Recent content by Howard Newman

Unlike the tradition of Hogwarts School, Sandwell School only had three Houses - at least during the closing years when I attended. Students were assigned to a House on first entry and required to wear a coloured button to denote their attachment. House of Tudor - Green House of Windsor - Red...

The Netherlands League of Physical Culture has held an annual walking/marching festival in Nijmegen since 1912 - although I suspect that years of war and pandemic have been given a miss. In 1958 approximately 12,000 people participated, including some 600 from the British Army of which twelve...

Headmaster R. A. F. Newton-Hearn was always referred to as 'Sir', as far as I can recall, and it is only very recently that I learnt that he had real names like us students - he was Richard Albert Francis. According to the English Register of 1939, the occupation of Richard A. F. Newton-Hearn...

Printing the whole of the school photograph in a much smaller size would make the people unrecognizable. Therefore, the attached photograph of the central portion is a compromise - apologies to the rest of the 216 students that did not make the cut. At centre is the Head Master, R. A. F...

There are at least a couple of boys sitting crossed-legged on the ground that could be described as 'crunched up'. I was awarded a chair and am seated next to the white-coated cook. The school photograph indicates that the 'new' uniform was introduced in about the summer of 1958 for new...

I attended Sandwell from January 1957 to December 1960 and for most of that time Lt. Col. P. J. Gething M.C. looked after the sports program for the older students as well as the Army Cadets - boys only. Colonel Gething retired during the latter part of 1960 but he was still around in October of...