1

The Journal of the Old Scarborians’ Association

Members of the Association are former pupils

and members of staff of

Scarborough High School for Boys

Volume 72– November 2016

Old Scarborians’ Association

Web address: http://oldscarborians.org

Price £3.00

Tene Propositum

SUMMER TIMES

1

www.MsAglobalsolutions.com

PROBLEM SOLVING ISN’T SOMETHING WE DO AT MSA…

...IT’S WHAT WE DO AT MSA”

3

SUMMER TIMES NOVEMBER 2016 EVENTS DIARY 2016/17

OLIVERS MOUNT WREATH LAYING Vice-President elect Barry Beanland will lay the OSA’s wreath at the an-nual commemorative Service on Olivers Mount on Sunday, 13th Novem-ber 2016 from 1030am. Members and families are welcome.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2016 The AGM will be held on THURSDAY 1st December 2016 at 7.00pm at Scarborough Rugby Club. All members are welcome.

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS DINNER 2016 FRIDAY, 2nd December 2016, at 7pm for 8pm, at SRUFC, Scalby Road, Scarborough. (The club premises are between Scalby and Burniston on the right hand side of the road after leaving Scalby village) Price £28 which includes limited wine. All Members are welcome. Please use the enclosed form and book as soon as possible. Contact Bob Heaps with any queries, 01723 365597, E-mail: bobheaps@Yorkshire.net.

ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENTS 2017 Dates for 2017 will be Dr Meadley Cup, Thursday 18th May and the TA

Smith Cup —Stableford, Thursday 17th August, both at North Cliff Golf Club. A dinner will follow the second event. Please contact Mick Bowman to book places (e-Mail: mjwbowman@gmail.com, Tel: 01287 634650) OR Dave Ellard for further details. (Email:dave.ellard@ic24.net 01723 373116

ANNUAL LONDON LUNCH – 2017 Difficulties have been encountered with The Farmers Club and we are now holding this event at the RAF Club, 128, Piccadilly, Lon-don, W1J7PY on Saturday 1st April 2017. Full details will be pro-vided on the booking form, enclosed with this copy of Summer Times. Any queries, please to Secretary Bob Heaps.

ANNUAL BOWLS MATCH 2017 FRIDAY, 25th August 2017. Manor Road Bow ling Club. P lease contact Chris Found for details 01723 882343. E-mail: chrisdfound@btinternet.com

OSA TIES & MEMBERSHIP— Association ties are available at £10. Please send your order accompanied by a cheque to Treasurer Chris Found. (Address page 4). For new members Life membership is £10 – or please send £20 if you require a tie.

Please send items for the May 2017 issue of Summer Times to Peter Newham, (address on page 4), as soon as possible please, but to reach him by 15th February 2017 at the latest, to fit in with holidays, print schedules etc. Items sent by e-mail are of great help, otherwise please type or write your letter and mail it on to him.

4

CONTENTS 3. Events Diary 4. Contents/ Committee Contacts 6. Committee reports 12. OSA Committee Minutes 13. Corrigendum 14. From Here and There 14. Out of School Action 16. Geoff Lee writes 17. Dena Hebditch 18. Bruce Rowbotham 21. Obituaries 23. Court Capers 24. Clive Tomblin 26. Philip Mann 28. A Ramble through the past 30. Hastings Scholarships 32. London Lunch 33. 60th Anniversary London Dinner 33. It Happened in… 35. Leo Walmsley 36. Keith Dutton 37. Bussing to School 41. Memories are made of this 42. Trivia

SUMMER TIMES PRODUCTION: EDITOR Peter Newham

‘Badger’s Rise’

8 Southcrest

Hunsbury Hill

Northampton NN4 9UD

Tel: 01604 767895

E-mail: the.newhams@btinternet.com

DESIGN & LAYOUT David Fowler

Farthings Publishing

8 Christine House

1 Avenue Victoria

Scarborough. YO11 2QB

Tel: 01723 365448

E-mail: dgfowler@farthings.org.uk

COMMITTEE 2016

PRESIDENT

Peter Newham

‘Badger’s Rise’

8 Southcrest

Hunsbury Hill

Northampton NN4 9UD

Tel: 01604 767895

E-mail: the.newhams@btinternet.com

VICE-PRESIDENTS

Mick Bowman

9 Ilkley Grove,

GUISBOROUGH, Cleveland

TS14 8LL

Tel: 01287 634650

E-Mail: mjwbowman@gmail.com

David Fowler

Farthings Publishing

8 Christine House

1 Avenue Victoria

Scarborough. YO11 2QB

Tel: 01723 365448

E-mail: dgfowler@farthings.org.uk SECRETARY Bob Heaps

67 Newby Farm Road

Newby

Scarborough YO12 6UJ

Tel: 01723 365597

E-mail: bobheaps@yorkshire.net

ARCHIVIST POSITION VACANT. A VOLUNTEER REQUIRED PLEASE! INDEPENDENT REVIEWERS 1:Peter Berry 01723 362633

2: Position vacant

5

MAGAZINE ADVERTISING Chris Found

Pinewood Cottage

Silpho Scarborough

North Yorkshire. YO13 0JP

Tel: 01723 882343

E-mail: chrisdfound@btinternet.com MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Geoff Winn

‘Kingfishers

5 Beech Court

North Street,

Scalby,

Scarborough, YO13 0RU

Tel: 01723 362414

E-mail: Winn.geoff@talk21.com PRESS & PUBLICITY Patrick Argent

Flat 3, 11 Fulford Road,

Scarborough YO11 2SH

Tel: 01723 501151

E-mail: patargent@yahoo.com SPORTING EVENTS GOLF Dave Ellard

74 Longwestgate, Scarborough

YO11 1RG

01723 373116

Dave.ellard@ic24.net

(Contact Mick Bowman to book

events and for day to day que-

ries)) BOWLS Chris Found

Pinewood Cottage

Silpho, Scarborough YO13 0JP

Tel: 01723 882343

E-mail: chrisdfound@btinternet.com

TREASURER Chris Found

Pinewood Cottage

Silpho

Scarborough North Yorkshire.

YO13 0JP

Tel: 01723 882343

E-mail: chrisdfound@btinternet.com WEB SITE MANAGER http://oldscarborians.org

Bill Potts

3636 Edison Avenue, Apt 104

Sacramento

CA 95821-2750

USA

Tel: +0019165149974

E-mail: billpotts@gmail.com

ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Colin Adamson 01723 364373

Barry Beanland 01723 366401

HONORARY LIFE VICE- PRESIDENTS Howard Acklam 01723 584061

Frank Bamforth 01723 364432

Mick Bowman 01287 634650

Chris Found 01723 882343

David Fowler 01723 365448

Maurice Johnson 01262 470272

Bill Potts 001 916 514 9974

Peter Robson 01723 859335

Geoff Winn 01723 362414

6

EDITORIAL After the surfeit of

material in the

May Edition, to

the point where

some of it was

actually held back

to augment this

Issue and my reg-

ular crying of wolf in relation to contri-

butions was seemingly then exposed

as mere editorial neurosis, I now re-

gret, as will be apparent from the

shrinking size of this Issue, the need to

revert to pessimistic type and to renew

my pleas! Apart from one or two en-

thusiastic Members, a liberal dosage of

previous material exhumed historical-

ly from a cache of old Magazines, the

trawling of which has well repaid the

effort, and my own literary diarrhoea,

we have struggled to put together this

volume, which is a real shame in terms

of communication, though perhaps

inevitable given the passage of time!

Once again I must cajole, beg and

threaten Members for articles, recol-

lections, career updates, anything

likely to be of interest to their con-

temporaries, as this is the very life-

blood of the Magazine, the continued

existence of which is a major factor in

preserving continued contact be-

tween us all and maintaining for as

long as possible the ethos of the

School to which we all owe so much!

Peter Newham (1954-61) Editor

PRESIDENTIAL An advantage, or perhaps a handicap,

of being a lawyer is the alleged talent

for never running out of words, but, in

the context of dual Presidency of the

Association and Editorship of the

Magazine recording both our activities

and memories, it becomes difficult to

avoid repetition, so apologies in ad-

vance in respect of this!

In this latter context I do also feel, as

now foreign to the County, somewhat

of an imposter in trying to officiate

from Northampton, a task only made

possible by the valiant local Scar-

borough efforts of my Joint Deputies

Mick Bowman and David Fowler, not

only in relation to local meetings,

where they have turn- by-turn officiat-

ed, but the latter of whom for many

years has also kept me on the comput-

erial straight and narrow in relation to

final assembly of the contents of the

Magazine and arrangement of the

printing. Whilst it perhaps seems

invidious to pick out other Committee

members, Geoff Winn's assiduous

scouring of the ends of the earth to

locate, cajole, and on occasion coerce

potential Members must also be men-

tioned in dispatches as conduct over

and above the call of duty!

The Presidential report is normally a

summary of events, largely local dur-

ing the year, but this time I must plead

guilty to departing from the norm both

by attaching a summary of Committee

meetings to inform Members, and to

take the opportunity to indulge in a

little Presidential preaching!

7

In relation to the former I am very

pleased to report that Barry Beanland,

who is known to a great many Mem-

bers, both as a pupil from 1950-56 and

latterly to many more of the Woodland

intake as a Master from 1966-73 is be-

ing recommended to the next AGM in

December as Vice -President until his

then accession in December 2017 as my

successor.

Turning to matters more philosophi-

cal, - why is it nowadays that an air of

incredulity is often first reaction to the

admission that one is a Member, or,

even more oddly, on the Committee of

an Old Boys Association, coupled with

the unspoken suspicion that there is

something rather sad about those who

look back on the AE Houseman - "land

of lost content" and their formative past,

- a regression perhaps to a second

childhood!

It is a reaction that most of us may

have encountered, but one which I

would vigorously refute. In this con-

text it is understood that it is unusual

these days for Schools to have a sig-

nificant active caucus of alumni, let

alone a School which ceased operation

more than 40 years ago.

Whilst it would be wrong to suc-

cumb to a "school days are the happi-

est days of your life" syndrome, which

would be a sad reflection on our sub-

sequent progress through life, or for us

to over-idealise the education in our

formative years, "what's past may be

prologue" to perhaps pretentiously quote

from the Tempest), but we are now

what we were, and all owe our pre-

sent and our future to our past, and no

apology should be needed for recog-

nising and celebrating this with our

contemporaries and fellow partici-

pants in our common heritage.

Wearing my Editor's hat, I feel partic-

ularly conscious of this, being in con-

tact with Old Boys throughout the

world with so many diverse achieve-

ments and occupations, all of whom

have in common their grounding at

the School, their respective memories

of it and the debt which we owe to

those who have contributed, for better

or worse, to this.

How are we doing as an association?

Not badly for our age would be the

medical prognosis, though inevitably

as our numbers decline we must miss

and reflect on absent friends, but it is

my hope that not only the still well-

attended Annual Dinner, the London

Lunch (which I can thoroughly com-

mend, and as to which see further in

this Magazine) and indeed Summer

Times itself can survive for many years

yet before they and we are totally con-

signed to the history books.

Finally, as a Committee member of

the Association with a perhaps de-

served reputation for pessimism it is

difficult for me to now credibly lecture

the membership in my current Presi-

dential mode, particularly as a non-

Scarborough resident myself, but it

must be said that its future manage-

ment and effective continuance is in-

creasingly an issue in relation to diffi-

culty in finding Members prepared to

put their heads above the parapet and

to actively participate in organising

our activities.

We continue to almost wholly de-

pend on the continued sterling ser-

vice of very few long-standing Mem-

bers, - our Hon. Membership Secre-

8

tary, Layout Editor, Hon Treasurer,

and former Secretary, all of whom,

with respect, are not in the first flush

of Old Scarborian youth, (me nei-

ther!), and there is an urgent and

pressing need to provide further real

effective support from other mem-

bers of Committee and beyond if we

are to continue. Peter Newham (1954-61) President SECRETARIAL The main part of

my report is, I am

afraid, a plea! The

Association still

has about 600

members despite

the School closing

over 40 years ago

and has a hard working committee but

we still need contributions from mem-

bers. Peter Newham is always grateful

for contributions to this Magazine, the

Golf and Bowls still need members to

take part so please make the effort to

arrange a trip to Scarborough to take

part and contact other members or

year group friends to join you.

Our 2 main social functions are the

Scarborough Dinner which is still well

attended and often has Members trav-

elling from all over the globe: this

year’s booking form should be en-

closed and there is not long to go, so

please return it promptly with your

cheque. We have 3 or 4 year groups

who consistently manage to get a

number of friends attending so see if

you can get some of your year to come

along. Keith Milner has agreed to

speak this year about the Great Train

Robbery which should be very inter-

esting.

The London Lunch has about 25 to

30 attending and is a very good day

out or weekend in the capital if you

can make it. This year it was at the

East India club courtesy of Geoff Winn

and was an excellent meeting. The

booking form for 2017 should also be

enclosed.

If you need any information about

any of our events or about Scar-

borough in general please feel free to

contact me, preferably by E mail and I

will try to answer any of your ques-

tions. Bob Heaps (1967-74) TREASURIAL

Since the last year

end on 31st August

2015 we have made a

profit of £37 on the

Christmas Dinner

and a loss of £34 on

the London Lunch.

We have received

subs and donations of £691, the main

part of which is a donation of £500

from Barrie Pawson of York which

was accompanied by a short message

saying " To funds, keep it up!!"

The two issues of Summer Times dur-

ing the period had a net cost of £611

and £586 respectively and other ex-

penses were minimal.

The current balance with our bank is

£7436 and there are no outstanding

9

liabilities.

Overall our financial position contin-

ues to be satisfactory.

Chris Found (1951-59) Treasurer SPORTING EVENTS GOLF The two Old Scarborians Golf Compe-

titions were well supported with 15

members playing in the Doctor

Meadley Cup and 19 playing in the T.

A. Smith Cup. The second competition

was followed by a presentation dinner

attend by 21 Old Boys as follows:

John Riley, Phil Pearson, Rod Emms,

Dave Burnley, Dave Ellard, Bill

Potter, Paul Gridley, Roy Moor, Chris

Found, Freddie Drabble, Mark Moor-

house, Paul Moorhouse, Fred Crosby,

Richard Hutton, Geoff Winn, Mick

Bowman, Peter Bell, Andrew Wilson,

Pete Lassey, David McDonald, Keith

Fryirs, Dave Gardiner, Barry Bean-

land and David Fowler.

Results:

Doctor Meadley Cup

1st John Riley,

2nd Phil Pearson,

3rd Rod Emms

T.A.Smith Cup.

1st Peter Lassey,

2nd Dave Burnley

3rd Mark Moorhouse

North Cliff Golf Course once again

gave us use of the course for which the

Association would like to thank them.

Dates for next year:

Doctor Meadley Cup

Thursday 18th May, first tee time 2pm.

T.A.Smith Cup

Thursday 18th August, first tee time

1.30pm.

10

The presentation dinner will take place

immediately after the August competi-

tion.

All ex pupils of the School are wel-

come even if they are not members so

please join us in 2017.

Contacts: Dave Ellard and Mick Bow-

man Dave Ellard (1969-73) BOWLS The ninth competition for the Geoff

Nalton Crown Green Bowling Tro-

phy took place on Friday 26th August

at the Manor Road Bowling Club. Nine

Old Boys took part in this most friend-

ly of matches on a glorious sunny day.

Chris Found deserves our thanks for

organising the event which went with-

out a hitch.

The Plate Final was between Dave

Burnley and Howard Acklam with

Dave coming out top 17-13. In the

Trophy final Chris beat Les Stockwill,

winner in the previous two years by 18

- making Chris a three times champi-

on.

Our thanks go to the Manor Road

Club for the use of their green and to

Dee Found and Pam Gofton for

providing the lunch and dozens of

cups of tea and coffee.

Tom Gofton (1951-9) MEMBERSHIP SECRETARIAL So far the optimism I

expressed in the last

issue has proved

correct and I am able

to report a net in-

crease in member-

ship over the six

months, albeit not as

11

great as I had hoped. My recruiters are

working hard and the full fruits of

their efforts should be seen in the com-

ing years. Many thanks to those who

are helping in this way. There is also

an increase in the numbers playing in

the two Annual Golf competitions,

mainly from the Scarborough area, but

for those who live further away, do

consider the possibility of a couple of

days in the town where you grew up

and enjoy the pleasures of a round at

the North Cliff course.

I mentioned last time that I have

lists of those who signed in to Friends

Reunited before it closed and, if you

let me know the year you left and also

your year of joining the School, I

would gladly let you have the other

names from your year so that you can

approach them. I do not have address-

es, but some did enter the town or city

in the UK where they live. Most of

those who live abroad have entered

this information.

This half year, I have added the

names of a few Old Boys who joined in

the past, but with whom contact has

been lost. If you have an address for

any of them, please let me know.

New Members :

Boyce, John 1957-64

Child, Robert 1968-73

Deighton, Stephen 1968-73

Eddon, Kenneth 1961-67

Fryirs, Keith 1968-73

Gardiner, David 1969-73

Jobson, Mark 1968-73

Lansdale,Graham 1968-73

Pettitt, Nigel 1971-73

Steel, Roger 1963-70

Tomblin, Clive 1956-61

Watson, Keith 1968-73

Deceased

Allen, Peter 1966-73

Barmby, Michael 1950-58

Boyes, Albert 1932-39

Dowd, George 1957-64

Hutchinson, Ron 1944-52

London, George 1945-54

Lost Contact

Blower, Richard

Bower, Peter

Flint, Colin 1951-57

Glaves, Stephen

Graves, John

Procter, Harvey

Robinson, Norman 1970-75

Steel, Paul 1959-67

Geoff Winn (1949-56) Membership Secretary

WEBMASTER’S REPORT In my last report, I

mentioned that the

very popular Keith

Dutton, who was

Woodwork master

from 1953 to 1964,

had provided us

with photographs from camps in the

Scottish Highlands, North Wales and

Switzerland. I’ve spent many hours

gaining some familiarity with them,

with the help of many online articles

and, especially with the Google Earth

application. Keith also provided a

small number of additional sports

photographs.

12

In a letter to David Fowler, Keith

revealed that he was terminally ill and

would not be able, as David had hoped,

to attend the London Lunch. After an

exchange of emails with Geoff Winn, I

discovered that Keith would like those

he knew at the school to contact him.

Shortly after that, I phoned him. Alt-

hough his time at the School over-

lapped mine by only two years, he re-

membered with apparent delight who I

was. Since then, we have exchanged a

few emails. In the latest, ever the opti-

mist, he said, “It is now a year since they

gave me 3 to 6 months to live and I feel

great and optimistically bought myself a

suit last week!! I’m not going anywhere

just yet and can still saw accurately on the

waste side of the line!!”

By the time you read this, most of the

Keith Dutton material may be on the

Old Scarborians Web site, along with

links to some really dazzling Web sites

with contemporary high-resolution

photographs of the same territories

explored by Keith and his happy camp-

ers.

Coincidentally, Norman Overfield

(1948–1956) was also unable to attend

this year’s London Lunch to which he

would be travelling with John Mitchell

(1947–1956) and both their wives. Un-

fortunately, he found he had been

scheduled for surgery to rectify prob-

lems with his back and legs. I was able

to set up a special personalised email

announcement, sent to each of 280

email-using members with postal codes

in North, East, South and West York-

shire, providing them with a means to

contact Norm to get one or more of

four First Class return tickets (Leeds-

London) and two prepaid room reser-

vations. Every ticket and reservation

found a home.

Unfortunately, Norm’s surgery was

not a success, but he is being scheduled

for further surgery by two leading spe-

cialists at Leeds General Infirmary.

John Mitchell is hoping that he,

Norm, and their wives will be able to

attend this year’s Christmas Dinner at

the Rugby Club.

Bill Potts (1946- 55) Webmaster OLD SCARBORIANS ASSOCIATION: SUMMARY OF MINUTES OF A MEETING HELD ON AUGUST 2nd 2016 Members present: Acting Chairman

David Fowler, Bob Heaps, Mick Bow-

man, Chris Found, Howard Acklam,

Geoff Winn, Peter Berry, Barry Bean-

land

Apologies: P. Newham, P. Robson, C.

Adamson, P. Argent, M. Johnson.

Matters Arising: Fred Crosby has now

stepped down and now no longer

wishes to arrange the Golf. Peter Allen

(Reviewer) had now died.

Officers Reports:

Chris Found (Hon. Treasurer) reported

that a profit of £37 had been made on

the Dinner and a slight loss on the Lon-

don Lunch. We have received a gener-

ous donation of £500 from Barrie Paw-

son.

Geoff Winn reported that we had 5 new

13

members and 4 deaths.

Peter Newham mailed a Presidential

Report.

AGM: The sub-committee have recom-

mended Barry Beanland as the Vice

President and subsequently president

from Dec. 2017. This was unanimously

accepted and will be recommended for

ratification at the AGM on Thursday

December 1st.

London Lunch: Several comments on

2016 from Peter Newham and Bob

Heaps were read. The central location

and venue were good but attendance

was disappointing. It was decided to

continue with the event and The Farm-

ers Club was suggested providing that

their re-furbishment was complete! The

Secretary would contact and liaise re-

garding possible dates.

Frank Leppington was suggested as a

possible speaker.

Scarborough Dinner: The date and

venue are confirmed and Keith Milner

has agreed to speak.

Golf: Mick Bowman reported that 15

members played on May 9th with John

Riley being the victor. 18 are due to

play on August 11th August and Com-

mittee members are invited to play or

just come along for the meal at North

Cliff. (£15)

Graham School visit 2017: This was

suggested by Jim Goodman on the 50th

anniversary of his year leaving and

would be arranged during July 2017. 2

groups of 30 could be accommodated

and Jim’s year would take priority with

others invited. Detials would be an-

nounced in the April ST issue.

Summer Times Contributions: Peter

still needed more contributions for the

November issue.

Remembrance Sunday: David Fowler,

Barry Beanland and Howard Acklam

will attend Olivers Mount on Sunday

November 13th.

AOB: Peter Berry stated that Bill Red-

man was currently staying with him

should anyone wish to make contact.

It was reported that the Editor of the

Scarborough Review (Dave Barry)

would like an article about the Associa-

tion.. This was felt important in view

of Peter Newham’s comments about

publicity and the ‘Scarborough News’

now only being weekly. This article

should appear in the end of September

edition.

Norman Overfield is in hospital after

his operation was unsuccessful.

John Mann is now in a care home after

brain surgery, but is slowly improving.

The Secretary will request Bill Potts to

send a reminder E mail about the Din-

ner.

There was a discussion on the origin of

the chain of office (President’s jewel)

and the only thing established was that

Peter Robson’s wife supplied the rib-

bon.

The next meeting will be a stuffing

meeting on Tuesday November 8th.

The meeting closed at 8.20pm

CORRIGENDUM Ed. Apologies to Derek McNaney, whose

alleged extended tenure at the School from

1941-51 which preceded his Article on

pages 21-24 in the November 2015 issue of

the Magazine will perhaps have surprised

his contemporaries and should actually

14

have been 1950-58. My blaming my I Pad

and defective eyesight seems a poor excuse,

but is the best for the time being that I can

do! Notwithstanding this, Derek has

promised further contributions.

FROM HERE AND THERE Chris Ledgard(1952-9) writes from Duns in Berwickshire Memories triggered by the Magazine:

"Re. letter from Dave Watson in Vol. 71

May 2016 page 208. Dave writes about

his two years (1954-61) at the new

School. I remember his parents’ shop

well. My wife Elizabeth (formerly

Wilkie) was at Fyling Hall School at

the same time as Dave, leaving in 1968,

although not a boarder but travelled

daily from Whitby.

Over 50 years later she still speaks of

the Headmistress, Mrs Harrison, often.

She was a remarkable woman, but also

down to earth and would give Eliza-

beth work during holidays, preparing

for the next term.

Elizabeth also remembers Captain

Flood, a devout RC; himself educated

at Fort Augustus Abbey, beside Loch

Ness. She recalls him as eccentric but

as a man who was firm and good at his

work.

Dave's letter set up a lively discus-

sion at our house and brought back

many memories - thank you Dave!”

OUT OF SCHOOL ACTIVITIES - The authorised and the un-

authorised- The Legal and The Dubious. Bruce Rowbotham (1961-6) writes… In my first week at SBHS in September

1961 we were introduced to the variety

of School clubs and out of school activ-

ities. The Natural History Society, Art

Club, Chess Club and the United Na-

tions Association (Youth Section) re-

main prominent in my memory. When

Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General

of the UN was killed in an air crash

later the same month, Percy Gardiner

made much of the work of the UN dur-

ing morning assembly. School sports

also featured strongly in out of school

activities with rugby being the princi-

ple winter sport. Whilst 15 pupils from

our year could be members of the rug-

by team, the rest of us had to look else-

where. I always had a preference for

football played with the round ball but

held no prejudice against other sports.

That same year, Eddie Brown joined

Scarborough Football Club at the Ath-

letic Ground on Seamer Road as Play-

er/Manager. By this time he was a wan-

ing star having previously played in

the top division for Birmingham City,

even playing in the Wembley Cup Fi-

nal in 1956. This was the famous game

when Manchester City's goalkeeper

Bert Trautman broke his neck but

played on to the end of the match. Ed-

die Brown was determined to raise

Scarborough Football Club from the no

15

- league doldrums with a series of new

initiatives. One was the formation of a

Junior Supporters' Club with conces-

sions on entry price to home games for

members. I wasted no time in joining

and my membership card and lapel

badge arrived within days.

Lapel badges worn on the lapels of

school blazers and staff members' jack-

ets were small and discreet. The Head

Boy and Prefects wore badges of rank.

Those who had completed the arduous

Lyke Wake Walk from Osmotherly to

Ravenscar wore the black coffin

awarded by the Chief Dirger. Some

wore badges awarded by the Scout

Association. Mr Perry proudly wore

the badge from the Blood Transfusion

Service as a Blood Donor who had

given such a vast quantity of blood, he

almost had a bank named after him. I

wore my Junior Supporters Badge

with pride.

Unfortunately pride came before a

steep fall when Roy James spotted my

badge and the two salient points of

this brief encounter were, “Take that

badge off now and I want 2 sides by tomor-

row on why rugby is a superior game to

football.” Being made to write 2 sides

about something I did not believe in

was akin to signing a confession under

the duress of torture and when I deliv-

ered it to him the following day he

received it with his usual contemptu-

ous response. He tore it up without

reading it and dismissed me with a

smirk. Well at least that confession was

not worth the paper it was written on.

Although Percy allowed us to hold

a Mock Election alongside the General

Election of 1964 he never allowed pu-

pils to openly display any political

allegiance. During the years of Ban the

Bomb and Aldermaston Marches the

symbol of CND was frequently seen,

some say Ford even copied it on the

rear light cluster of the Ford Cortina.

So when Percy spotted a sixth former

in morning assembly with a CND lapel

badge the bearer was publicly stripped

of his badge and told that he did not

understand enough about the debate

to have an opinion. - No debate there

then.

My personal conclusion thereafter

was that the lapels of school blazers

were probably best left bare.

Many of us first formers still had

good friends from our junior school

days who had gone on to Westwood or

Scalby County Modern. We also had

friends, a year younger, who were

now in the top class of our old junior

schools. So those of us who preferred

football arranged “unauthorised

friendlies” with teams from our old

junior schools and with the first year

Westwood or Scalby County Modern

lads. Unfortunately we could not ar-

range home fixtures in return but the

opposition sports masters understood

and we were not embarrassed. We

were still proud to be unauthorised

ambassadors of the school.

Many other Old Scarborians have

written accounts of their after-school

jobs. My parents didn't approve of

paper rounds as they believed I need-

ed my sleep in the morning and time

for homework in the evening. So at the

age of 14 years I managed to get a Sat-

urday morning job at Wilson's Butch-

ers, situated next to the YMCA in

16

17

and I later, played golf with Dick in

the SBHS golf days.

This article may not be of any use to

you but I thought that because of

Dick’s connection you may find a

corner!

Best wishes – I hope you are enjoying

your time in Office.

‘Hartley breaks mould for ladies at

Hindhead

Ruth Hartley has been elected as President

of Hindhead Golf club, marking the first

time in the Club’s 112 year history that it

has had a female occupy that role. Ruth,

who joined Hindhead in April 1981, also

follows in the footsteps of her late husband,

Dick, who was President from 2006-2009.

The pair also served as Club Captain and

Ladies Captains respectively in 1999, hav-

ing joined as full members in 1986 after a

spell living in Nigeria. “I am very proud

and humble to be considered as President,

but the job will be evolving over the next

years with the ongoing incorporation of the

Club,” she remarked.”

DENA HEBDITCH By David Fowler (1949-55)

How many Old Boys first attended

Gladstone Road Junior School - it must

be hundreds if not thousands - and

the school seems to be as good now as

it was under headmaster ‘Pop Hall’ in

the 1940s and early 1950s.

An interesting happening came

about one Friday in August this year.

My wife and I usually go to Walkers

Fish Restaurant in East Ayton. It is an

excellent place to eat and we usually

meet someone there we know, and this

frequently leads to an extended natter.

On this particular Friday evening we

had eaten our meal and moved to join

two friends at the other side of the

restaurant. After a convivial natter

and much laughter, I notice a gentle-

man hovering closed by.

‘Excuse me’, he said, ‘You’re not David

Fowler are you?’ I assured him I was

and he said he was Ralph Hebditch,

another old boy of the High School. He

had apparently recognised me from

old Summer Times photographs.

We chatted and I said I believed he

was the brother of Dena Hebditch

who, many many years ago, had

taught me and many others at Glad-

stone Road School.

‘Yes, she’s my sister and she’s here tonight.

In fact she’s paying the bill!’

I went over to Dena and we talked

together. She still lives in Scarborough

18

at the Soroptomist Housing home, and

Ralph and his wife had been visiting

her.

She is very sprightly for her years - she

is a nonagenarian - and I reminded her

of the occasion when I was on Scar-

borough beach with my mother and

sister. I was probably around 7 years

old and my sister and I were given

donkey rides.

Who should my donkey have stopped

in front of to relieve himself but Dena

Hebditch!

The following Monday she passed a

comment to the class that,

‘David’s donkey singled me out and left a

pile of donkey droppings in front of me! Incidentally, my father was one of the first

pupils at Gladstone Road school when it

opened in the 1870s” (or it might be 1890s

- Writing a bit indistinct)

Heck!! That’s nearly 150 years ago!!

Happy memories!

Bruce Rowbotham (1961-66) writes further … Scarborough in the early 60's was still

quite parochial and most unlike the

multicultural diversity that exists in

the town today judging by the poly-

glot of families that now wander the

pedestrian zone of Newborough.

Therefore it was quite an event in my

second year at the school when we had

a real live foreigner arrive in our class.

His name was Michael Heidler, he

spoke English, although he thought

water taps were called faucets and the

toilet was The John. He was Ameri-

can, softly spoken with gently modu-

lated tones, rather like the “goodie”

cowboy in the films who turns out to

be the hero. His father was stationed at

the Early Warning Station at Fyling-

dales. I don't think he really enjoyed

his year at SBHS. The day to day lan-

guage differences, teaching style and

syllabus were clearly alien to him. He

was small and slim, quite shy and not

naturally athletic. It mattered not to

him that American Football and Rugby

Union are manifestly different, or that

Cricket and Baseball are not even cous-

ins. In rugby he was content to run

around the fringes of games avoiding

the action and in cricket when every-

one else wanted to bat or be the bow-

ler, he was the happiest fielder. Athlet-

ics hardly inspired him either.

By comparison there was a another

American pupil in our year, Danny

Oliver. He was loud, confident and

gifted with good hand, eye, ball coor-

dination. His father was also stationed

at Fylingdales. Between the two I im-

agined that Michael's father was prob-

ably a studious civilian scientist work-

ing conscientiously on the installation

with the RCA Corporation, with a

family name that hinted he may have

been poached by the Americans from

Germany at the end of the Second

World War. Whereas Danny's father

was probably a military action man,

frustrated and eagerly waiting for

something to finally kick off in Vi-

etnam. In the gymnasium Danny liked

nothing better than dribbling confi-

dently the length of the court before

looping a the ball cleanly through the

hoop like a mini Harlem Globetrotter.

If either of these two could be traced

today, their recollections of the year

spent at SBHS would be fascinating.

19

In the 1960's the BBC's newsreaders

were the prominent national sentinels

of the English language and of course

the schoolmasters of the SBHS did

their part at local level. No one dis-

putes that language evolves continu-

ously and that today's “Tech and Text

Speak” merged from either side of the

Atlantic would be almost undeciphera-

ble to those guardians of yesteryear.

Perhaps one day Oxford English and

American English will merge into uni-

versally accepted Mid Atlantic Eng-

lish? (On reading that last line over

again, I'm beginning to frighten myself

now!)

Today almost every school has a

school website, with reassuring Mis-

sion Statements and Policies, Rights and

Responsibilities, and a host of information

to reassure parents and students alike

that their development and welfare is

in safe hands. Every profession has its

own vocabulary with acronyms and

abbreviations that are the common

currency in day to day communica-

tions, frequently made up from the

buzz words and management speak

picked up from the latest Team meet-

ing. I plead guilty to being a serial

offender during my professional life.

I wonder how alien these concepts

of websites and open management

would have been to the teachers at

SBHS in the 50's and 60's? Well maybe

not as much as you may think, as in

part, even then the seeds were sprout-

ing. They too were serial offenders, it's

just that they didn't realise it.

The guardians never slept. In my

schooldays nothing was beyond the

scrutiny of schoolmasters, not even

private conversations between pupils

were sacrosanct as I discovered when I

asked a classmate at the meal table

“.....if he had seen it on TV last night?”

Without warning the gates of hell

opened alongside me as I received a

fiery blast about TV being a lazy and

unacceptable abbreviation for the per-

fectly good word television. Of course

my personal chagrin for the ill-

mannered eavesdropping on

someone's private conversations and

rudely butting-in counted for nothing;

indeed any allegation of hypocrisy on

the teachers part would have landed

me in more hot water. Why do I say

hypocrisy? Well there were lessons in

PE and GD in his vocabulary and from

his own lips we were always hearing

about the importance of our GCE O

and A levels. Despite the low scoring

vowels, getting the tiles for “GCE O

and A level” on the scrabble board

would surely be worth double points

in Abbreviation Scrabble, a forerunner

of Buzzword Bingo.

A typical “school speak” word was

apparatus. Used almost daily, “Put the

apparatus out” or “Put the apparatus

away” whether to describe the equip-

ment in the science labs (sorry labora-

tories) or in the gym (sorry gymnasi-

um) yet I never remember using or

even hearing this word after my school

years. For me apparatus was a nebu-

lous and shorthand term for what, as a

Yorkshire lad, I thought of as “stuff”.

So if John Oxley or Roy James had

shouted “Put the stuff away” it would

still have had me scurrying across the

gymnasium. Throughout my working

20

life we had a wide variety of vehicles,

tools, or plant, or equipment, or kit, or

just stuff that we frequently had to take

out or put away, but we never had ap-

paratus.

As an aside, it's worrying that the

word tests has made an unwelcome

reappearance in my daily conversations

after a long absence. Almost every

week one of the ageing reprobates who

make up my inner circle of friends re-

gales me with the date of, or results of,

their latest tests. People obsessed with

sharing their medical diary can become

as tedious as the boring last period on a

Friday afternoon. So when one of them

recently informed me he had yet anoth-

er blood test due the following week, I

mischievously asked if his blood would

be revising hard beforehand in order to

pass the test this time. He looked con-

fused so I continued by pointing out

that the nurse usually took the blood

away to another room for testing, as

this was to ensure there could be no

cheating by him whispering the an-

swers......

I think he mentally branded me an

idiot but the ruse worked and he

turned to bore someone else with his

medical history. At school I never had

the option to abruptly halt a boring

lesson like Nicholas Parson's "Just A

Minute" panel on Radio 4 can now, but I

was still branded an idiot from time to

time!

Getting back to the original theme

now. When picking through the web-

site of a typical modern business there

are some familiar echoes of school life

in the 60's.

Mission Statements and Corporate Identity

are essential values now, but we had

them 50 years ago. Our mission state-

ment – Tene Propositum. Our Corporate

Identity – School Uniform.

As for Valuing and Respecting people,

it was perhaps rather one sided then,

encompassed in the natural hubris of

didactic teaching. Classroom chastise-

ment was usually a public spectacle

rather than a private tutorial, hence

humiliation in the presence of peers

was routine.

Performance Incentives – well I think

they were called Lines, Detention and

Corporal Punishment.

This is not to imply that Wackford

Squeers wrote the teaching manual,

more that schoolteachers always had

the last word and any piece of work

that was returned from marking with

the simple comment See me please was

never going to end well, even if the

meeting was in a private tutorial.

Welfare – Of course our welfare was

important then. Annual visits from the

School Dentist and School Nurse en-

sured our health was monitored and

we still had free school milk. Despite

some robust play, the inevitable medi-

cal casualties in day to day school life

were thankfully few. Nurse June Blake-

more dealt with the simple playground

cuts and grazes, whilst the PE staff

dealt with the knocks and bangs in the

gymnasium and on the games field.

When I split my forehead open in a

collision with the rugby post, a short

21

trip to the Casualty Department at

Scarborough Hospital soon had 7

stitches inserted and the wound deco-

rated with a vivid smudge of gentian

violet. Having been driven there in a

teacher's car I walked back to school

and was back in class within the hour.

When I arrived home that afternoon

looking like an extra from a House of

Horror Film, my mother briefly went

into shock, quickly turning to rage and

berating me about how could I have

been so careless in getting myself hurt.

In an age where the blame fell unre-

servedly on the victim, she had no

thoughts to sue the school for lack of

care, failing to inform her of the injury,

lack of subsequent monitoring for con-

cussion. Have you been injured in a

trip or fall – call our solicitors now...

Well the writer of that particular tag

-line probably wasn't even born when

I was being stitched together but in

their own way also they changed and

challenged the way we think and live

our lives today.

OBITUARIES PHIL. CLARKE

22

RON HUTCHINSON (1954-54) Peter Robson (1945-54) writes…

I have had a call from Ron's wife. He

passed away on August 26th following

an operation for a hip replacement

Ron Hutchinson came to the school

with the 1945 intake following the 1944

Education Act. In 1950 he topped the

list of excellent results for the last

School Cert with 8 Distinctions and 1

Credit. Three years later he gained a

Hastings Scholarship at The Queens

23

College, Oxford where he studied History. He went on to teach and finally was

the headmaster of a school in Malvern.

He represented the School at Tennis and was a member of The Quads who

played Table Tennis in the top division of the Scarborough league (with Maurice

Pennock, Don Barnes and Peter Robson)

Jim Goodman (1963-67) writes in April….

No doubt you will have learned of the recent death of George Dowd and I assume

there will be an obituary in the November “Summer Times”. I thought you might

like the photo I took of him (below) just setting off on the 22 yds. at Sports Day

1966 with the legendary Les Brown holding the starting pistol.

COURT CAPERS Dave Hepworth (1951-8) writes… One of my more entertaining moments as a trainee reporter on the Scarborough

Evening News came when I covered the local Magistrates' Court.

One day a hapless squaddie from Burniston Barracks (who had obviously seen

too many American movies) kept saying after swearing the oath to tell the truth,

the whole truth and nothing but the truth: "So help me God". The magistrates' clerk

was very patient at first. But after the poor chap had stumbled his way through

24

the same words a few more times, the

red-faced court official burst out furi-

ously:" WHERE ON THE CARD DOES

IT SAY THAT?- READ THE WORDS

ON THE CARD!!" Needless to say, the

hapless man got it right in the end, but

the outburst caused a few chuckles on

the Press bench (more at the official's

fury I may add, than at the hapless

soldier.)

Then, on another occasion there was

a flutter among the lawyers when the

adjutant of the local regiment -who

was in uniform - carelessly identified

the C.O. - who was in civvies to give

evidence, - as the defendant! Conster-

nation and red faces all round the

court, followed by a short break in

proceedings!!

But the best court tale came after I'd

moved on to the Yorkshire Evening

News in Doncaster. I was eating my

butties after a quiet morning doing the

routine fire, ambulance calls etc, when

we got an alert about a prisoner who

had escaped from the local cop shop.

Grabbing my trusty notebook I hailed

a cab (no office cars in those days for

humble reporters) and shot off to some

nearby woods where the suspect had

last been seen.

Then, as was quietly creeping

through the trees was suddenly sur-

rounded by snarling police dogs

shouting coppers with BIG sticks.

"Who the hell are you, ?" they demanded?

smartly identified myself to be told

in no uncertain terms to b*gger off

before you get arrested - or, worse -

get torn apart by the very business-like

Alsatians!

But I managed to be there moments

later to see the cops get their man - and

I got a cracking Page One splash.

STOP PRESS:

have recently heard from a fellow

vintage car nut (see last May's Summer

Times) - that my beloved 1936 Austin 7

is still on the road - but, sadly I don't

know where. In the Midlands I believe,

but the trail ends there and it's a big

area to search. Any clues anyone?

PPS: I was delighted to read the piece

by Mike O'Neill, I remember him in

his early days as a very talented pia-

nist who would rattle off any request

at a moment's notice to liven our eve-

nings at St. Columba's Youth Club.

Our ways parted many moons ago,

but it was great to read about his bril-

liant musical career since then. wish

him all the best, and would love to

hear him play again. Keep tickling

those ivories maestro ...

Clive Tomblin (1957-61) writes...

It was really good to

talk with you today

about Scarborough

High School. Here is

the email I sent earli-

er today to Bill Potts,

“Isn’t the internet a wonderful thing! I

came across your Old Scarborians

website today. And I’m one, a former

pupil of Scarborough Boys High

School.

I'm Clive Tomblin, I was at the High

School 1957 - 61. The first year or two

were at Westwood, the remaining

years at the new School.

25

I have three old school photos. Two of

them are difficult to scan, they’re the

‘panorama’ type, about 3 feet long and

9 inches high. All pupils and staff are

there though. The other picture is be-

low. As you can see, it’s the school

rugby team 1959-60.

Names I remember are;-

Back row L to R: Bob Walmsley, Clive

Tomblin, ?, ?, David Horsley, ?, Paul

Jeffries, ?,?

Front row L to R: Michael Maslen, ?, ?,

Peter Exley, ?, David Hudson, ?

I also attach a photo of a band. I do

this because my uncle, Kenneth Rich-

ards, was also a pupil. That’s him on

the left holding the guitar. He was in

the Geoff Laycock band and subse-

quently enjoyed a modicum of fame

with the John Barry Seven. Kenneth

was born in 1928 and died in 1977. I

presume he started at the High School

in 1944

I will be pleased to give any more in-

formation if I can. I can recall the

names of quite a few pupils/staff from

57 - 61.”

26

Please reply to

clivetomblin@gmail.com

ED. Phot of Clive, and Rugby and Band

photos attached )

PHILLIP MANN Andrew Renton- Green writes in April from New Zealand Though not strictly Old Scarborians

business I thought that you and other

Members maybe interested to know that

Phil - who attended St Martins' with

many of our members (me, Stephenson,

Corbyn, Holmes, Storey, Carabine, Fox

come to mind) and was captain of the sword

dance team - will be in Scarborough

next month for an extended period. No

doubt he will be delighted to see some

of his old schoolmates and friends

again.

Phil and Non stayed with us last week,

and he has changed little from the last

time I caught up with him in Welling-

ton, where he and Nonita (wife) live.

He plans to do a deal of walking in

North Yorkshire in company with his

cousin John, who may also be known to

some members.

Phil is hugely talented, being the Emeri-

tus Professor of Theatre and Film at

Victoria University Wellington, a post

he has held for many years. As you

may know he is also an international

best selling science fiction author, not

bad for a boy who failed 11+ and attend-

ed Scarborough College!!!!

You may find the following web refer-

ence of interest - the scholarship Phil

refers to was an RAFA Scholarship my

late Mother helped to arrange through

the Scaborough branch. I met up with

Phil again some 20 years ago when I

was teaching at Victoria University, and

where my eldest daughter was one of

Phil's students!!! it was she that got us

back together - I had no idea he was

working in a building less than 500m

away!!!

https://phillipmann.co.nz/about-phillip-

mann/

Michael Rines(1941-52) writes…. à propos of Bill Foord

I don’t suppose you

have space for the attached

pic of Scarborough 1st XI

in 1954 with Bill in front

row, but I thought you

might find it interesting.

(See page 28). Two other old boys on it:

Geoff Dennis and me. It was a very

strong team. L to R back row: Ken

Stockwell played a number of times

for Yorks 2nds. Ron Diggle, opened the

bowling with Bill. He was a dentist.. (a

barracker once shouted out ‘Let’s have an

extraction, Diggle’). Alan Richardson

played for Yorkshire as an amateur be-

fore the War and in Festival matches

after the War. Geoff Dennis, left arm

quick. His sister married Len Hutton.

Ronnie Burnett, Captain of Yorks 2nd

XI, and became Captain of Yorks 1st XI

in 1955. Reg Halton, club professional,

reckoned by some the best left-hander

in England at the time. Had a trial with

Hampshire, but was rejected, probably

because he was rather uncouth.

27

http://www.Farthings-publishing.com dgfowler@farthings.org.uk

01723 365448; M 0779 1900 465

Why not Advertise in Summer Times? Summer Times is published twice a year and is mailed to around 600

members, world wide. Additionally, the magazine appears on our

web site in colour. And the prices to advertise?

Full page outside back cover £70; Full page inside covers £65

Full page inside £55; Half page inside £35; Quarter page inside £20

Details from:

Chris Found,

‘Pinewood’,

SILPHO,

SCARBOROUGH. YO13 0JP

E-mail: Chrisdfound@btinternet.com

Phone 01723 882343

28

Front row: Bill Foord. Jim Claughton,

played a few games for Yorkshire

2nds. M.Rines. Was once 12th man for

Yorks. Albert Marston had all the

mannerisms of Godfrey Evans, but, as

Bill confirmed when we saw him in

June, was a great dropper of simple

catches.

Bill told me that Albert admitted his

weakness behind the stumps, but

claimed he made up for it by being a

jolly good sort in the pub after the

match. Albert ran the village store in

Sherburn. Joe Lister, ex-army officer

played for Yorkshire as an amateur,

but could not hold a regular place so

went to Worcestershire, where he did

very well. Then became Secretary of

Yorkshire CC.

It’s just possible that Marston was a

SBHS pupil.

A RAMBLE THROUGH THE PAST Peter Newham The following largely reproduces the

Presidential meandering through

times past in respect of the Association

at the London Lunch, which, in de-

fault of more interesting material, was

suggested as being of some interest to

the wider membership ( and those

who nodded off whilst it was being

delivered!) and arises from forays into

“The Scarborian” since the 1930’s.

Let me now take you back to 1906

and our predecessor school, the mixed

sex Municipal School dating from

1902.

History shows that the first "Old

Scholars Club" was founded in 1906 with

a membership of 150, and its activities

included dancing, rambles, sports and

29

cycling and later, Dramatics.

The Magazine records that the Club

could not however survive the loss of

the Girls in 1922, though it lingered for

some years.

Consequently in 1935 a new Club was

formed, amalgamating the Old Scholars

Club and the High School Old Boys As-

sociation - and thus a few months ago

we were 80 years old, not a bad record,

and perhaps one or two of us might

even make it to its 100th year! The initial

subscription was 2/6, or life Membership

of 2 guineas.

I am currently exploring in detail "the

Scarborian" Magazine in the 1930' s, (sad

isn't it!) - which then was a formal

school Magazine, with an extra piece at

the end recording the activities of the

Old Boys Association, - and it discloses

some interesting material which well

repays the trawl.

1. Advice on Careers appeared regu-

larly and makes fascinating, if very dat-

ed reading.

2. It included encouragement to be an

Auctioneer and Estate Agent "for boys

with a good voice and a pleasing personali-

ty' " - albeit that premiums of between

£100 and £500 were quoted., and “an eye

for a bargain” was an essential require-

ment!

3. The Police Force required candidates

to be of British parentage, over 20 and

under 24, at least 5' 9, and unbelievably

unmarried. If 5'8 you could be a clerical

assistant. A constable’s pay in London

was £3 2s per week. You also needed

“Integrity, courtesy and quick wittedness!”

4. Forestry, for which a university

Degree in agriculture or botany were

desirable, principally led to a career with

the Colonial service in Kenya, Nyasa-

land and Tanganika or even Ceylon,

Malaya and the West Indies. It conclud-

ed however that the life is usually isolat-

ed and makes no appeal to men who

‘’are not happy except in the company of

others!” (makes no mention of women!)

5. Banking commences with the in-

junction that suitability of temperament

is paramount, - those who find d isci-

pline and patient concentration on detail

particularly irksome are temperamentally

unfitted to become bank officials.” and ad-

vice that is redolent of the days of em-

pire for those interesting in banking

abroad,“ This will appeal to the more ad-

venturous boy where responsible posts are to

be had at an early age. Boys who have held

some responsibility at School are to be pre-

ferred since the routine clerical work is per-

formed by native born clerks!”

It would be interesting to speculate

how many Old Boys were persuaded

into such professions and paths and

whether the subsequent reality matched

the promise of the articles.

Attempts to trace the inception and

official use of the Fives Courts at West-

wood, a niche refuge for the forbidden

cigarette at lunchtime in the fifties, have

disclosed that at least in 1935 formal

use of the Fives Court and champion-

ships being held there have figured,

though to date no members have thrown

further light on this! Rugby and Foot-

ball were then also played in alternate

terms.

Unbelievably, reports of the activities

of the Cercle Français were actually

30

printed in rather complex French, but

readers of the present Magazine may

rest assured that there will be no repeti-

tion of this, -- mais non, my French is

not up to it, despite Les Brown and

Harry Wilson.

The 1936 Mag reported the first AGM

of the reconstituted Association, the

successor to the Municipal School Old

Scholars Club, first Social meeting in

June 1935 with Girls High School Old

Scholars Club at Queens Hotel, dancing

with the Troubadours Dance Band and

Old Lang Syne at 1.00 am in the morn-

ing with members paying 2/6 for

membership, - dinner at 4/6d, musical

interludes at the annual Dinner accom-

panied by the Mayfair orchestra. Po-

ems by pupils were regularly included

and also an entertaining insight into

the hobbies of some of them disclosed

the simplicity of entertainments and

pastimes then available, and what now

seems like naïve would be described as

anorak-like simplicity.

Construction of model planes, gliders

in particular, albeit in balsa wood, dope

and tissue was a popular pastime that I

can also recall indulging in in the much

later 60’s, albeit being then replaced by

the rather easier assembly of plastic

models, - grantedly more sophisticated

hobbies.

Stamp collecting and the keeping of

fish were also obvious target for col-

lecting, though aquarists did conclude

on the unwisdom of making your own

tank, “because it is near impossible to con-

struct a leak proof aquarium” and one boy

wrote in depth, and no doubt would

now be embarrassed by it, of the fasci-

nation of collecting trawler numbers in

the harbour. He concluded, perhaps

unsurprisingly, that had found no one

else who did this!

How many of us have ever seen, or

even possessed an Old Scarborian blaz-

er?

In April 1939 the Magazine referred to

such a desirable item of clothing availa-

ble for the princely sum of £2 2s. I am

sure it matched beautifully with the tie

at 3/6, which was also mentioned in the

Magazine as “being a big hit with the

ladies". Perhaps we are now missing a

trick! It would have been fascinating to

find a blazer, or even to know how

different the ties were.

It is interesting that articles on the

growth of the Library not only featured

the complaint that it was not used by

5th Formers, but listed the regular do-

nation of books by Old Boys, eventual-

ly the introduction of magazines, and

specifically, perhaps some of you will

remember this, ~ National Geographic,

though it failed to mention that, even

20 years later, some of our interest in

that specific magazine was less than

healthy and geographic and had more

to do with the nubile tribal illustra-

tions!

The Magazine during the war years

represented a memorable and very

moving account of the war service of a

great many Old Boys, who at 18, 19 or

20 could hardly even be described as

“old boys”, but who gave their service

and many their lives for King and

Country, - service in the RAF and also

the Green Howard's being especially

evident, and it is fitting that even now

we are represented at Remembrance

Day at Oliver’s Mount.

31

Other times, other customs -- it was

all a very long time ago!

HASTING SCHOLARSHIPS

ED. Particularly in the context of the re-

cent deaths of Harvey McGregor and Don-

ald Hellmuth, both o f whom were Has-

tings Scholars at Queens College, Oxford,

Stuart Marriott has forwarded the fo l-

lowing, recording the history of the Award,

which may be of interest; they not being the

only pupils to be so honoured during their

respective times.

“The November 2015 edition of Sum-

mer Times reported the death of distin-

guished former pupil Harvey McGreg-

or and printed an obituary from the

Independent newspaper. There it was noted

that from school McGregor went up to

the Queen’s College, Oxford on the

strength of a Hastings scholarship. The

obituary stated, wrongly, that the

award was one founded in memory of

Sir Patrick Hastings QC. In view of the

benefits the Boys’ High School enjoyed

by inclusion in the old ’Hastings’ list a

few comments may be of interest. The

1939 invitation from Queen’s offering

SBHS a place on the list of ‘Hastings

Schools’ is quoted in H W Marsden’s

jubilee history The Westwood School at

Scarborough, and McGregor’s success of

four years later is also mentioned there.

The endowment was in fact made by

Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1682–1739),

who in 1706 had come into extensive

properties to the east of Leeds. Lady

Betty, as she was always known, re-

mained unmarried. She had an annual

income of £3,000, and from her home at

Ledston Hall she spent half of that each

year on ‘good works’, particularly on

improvement of education and the reli-

gious ministry. A short account can be

found in the Oxford Dictionary o f Na-

tional Biography. More detailed (and inter-

esting) is a tribute in the Collingham

with Harewood parish magazine of

1982, a copy of which came my way by

accident years ago, and to which I am

indebted here.

In a codicil to her will dated 1739 Lady

Elizabeth Hastings made an endow-

ment to Queen’s for the support of five

poor scholars annually. She confided to

the Provost of the college a hope that

the chosen few could eventually be sent

abroad to spread Christianity: her

’strong bias’ was for the East Indies, the

source of her family’s wealth.

Over the details of eligibility and

selection Lady Betty was much more

prescriptive, showing something of the

administrative flair for which she had

become famous in her own lifetime.

The catchment area for the scheme was

to be twelve named grammar schools

in Yorkshire; they were eligible to put

forward candidates aged 18 to 21 years,

‘most distinguished in learning and

morals, well grounded in religion, and

of remarkable industry and competent

parts’. In Whit week of each year the

hopefuls were to gather at Aberford to

be examined by a board of seven cler-

gymen. The written tests were specified

in close detail; they included transla-

tions from Greek into Latin and Latin

into English, with free compositions in

Latin and English.

The examiners were to select ten sets

of papers to be sent to Queen’s, and

there the Provost and fellows were to

32

reduce the number to eight. Finally

came Lady Betty’s remarkable contri-

bution to the practice of meritocratic

selection: the eight names, on rolled-up

slips of paper, were to be put in an urn

and five slips drawn out to decide the

successful candidates. Her justification

of this method was that it was properly

respectful of ‘Providence and the hand

of God’ (in the eventual proportion of

fifty-fifty, it seems).

Obviously the world changed after

1739, and the endowment with it. At

some time the catchment area was en-

larged to twenty schools in Yorkshire,

Westmorland, and Cumberland. A rule

was introduced that any school failing

for twenty years to put forward a

‘meritorious’ candidate lost its place.

This explains how a vacancy arose for

SBHS, which had had only seventeen

years, not hundreds, in which to stake a

claim. More recently changes in stu-

dent financial support have led

Queen’s to divert Lady Elizabeth

Hasting’s generosity into postgraduate

research awards.”

Hastings Scholarships:

D J Bradley -1942

Harvey McGregor -1943

Donald Hellmuth -1944

Mike Herman -1946

D J Merryweather - 1954

Stuart Marriott -1955

K T Bowes -1956

G C Thornton -1957

J M Skillbeck -1962

THE LONDON LUNCH Writing up the London Lunch has a

repetitive regularity which perhaps

fails to do proper justice to the convivi-

ality of the event, which is the only

opportunity apart from Golf and the

Annual Dinner to bring together Old

Boys from several generations, albeit

that it is difficult to avoid the account

becoming a mere attendance list of

those attending, imbibing and reminisc-

ing!

It is often said of events that the

whole is greater than the sum of their

parts, and this is equally true of the

Lunch, and consequently, while the

Association continues, it must not be

allowed to founder through declining

attendance. This year 27 was a respect-

able, if slightly disappointing attend-

ance, given the publicity, but several

members were regrettably, for family

circumstances, obliged to cancel, and

the Association has also inevitably

suffered further losses of valued Mem-

bers.

Objective annotation of the Lunch this

year by your Editor is however particu-

larly suspect given his Presidential sta-

tus at the event and consequent partial-

ity of this report. Nevertheless, the East

India Club, a suitably opulent albeit

replacement setting for the original

venue, for which thanks were due to

Geoff Winn, did not let us down, and

the main course in particular did justice

to a healthy carnivorous Yorkshire ap-

petite.

After reference to Members who un-

fortunately were unable to attend and

those no longer with us, the President,

enthused with his accumulation of his-

torical material from a rather sad scru-

tiny of Magazines since the 1930's, gave

Members selected events from times

33

past from "The Scarborian", which will

not be repeated here, (being intended

separate fare for filling a void else-

where in this Magazine, ) followed by

an entertaining medley of scabrous

anecdotes of his time at the school by

Richard Stones, which hovered argua-

bly on just the right side of propriety

and decency and enlivened any torpor

previously induced by the Presidential

peroration..

As ever, other "good do", -- those pre-

sent being:

Howard.Acklam (60-64)

Geoff Winn (49-56)

David Fowler ((49-55)

Chris Found (51-59)

Richard Found

Mick Bowman (54-61)

Bob Heaps (67-74)

Peter Newham (54-61)

Mike Rines (41-52)

Richard Stones (57-64)

David Chapman (50-58)

Malcolm Storry (46-54)

John Bee (46-54)

Bob Hepworth (54-61)

John Wheelhouse (49-52)

Malcolm Hudson (54-61)

Peter Taylor (54-62)

Michael Wilson(60-68)

Derek Elcock (60-65)

Tony Robson (66-72)

Eaglen Sheen (57-64 )

Freddie Drabble (51-58)

Phil Austin (58-64)

David Somers (59-67)

John McWhan (49-53)

John Skilbeck (55-63)

John Mann (58-63)

Mike Mansfield (52-60)

60TH ANNIVERSARY LONDON DINNER 1983

Mike Mansfield, whose age obviously

belies his apparent youth, has pro-

duced “the agenda”, if that be the right

word, for the Association London Din-

ner at the National Liberal Club in May

1983 commemorating (more or less) the

60th Anniversary of the School, and it is

interesting to note the attendance of 3

Members who were with us in 2016,

himself, Eaglen Sheen and Derek

Elcock. The Dinner, perhaps more

redolent of Christmas than May in

summer with “roast Duck, sprouts and

two types of potatoes”, obviously

acknowledged the hearty Yorkshire

appetite of its members, and interest-

ingly referred to the now defunct Mid-

lands Dinner at Kirby Muxloe , near

Leicester. It also included a timetable

of the history of the School as follows;- ”IT HAPPENED IN… 1897 – Work starts on building West-

wood School. Architects Hall, Cooper

and Davis, the Cooper becoming Sir

Edwin Cooper famed for buildings

such as the Star and Garter home at

Richmond. The contract price was

£13,585 4s 3d, rising to £18,807 4s 1d

(including equipment)

1900 - (Nov.26th.) --The School opens

with 336 pupils from Scarborough

schools as an elementary school, plus a

Pupil Teacher Centre. Because of a na-

tional legal wrangle about what could

be charged on the rates it could not at

that time be a “School of Science” as

intended. DH Bevan made headmaster.

34

1901 - To overcome the legalities the

Town council forms a Technical In-

struction committee and A S Tetley

appointed principal of “Scarborough

School of Science and Secondary

School”.

1902 - The Municipal School opens

on Jan. 6th and initially shares the

building with the Pupil Teacher Cen-

tre (Mr Bevan remaining as head)

and the Higher Grade School ( to

become the Junior Department)

1903 - Under new legislation the

County Council becomes the Second-

ary Education Authority but delegat-

ed control of the Municipal School to

a Scarborough sub-committee.

January – first school speech day.

April - First School Magazine pub-

lished

1904 – First School societies: the Nat-

ural History Society, the Literary and

Debating Society

1906 - Old Scholars Club founded.

1911 - The Magazine reports the Old

Scholars "have in mind the opening

of a Club Room, but there are diffi-

culties, financial and otherwise..." !!!!

1916 - Mr Tetley dies suddenly and

Mr Bevan takes over as Headmaster.

1918 - The end of the Great War in

which 63 old boys had given their

lives.

1922 - The girls leave for their own

High School and in a merger the St

Martins boys arrive with their head-

master C F Turnbull, plus S H Francis

and A E Tweedy.

1923 - The School ceases to be the

Municipal School and becomes the

Scarborough High School for Boys

with the beginning of the Autumn

term, with 263 boys. F Mayor be-

comes headmaster.

1926 - Raymond King becomes head-

master, Mr Mayor going to Hull

Grammar School.

1927 - Preparatory Department estab-

lished. " Tene Propositum" becomes

the School motto instead of

"Forward" inherited from " the Mu-

ni".

1928 - Move to the Oliver's Mount

playing fields.

1930 - Mr King goes to Forest Hill

School London. Succeeded by Henry

Marsden from Manchester Grammar

School.

1935 - Old Scarborians Association

formed. Rugby introduced, replacing

soccer completely in 1937.

1937 - Number of pupils passed 500.

1939 - School selected by Queens

College Oxford as a Hasting School

from nearly 100 Yorkshire Schools

eligible. (The first Hastings Scholar-

ship was won by DJ Bradley in 1942)

1939 - September - war, with the

school buildings shared for a time

with the evacuated Hull Kingston

High School.

1948 - Memorial to 75 Old Boys who

gave their lives 1939 - 45 unveiled.

1952 - Attendance of more than 200 at

dinner to celebrate school's golden

jubilee.

35

1956 - First post- war London dinner.

1959 - The School moves from West-

wood to a new building in Woodlands

Drive. After a spell as a Secondary

School the Westwood building be-

comes the Theatre in the Round.

1961 - Mr Marsden retires after 30

years at Scarborough and is succeeded

by Mr Alec Gardiner, who, in the

event, is to be the last headmaster of

SBHS.

1973 - The Scarborough High School

for Boys is no more. It ceases to exist

under the re-organization plan Mr

Gardiner becomes the first head of the

Sixth Form College (retiring in 1979)

The Graham School moves into the

buildings.

1976 - Publication of the war time dia-

ries of Mr Marsden, who died in 1974.”

Author and Old Scarborian Leo

Walmsley, albeit dating back to the

Municipal School days, has

several times before in the Magazine,

and reprints of his books are still avail-

able and the Robin Hood's Bay

Walmsley Society is very much alive;

but investigation of a treasure trove of

very old copies of the Scarborian has

disclosed the following in the Novem-

ber 1939 Issue, which may be of inter-

est even to "younger" Old boys, as the

books arguably even now constitute a

good read, as evidenced by their re-

maining in print!

" LEO WALMSLEY is now well-known

for his books, and has just published "Love

in the Sun," the story of his days in Corn-

wall. As Old Scarborians know, his "Three

Fevers," a novel of Robin Hood's Bay, met

with success, though he claims in "Love in

the Sun" that it was only a succes d' és-

time. That and the later "Sally Lunn "

formed the basis for the scenario of the

film, "Turn of the Tide," which has peren-

nial local interest. He has also written the

scenario for the film of Cornish fisher life,

"Breakers Ahead. " His other books are"

“Phantom Lobster”, a tale of a revolu-

tionary lobster fishing invention which

came to nothing, and "Foreigners," an

autobiographical novel of school life at

Robin Hood's Bay.

Review:

Love in the Sun, by Leo Walmsley.

6d.

"Personally find this book fascinating. The

tale of the young man and woman arriving

in Cornwall with little money, renting a

hut by the sea and more or less completely

re-shaping it inside and out, getting a

steady (more or less, again) sort of income

by collecting insects and minor sea mon-

sters for a "firm," building

furniture and a boat, writing books, hav-

ing children, is presented in the way that

is so d ifficult and so successful—the

simplest possible.

To Scarborians Mr. Walmsley has recom-

mended "Foreigners," but its tales of bul-

lyings and childish fears are nothing be-

side the excitement one feels over the old

marine engine in "Love in the Sun." Ac-

quired as scrap, it was taken to pieces,

cleaned and re-metalled, and after much

experiment with the ignition, made to

drive a home-made boat, a kind of cabin

cruiser, sweetly and well. These seem ordi-

36

nary details, but how one follows the ups

and downs of the writer's hopes and fears!

Mr. Walmsley's many gifts show clearly

in this book. He can make you passionately

interested in practical details, he can write,

simply and finely, and he can achieve great

effects from a mere skeleton of a story. His

characters are uncomplicated but alive,

and his villains, if they can be so called,

though they may merely be ordinary men,

or the wind and weather themselves, cast a

genuine gloom now and again that

sharpens the zest of the narrative. This is a

book that enlarges one's appreciation of

life, and that is high praise. "

KEITH DUTTON -

Ed. Following on the

feature in the last Issue

in relation to Keith, I

hope that neither will

object to the reproduc-

tion of the following

letter from Jeff Davison

(one of our Canadian

correspondents) to Keith, and a letter

which Keith sent to me, and which I feel

succinctly capture in many ways the spir-

it of the School and its legacy to many of

its pupils.

Jeff Davison ( 1954-61) wrote …

“ Hello Sir, (!)

You may not remember me. It may jog

your memory if you have access to the

1958 SHSB school photo, in which I am

easy to find. I am directly below the centre

roof drain between the roof gables, second

row down. To my right is Michael Corbyn,

and to his right Ken Goulding. In the top

row diagonally above to my left is a pupil

you are sure to remember, the heavily

brylcreamed Tony Carabine.

I remember your Woodwork classes,

now such a long time ago, very fondly

indeed. Both my dad and grandad were

"time served" carpenters, and I was quite

good in the subject.

I emigrated to Canada in 1966, so the

smaller items we made are gone, but when

I visited my sister's house in Brompton in

2012, there was my sea grass stool, still in

use in her living room. My mum had it

originally of course, and I had thought it

was history too, but there it was. One of

the four bottom rails doesn't match be-

cause of some mistake (I guess I wasn't

good all the time then!) and you had to

give me another piece of oak. This substi-

tute piece turned out to be brutally hard,

and I wasn't strong enough to get the old

wooden jack plane to bite. You noticed the

struggle and came over and made short

work of squaring it up perfectly for me.

This kind gesture made a significant im-

pression on me because such spontaneous

on-task aid, I found, was not at all com-

mon among your colleagues!

I want to thank you for being such a

good teacher, you put a lot of effort into the

prep for your classes, and they were al-

ways a pleasant and productive experience.

I can't remember you even raising your

voice, even when the irrepressible Clive

Hopkins knocked over the pot o f

French polish just as you got everything

set up for a class demonstration. You did

37

go frighteningly red though, which caused

a deathly hush to fall among us!

After the sixth form, I went to Dudley

Training College and became a woodwork

teacher myself. I taught in Wolverhampton

for two years, then emigrated to Saskatche-

wan. After spells in Calgary, Alberta, and

Vernon, British Colombia, we moved here

to Victoria on the coast in 1981. I worked

for thirty-nine years in schools, most of it

as a woodwork teacher, but also taught

technical drawing, and other technical

subjects. I think you influenced my choice

of career, and as it was long and very re-

warding, I wanted to thank you. I loved

being a woodwork teacher.

You should be proud of the work you did

so well.

Jeff Davison”

Keith Dutton wrote…

“Dear Peter,

First of all may I congratulate you on your

recent publication of Summer Times. For

me and for many, it made for fascinating

reading. I would be very grateful if you

could send me a hard copy as I find the E-

mailed version difficult to follow.

The message from Jeff Davison also was a

bolt out of the blue and helped me to realise

that having sown the seeds I am now expe-

riencing the harvest.

As a result of Summer Times, I have been

in contact with Mike Pease who lives in

Gosport. We had a wonderful reunion a

couple of days ago and remembered many

happy times we had back in the fifties. Carry on the good work and many thanks again for keeping in touch.

BUSSING TO SCHOOL…. Bruce Rowbotham (1961-66)

Building the new School in a section of

no man's land between Scalby Road

and the Crematorium brought benefits

and disadvantages depending on

whose point of view you listened to.

Older staff bemoaned the huge picture

windows that filled almost an entire

wall of each classroom. “Windows are to

let light in, not sight out.” was a familiar

schoolmaster's rebuke. I'm sure some

of the elder statesmen of the teaching

profession at that time would have

proposed pupils wearing blinkers to

focus their attention solely on the

blackboard or the exercise book on

their desk. Whereas no one disputed

the benefits of having a huge sports

field on site. Before “out of town shop-

ping centres” were even dreamed of,

we had an “out of town school” that

catered for a huge catchment area and

inevitably there were “Bus Boys.”

Anyone who lived below Aberdeen

Walk towards the Old Town qualified

for free travel on the school bus from

the United Bus Depot in Somerset Ter-

race. Equally those who lived at East-

field had free transport on a dedicated

United school bus. Those who lived

along the A170 corridor towards Pick-

ering had a bus provided by Hard-

wicks. I lived at Osgodby and had to

catch the East Yorkshire Motor Ser-

vices service bus into town and then

transfer onto the United school bus.

Ok – thank you if you are still reading,

it's “so far – so boring.” Well stick with

38

it a bit more and maybe some memories

will come tumbling back and there's a

sting in the tail for someone at the end.

The double decker buses of the East

Yorkshire Motor Services were unusual

in that they appeared stunted with their

low level rounded spaceship roof and

inward sloping windows on the top

deck, a necessary feature especially con-

structed to allow them to pass under

Beverley Bar. To the nostalgic aficiona-

dos these buses might conjure an idyllic

and idiosyncratic image but on a bitter-

ly cold day, with the sleet blowing in

from the North Sea during the pro-

longed winter of 1963, the reality was

very different. As the bus hove into

sight at Osgodby it had already ground

it's way over the Wolds from Hull, via

Beverley, Driffield and Bridlington. The

interiors of the windows were drenched

in thick condensation like heavy net

curtains. Occasionally a hand would

wipe across the glass and a blurred face

would peer out. As the bus drew up the

rear concertina doors would open and a

draft of warm fetid air washed out,

tinged with a heavy blue haze of ciga-

rette smoke. Every day, the same faces

were in the same seats, upwards of 50

people. Some had travelled for more

than an hour from Hull, re-breathing

the same stale air that the feeble under

seat heaters recirculated as tepid fug.

Smoking on buses was compulsory for

all fare paying passengers in the 1960's.

As the holder of a free school bus pass I

claimed an exemption by reason of age.

Officially the fleet colours were

“Indigo and Primrose” but in reality the

primrose interior was nicotine brown,

washed with rivulets of condensation,

greasy aluminium handrails and leather

straps hanging from roof rails were in-

grained with years of sweat and grime.

The pattern of the seat material worn

almost threadbare and long since ob-

scured, the flotsam of cigarette ends, ash

and bus tickets littered the floors.

Further stops at Sea View Drive and

Wheatcroft Garage meant that the bus

never carried any momentum to help

with the inclines that followed. The

rumbling diesel engines slogged away

as the interior lights slowly dimmed to

barely a flicker until the better drivers

deftly double de-clutched to the next

lower gear. Lesser drivers mercilessly

crashed gear teeth together with brute

force and little mechanical sympathy

until they finally meshed and the bus

lurched forward. Passengers jerking like

cheap metronomes in their seats before

steadying themselves against the back

of the seat in front. The conductor

clenched his satchel of coins with one

hand to prevent any spillage whilst

gripping the handrail on the staircase

with the other until linear travel was

resumed. Finally there was some respite

as we passed Scarborough College and

the gradient was with us all the way to

the Valley Bridge. At the EYMS depot

next to the Westwood School travellers

alighted like nonchalant survivors of

the Deadwood Stage and took their first

welcome breaths of fresh air. Adults

dispersed to their daily jobs, the Scar-

borough Convent Girls in their distinc-

tive “coffee and cream” uniforms kept

themselves apart from the Girl's High

39

School girls and everyone went their

separate ways.

For me it was chance for a quick

glance at a Mini Cooper or Austin

Healey Sprite in Tessyman's Show-

room, with dreams of freedom and

mobility that my 17th birthday would

bring, before crossing the road to the

United Depot at Somerset Terrace.

Although we literally crossed the path

of the lads who attended Westwood

School, I never remember any animos-

ity.

There must have been about 50 of us

Bus Boys congregated at the United

Depot waiting to be called forward

and board the bus by the Bus Inspec-

tor, a role that was part sergeant-major

and part circus ringmaster as he mar-

shalled the yard. Despite being a daily

event, this process never seemed to be

organised. The Inspector would press-

gang a scratch crew from the staff can-

teen situated opposite the depot and

mated them with whatever bus could

be brought up from the bus garage in

Vernon Road. Sometimes we all

crammed onto a double decker, some-

times it was a couple of single deckers.

The only guarantee was that there

were always more bodies than seats.

First formers rarely got to sit down.

I think that some of the bus drivers

rather enjoyed the school run as they

were free from the drudgery of con-

stant stop start driving on a regular

route. Leaving the depot we travelled

via Falsgrave and onto Scalby Road at

the Snowdrift Laundry. At the Manor

Road roundabout some of the drivers

took the opportunity to hang back and

open up a gap in traffic so that that

they could race along the gradual

curve to the Stepney Grove junction

and then down the gradient towards

the beginning of the dual carriageway

that passed the hospital. It was on this

downhill gradient that some of the

lads who rode to school on push bikes

would sometimes attempt to get a tow

in the slip stream. Peddling hell for

leather with their heads down and

barely 3 feet from the back of the bus it

must have been exciting to reach al-

most 30mph, whilst looking down at

the white lines on the road spitting out

from under the bus like tracer bullets.

On double-deckers, the conductor

would hang off the platform on the

back of the bus shouting and waving

them to slow down and drop back.

Meanwhile the rest of us on board

would cheer them on. Such is the in-

vincibility of youth.

Every day my school commute was

the same routine. Amusement came

when the bus driver occasionally

made a wrong turn and once we were

even taken to Scarborough College by

a confused driver. In the confines of

the separate cab of the double decker

he was oblivious to the jeers that

erupted as we crossed the Valley

Bridge and began to climb towards

Ramshill. The conductor attempted to

stop him by ringing the bell, before

finally banging on the window at the

drivers back. The subsequent frantic

drive across town to school was ac-

companied by loud cheers and the

satisfaction of knowing we would be

late but had a cast iron excuse.

There was always a wag with a

40

quick turn of wit and one morning the

bus stalled when turning round at the

Crematorium car park. As the driver

struggled to get the engine restarted, a

funeral cortège passed by and a voice

shouted out, “Terminus – Bring out your

Dead! Cue peals of irreverent laughter.

One incident still remains vividly in

my memory, a typical piece of school-

boy mischief.

At the end of school the buses

would wait at the end of the school

drive. As we all left the building at the

rear school exit we passed by the milk

crates stacked with miniature empties

and the occasional still full unclaimed

bottle of school milk. Occasionally

someone would grab a bottle and

pause to guzzle it down, then place the

empty bottle back in the crate, howev-

er on this occasion one of the Bus Boys

grabbed the full bottle and took it onto

the bus. So far – so boring? Well read

on.

On the route into town the contents

of the bottle were emptied from a win-

dow on the top deck of the moving bus

and liberally doused a line of inno-

cents standing in a bus queue. Laugh-

ter rang throughout the top deck

whilst the driver, conductor and those

on the lower deck were oblivious to

everything.

The following morning after morn-

ing assembly all the Bus Boys were

instructed to remain behind. Percy

Gardiner and Jack Speight were a

formidable duo, akin to the thinking

man's Kray twins. Whereas Jack

Speight would rant and rave when

angry, Percy was more measured, sim-

mering sinisterly and was all the more

menacing for being so.

A telephone call that morning from

a furious Inspector at the United Bus

Company to report the incident had

cut Percy to the quick, an uncomforta-

ble and embarrassing exchange for

him made worse by being lectured on

good behaviour by a blue collar work-

er, all revealed when Percy concluded

contemptuously, “... and I sincerely hope

that no pupil of this school goes on to be-

come an employee of the United Bus Com-

pany.” Now, only the sight of the cul-

prits head on a javelin at the end of the

school drive, would restore a smile to

his face as he moved to close the net.

Nowadays an investigator faced

with over 50 possible suspects, no fo-

rensic evidence, no independent wit-

nesses, no CCTV evidence and a wall

of silence would have no chance of

identifying the culprit. But in the

1960's it was different. Interrogation by

Headmasters was not governed by the

Judges Rules of Police interrogations;

there was no protection of the Geneva

Convention, no right to legal represen-

tation, no right to silence nor protec-

tion against self- incrimination. Indeed

schoolboy suspects were doubly

dammed; silence was “dumb inso-

lence” and any protestations were

“back answering.” The intimidating

duo acting as “Bad Cop & Bad Cop” got

a result almost immediately. The cul-

prit was positively identified and a full

confession confirmed his guilt. Even

the skilled advocacy of Gilbert Gray,

had he been available, would not have

41

mitigated the penalty. Swift and con-

dign. The jurisdiction of a Headmaster

did not end at the school gates nor

beyond the school day, as the miscre-

ant subsequently felt the full pain of

Percy's punishment and on the bus

home that afternoon was probably

happier to stand with the First For-

mers rather than sit down.

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS- Or, Ramblings on a Life more Ordinary. (the Editor in quasi-literary mode)

Were I a medical man, which undenia-

bly I am not, rather than a humble

lawyer, (an oxymoron you might

think!) I might reflect philosophically on

the foibles of human memory in rela-

tion to our formative years of life at

School, and the curious historical de-

tritus dredged from its depths by our

membership of the Association. Why

can I not now similarly remember

where I just put my spectacles, - for

what I went upstairs, or, - living even

more dangerously, who just rang with

a message for She who Must be

Obeyed, or even more problematically,

- what was the message?

In such a context it is a source of

domestic concern that the contrast

between my alleged crystal-clear re-

flection of the trivialities of events

some 60 years ago for the purposes of

the Magazine and my lack of recall in

relation to yesterday's or even today's

domestic Standing Orders are a matter

of critical comment. By way of mitiga-

tion if not defence I would however at

least like to think is that similar diffi-

culties are perhaps experienced by

other Members reading this.

However, whilst the past may be

another country, its recollection is said

to be good for what Hercule Poirot

regarded as the little grey cells, so,

perhaps, as a starter for ten, the quota-

tion -"Hope, they say, deserts us at no

period of our existence, from first to

last…” may ring long forgotten bells

for some reading this? From whence,

you may say. From an essay on Mar-

riage by Robert Louis Stevenson being

the erudite answer, but more memora-

bly by way of being the script for the

Westwood School annual eyesight test

(thought the efficacy of identical word-

ing each year does rather defy logic! )

For many, masters catch-phrases

spring inexplicably to mind as memo-

rable, -- "you little rabbit", "bad boy"

and the inevitable "you'd better come

along, - uh huh, uh huh, " must be famil-

iar, at least to all at Westwood, and at

risk of antagonizing non-Latin schol-

ars by my pedantry, "quis talia fando

Myrmidonum Dolopumve aut duri miles

Ulixi temperet a lacrimis..." with its Eng-

lish translation "who among the

Myrrmidons or Doolopians or the harsh

soldiers of Ulysses could refrain from

tears", springs inexplicably to mind on the

most inappropriate occasions, dating

back to an attempt, successful for once,

to learn by rote the set paragraph of

Vergil Book IV, but which further use

of such phrase has always subsequent-

ly eluded me.

42

Hymns at Speech Day in particular

ring a fairly memorable (albeit meta-

phorical) bell, apart from the omni-

present "Jerusalem", - almost a School

song, "Let us now praise famous men"

regularly appropriately glorified " the

fathers who begat us" though their facility

with musical tunes etc... was perhaps

rather more questionable?

Inexplicably, or perhaps a sign of

losing the plot, Physics, or was it

Chemistry, 60 years ago has recently

conjured up a memory of the expres-

sion "Avogadro's Hypothesis" without

any recollection of what had so exer-

cised Avogadro, or understanding of

what it was about, perhaps demon-

strating that with a then good memory

it was possible to scrape through some

“O” levels without any real under-

standing of their substance. It was

reassuring recently at Rotary to con-

duct a straw poll and find that among

the half dozen members canvassed

five had never heard of it and one

pleaded knowledge of the expression

but ignorance of the content! - I am not

alone!

For those of a literary bent frag-

ments of Shakespeare may still loom

large! Personally, as the Prompter for

the School play on two occasions, I can

claim at one stage to have known by

heart the virtual whole of Macbeth

and large chunks of Midsummer

Night’s Dream, which seemed a major

achievement at the time, and quite

impressed the relatives, but, at subse-

quent gatherings and dinner parties

any demonstration of this apogee of

achievement singularly failed to im-

press or led to the allegation of a

mere talent of boring for Britain as

"tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

crept in this petty pace from day to day".

But despair ye not, enough of this

idle persiflage, "the last syllable o f

recorded time" is not with us yet, and, if

contributions to the Magazine contin-

ue to flow, nor will it be, and these

fatuous fillers (onomatopoeic or other-

wise) will "wither and perish, but

naught changeth thee!"

TRIVIA Thought for the Day-

Extracted from Readers letters to “the

Oldie”

My Own Social Media

SIR: I haven’t got a computer, but I

was told about Facebook and Twitter,

and am trying to make friends outside

Facebook and Twitter while applying

the same principles.

Every day, I walk down the street

and tell passers-by what I have eaten,

how I feel, what I have done the night

before and what I will do for the rest

of the day. I give them pictures of my

wife, my daughter, my dog and me

gardening and on holiday, spending

time by the pool.

I also listen to their conversations,

tell them I “like” them and give them

my opinion on every subject that inter-

ests me … whether it interests them or

not.

And it works. I already have four

people following me; two police offic-

ers, a social worker and a psychiatrist.

Peter White, Holbrook, Derbyshire.

43

The following questions were in a

(UK) GED (grade 12 equivalent) ex-

amination. These are genuine an-

swers.

Q. What is a turbine?

A. Something an Arab or Sheik wears

on his head. Once an Arab boy reach-

es puberty, he removes his diaper and

wraps it around his head.

Q. How is dew formed?

A. The sun shines down on the leaves

and makes them perspire.

Q. What guarantees may a mortgage

company insist on?

A. If you are buying a house, they

will insist that you are well endowed.

Q. In a democratic society, how im-

portant are elections?

A. Very important. Sex can only hap-

pen when a male gets an election.

Q. What are steroids?

A. Things for keeping carpets still on

the stairs.

(Shoot yourself now, there is little

hope.)

Q. What happens to your body as you

age?

A. When you get old, so do your bow-

els and you get intercontinental.

Q. What happens to a boy when he reach-

es puberty?

A. He says goodbye to his boyhood

and looks forward to his adultery.

(So true)

Q. Name a major d isease associated

with cigarettes.

A. Premature death.

Q. What is artificial insemination?

A. When the farmer does it to the bull

instead of the cow.

Q. How can you delay milk turning

sour?

A. Keep it in the cow.

(Simple, but brilliant)

Q. How are the main 20 parts o f the

body categorized (e.g. The abdomen)?

A. The body is consisted into 3 parts -

the brainium, the borax and the ab-

dominal cavity. The brainium contains

the brain, the borax contains the heart

and lungs and the abdominal

cavity contains the five bowels:

A,E,I,O,U

Q. What is the fibula?

A. A small lie.

Q. What does 'varicose' mean?

A. Nearby.

Q. What is the most common form of

birth control?

A. Most people prevent contraception

by wearing a condominium.

(That would work.)

Q. Give the meaning of the term

'Caesarean section.'

A. The caesarean section is a district

in Rome.

Q. What is a seizure?

A. A Roman Emperor.

(Julius Seizure, I came, I saw, I had a

fit.)

Q. What is a terminal illness?

A. When you are sick at the airport.

(Irrefutable)

Q. What does the word 'benign'

mean?

A. Benign is what you will be after

you be eight.

(brilliant)

Q. Name the four seasons

A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

*

1

St Nicholas Cliff, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 2ES Tel:01723 368161 Fax: 01723 371547

Web: www.palmcourtscarborough.co.uk Email: info@palmcourt-scarborough.co.uk

Commanding a wonderful town centre position, the Palm Court Hotel offers an uncompromising commitment to quality, service

and comfort. All 41 bedrooms are en-suite and are well appointed, offering

wi-fi access throughout. There is guaranteed free, secure undercover parking available -

unique for Scarborough town centre hotels. Our elegant dining room serves the finest cuisine using the best

fresh seasonal ingredients, complemented by a selection of wines from around the world.

The Palm Court hotel is the perfect place from which to explore, relax and enjoy Scarborough, the beautiful coastline and the

North York Moors, whether for business or leisure.

Special Offer Packages available throughout the year

1

Published for The Old Scarborians Association. Editorial 01604 767895. Design & Layout http://www.Farthings–Publishing.com 01723 365448.

Printed by Prontaprint, Station Shops, Westborough, Scarborough 01723 367715