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George Dixons Grammar School

Hello Steve,

I thought I recognised your name! Have to say, I don't remember the Oxfam collection. I lived in Perry Barr, so could get the No 7 bus all the way home (to Witton Road) from both City Road and Five Ways.

I seem to remember that I spent my last term at GD at City Road, when my old man decided enough was enough and that I should leave and get a job. That would have been at the end of 1962. You may well gather from this that I didn't exactly shine academically.............

...........but having said that, I've done OK over the intervening years. I spent a few years living and working in the USA, but couldn't take the climate and came home to good old Blighty. I had friends in Canada and visited a couple of times - Windsor, Ont, and a place close to Toronto the name of which I've long since forgotten.

I always thought that GD was a good school but very much in the 'old style'. One or two of the masters should really have looked around for other means of making their living, but by and large I had no complaints.

G
 
Big Gee said:
David,

thanks for putting me right. Your memory's obviously a lot better than mine. You're correct - I did use the Ladywood Road entrance, and can't remember ever using the Hagley Road main entrance. I was at GD from 1957 - 63, the last 2 years being at City Road. City Road was plainly the lesser of two evils, if I can put it that way. Five Ways seemed a bit dingy and gloomy in comparison. I can remember Geoff Fletcher (music master at GD and choir-master at St Martins-in-the-Bull Ring) complaining that the acoustics in the hall at Five Ways were terrible - as if we cared. Anyway, it was a long time ago.

G
Click to expand...
Big Gee,

I was at GD after both you and David (1960-67) but spent time (5th year I think) at Five Ways. I agree that City Road was the better site. Five Ways always felt like the poor relation. It was interesting though. Routinely we would enter from Ladywood Road but it was possible to enter from Hagley Road. Did you ever try crawling under the stage at Five Ways? Lots of interesting items abandoned there. It took you to some sort of void at the back from where you could climb on to the roof. The initials and thoughts of former KE pupils and workmen were scratched into the lead roof. We added our own, careful to protect our anonymity - just in case. During our time at Five Ways one of our number advertised Five Ways for sale in the Mail, describing it as 'a desirable Georgian residence'. The contact given in the advertisement was the estimable Mr Trout, using his home 'phone number. It perhaps helps to explain why my year never seemed to be his favourite!
 
I was introduced to this site by a friend who lived in the area and is researching its history. Reading through the many entries it brought back so many memories and has spurred me to add my thoughts in the hope that others will find it of interest.

I started at GD in 1960 after passing the 12+ and spent my first year at Five Ways. After staying in the lower grades I spent an extra year in a special sixth form, S6, set up purely to retake ‘O’ levels in 1964 as there were so many wanting to get some better qualifications. I went on to sixth form, S4 and S2, before going on the University of Birmingham to study civil engineering in 1967 and retired from work at the end of 2008.

The entry is split into 3 sections, teachers, students and other memories with only a shortish bit on each, otherwise it could go on forever:
1. Teachers:

Rumsey (Head): He seemed to have a lovely old school presence about him but soon after I started he was taken ill and was replaced by DAD Dilworth,

DAD Dilworth (Deputy/Head): Once a week we would have morning assembly at St Germains church next door. There were two steps that DAD had to negotiate and there was always a pause as he felt for them with his foot, one day I thought....

Trout (Five Ways deputy): One of the reasons I stopped learning history in the second year. It’s amazing how liking, or not, teachers can affect your whole outlook on life.

Walker “The Pork” (??? ): Stood in the hall waiting to walk up City Road to the canteen at lunch time there would be a wave of silence envelope the room and you knew he had entered. He would walk diagonally across the lines until he reached the main noisemaker and then there was trouble.

Winson “Butch” (French): No one played up in class but he would hit students across the back of the head with a ruler if he thought that they may play up when out of his sight. He used to sit at our dinner table at Five Ways and one day before he arrived we had bought a tin of Butch dog food and put it on the table in his place. It was all taken in good part.

Buckley (Science): Great teacher but I think he died quite young.

Hannay (Latin): Never taught by him but remembered he was quite short and seemed to float around the corridors always wearing his gown.

“Gabby” Hayes (metalwork): One of my favourite subjects and he was a great teacher.

Lewis (English): First form master at Five Ways. A Welsh import and very likeable.

Little (French): Went on the school trip to Europe including Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. I remember on one occasion him asking for directions in French and the local could not understand him. Now I know why I never passed a French exam.

Brookes (Art): It was announced during an assembly in Five Ways that he had died, quite a shock. Later it turned out that my wife worked for his wife at an office also in Five Ways.

“Fingers” Johnson (Physics): A young teacher who taught the second “A” level group. He was someone who got the best out of his pupils and seriously embarrassed Les Summerton when the number of “A” level passes he achieved was better than Les’s. I think he left soon afterwards.

Siddle (Chemistry): Took “A” level under duress but everyone in that year failed.

Les? Paul (Engineering Drawing): Another one of my favourite subjects, his lessons where much more than just the subject at “A” level with discussions diversifying into any topic that took our fancy. Surely this is what education is all about. I also went to his evening classes in Bartley Green where I sat at the back of the “O” level class he was taking and studied for my “A” level.

Fletcher (Music): I will always remember him playing that very dramatic classic piece every time we left the weekly service at St Germains. Can someone put a name to it?

?? Proctor (Sports): A sad loss.

2. Students

Max McDonogh: Also joined at the same time as me and also went on to be a civil engineer.

Colin Bourne: Both of us disliked sport, never build for rugby and always got the stitch in cross country, so spent Wednesday afternoon’s installing the telephone system for the school by climbing ladders, stringing telephone cables, installing switchboards and phones. How long that lasted I dread to think but it was great fun.

? Nicholson: Loved motorbikes and had another classmate with a motorbike sidecar, which you may think was safer. However, that was not the case and he turned it over one day and was never seen again.

Michael Chalk: In the same engineering drawing class and has been a Redditch Councillor for many years.

Derek Larigo: Used to travel home with him sometimes, lived between Rose’s cafe and Bartley Green.

Lewis: Are you the Lewis from 2E in 1960/61 and did you live at a pub in Digbeth, if so I remember some of your stories which had a lasting impression.

? Twiss: we had this American in our class for a while, I think his father was a diplomat somewhere.

John Maxfield and Peter Busby: Joint in the sixth form from Harborne Hill? School. Peter made head boy.

Other names, but no details, include: Dave Shenton, Steven Dixon, Paul Hogan, Donald Grendon, Jonathan Wickens, Paul Lyndon and Ronald Hill.

3. Other memories

The first and last lesson read out in the assembly each term was I. Corinthians Chapter 13. Still is a lasting memory for me.

The sixth form common room was built just as I entered the sixth form and it was brilliant.

On the way back from lunch the boys had to run the gauntlet passed the girls who congregated in a pack. If only I was as confident then ......

The Quad was the only area where we had some female contact with the school next door as their loos overlooked it, in retrospect it seems a rather bad design!!

I was always keen on railways and after school at Five Ways some of us frequently went to “bunk” the Monument Lane shed. I still remember being sat in the office there having given a good telling off by the “gripper”.

I vaguely remember the mass expulsion on the last day. I used to drive from Bromsgrove then so may have taken some of the offenders to the pub.

We were given plastic tokens to travel between City Road and Five Ways and by walking one stop you could save one for travel home and get something from the shop with the extra cash.

At break time we played stretch. The two players stood facing each other and took turns to throw a penknife into the ground near your opponent to make him do the splits. The loser was the one who fell over first. No pupils were hurt in this game.... well not many.

I remember one day in the chemistry lab when someone sucking sulphuric acid into a burette sucked for too long and got a mouthful of the stuff.

Food memories include the usual chocolate concrete and potato puffs bought from the shop a break.

Although now out of print my friend tracked down a copy of the attached book through Waterstones:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Years-City-Road-Secondary/dp/0955344409



Looking forward to your observations in due course.



Peter Mann
 
Hi Redpeter and welcome to the Forum. I was at GD 1955-1960 so our paths would never have crossed. Many thanks for your comments. My sister would have been at the Girls school about the same time as you were there but I think she is a year or so younger than you. She was the first girl to attend the Boys school in the first year 6th form and that was considered a success so the following year the sixth forms were merged. However the schools were not fully mixed until Miss Organ the headmistress of the girls school retired. I have a copy of the book you mentioned because I went along to the open day to celebrate 100 years at City Road.

You mentioned a Mr Proctor. I think you mean Mr (John?) Procter who died in a road traffic accident on the way to school. Mr David Proctor taught Latin at GD.

As you are new to this Forum and mentioned an interest in Railways, I hope you find much of interest in the railway threads on the forum and perhaps you can contribute to them.
 
Hello Redpeter,

some great memories of GD in your post. It's strange how, more than half a century on, some of us recall some of the teachers with affection, others with pure hatred. I always had a real respect for Wally Walker - he had that way with him that could silence 36 unruly fifth-formers with just a glance from his beady eyes. Yet he had a sense of humour, and he also had humanity - I posted before about how he lent me my bus-fare after I'd lost it (or had it nicked). The one teacher I do remember with something less than affection was Les Summerton, who was simply boring and uninspiring - something which Wally Walker never was. I'm surprised to hear that good old 'Chunky' Brookes died young, couldn't have been long after I left at the end of 1962. He was a great character and very likeable. I do remember 'Dandy Jim' Buckley, he of the booming voice, and seems he also died quite young. Does anyone remember a physics teacher called Ron Chadwick? And a French teacher called Michael Harrison who I think also ran the printing-club? In my last two years at GD there seemed to be a very large turn-over of teachers - I can still see faces that I can't put names to.

G
 
Just some comments on the form numbering. My progress was 1D,2C,3B good but then I hit a plateau as I then went 4B,5B and left at 16 after O levels (5 passes 3 failed). When I started, there was a mystery (to me) form called Upper 5G. I remember thinking how 'public school' that sounded to someone like me brought up on Billy Bunter, Jennings and Derbishire (on radio Children's Hour), and all the other school story books. (I even sneaked across to the girls fiction in the public library to borrow the Chalet School series). After a year it was announced that in future U5G would be renamed 6G and I found out that it was for those staying on to retake O levels. The main sixth form was divided into 6S (sciences) and 6L (arts) with further division into sets for choice of subjects. S1,S2,S3 for 2nd year sixth (sciences) and S4,S5,S6 for 1st year sixth (sciences) with a similar split into L1,L2,L3 and L4,L5,L6 for the arts subjects. You can imagine it took me a long time to work all that out.

Having said that I left at 16 with O levels, It came about that after four years I decided that I needed to get some A levels but having left school the choice of subjects was entirely mine and none of the subjects I took were taught at GD. I needed to find a place to take the exams so I asked permission to return to sit the exams at the school. I sat there at a desk in the Gym wearing a suit while everyone else was in school uniform. My A level results : ABB to get me on to a university degree course.
 
Hi David,

I too was in 6G, but only for one term, and at the end of 1962 my dad, in his infinite wisdom, decided the time had come for me to leave school and find gainful employment. Old Man Rumsby was quite concerned about this, and I was very upset at the time, but I don't think it ultimately did me any harm, as I gained further qualifications at various technical colleges. All in all, I did enjoy my years at GD, and it seems to me that those of us who left in the early-to-mid 1960's saw the last of the traditional English grammar-school. It didn't do me any harm, that's for sure.

G
 
Hi G

You would have been 2 years below me then. I never thought of myself as being very academically bright but as one of the masters pointed out to us on more than one occasion. we had passed the 11+ and therefore we were in the top 20% in Birmingham. However the grounding that I got at GD did stand me in good stead because after leaving school, night school studying got me two university degrees and professional qualifications.

I was with a group of friends recently, all grammar school educated, and we all said that the grammar schools had enabled us all to be upwardly socially mobile. I have a friend, public school educated, and he expressed the view that the traditional grammar schools were successful because they followed the public school ethos teaching self reliance and self discipline.

Do you remember, if a master asked you to take a message to another master he always said "My compliments to Mr.....and..." followed by the message. When we delivered the message it was always "Mr....'s compliments and...". I did that at work one day and everyone looked startled.

On the point about self discipline, I have seen schools with long lists of School Rules. The only school rule that I remember at GD was to walk on the left in the corridors. You were assumed to know how to behave.

David
 
Hi David,

Yes, I remember how we were expected to address teachers, and always to stand up when a teacher entered the class-room. I wonder if a lot of this discipline was a hangover from the War, during which many of the teachers in our years at GD served in the Forces. A few of the younger teachers were more relaxed (or less formal). We were always expected to dress smartly, too, and your tie (GD colours, naturally) had to be properly knotted to cover the top button of your shirt. Wally Walker was hot on this. Art teacher 'Chunky' Brooks (lovely bloke) always wore a bow-tie, and I think that may well have been his little thumb-of-the-nose at school regulations....he was that sort.

G
 
With permission from the master taking the lesson, we were allowed to remove our ties on very hot summer day. I think it was just fashion but we always then folded our shirt collars over our jacket collar. I still do this today if I am wearing a a jacket without a tie and when I see men on the TV without ties and their shirt collars scrunched up under their jackets it looks very untidy to me.

We had to stand when the teacher taking the lesson entered the room but if another teacher entered during the period we did not stand.

A few months ago I was in Stratford and went to see some of the new Shakespeare attractions. The schoolroom that Shakespeare attended is still owned by King Edwards Stratford but they now allow the public access. The guide role-played that of a schoolmaster so he greeted us with 'Salvete Pueri' (Greetings Boys), any puellae (girls) were told that they were pueri for the purposes of this exercise. We then had to stand face the front and say 'Salve Magister' (Greetings Master). At least we did not have to do that at GD.
 
Hi all, I'm new here, just found this forum.
I was at GD between 59 and 64 and remember most of the teachers written about above. I started in 1B but went up to 1A and stayed in A until 5A when I left after O levels. I remember a great history teacher in my fist years - a tall slim young guy named Seckington (I think). I really loved history until I stubbed my toe against the hateful Trout, who really was the worst teacher (any subject) I ever remember from the school. Apart from being a pedagogical disaster, he was a real bully. I remember from 2A at the school sports, when a good friend of mine Ray Bolt was hit by a javelin and taken to hospital. I loitered around the scoredesk hoping for a bit of news about him. Trout and Wal were at the desk noting down scores. As soon as Trout saw me he yelled 'Get out of the way boy!', but Wal looked kindly at me and asked me 'is he your buddy?' (using that very word). Petrified, I just nodded, whereupon Wal sent one of the prefects off to ask for news of my mate. From that day on Wal was a firm favourite of mine but I hated Trout to the very end. More of him later. I played scrum half for the under 15s and then the Second XV with a few matches for the First XV as a replacement when our regular number 9 was on boys county duty. One of my best mates was a guy named Dennis Hill who played full back, we were both staunch baggies fans and used to go down to the Hawthorns if we weren't on School rugby duty that Saturday.
Good to find you!
 
Hello Valmy,

I just logged in for the first time in days and saw your post! Welcome to the Forum! I was in 1A through to 5A then sagged and was demoted down to 6G. I don't recall a teacher called Seckington - the history-teacher I recall (apart from Trout) was Sandercock, who I recall was anything but tall and slim. However, he was a good teacher and I enjoyed his lessons. Strangely enough, I quite liked Trout, but can understand why he wasn't generally admired. I well remember that javelin incident - imagine the consequences if that had happened today... But we were made of sterner stuff back then, weren't we? Your anecdote of old Wal reinforces what I've always said, both at the time and afterwards, that he was an excellent teacher, a very human person, and would never (at least in my experience) lose his rag without good reason. My own feeling is that he used his rather off-putting appearance to good end, but behind the mask was a humourous and helpful person.

I look forward to more of your reminiscences!

G
 
Hi Valmy, welcome to the Forum and to the GD thread.
I never had Trout as a teacher but I never really thought much of him. If I remember correctly he was the Scout master of the GD Scout Troup 16th Birmingham (Bet that is long gone but there are now waiting lists to join the Scouts).

Wally Walker was the the only guy who in spite of his size could hide behind a tree in City Road and catch anyone running or otherwise misbehaving on the way up to the Canteen.

Most of my history lessons after the first year were with Geoff (Sandy) Sandercock.
 
Hi David, thanks for the welcome,
I had a lot of time for 'Richard' Hanney, he was my latin master and coaxed me to an O level pass. My languages grounding at GD (English, French, Spanish, Latin) stood me in good stead when I went on to study linguistics and French at university (In Sweden, would you believe?). Yes, after GD I swanned around for a bit and then went off hitchhiking round Scandinavia. I met and fell in love with a Swedish girl and stayed in Sweden for 43 (!) years working as a translator and interpreter. I am now happily retired with my wife in SW France (an hour from Bordeaux) and have seldom been back to the UK. In a way it's fun to have found this forum and search maybe for old schoolmates, even though I have very little contact now with the country of my birth - and that will become even more sporadic now that Brexit has been officially launched.
Best regards
Valmy
 
My only recollections of Mr Hanney was first as a student teacher when he sat in on Spanish classes given by Mr Long. Mr Long was someone who could always be led astray in class by an offbeat question when the rest of the period would develop into a general discussion on anything other than learning Spanish. A favourite question from one boy was "Sir, is General Franco still in power in Spain?". Many of us suspected that Mr Long had fought in the Spanish Civil War.

When Mr Hanney returned as a qualified teacher I had little to do with him but I do remember him saying grace in Latin at lunchtime. He was also one of the masters who escorted us on a school trip around France and I remember going with him to market to purchase supplies for our picnic lunch one day when he was attempting to get the market trader to understand Spanish as he did not speak French.

As for Latin we had Mr Proctor, (Nichotineus Rex we called him because his fingers were stained a bright yellow) but one year he had Terry Giblin to share the teaching of Latin. Terry, who was also with us on the French tour, was a brand new teacher and we ragged him unmercifully.

Valmy, here is one for you with your Swedish knowledge but it may not register with you at first because you have been out of the area for so long. Here in Britain we have buses going around saying "Not in Service". In Sweden they say "Ej i Trafik". If I tell that story anywhere else in the UK people don't understand it but in Birmingham and especially the Black Country they laugh because it comes out as "Ay in Trafic". The first time I saw it I immediately thought the driver must be a Black Country man.
 
Hej David och tack för svaret!
Yeah, ej I Trafik - it seemed a bit like all the buses were that! What a coincidence! I lived mostly in southern Sweden (I went to Lund University for 3 years then lived and worked in the city until 2002 when we moved to a house close to the Baltic coast (near Wahlander country).
Another Hanney story: he was a regular supporter at our home games, his support consisting mostly of strutting up and down the touchline jabbing at the turf with a rolled up brolly and bawling 'Quick heel GD!' every 5 minutes - even from lineouts! One match we were tonking the shite out of Lordswood Tech (always a fun thing) and I called out to my flyhalf 'Bloody walkover this!' as we ambled back to the halfway line after another try - Hanney gave me 100 lines from the touchline for swearing while representing the school.

I did French under Butch Winson while at 5 ways as well. I liked him even though he could be a bit sarky. One thing he was great at was giving us zany translations of standard French phrases, of course the easy ones like 'Moi Aussi - I am Australian', 'coup de grâce - the lawnmower' but my favourite was 'Tant pis tant mieux - my aunt, having relieved herself, felt a good deal better' ah, I still get a chuckle out of that!
Ha de bra!
Valmy
 
Valmy, One more Swedish item to remind you of your home and alma mater in Lund then we must revert to purely GD on this thread. The astronomical clock in Lund Cathedral.
DSCF0087 small.jpg

I was there in January 2011. I have two trips planned for Sweden: Halmstad in August for the crayfish and Malmo in January for a formal dinner. Other places visited Gothenburg, Stockholm and Uppsala.
 
Valmy if you played for the school aginst Lordswood, I don't know if you will be disappointed to know that for a time the Old Dixonians, which were renamed the Dixonians under the anti-discrimination laws because they could not restrict membership to old boys of the school, at one stage merged with Lordswood old boys to become Lordswood-Dixonians. I can tell you that they are back to being Dixonians RFC now
 
Thanks for the clock picture! Did you see it working? When midday strikes, the two knights at the top, in Danish and Swedish colours, begin hammering each other on the head with their swords!

Glad to hear that Dixonians are back to the original (almost) given the animosity between the two schools, I would have thought that was an uneasy partnership at best!
A last word on the rugby before all the ladies start deserting the site! We were a handy side, but no match for the heavies like King Henry VIII or Bablake School, but we did get some famous scalps when I was there, notably King Charles School and Walsall Grammar, regular supplier of players to the North Midlands Regional side, as it was then, including Jannie Webster, who played for England many times and was number 9 of the North/west Midlands XV who beat the VIIth All Blacks at the Reddings in 1974 (may not be the right year).
I always liked Mr Long, but he was very reserved towards me, a bit strange coming from such an affable, pleasant bloke as him. I found out later though, that he was Northern Irish catholic, while our family had roots in Northern Ireland, through my mom, but protestant! That would probably explain it, given the history of that troubled province.
Funnily enough, I know next to nothing about the history of the Girls' School, even though it was just up the road, so maybe it's over to the ladies to start posting again, great to have found this forum!
 
DavidGrain said:
Hi Valmy, welcome to the Forum and to the GD thread.
I never had Trout as a teacher but I never really thought much of him. If I remember correctly he was the Scout master of the GD Scout Troup 16th Birmingham (Bet that is long gone but there are now waiting lists to join the Scouts).

Wally Walker was the the only guy who in spite of his size could hide behind a tree in City Road and catch anyone running or otherwise misbehaving on the way up to the Canteen.

Most of my history lessons after the first year were with Geoff (Sandy) Sandercock.
Click to expand...

Poor old Trout seems to be getting a bad press; I thought I might add to it. I have two enduring memories of him.
He featured prominently in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, a rehearsal of which was recorded on a Grundig wire recorder by another member of staff who shall remain nameless, ( but I think it was Fisher or Fletcher). At one point Trout appeared in nightgown and cap holding an imitation candle, (that I had made), which failed to work. On the recording he was heard to ask, “What do I do with this thing.” Also on the recording, the owner of the machine could be heard telling him where he should stick it. Unfortunately, the machine owners wife was in the room at the time and, on recognising his voice, beat a hasty retreat.
I remember that, during a history lesson, we were required to stand in line as he asked each of us what we aspired to become when we were finally released from GD. I didn’t have a clue but, desperate to say something, I remembered that my father said that the MD of his company, (ICI), was a metallurgist so I thought that will do, (despite the fact that I didn‘t know what a metallurgist did). When I told Trout of my ambition, he looked me up and down and, in a voice guaranteed to flatten, said that I might need to lower my sights. Well, thanks to him, I managed to obtain 10% in the History mock GCE exam, (still a school record I believe), and entry into the Institution of Metallurgy as an Associate Member, later converted to MIM, C.Eng. Perhaps his words were a deliberate ploy to provoke me in to working harder. Funnily enough I now enjoy History.
 
Hi Acton!
Trout's teaching method was to stand with his back to the class, writing his own notes on the blackboard from a little black book held in his other hand - that was IT for the whole class. One term (relating to the Armada and The Elizabethan/Jacobean period) I memorised his notes by heart and just wrote them back at him during the end of term exam, he gave me 48/100 and said I wasn't trying! Actually I think the main reason for the mutual dislike was that I always defended France and the French Revolution and was a bit of an bolshie - which was not the done thing in the A stream!
 
I left GD in 1956 believing that Wally Walker was a descendent of Attila the Hun with a penchant for hauling folk up by their forelock. He heisted my friend Frank in this manner, (running in the quadrangle), and somehow managed to disengage Frank’s bracers. Frank was left standing on tip-toes trying to avoid severe hair loss while at the same time attempting to prevent his trousers from falling down. I still wake up sweating in the night thinking about it. Strangely, when I was caned it was not by Wal but by Tom Rumsby - he was such an inoffensive man that he apologised after every stroke and I swear that, if it had been in his remit, he would have administered an anaesthetic beforehand.
Harry Hayes was our form master and one the best - I owe a lot to him. He and Pongo Reeves took four of us to the Norfolk Broads on holiday - this was pre Jimmy Saville/Rolf Harris, can you imagine that happening now? I was charged with writing an account of the holiday for the school magazine but I chickened out and employed a ghost writer, (cost me a Mars Bar). Unfortunately, he used long words such as ‘accoutrements’, which Harry knew I didn’t know, and gave the game away. Harry, (I called him Gabby in those days but I wouldn’t sully his memory by calling him that now), wrote comments on my homework that I couldn’t read. When I asked him what it said he replied, “ If your writing gets any worse it will be as bad as mine!” His parting words to me when I left were, “I will miss you, you make me laugh.” I never discovered if he was referring to my humour, my features or my work.
 
Valmy said:
Hi Acton!
Trout's teaching method was to stand with his back to the class, writing his own notes on the blackboard from a little black book held in his other hand - that was IT for the whole class. One term (relating to the Armada and The Elizabethan/Jacobean period) I memorised his notes by heart and just wrote them back at him during the end of term exam, he gave me 48/100 and said I wasn't trying! Actually I think the main reason for the mutual dislike was that I always defended France and the French Revolution and was a bit of an bolshie - which was not the done thing in the A stream!
Click to expand...
Hi Valmy,
Sounds about right.
I blame Trout for breaking my thumb - it wasn't his fault but I still blame him.
He was CEO of the Danes at the time - the lowest achieving house in those days - and was desperately seeking mugs/volunteers for the cricket team. My friend Richards suggested we both put our names forward, and because we were the tallest, we were accepted. Unfortunately, the first match involved facing the school's principle fast bowler who kept hitting my bat with the ball which, much to his annoyance, resulted in runs. He became so annoyed that he stopped aiming at my bat and started aiming at my thumb which was protected by a cotton glove on to which was sewn a rubber potato scrubber, (where were Health and Safety when you needed them?) The result was a thumb the size of a cucumber and a trip to A & E. I left GD about three weeks later and vowed never to volunteer for anything again.
As for History, I can't say I remember him talking about history - hence my score in the mock GCE.
 
A new slant: does anyone know if any of the masters were themselves Old Dixonians? All in all I found the masters to be a great bunch of guys, with the odd exception see above, but I hardly know anything about them. I can well imagine that Tom Long fought in the Spanish War, but he being a catholic, on which side?
 
Big Gee said:
Hello Valmy,

I just logged in for the first time in days and saw your post! Welcome to the Forum! I was in 1A through to 5A then sagged and was demoted down to 6G. I don't recall a teacher called Seckington - the history-teacher I recall (apart from Trout) was Sandercock, who I recall was anything but tall and slim. However, he was a good teacher and I enjoyed his lessons. Strangely enough, I quite liked Trout, but can understand why he wasn't generally admired. I well remember that javelin incident - imagine the consequences if that had happened today... But we were made of sterner stuff back then, weren't we? Your anecdote of old Wal reinforces what I've always said, both at the time and afterwards, that he was an excellent teacher, a very human person, and would never (at least in my experience) lose his rag without good reason. My own feeling is that he used his rather off-putting appearance to good end, but behind the mask was a humourous and helpful person.

I look forward to more of your reminiscences!

G
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Hi Big Gee,
Sorry it was remiss of me not to answer your message. So, thanks! I did get into Wal's bad books once tho' I was called to his study after I had chucked a kid in the deep end at swimming class (I think that was in Harborne) although the kid couldn't swim! We quickly got him out again, but news travelled fast and before I knew it I was in his study fully expecting a few caresses from 'Kitty'. My only line of defence, which I put to Wal with all the firmness of a man facing the firing squad, was quite simply 'if he couldn't swim what was he doing up at the deep end' Amazingly, Wal accepted this and I got off with a stern 'use your head', but I was shaking all the way back to the classroom. Yes, as you say, we were a bit tougher then!
 
Valmy said:
A new slant: does anyone know if any of the masters were themselves Old Dixonians? All in all I found the masters to be a great bunch of guys, with the odd exception see above, but I hardly know anything about them. I can well imagine that Tom Long fought in the Spanish War, but he being a catholic, on which side?
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Tom Long told us quite plainly that he fought as part of the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. I liked him a lot, but as someone else has said he was easily diverted from his lesson plan. On one occasion, he told us in detail how they would search a house for hidden valuables, etc. It took up most of the lesson.
 
Valmy said:
Hej David och tack för svaret!
Yeah, ej I Trafik - it seemed a bit like all the buses were that! What a coincidence! I lived mostly in southern Sweden (I went to Lund University for 3 years then lived and worked in the city until 2002 when we moved to a house close to the Baltic coast (near Wahlander country).
Another Hanney story: he was a regular supporter at our home games, his support consisting mostly of strutting up and down the touchline jabbing at the turf with a rolled up brolly and bawling 'Quick heel GD!' every 5 minutes - even from lineouts! One match we were tonking the shite out of Lordswood Tech (always a fun thing) and I called out to my flyhalf 'Bloody walkover this!' as we ambled back to the halfway line after another try - Hanney gave me 100 lines from the touchline for swearing while representing the school.

I did French under Butch Winson while at 5 ways as well. I liked him even though he could be a bit sarky. One thing he was great at was giving us zany translations of standard French phrases, of course the easy ones like 'Moi Aussi - I am Australian', 'coup de grâce - the lawnmower' but my favourite was 'Tant pis tant mieux - my aunt, having relieved herself, felt a good deal better' ah, I still get a chuckle out of that!
Ha de bra!
Valmy
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I remember Mr Hanney's particular style of encouragement at rugby matches. Sometimes, we also had Mr Walker on the touchline. His favourite instruction was to 'boot on!' as soon as the ball went loose. Incidentally, whilst people are referring to him variously as Wal, Wally or the Pork, etc. in my Dad's time at the school he was known as 'Piggy' Walker. Just developments on the theme I suppose. Harsh that so many pupils likened him to a farmyard animal - presumably from an early stage.
 
BrumBum said:
I remember Mr Hanney's particular style of encouragement at rugby matches. Sometimes, we also had Mr Walker on the touchline. His favourite instruction was to 'boot on!' as soon as the ball went loose. Incidentally, whilst people are referring to him variously as Wal, Wally or the Pork, etc. in my Dad's time at the school he was known as 'Piggy' Walker. Just developments on the theme I suppose. Harsh that so many pupils likened him to a farmyard animal - presumably from an early stage.
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Hi Brumbum,
In the early fifties when I attended GD, Walker was always refered to as Piggy - not anywhere near him you understand; not in the same county if you had any sense. The rumour was that his profile was due to the fact that he had been gassed in WWl. I remember him describing how times had changed and that, before the war, he was able to sunbathe in the nude in his garden and no one would turn a hair, and thinking that the sight of him in the nude was more likely to turn a stomach than a hair. Why he would want to saddle us with that image I'll never know.
Once, he thought about removing a one and a half inch splinter out of my backside with a pair of scissors but, thank God, decided to send me to A & E instead. His cane was the least of my worries.
 
Have been away for a few days and am surprised at how many Old Dix's have posted on this thread since. Wal was often referred to as "The Pork" in my day.

In answer to Valmy about Lund in Sweden. We thought the clock in the cathedral was a bit of an anti-climax so the operator re-ran the movements for us. Because that part of Sweden had formerly been in Denmark, the local Swedes thought it a huge joke to say that they had the oldest Danish cathedral.
 
In answer to a question about whether any of the masters were themselves Old Dixonians I did read a newspaper article many years ago about Harold Bond who when he was in his nineties it was said that he was the oldest Old Dixonian. I remember him as being the master in charge of the stationery cupboard handing out new exercise books when we produced our old books. I think he taught Maths. He had never taught at any other school.

I went back to the school in 1906 for the open day to celebrate 100 years on the City Road site. The Assistant Headmaster in charge of the days events was wearing a Dixonians red, green & black tie which was the school tie in those days. I wish I still had my school tie which was green with red pinstripes in pairs.

I guessed that Tom Long was a catholic because he was one of the masters who took charge of the Jews and Catholics during morning assembly from which they were excused. I did see him many years later in Waitrose Harborne picking out tomatoes.
 
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