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George Dixons Grammar School

Hi Terrypin,
Was he the maths master who made us do pretty little pictures with coloured in crayons of right angled triangles trying to demonstrate the pythagorus theorem ,talk about boring!
Bodge
 
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Hi terrypin, Its just come back to me now.The maths master was I think a Mr Dutton.He did drill into us the basics of trig.
Toodlepip
Bodge
 
When we were in the 6th form,at lunchtime,we hated school dinners so we used to walk straight past the dining hall entrance and continue walking up City road,up to Bearwood,into Woolworths to buy a packet of biscuits with our dinner money then go and play bowls on the bowling green at bearwood park.We would the sneak back to scchool in time for afternoon lessons.Once we saw old Rumbo on City road but amazingly he didnt say anything, he was some way off!
Bodge
 
Old Summerton was a good teacher. He used to dictate the notes slowly so that we could all write it down.I did quite alright in Physics in spite of my doing Biology instead of A level maths.He used to sit right at the front upstairs on the Portland rd 7 bus, which was the one I used to take from the Council House square in the centre of Brum up to GD.I made sure I was wearing my school cap when he was on the bus!.He used to carry the most battered old briefcase. A real eccentric but quite friendly.
Bodge
 
Who was the chap who used to come in from outside to teach the violin .I will always be grateful to him.Im still playing it now.I left in 1957.I remember old Fletcher, he used to play the organ in the church next door and he assembled a brilliant school choir.I think we used to go into that church at least twic a week after morning assembly.We used to march out to his favourite piece of music, The toccata and fuge in D minor by Bach.Very rousing.It is a poignant reminder of GD every time I hear it!
Toodlepip.
Bodge
 
I think the violin tutor was a Mr Williams not to be confused with one of the masters with the same name. He also acted as the Leader in the school orchestra.

Cecil Fisher, who was the senior English master, conducted the school orchestra and composed music for school plays. Personally I think he was a better musician than Geoff Fletcher, the music master who in my recollection only taught us music theory once a year and spent all the other music lessons as hymn practice. Geoff Fletcher was also organist and choir master at St Martin's-in-the Bull Ring and used the school choir as a recruiting centre for the church choir. The combined school and church choir were good enough to have their own programme on BBC Radio one Christmas when they were billed as the Geoffrey Fletcher Singers.

I would have loved to have seen the school choir competing in the present day BBC School Choir of the year competition as I know they could have won it, especially singing 'Let us now praise Famous Men' which in my day was effectively the school song,
A not very good quality recording of the song by an American choir
 
Thanks for that David,
GD was a good musical school.It made for a good ethos and infiltrated into school life in many ways.I rememember the orchestra going up to Manchester to play in the famous Methodist
Great Hall in front of a large audience.We were all nervous but I think we did alright.Fisher conducted us there.Do you remember having a lesson once a week I think singing English folk songs in front of old Fletch? We played for the school production of Iolanthe and The Pirates of Penzance, Ive still got the old programme somewhere.
Bodge
 
Geoff Fletcher in my day never had us singing folk songs, the music lessons were always hymn practice except as I said once a year we either got a record of Dvorak's New World Symphony or a lecture on the history of music. Although there was a stack of records in the cupboard in Room 1, Dvorak was the only one I heard playing.

Wednesday morning Period 1 was the full school's hymn practice which would be lead by Geoff Fletcher with Ces Fisher taking over on the organ if we were in church or on the piano if we were in the school hall. If Ces Fisher was conducting the orchestra then Geoff 'Sandy' Sandercock, the history master would play the piano.

I remember both Iolanthe and The Pirates of Penzance as the annual school plays. I don't remember any of the years when we had straight plays. The Parents Association also put on an annual play for which the school orchestra played.

A few years ago, I had an occasion to attend a Sunday morning service in St Martin's. No choir, just a cantrix leading the singing and the organ had not been played since 2004. Geoff Fletcher must have been turning in his grave.
 
David
Blimey youve got a good memory! In the lecture theatre the door to the girls school I seem to remember was occasionly opened by one of the girls and one of the girls was shoved into the theatre by another girl accompanied by her protestations and laughter by the boys,who were listening to a lecture by the likes of Kipper or Wally!
Bodge
 
Yes technically the Lecture Theatre, which also doubled as a science class room was shared between the two schools but I think the boys school monopolised it. I think the lecture theatre was shared with both boys and girls sometimes after school hours for film shows but the only film I can remember seeing was of the Thomas Hardy novel The Mayor of Casterbridge but only because we were doing that book in English Litt.
 
Another musical connection at GD was Kipper Print (full name Harold Celestine Print) who was a past Chairman of West Bromwich Operatic Society. I liked old Kipper, whose chemistry lessons were usually quite entertaining. He was also very easily distracted - as he'd been in the RFC and RAF in WW1, all you had to do was put your hand up and ask him something like 'what engine was in the Sopwith Camel'....

G
 
I remember being shown the film in the lecture theatre of Henry V with Laurence Olivier,quite inspirational.During lunch break we used to sit around in the lecture theatre and there was one bloke who used to do A level maths problems as a hobby! He went on to get 98% in A level maths and a v good mark in Scholarship Level maths.He got the only State Scholarship
grant,the rest of us got City Majors in that year.I know he went to Birmingham University to the department of Mathematical Physics.Phew! Ive no idea where he is now, I would like to know.
Bodge
 
Another genius was a character in the year above us when we were in the 6th Form.
His name was Thompson,a good name for a potential scientist.He was very laid back,he used lounge against the wall and speak with a drawl! In those days it used to be the done thing to give the appearance of doing very little work and still getting good results in the finals.It used to drive Wally mad,he used to lambast us,trying to galvanise us into action!
Bodge
 
The school captain was in my year.He married a GD girl,Monica I think her name was.
Roy played rugby for the North Midlands as well as for the school.I met him and his wife about 25 years ago.He was awarded the CMG. for services to the Commonwealth.
Bodge
 
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David
I have emailed the school to see if their archivist can unearth one which I can buy.
I phoned them up first. They were surprised and puzzled, but said send an email.
Bodge.
 
Hi grandslam03 and Terrypin.Sounds like you play bridge 03. Hi from Cranleigh!
Toodlepip
Bodge
 
Theres a story going about that the producer of Dixon of Dock Green went to GD.Hence the character George Dixon, the policeman played by Jack Warner.Can anybody confirm this?
Also a character called Oscar Deutch created the Odeon cinema chain, viz. Oscar Deutch Entertains Our Nation!?? He also supposedly went to GD.
Toodlepip,
Bodge
 
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