George Dixons Grammar School

[David Hart]

I remember Eli and Michael from junior school, there was a Mark Goldberg?
rosie.

Never knew a Mark Goldberg. I remember Michael was always into music whereas Eli was athletic and better looking. I lost contact with both. I have a feeling Eli was a GP in Leamington.

 

[Harry Flashman]

Of course I remember the two Pedazurs. Eli went on to become a doctor and was a GP somewhere in the Midlands but retired a few years ago and is no longer registered with the GMC. Michael I didn’t know so well but I remember they both looked very different and lived in Barnsley Road which Leads to City Road so not far from the school. They were Jewish too and I remember their father too and met them socially as well.
I don’t remember Mark Gold at all. Have you any news of them all now?

No David. I lost touch with the Pedazur's after GD. Mark Goldberg and I saw each other socially for ten years or so, after GD. Sadly, I lost touch with Mark when I moved to the United States in 1986.

 

[David Hart]

No David. I lost touch with the Pedazur's after GD. Mark Goldberg and I saw each other socially for ten years or so, after GD. Sadly, I lost touch with Mark when I moved to the United States in 1986.

The Pedazurs changed their surname to Leyton for some reason but I have no contact with either of them. They must both be around 66 or 67 years old now.

 

[DavidGrain]

Yes GD was very popular in the Jewish community. I remember three Jewish boys in my year and there were also two boys with Germanic names whose ancestry I suspect was Jewish. I am not Jewish but some people over the years have thought I might be. I have had people say Mazel Tov to me.

I used to have the job of making the tea three times a day for the teaching staff and when I left I passed that role on to two Jewish boys in the year below me.

Some years ago I was on a computer programming course where our tutor was Jewish and one of my fellow students was Jewish. The Jewish student told me that he went to St Philips, and I asked him why he had not gone to GD and he said that his father had been at GD and for some reason he did not want to be in his father's shadow.

 

[David Hart]

Yes GD was very popular in the Jewish community. I remember three Jewish boys in my year and there were also two boys with Germanic names whose ancestry I suspect was Jewish. I am not Jewish but some people over the years have thought I might be. I have had people say Mazel Tov to me.

I used to have the job of making the tea three times a day for the teaching staff and when I left I passed that role on to two Jewish boys in the year below me.

Some years ago I was on a computer programming course where our tutor was Jewish and one of my fellow students was Jewish. The Jewish student told me that he went to St Philips, and I asked him why he had not gone to GD and he said that his father had been at GD and for some reason he did not want to be in his father's shadow.

This is all very interesting. Also I didn’t know a boy had been specifically tasked with making tea for teaching staff three times a day. Wouldn’t happen nowadays.
In my day there were quite a few Jewish boys in the school.

 

[DavidGrain]

This is all very interesting. Also I didn’t know a boy had been specifically tasked with making tea for teaching staff three times a day. Wouldn’t happen nowadays.
In my day there were quite a few Jewish boys in the school.

There were three of us sharing the role. We worked a rota two at a time. We were all volunteers. On parents days at Five Ways two of us used to go to Five Ways to spend the afternoon there making tea for the parents but that was not so much fun as the caretaker and his wife used to do the staff teas there and they thought they knew how to do it better than we did. On parents day at City Road, I was able to ask my mother if she would like a cup of tea while she was talking to my form master. That same year I also sorted out the filing system in the school secretary's office filing about two years copies of the school reports in the individual boy's files. Oh and I also did my O levels as a side line.
If we had had Work Experience in those days I think I could have said I did my work experience in the school office.

 

[David Hart]

There were three of us sharing the role. We worked a rota two at a time. We were all volunteers. On parents days at Five Ways two of us used to go to Five Ways to spend the afternoon there making tea for the parents but that was not so much fun as the caretaker and his wife used to do the staff teas there and they thought they knew how to do it better than we did. On parents day at City Road, I was able to ask my mother if she would like a cup of tea while she was talking to my form master. That same year I also sorted out the filing system in the school secretary's office filing about two years copies of the school reports in the individual boy's files. Oh and I also did my O levels as a side line.
If we had had Work Experience in those days I think I could have said I did my work experience in the school office.

A very interesting account, thanks for sharing it. You must be the king of tea making! My whole time at GD was spent in City Road, Five Ways had closed by then.

 

[DavidGrain]

A very interesting account, thanks for sharing it. You must be the king of tea making! My whole time at GD was spent in City Road, Five Ways had closed by then.

I hate tea and never drink it. The same applied to all three of us, yet the one perk we were allowed was a free cup of tea for doing the work!

 

[David Hart]

I hate tea and never drink it. The same applied to all three of us, yet the one perk we were allowed was a free cup of tea for doing the work!

How very interesting! I remember the 1/3 pint glass milk bottles in crates. They were distributed each morning to classrooms and used initially to be outside the school main entrance. There was a prefect in charge of the distribution and I remember Steven Linden fulfilling this role in my later years at the school.
one of my greatest memories is of Les Summerton the Head of Physics. He used to each morning stand on the stage and always said boys requiring dinner tickets should see him in the ante-hall after the assembly. He was a large tall man who always wore braces with his trousers mostly up to chest level!
i have fond memories too of David Proctor the Latin teacher who always smelled of nicotine and whose fingers were yellow from his chain smoking.
Cecil Fisher I came to know well as we usually got off the number 9 bus at the King’s Head and then walked from there to the school on the mornings he worked, he was then part-time.

 

[DavidGrain]

Going back to the school orchestra. L.E.Olver 'Leo' was my form master in Form 3B. Our form room was then in room 15 which was a pre-fab in the Back Quad. I remember that once a week Leo would collect all the school registers and go through them. I think he did the stats for absences from school which probably had to be reported to Margaret Street as the City Education Dept was always called.

As for David Proctor, Latin master, we gave him the nickname Nicotinus Rex because of his yellow fingers.

 

[David Hart]

Going back to the school orchestra. L.E.Olver 'Leo' was my form master in Form 3B. Our form room was then in room 15 which was a pre-fab in the Back Quad. I remember that once a week Leo would collect all the school registers and go through them. I think he did the stats for absences from school which probably had to be reported to Margaret Street as the City Education Dept was always called.

As for David Proctor, Latin master, we gave him the nickname Nicotinus Rex because of his yellow fingers.

Absolutely correct About Mr Olver and Proctor. I have fond memories of Mr Hannay too. He was strict, had a loud shout and Always wore his black gown. He was small stature and very rotund. I think he was a Bachelor and lived with his mother.
I remember well the Headmaster Mr Mends and his Deputy Mr Gibson who was the strictor of the two and more of a disciplinarian. When starting at the School in 1964 I remember the then Headmaster Mr T W Rumsby, a small man with round glasses and very very Kind and softly spoken. He lived near me off Lordswood Road.
A Memory too of Mr Masterton a Physics teacher. He was then Young and ambitious and a very good teacher. I heard he's retired now but still alive.
Remember Mr Fletcher as well. Choirmaster and Organist in St Martin's Church at the Bullring. He coined the Phrase "Dunderheaded lump of green-blazered twerpery"! He said this to any Boy he considered stupid or errant.
Then there was thge P.E teacher Mr Gair who I found rather aggressive and who more than once hit me over my buttocks with my Trainers.
Mr Hayes, metalwork and Mr Prowser, woodwork also stick in my mind.

 

[Janet777]

Hi all
I looked at this thread because I had a number of friends who went to GD, on the offchance of contacting one or more of them again. My eye was caught by the mention of a Mrs Chatwin - would she by any chance be the Mrs V B (Vera, I seem to remember) Chatwin who later became head of Broadway School, where I taught for a number of years?

By the way, my friends included Gary Watson, Marlene Hall, Christine Groves and Linda (Lynda?) .....damn, can't remember her surname, but she was a close friend of Marlene's!

Graham

I knew Marlene Hall. She was in my class.

 

[Harry Flashman]

Absolutely correct About Mr Olver and Proctor. I have fond memories of Mr Hannay too. He was strict, had a loud shout and Always wore his black gown. He was small stature and very rotund. I think he was a Bachelor and lived with his mother.
I remember well the Headmaster Mr Mends and his Deputy Mr Gibson who was the strictor of the two and more of a disciplinarian. When starting at the School in 1964 I remember the then Headmaster Mr T W Rumsby, a small man with round glasses and very very Kind and softly spoken. He lived near me off Lordswood Road.
A Memory too of Mr Masterton a Physics teacher. He was then Young and ambitious and a very good teacher. I heard he's retired now but still alive.
Remember Mr Fletcher as well. Choirmaster and Organist in St Martin's Church at the Bullring. He coined the Phrase "Dunderheaded lump of green-blazered twerpery"! He said this to any Boy he considered stupid or errant.
Then there was thge P.E teacher Mr Gair who I found rather aggressive and who more than once hit me over my buttocks with my Trainers.
Mr Hayes, metalwork and Mr Prowser, woodwork also stick in my mind.

I remember Francis Caplin, the young French teacher. There was also a very attractive young female French teacher who taught we, the very testosterone laden lads, of the 4th form. Forget her name, but not her mini skirts.

 

[BARTLEY GREEN]

I've been following this thread for a while now and it has brought back a lot of memories long since forgotten. I am prompted to respond for the first time following recent mention of one or two former pupils who I do remember. In particular Mark Goldberg who I was quite pally with but lost touch with when I left GD. An avid Wolves fan who modelled his footballing prowess on David Wagstaff who played on the left wing for Wolves at the time. I know he went on to work in Animal Rights writing a number of books and including one on his beloved Wolves.
I started in 1963 in 1A but quickly found my level among the C steam ending up in 6G before leaving in 1969.
I well remember Rudolph Smith from those early days and didn't relish facing him at Cricket in inter house games between the Britons and Saxons. I still remember one ball in particular rising off a full length and whistling past my ear.
I think the head boy when I started was called Wainwright and when I left in 1969 I think it was Martin Ashcroft.
Other names I remember over the years are Alan George, Geoff Benton, Timothy Taylor, Paul Mayhew, Tony Barron, Bernard Coulson etc.
The very attractive young female French teacher with the mini skirts was Miss Lewis who was from Wales, if I remember correctly. Hard to believe she must be in her early seventies now. I also remember reading about Mr Caplin's suicide in the Daily Mirror while travelling on the coach to the Lakes District on holiday. Such a shame and hard to believe I'd only last seen him a few weeks before.
My favourite subject was Engineering Drawing and in particular I remember 'lines in space' which took me ages to get the hang of but once I did then they were easy and never gave me any trouble until it came to doing the 'O' level and couldn't work it out at all. In the end I just wrote 'this is impossible' and left it at that. I never did find out whether or not it was impossible but I passed anyway although, sad to say, it hasn't been of any use to me since.
After leaving GD in 1969 I went to work for Rabone Petersen who were then in Exeter Street, Holloway Head and met up with Peter Ordidge who had been a prefect at GD when I started. As has previously been mentioned in this thread Rabone Petersen was owned by the Dixon family and George Dixon's grandson Norman Dixon was chairman. I do remember the photograph of George Dixon which he had in his office.

 

[Harry Flashman]

We must have been in the same classes. Jed Paul was one of my favorite teachers and although I found lines in space difficult at first, once I grasped the process I had no further problems. I even managed to get a Grade 3 'O' Level in ED. I remember Geoff Benton, the great competition swimmer and also Tim Taylor. Paul Mayhew was a fellow biker and I remember riding on the back of his Rocket Gold Star up City Road and past the GD girls bus stop. The girls screams, although nearly drowned out by the exhaust note of the bike, were a result of our apparently passing the green gaggle at 'well beyond' the speed limit.

 

[DPD]

I've been following this thread for a while now and it has brought back a lot of memories long since forgotten. I am prompted to respond for the first time following recent mention of one or two former pupils who I do remember. In particular Mark Goldberg who I was quite pally with but lost touch with when I left GD. An avid Wolves fan who modelled his footballing prowess on David Wagstaff who played on the left wing for Wolves at the time. I know he went on to work in Animal Rights writing a number of books and including one on his beloved Wolves.
I started in 1963 in 1A but quickly found my level among the C steam ending up in 6G before leaving in 1969.
I well remember Rudolph Smith from those early days and didn't relish facing him at Cricket in inter house games between the Britons and Saxons. I still remember one ball in particular rising off a full length and whistling past my ear.
I think the head boy when I started was called Wainwright and when I left in 1969 I think it was Martin Ashcroft.
Other names I remember over the years are Alan George, Geoff Benton, Timothy Taylor, Paul Mayhew, Tony Barron, Bernard Coulson etc.
The very attractive young female French teacher with the mini skirts was Miss Lewis who was from Wales, if I remember correctly. Hard to believe she must be in her early seventies now. I also remember reading about Mr Caplin's suicide in the Daily Mirror while travelling on the coach to the Lakes District on holiday. Such a shame and hard to believe I'd only last seen him a few weeks before.
My favourite subject was Engineering Drawing and in particular I remember 'lines in space' which took me ages to get the hang of but once I did then they were easy and never gave me any trouble until it came to doing the 'O' level and couldn't work it out at all. In the end I just wrote 'this is impossible' and left it at that. I never did find out whether or not it was impossible but I passed anyway although, sad to say, it hasn't been of any use to me since.
After leaving GD in 1969 I went to work for Rabone Petersen who were then in Exeter Street, Holloway Head and met up with Peter Ordidge who had been a prefect at GD when I started. As has previously been mentioned in this thread Rabone Petersen was owned by the Dixon family and George Dixon's grandson Norman Dixon was chairman. I do remember the photograph of George Dixon which he had in his office.

Thank you for your post--it's good to hear these accounts, they are the life of who we have come to be. Yes, the Head Boy in your 1st year was Ray Wainwright. Ray joined GD in '58 and was the last boy to 'jump' the 5th form having achieved all he needed in 'O' Levels taken in the 4th year to go straight into the Lower Science 6th. Ray was a superb leader; he was patrol leader of the Wolves in the School Scout troup and became a role model for me; he was a great encourager and helped me enormously. Such were Ray's leadership qualities he drove a coach and horses through the usual format for choosing Head Boy and was a year younger than the prefect cohort that he led. He was Normans House captain, a superb athlete and physically very powerful; he won victor laudorum on school sports day. He won a place to read Medicine at Barts but because he was too young went on VSO for a year, I think to Nigeria. I think he may have become a consultant cardiologist. If Ray were to be reading this, I hope I've got the story right; in any case, he is one of those whom I would like to meet to thank personally.

 

[DavidGrain]

The talk of Engineering Drawing took me back to thinking about the new desks which were purchased for Room 6 especially for that subject and the dire consequences threatened for any boy who damaged them. Fortunately, I was never required to do that subject as my artistic abilities were such that I would have made a complete mess of it. However it made me think that being a draughtsman was considered a good career choice for boys in those days. I remember that the companies I worked for in my early career all had large Drawing Offices, but where are they now? Computer aided design has probably deskilled that job.

 

[Harry Flashman]

I've been following this thread for a while now and it has brought back a lot of memories long since forgotten. I am prompted to respond for the first time following recent mention of one or two former pupils who I do remember. In particular Mark Goldberg who I was quite pally with but lost touch with when I left GD. An avid Wolves fan who modelled his footballing prowess on David Wagstaff who played on the left wing for Wolves at the time. I know he went on to work in Animal Rights writing a number of books and including one on his beloved Wolves.
I started in 1963 in 1A but quickly found my level among the C steam ending up in 6G before leaving in 1969.
I well remember Rudolph Smith from those early days and didn't relish facing him at Cricket in inter house games between the Britons and Saxons. I still remember one ball in particular rising off a full length and whistling past my ear.
I think the head boy when I started was called Wainwright and when I left in 1969 I think it was Martin Ashcroft.
Other names I remember over the years are Alan George, Geoff Benton, Timothy Taylor, Paul Mayhew, Tony Barron, Bernard Coulson etc.
The very attractive young female French teacher with the mini skirts was Miss Lewis who was from Wales, if I remember correctly. Hard to believe she must be in her early seventies now. I also remember reading about Mr Caplin's suicide in the Daily Mirror while travelling on the coach to the Lakes District on holiday. Such a shame and hard to believe I'd only last seen him a few weeks before.
My favourite subject was Engineering Drawing and in particular I remember 'lines in space' which took me ages to get the hang of but once I did then they were easy and never gave me any trouble until it came to doing the 'O' level and couldn't work it out at all. In the end I just wrote 'this is impossible' and left it at that. I never did find out whether or not it was impossible but I passed anyway although, sad to say, it hasn't been of any use to me since.
After leaving GD in 1969 I went to work for Rabone Petersen who were then in Exeter Street, Holloway Head and met up with Peter Ordidge who had been a prefect at GD when I started. As has previously been mentioned in this thread Rabone Petersen was owned by the Dixon family and George Dixon's grandson Norman Dixon was chairman. I do remember the photograph of George Dixon which he had in his office.

John I do remember you. I believe you used to set in a group with Mark Goldberg and Geoff Benton. You were in what I would call a civilized group, whereas I sat with the uncivilized group of Alec Macdonald, Harvey Burrows and (forgotten his first name) Morgan. I have to say that I didn't really apply myself with any seriousness in getting a good education. I look back at those times as being bitter-sweet, with happy times being clouded over with the memories of squandered opportunities. However, I've done quite well since GD days, but really cannot say that anything I learned there gave me a leg up in life.

 

[PhilipC]

I started in form 1A in September 1969, with Johnny Noon also as my form master. Were we in the same class?

Hello Nigel R, I too started at GD in form 1A in September 1969, thereafter 2F to 5F and then into the Sixth form. So we must have been in the same class as Kenneth Bladon.
I have fond and not so fond memories of GD, particularly the rather sadistic teachers such as Mends, Trout, Gibson...

 

[ExeterKen]

I went to GD in 1959 and left in 1964 after taking 'O' Levels and without bothering to go back to collect my solitary certificate. There was only one master who inspired me and he taught English language. I think he joined about 1960 and left in 1963 and he may have been called Owens although I can't be sure. Whatever his name, I owe him a debt of gratitude because I've earned a fair proportion of my income from writing over the years. For the rest... Pat Hanks was great - art teacher and enthusiastic although he lost some of the work that I would have liked to keep. Mr Trout was hopeless. He would start writing at the top left of blackboard 1, continuing across boards 2 & 3 and if you hadn't finished copying what he had written on board 1 by the time he'd finished board 3, too bad because he wiped it off and carried on. He was a keen Gilbert & Sullivan fan and we used to work hard at getting him to sing some of the material from the operettas. If we could do that the lesson was finished. Mr Wetters seemed very aptly named. He taught divinity and biology but how he managed to reconcile those two I can't recall. Mr Hannay tried to teach me Latin and failed. Each report carried a note to the effect of 'He finds the subject very difficult' until he knew that I wasn't carrying on with it the next term when he wrote 'He is a defeatist'. Anybody remember the record club in the woodwork shop? Some boys went into the city centre to get the latest Beatles album one day and we could have a track of our choice played in return for a sixpence which went into a collection for (I think) the Freedom from Hunger campaign. No, they weren't great days. I hated school and was glad to be free of it. Odd, then, that I was awarded a first class honours in history in 2017 at the Open University and am now studying for a Masters at Exeter.

 

[Harry Flashman]

I went to GD in 1959 and left in 1964 after taking 'O' Levels and without bothering to go back to collect my solitary certificate. There was only one master who inspired me and he taught English language. I think he joined about 1960 and left in 1963 and he may have been called Owens although I can't be sure. Whatever his name, I owe him a debt of gratitude because I've earned a fair proportion of my income from writing over the years. For the rest... Pat Hanks was great - art teacher and enthusiastic although he lost some of the work that I would have liked to keep. Mr Trout was hopeless. He would start writing at the top left of blackboard 1, continuing across boards 2 & 3 and if you hadn't finished copying what he had written on board 1 by the time he'd finished board 3, too bad because he wiped it off and carried on. He was a keen Gilbert & Sullivan fan and we used to work hard at getting him to sing some of the material from the operettas. If we could do that the lesson was finished. Mr Wetters seemed very aptly named. He taught divinity and biology but how he managed to reconcile those two I can't recall. Mr Hannay tried to teach me Latin and failed. Each report carried a note to the effect of 'He finds the subject very difficult' until he knew that I wasn't carrying on with it the next term when he wrote 'He is a defeatist'. Anybody remember the record club in the woodwork shop? Some boys went into the city centre to get the latest Beatles album one day and we could have a track of our choice played in return for a sixpence which went into a collection for (I think) the Freedom from Hunger campaign. No, they weren't great days. I hated school and was glad to be free of it. Odd, then, that I was awarded a first class honours in history in 2017 at the Open University and am now studying for a Masters at Exeter.

For me, GD was a real eye opener. From the outset, we first former’s were treated to the ubiquitous indoctrination speeches that we were, “…the top 22% of the country’s brains.” This because we had passed the 11 plus exam. So, for me, it started out on a fairly positive note. Unfortunately, the standard of teaching, from my perspective then and now, was appalling. My belief is that a good teacher instills in a pupil the thirst to learn. But as a successful teacher friend of mine (a GD survivor) pointed out, many of us were treated to a varying diet of sarcasm, slapping, hair pulling and general abuse.

I remember the teacher 'M' we had for Geography and Gym., bending over a boy and kicking him so hard in the center of his backside that the victim had problems for days afterwards. That same teacher would make us have showers after Gym. which was fair enough, but he always made sure to turn the valve to just above cold.

Thrown wooden blackboard dusters were a regular feature which bounced off many heads, always leaving a livid mark. We had a French teacher in the first form, his name began with a 'W'. He would just sit there letting an an audio visual aid do all the work. If we had a question or didn’t understand a phrase or word, we would be called stupid. He also delighted in throwing insults, “stupid toad” comes to mind.

I can only speak for myself, but the enthusiasm I began with soon waned and instead of respecting the teaching staff, I started to dislike many of them. I do remember one class where I had the temerity to ask the teacher “why” a certain ‘O’ Level problem was resolved that way. I was told to, “shut up and learn it parrot fashion.” Thankfully, there were 'the few' who did their very best to encourage learning and I shall always be grateful to them.

There are probably more negative memories buried in my old brain but for me and others, GD was not all it was cracked up to be. Perhaps when I attended, some teachers were still living off past glories, while others were deeply unhappy creatures with miserable lives, making sure to share that misery with GD's pupils.

 

[Big Gee]

I agree - there certainly were some duff teachers at GD, but I expect the same went for most other secondary schools. Certain teachers, once they had picked out who the 'brain-boxes' were, concentrated only on them, and the rest of us - me included - received little or no attention. I suppose at the end of the day a teacher's performance was rated by the number of 'O' and 'A'-Level passes his pupils acheived. In my case, I also suffered from 'exam phobia' in many subjects, maths and physics in particular. Odd how I managed to pass A-Levels at day-release, after I started work.

G

 

[BarnesHill]

I look at that calendar and remember many of the teachers. Mr.Hanney taught me Spanish (got my Spanish O'Level thanks to him) ; Madame Barsoux taught us French as did Mrs.Chatwin ; Miss Holmes was my form tutor (1D) and taught us geography - I will NEVER forget her first words to us in class first day at GD September 1974 - 'Form 1D remember you are at George Dixon Grammar School - you are therefore better than the rest so the school expects from you !' I thought 'Bloody hell ! We've had it now !" Big Mr."Daddy' Giblin took us for rugby (think he taught 1F geography ?) Mrs.Hall taught us biology - a big, ginger haired lady ? We never played up in her lesson for fear of being crushed like walnuts ! Mr.Sandercock taught us history - we did the English civil war in great detail with him; Mends, Jewkes and Gibson were the top three. Mr.Mends caned us a few times but that was nothing compared to the fear of seeing the black cloaks of Mr.Gibson and Mrs.Jewkes flying down the corridor like a pair of vampires on the war path ! Ha! Ha! Ha! It was a great school though - we were mischievous but WE WERE EDUCATED, WE LEARNED AND COME WINTER COME SUMMER WE WERE OUT KEEPING FIT - all of us did sports - sports day was massive - I was captain of the rugby team till about the 3rd/4th year. We did cross country down at Edgbaston reservoir. GD set me up for life - hard work brings results - that's what it taught us. I shudder when I see what became of that once, great school.

Hi, I was at GD Boys from 69 to 74; in forms 1A, 2F, 3F, 4F, & 5B1. I found this old school calender from the last term I was there if anyone is interested in the staff names etc. It still has my lessons timetable on the reverse and details of my 'O' level exams to sit!

View attachment 123499

 

[BarnesHill]

Hi, I was at GD Boys from 69 to 74; in forms 1A, 2F, 3F, 4F, & 5B1. I found this old school calender from the last term I was there if anyone is interested in the staff names etc. It still has my lessons timetable on the reverse and details of my 'O' level exams to sit!

View attachment 123499

 

[BarnesHill]

Hi .
I was also at GD from 67- 74 and it was great to have sight of this calendar. I was in fact the Head Girl mentioned . It brought back so many good memories of a wonderful time there and some fantastic teachers . Married to Andrew Devaney was also at GD in the year below . Theresa need Borg

 

[BarnesHill]

I remember Francis Caplin, the young French teacher. Sadly he committed suicide during the school holidays. Apparently he jumped from the balcony of a tower block during a party, after an argument with his wife. There was also a very attractive young female French teacher who taught we, the very testosterone laden lads, of the 4th form. Forget her name, but not her mini skirts.

I attach a pdf of the front of Lisle Sharp's Funeral Service. He died in 2016. We were expecting him at a small reunion in late October; he did not turn up with his wife, Jennifer, and we heard a few days later that he had died. I did not attend the Funeral, but a friend from my years ('59-'66) did and it was well attended. Lisle openly shared his thoughts about GD at the previous two reunions that I attended.

I've also attached a photo of the school orchestra, c. 1961/2. I am in the second violins, back row right side, third in. Let's have some fun and identify teachers and colleagues.

Re the reunion, I mentioned above, the last one in Oct 2019 was attended by Terry Giblin and Jeremy Patterson, plus other ODs from the '57, '58 and a handful from earlier years' intakes.
Peter Davies '59-'66

I must add Mark Williams whom I got to know quite well. He was very popular and used to Play leading roles in the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas we used to stage annually. I recall Peter Gregory and Robert Bissell both of whom lived across the road from the City Road School and were very friendly with each other. Graham Howe I also recall, being quite rotund and I think playing the horn in the orchestra. I also remember Clive Fraser who was larger than life and went on to become a University Professor surprisingly! There was also Peter Muller, of German descent who was very cerebral and already acted like a Professor don't know what happened to him.

Another memory is of the crates of 1/3 pint glass milk bottles in crates outside the main school entrance. A prefect used to supervise their distribution.

I remember too the morning gathering of pupils of other religions in a classroom especially the Jewish boys when Alan Zeffertt was the senior Jewish boy and Steven Linden was present too. I was also there and not in the church next door to the school. I will write more if other memories come to mind.

IHi David. I have just found this . Believe it is a picture of you playing in Ruddicore . I was also in the opera - not in your year but in the same year as your brother Peter .

 

[PhilipC]

For me, GD was a real eye opener. From the outset, we first former’s were treated to the ubiquitous indoctrination speeches that we were, “…the top 22% of the country’s brains.” This because we had passed the 11 plus exam. So, for me, it started out on a fairly positive note. Unfortunately, the standard of teaching, from my perspective then and now, was appalling. My belief is that a good teacher instills in a pupil the thirst to learn. But as a successful teacher friend of mine (a GD survivor) pointed out, many of us were treated to a varying diet of sarcasm, slapping, hair pulling and general abuse.

I remember the teacher 'M' we had for Geography and Gym., bending over a boy and kicking him so hard in the center of his backside that the victim had problems for days afterwards. That same teacher would make us have showers after Gym. which was fair enough, but he always made sure to turn the valve to just above cold.

Thrown wooden blackboard dusters were a regular feature which bounced off many heads, always leaving a livid mark. We had a French teacher in the first form, his name began with a 'W'. He would just sit there letting an an audio visual aid do all the work. If we had a question or didn’t understand a phrase or word, we would be called stupid. He also delighted in throwing insults, “stupid toad” comes to mind.

I can only speak for myself, but the enthusiasm I began with soon waned and instead of respecting the teaching staff, I started to dislike many of them. I do remember one class where I had the temerity to ask the teacher “why” a certain ‘O’ Level problem was resolved that way. I was told to, “shut up and learn it parrot fashion.” Thankfully, there were 'the few' who did their very best to encourage learning and I shall always be grateful to them.

There are probably more negative memories buried in my old brain but for me and others, GD was not all it was cracked up to be. Perhaps when I attended, some teachers were still living off past glories, while others were deeply unhappy creatures with miserable lives, making sure to share that misery with GD's pupils.

Very much my experience, too. Quite frankly, I was a "good student" because I was scared stiff of many of the teachers (physical abuse, sarcasm), the hierarchies, the black capes, the almost "military" atmosphere (being called by our surnames, uniforms, etc.). The first thing I did when I finished the upper sixth was to rip my school uniform to shreds and burn it - that felt very liberating.
There are a few teachers from my time at GD that if I met them today I would give them a good kicking; these most certainly include Mends, Gibson, Trout, and Fletcher.
Hanney was good. I saw a death notice a few years ago from a firm of solicitors asking if he had any family members - it seems he died intestate.

 

[BarnesHill]

IHi David. I have just found this . Believe it is a picture of you playing in Ruddicore . I was also in the opera - not in your year but in the same year as your brother Peter .

Sorry just realised my mistype . I meant Ruddigore .

 

[Big Gee]

Lisle 'Toffee' Sharp was far and away my favourite teacher at GD. 90% of my dear classmates were bored stiff with English and English Lit, but it was my favourite subject. I always got good marks off Toffee for my essays, and he really tried to encourage me to take up a career in something like journalism when I left school. I really wish I'd listened, but my old man was somewhat against that possibility, as to him journalism wasn't a "man's occupation". Unlike a few of my classmates I thought Toffee was a decent and genuine bloke. Years later, I think in about 1983, I happened to drive down City Road and saw banners announcing what I recall was GD's centenary. So in I went on a whim, and the caretaker let me have a look round so I could remind myself of some of the most miserable days of my life, when who should I see in a classroom on the new wing but Toffee himself, studiously writing away at something. He actually recognised me, some 20 years after I'd left - I couldn't believe this! Did he ever go up even further in my estimation! We had a really nice little chat, and if I remember correctly he and Leo Olver were sharing the deputy-beak's position; I can't remember who the Beak was in 1983.

G

 

[DavidGrain]

I have mentioned Toffee Sharp before. At the Centenary of the City Road building I went for the open day and met him again and was amazed when I said he was my form master in 2C he recited the entire class register for that year about 50 years before!