware of
his problems in maintaining discipline. Over the course of 69 OWT's we have come
to learn more about OFT's life, his achievments as a mathematician and his
experiences in the Great War. Somewhere in the back issues of OWT is a sad account
of how this special man ended his days. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but everyone
concerned should be ashamed at the way Mr Roberts was treated - Ed)
Although I was never in one of Bob Roberts' maths classes, my classmates and I had a
pretty good idea what it would be like. You could hear the hullabaloo all over the
school. In retrospect, not a happy tale. I recall we were having a maths lesson with
Remmo Remington when we heard Bob having trouble in a neighbouring classroom.
Remmo set aside what he was doing and in his quiet, rather lugubrious way, told us
that Mr Roberts was most unfortunate to have such indignity thrust upon him. He told
us that Mr Roberts was one of the finest mathematicians in Leicestershire, and had the
misfortune to suffer from shell-shock during the First World War. The effects had
continued to trouble his life. At the time it struck a chord with us, and the sounds of
him being played up lost much of their attraction. I suppose we eventually forgot
about it, and in due course accepted the noisy outbursts as part of normal school life.
Much later, probably when I was in my late forties or thereabouts, I chanced upon the
obituary of OFT Roberts, MC, in the local paper. I learned that as a young army
officer in the trenches he had been decorated for bravery, his gallant actions having
been to go out into the mud, squalor and danger of no-man's-land at night, littered as
it was with shell craters, unexploded ammunition, corpses and parts of corpses, for the
sole, selfless purpose of bringing in his wounded. I reflected on the unfeeling, callous
stupidity to which we had subjected one of our nation's former heroes, probably in his
time very little older than we were in the 1950's, a man we should have revered. I
came to the realisation that, by association, I as much as anyone else had been a truly
guilty party. I am not ashamed to say that I wept.
FROM LES OSWIN 1935-39 I enjoyed OWT69, and was most interested to hear
from Dick Lawrence, aka Harry (1934-39) I don't recall the name, but I was in the
alpha stream so maybe Dick was in the 'A' stream. Perhaps Dick will remember some
of the names? Don Gregory, Phil Lockton, W R (Bill) Snow, Dick Leech, Rowley,
Garner, Most, Skirrow, James, Scholey, Stallard etc. I'm still in touch with Bill Snow
after 72 years! All those names are on my school photo dated May 1938, and I would
expect Dick to be on there. I also have the July 1935 photo, and Dick is no doubt on
that too.
What a privilege to read the contribution from George S May (1932-37) and see the
reference to my late brother, Jimmy Oswin. During the couple of years Jimmy and I
shared at CBS I would have met George, as well as Alec Pye, Jack Smedley, JFCH
etc, but I will query Joe Lester - wasn't it Fred? I knew his younger brother, Eric, who
was in our year. I was also kept in touch with George's class reunion, which was
featured in the Leicester Mercury a few years ago, and visited Ken Preston at his
Wigston home. By an absolute coincidence, after my brother Jim died I was given a
copy of JFCH's book Scholarship Boy, and it is still in my bookcase.
I was most interested to read about George's WW2 activities, and I'm sure many OWT
readers like to know what Old Boys got up to during the hostilities. It is probably
well-known that brother Jim landed on JUNO Beach on D-Day; he was attached to
the Canadians as a Royal Corps of Signals Wireless Operator. Me? I trained as a
Wireless Intercept Operator in Douglas, IOM, and recently had an article printed in
one of their newspapers. It described how, in 1944, I became involved in erecting a
special aerial on top of the tower of a hotel in Douglas. This was to allow us to
receive live transmissions from the Japanese units, and learn how to intercept their
messages accurately - but that's another story.
FROM ALAN MERCER 1959-63 (TEACHER) Here are two secrets from the
staffroom. A regular trick played on new staff took place during exams. The
invigilator would enter his version of the answers, without putting a name at the top.
The answers started off in a way quite plausible for the age group, then descended in
standard as the script went on. Occasionally a member of staff would complete a
good entry, and the hoax would not be discovered until the end, when the new
member of staff found he had an extra script.
At Elbow Lane a popular diversion was a shove ha'penny league. Some preferred the
slate board, others the wooden version. Cecil Chas Howard was always near the top.
Another excellent player was a young French teacher. He confessed to wasting so
much time on the game at Oxford that he ended up with a 4th class degree (That was
before they brought in 2.1 and 2.2's.
FROM MICK STOKES 1957-62 Re mentions of Nguyen Thuan, I attended his
wedding though did not know him well. The invitation came about because our
wives-to-be had been on the same training course to become nurses. I remember little
of the wedding, except it is the only one I have attended where alcohol was
forbidden. This was because of their religion, but I do not recall which one that was.
Thankfully the ceremony and reception did not go on for too long, so we were able to
get to the pub without suffering too many withdrawal symptoms!
FROM BRUCE GIBSON 1959-65 I am making my way through all the old
newsletters and was surprised, shocked and relieved to find not what I had expected -
old boys saying how jolly things were, and what a success they had made of their
lives - but that other boys woke up in a cold sweat at the thought of Wardle, Sykes
and co. I was often kicked out of class (literally) by the latter and sent to t'other end
of t'gym during so-called French lessons, which placed you in dangerously close
proximity to Wally's office.
I thought I was the only boy who had problems, but reading our editor's account of his
days at CBS was like a breath of fresh air. I don't usually join things, but in the case
of Wyvernians I do not feel such an outsider as I thought I would.
FROM JOHN SMITH 1951-56 I attended my first Wyvernians reunion this year,
thank you to the organising team. After reading OWT it was quite heartening to
realise that our editor, though perhaps 'no better than he should have been' whilst at
the school, has retained and built up such an interest in it that he has become our de
facto leader. My attitude to CBS was much the same as his. I did not much like it,
and (in the early days) only attended because there seemed no lawful alternative and,
later, because it presented opportunities to indulge in slightly rebellious behaviour.
I did not absent myself very often, but Wednesday afternoons occasionally found me
still at home after lunch, having succumbed to bellyache. Coincidentally our first
period on Wednesday afternoons was biology, hosted by Mr Willan, and usually
beginning with a test. I was not much of a one for biology tests, or any other tests for
that matter, and Flo, was not, as others have implied, easily pleased. One memory
concerns his unfortunate tendency to ask questions which some of us could not
answer correctly. Having failed he would roar, 'Look at your thundering notebook,
boy.' Another way of diminishing one's self-esteem was to hold up some pathetic
attempt to portray a given item of anatomy. Grasping it by finger and thumb at arm's
length he would regard it with utter disgust, as if it was something he had found in the
lavatory, and proclaim, 'My eight-year-old son could present a better diagram of the
alimentary canal than this!' I have one further story about Flo, but I'll save it for
later. It's a real beaut, undoubtedly my favourite CBS memory.
I found some of the items in OWT69 (The other 68 are just as good - Ed) to be
captivating. I was reminded of events and people I had forgotten, about things I knew
about only remotely and have learned things of which I knew nothing at all. I had
forgotten about the huts on Lee Circle, which was also a lorry park, but now recall
they were part of the wartime and post-war civic restaurants. In our hands they were
the operations centre for Johnny Jeeves' French classes, n'est ce pas?
The Green Wyvern Yachting Club was rather a closed book so far as I was
concerned. I was aware of it, but that's about all. I formed the impression that only a
chosen few were invited to take part in its mysterious watery meanderings, and that in
all probability I would not be acceptable matelot material.
Mention of Elbow Lane came as quite a surprise. During my later years at CBS the
younger of my two sisters attended Gateway Girls at Elbow Lane, that was until they
were forcibly melded into Alderman Newton Girls and moved to the Glenfield Road
area. I suppose that CBS took over a year or three after my departure (I spent one
year at Lee Circle, 1959-60. My second and third years were at Elbow Lane 1960-62,
then it was back to Humberstone Gate - Ed) Elbow Lane does mean a lot to me
though, as I joined the 1(F) Squadron of the Air Training Corps and our HQ was close
by. Perhaps it was partly because of my passion for the ATC that my school
performance, including homework, suffered. Fellow cadets who were also CBS
pupils included Moggy Morris, Dave Knight, John Layton, Graham Smart (two years
my senior) and Derek Fitzsimmons (two years my junior) The last two went on to
have lengthy and distinguished careers as pilots in the Royal Air Force.
Dancing? (Dennis Biggs, OWT69) And with girls? Why was I not informed? I did
not take up dancing lessons until a year or two after leaving school, then had to pay
for them myself. Thoroughly enjoyed it though, and still do. Mind you, proximity to
girls and the (usually vain) hope of what might, by some stretch of the imagination,
follow rather than the dancing as such, were the main attractions then. I don't chase
girls any more, but am still rock 'n 'rolling at 70. Life's not all bad, is it?
Since writing the above, I have had a few days to reflect on my attitude vis a vis City
Boys. I had thought I wasn't enamoured of the experience, but now realise I
harboured a jaundiced and substantially false opinion. In fact, I felt immensely proud
to be a pupil. I regarded City Boys as the best of the Leicester grammar schools by a
long chalk. Interaction with fellow pupils, particularly my classmates, was for the
most part harmonious. My opinions of the teachers varied, but I think that any
negative feelings were coloured by my own perception of what they thought of me
and my performance, which sad too relate was often inferior.
I did rather well in 1B, but when I became an 'old sweat' in 3 Alpha events took a turn
for the worse. I have pondered on the likely reasons, and wondered whether the
change to long trousers was a factor. I now realise that is too near the truth to be
funny. The change must indeed have been connected to the trouser department, and
the run-up to puberty and its side-effects was at the root of the matter. In short, it was
not the school that was my bete noir, rather it was the fact of my being schooled. I
resented being in captivity, of not being in control of my own life. Along with others,
I suppose I became a rebel without a cause. I wasn't outstandingly rebellious, but
sufficiently so to attract a slight reputation for not being completely on-side. Would I
have behaved differently had I realised what was going on in my psyche? I don't
know, but another question arises. Would I have been better behaved or, mule-like,
dug in my heels and become a pain in the butt.
I immediately felt affiliated to my first form master, Basher Brewin. I liked him. The
first time we met was in the playground, where 1B waited to be led into the chemmy
lab by Basher. I suppose many of us were considering the possibility of somehow
acquiring enough know-how to make a bomb. Basher walked along the line and
paused when he got to me, probably surprised to encounter someone as short as
himself. 'What's your name?' he grated. 'Smith, J, sir,' said I. 'What does the J stand
for? Joe?' Thus I became Joe to some of my fellow incarcarees, and it was adopted
almost without exception amongst my ATC chums - some of whom still use it.
All in all I had an enjoyable first year, helped by my inherent tendencies to pay
attention and obey, which belatedly I now realise led to harmony and fruitfulness
between pupil and teacher. I particularly enjoyed woodwork, though came bottom of
the class. I could not saw straight, nor knock in a nail straight, but I was at least
enthusiastic. Our teacher was a nice chap called Mr Crocker. He was not overcritical,
nor did he seem to expect too much from our inexpert hands. He was helpful
to those who showed aptitude, and quite rightly, but did not abandon hope of
cultivating some improvement in the rest of us.
.Next step was metalwork, again with Mr Crocker. Having discovered an ability to
cope adequately I remained interested and at first tried hard. But by then a
mischevious streak was setting in, and I found attractive diversions. For instance, I
might give the bellows surreptitious extra strokes ro create a flare up. And there was
a small bench grinder with a trick of its own, though whether Mr Crocker was aware I
don't know. If one held onto the metal frame of the face guard with one hand, and to
another boy with the other, and that second boy held the hand of a third, and that boy
did the same with a fourth, who touched the metal workbench, then all involved
received an electric shock. I suppose it was 240V, but the amperage must have been
low as no one was electrocuted. Would not be allowed these days. Health & Safety.
Say no more.
From 3 Alpha on, German lessons featured prominently in the daily grind. Teachers
of the language seemed to attract more than a little of our interest and attention. Poor
Harry Hantusch, for example. How dispiriting it must have been to have to preface
every lesson by wiping the blackboard clean of swastikas, and the exhortation to Sieg
Heil. I thought that was a bit over the top (obviously I did not say so for fear of being
called a wimp, or whatever we called such creatures in those days).
And poor Mr Baum, who had a Gemanic-sounding name but managed to live with it.
His chief misfortune, apart from having us as clients, was inadequate eyesight. Cruel
as we were, we took advantage of that by throwing paper darts each time he turned to
write on the blackboard. But nothing wrong with his hearing. He could hear them
swishing round the room and berated us, though in an ineffectual and half-hearted
way. On one occasion the effect of his displeasure was completely lost, as he gave
vent with a paper dart lodged on his shoulder.
Mr Nockles was OK, and did his job effectively and with a modicum of good humour
and friendliness.
Possibly the most memorable teacher of German was Mr Brushe. Unaccountably he
was not (so far as I know) saddled with the nickname of Hair Brushe. Perhaps such
an attempt would have been suicidal. He certainly had what we would now call
presence. Mr Brushe's very progress along a corridor was remarkable. His gait was
swift, his stride long and expressive of purpose. His tawny moustache bristled
energetically, his gown ballooned out in the slipstream and his auburn hair bounced in
time with his footsteps. His entry into the classroom was sudden, but not entirely
without warning. It was usual to have a lookout, who would nervously whisper, 'Here
he is...'' before dashing to his own desk. Invariably, Mr Brushe's first words would
be, 'Right, Deutches Leben, Zweiter Teil,' unless of course we were still struggling
with Erster Teil, or been dragged kicking and screaming (metaphorically, of course)
as far as Dritter Teil. His next shouted sentence was, 'Come on, you should have your
text books in front of you already, you know why we're here.' Mr Brushe did not have
a short fuse, he had a nitro-glycerine percussion cap. It could set off a furious
explosion at the slightest jerk (of which there were many amongst us) Perhaps
proximity fuse would be a better analogy. One had only to get anyewhere near him
and...
AND FINALLY... Mention of Elbow lane made me realise how little I remember of
the place, though my second and third years were spent there. The outside toilets; the
L-shaped playground; the hall/gym on the first floor; the lovely garden, where we
were allowed to sit in summer; the Dryad factory across the road; a row of old
terraced houses opposite the main entrance - and that's about it. But where did we eat
our school dinners? Did we have one, or two sittings? I think we should have more
reminiscencies about Elbow Lane, after all it was part of CBS history from 1960-65.
The building was demolished many years ago, last time I looked it was a car park..
Please send some memories for OWT.
Dennis J Duggan
July 11th 2011