Newsletter of The Old
Thorntonians Association (Clapham)
“Education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them.” John Ruskin (1819-1900)
No
18 November
2011
Attendance at this year’s gathering on 24 September – held as usual at The Windmill – was around 40. Selected photos have been added to the relevant page of the website.
The Committee has also agreed to recommend to the next AGM (see next item) that, in view of the healthy state of the Association’s finances and the lack of any major commitments for the foreseeable future, there will be a subscription “holiday” for the year from 1 January 2012 for all who are in membership at the preceding 31 December. Joiners in 2012 (and any former members re-applying after a break) will be required to pay the standard annual fee, which is being held at £10 for Full and £6 for Associate members.
Annual
General Meeting
Another date to note: Saturday 17 March 2012, starting at
2pm, at Lambeth Academy, Elms Road, SW4 9ET.
Current Membership
107, including three Associates.
The next award by the
Association to a selected pupil of Lambeth College will now be presented at its student
awards ceremony on 27 June 2012; the College advises that – given the nature of the award and its
recipients – this event would be a more appropriate forum than the main
graduation ceremony held in the autumn.
Honours Boards
The
two sets of boards, accompanied by a brief descriptive plaque, are being stored
jointly at Lambeth College and Lambeth Academy, and the Management Committee
are awaiting a decision on their permanent location. More information will be given via the newsletter and website as
soon as it becomes available.
Reminiscences
Derek
Yandell (1945-52) reflects on Michael Searle’s piece in
issue 14 (November 2010): I
certainly recognize his comments on various teachers. As he says, Mr Dix was an enigma who hated children. I have no recollection of Mr Cundall ever
doing any teaching. He sat at his desk,
reading a magazine, whilst we read our geography books.
I
found Michael’s later remarks rather puzzling.
He refers to his being promoted to the “dour” Mr Gribble’s class. I remember him as a quite delightful and
friendly teacher. Furthermore, as
Michael joined in 1945 he would have been in the same class as myself with Mr
Gribble, but I don’t remember him.
From
Associate member Robert Worley: I
had an elder brother – Graham David Worley (1930-2009) – who was a pupil at
Henry Thornton School from 1940 until the school returned to Clapham in
1943. He remained a pupil at Chichester
High School until rejoining Alleyn’s School, Dulwich, in 1945.
Our
home in Dulwich was badly damaged courtesy of the Luftwaffe and in 1940 we as a
family accepted an invitation from well-heeled relatives to take refuge in their
house on the Aldwick Bay Estate near Bognor, only to find the town half-empty
on our arrival as they thought invasion was imminent! The seafront was covered in rolls of barbed wire while tank traps
littered the beach, plus gun emplacements, etc.
Prior
to our move to Bognor, Graham was accepted by HTS and, as already mentioned,
joined the school in Chichester. Every
day he travelled by train from Bognor to Chichester, changing trains at Barnham
Junction. I can immediately recall his
uniform as if it were yesterday: black
school cap; black blazer with distinctive chevron badge; grey short trousers,
with a black-and-white “snake” belt, rounded off with grey socks with
black-and-white hoops.
As
for Clapham, I can recall the Common when it was safe to walk in the evening;
the trams en route to Tooting and beyond; and, of course, the route 37 bus
wending its way from Peckham to Isleworth via Dulwich, Brixton, Clapham,
Putney, Richmond, etc. I never did get
to see Isleworth – which seemed to be another country!
Tim Gee (1951-60) writes:
Glad to hear Mr Noah has joined [the
Association]. He taught me Economics in
the fourth form, and Russian (lunchtime) in the lower Sixth. He had a CND sign in his car.
I also remember John
Jeremy Flood [obit in last issue Ed],
manufacturer of “Flood’s Fizz” lemonade powder in several flavours, including
cinnamon. The tougher classmates used
to rag him, but not violently, as he was a bit of a boffin.
Sudden flashback: music lessons upstairs, corner room, window overlooking
school playing field. Mr Smethurst [valete
on page 3 Ed] in gleaming white shirt, impeccable blazer and
tie, with pristine gown (unlike the tattered specimens of some of his
colleagues) and manicured nails: in short, a confirmed bachelor.
We stood and piped, in
shrill trebles, dreadful Benjamin Britten songs:
“A
flaxen-haired ploughboy whistled o’er the lea
And
next a jolly cowboy, as happy as can be…”
And Schubert’s Trout:
“I
stood beside a brooklet that sparkled
on its way
And
all at once I saw a tiny trout at play.
As
swiftly as an arrow, he darted to and fro,
The
gayest of the ‘feeshes’ among the reeds below”.
Plus:
“Way down upon de
Swanee Ribber, far, far, away,
Dat’s where my heart
is yearning ebber,
Far from de old folks
at home”.
Absolutely indelible
memories.
A few of Keith
Weston’s (1937-43) memories of the school and Clapham appear in the short
history of HTS. Here are further
extracts from his original contribution:
The main entrance was to the left of South
Lodge, where one of the outbuildings was used as a bicycle shed. Two school porters checked to see that all
pupils were wearing a school cap; their names were Fields and Wheeler. South Lodge had areas for a dining-room and
library. Beyond South Lodge was a large
lawn and a wooded area of hard courts and the main school building The window
on the extreme left of the ground floor was to the Head Master’s office; pupils
would enter by doors to the right of
the main entrance.
[In 1940] I was living
in Tooting Bec and like many others had to rely on public transport to get to
school. David Whitehouse [1940-1]
recalled how he and two friends cycled every day from Streatham Vale, avoiding
the bomb craters. Such disruption to
education at that time resulted in pupils not having the full year’s tuition
(in my case, for the third year) and in September – for a number of classes –
the third year’s work was repeated in the fourth year. This resulted in pupils taking the School
Certificate examination a year later, in my case at 17.
Most of the teachers
at the emergency school were recruited from those over the call-up age.
From the
Pages of The Thorntonian
Autumn
1944: HENRY
CAVENDISH (1731-1810)
Henry
Cavendish, natural philosopher, was the eldest son of Lord Charles
Cavendish. He was not bon in England,
but at Nice, on 16th October, 1731. He
became, in 1742, a pupil of the Rev. Dr. Newcombe, and in 1749 entered
Peterhouse College, Cambridge, but left without taking a degree.
After
leaving College, he appears to have lived chiefly in London, and mathematics
appear to have been his favourite study, but he later devoted himself to the
study of experimental science. He made
several important contributions to science, for he was the first man who, by
purely inductive experiments, converted oxygen and hydrogen into water, and who
taught that water consisted of these gases.
He must also be regarded as the discoverer of nitric acid. But he did not pursue his brilliant career
with any activity: he led a strangely
retired life, and consequently he was frequently left in ignorance of the
progress of discovery.
Other
experiments made by him included the use of light for promoting the growth of
plants and investigations into the principal phenomena of electricity: his views on specific and latent heat
greatly advanced our views, while in
1798 he read a paper before the Royal Society entitled “Experiments to
determine the Density of the Earth” and the accuracy of his observations was
vouchsafed by subsequent writers.
Cavendish
was a man of reserved disposition, a shy habit and many singularities of
manner: added to these a difficulty o
speech and a thin shrill voice increased his dislike of society and his
avoidance of conversation. He lived by
Clapham Common, his large library being some distance from his house. His large income was allowed to accumulate,
and his habits were of the most inexpensive kind. He scarcely ever went into society. Lord Brougham said he had met him at the meetings of the Royal
Society, and “recollects the shrill cry he uttered as he shuffled from room to
room, seeming to be annoyed if looked at, but approaching to hear what was
passing among others. He probably
uttered fewer words in the course of his life than any man who had lived to
fourscore years…” On all points which
had not some scientific bearing, Cavendish was coldly indifferent, but when the
discovery of a new truth was told to him, a glow of interest came over
him. He was never known to express
himself warmly on any question of religion or politics; indeed, he seemed to
reject all human sympathy. He died on
19th March, 1810, after probably the only illness from which he ever suffered,
and was buried in All Saints’ Church, Derby..
T.W.Sharp
Spring
1950: “WOES OF AN EX-JUVENILE DELINQUENT”
It’s
strange to reflect,
As
I sit here in school
And
toil at my wearisome work,
That
many a boy
–His
fond parents’ joy –
Has
the burning desire to shirk.
I
once tried so hard
To
be badly behaved,
But
I had not practised the art.
I
quelled my desire,
But
incited the ire
Of
one who to me said, “Depart!”
I’d
packed up my bags,
Was
preparing to go,
But
then, to my total surprise,
That
demagogue sage,
Of
retiring age,
From
his draw’r took a cane of great size.
He
came up to me;
He
had soon changed his mind.
A
felt a few seconds’ relief.
Six
“cuts” from his cane,
Which
gave me great pain,
My
joy quickly altered to grief.
I’ve
settled down now
To
the daily routine;
And
school is a wonderful treat:
With
underpaid staff,
Ne’er
once seen to laugh,
And
prefects just wonderfully sweet.
R. WOOD (IVA)
Autumn
1957: VALETE
The
departure of Mr. H. Smethurst to a post of wider responsibility was deeply felt
by the whole School. He came to us in
1951 with a high reputation both as a teacher of music and as a producer of
choral and operatic performances, and very amply he fulfilled our
expectations. Difficulties beyond his
control prevented him from staging a full-scale opera, but we remember with
delight the many choral and orchestral concerts he conducted and with gratitude
the assistance he gave to our dramatic productions. Knowledge and love of his art combined with a forceful
personality made him a most successful teacher of specialist and amateur
alike. We thank him for his many
services to the school, and wish him a successful and harmonious career in his
new appointment [not identified Ed].
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Editor welcomes
contributions for future issues. Please
post or e-mail them to:
Ted Hayward, 31 Linfields,
Little Chalfont, Amersham, HP7 9QH;
ted.hayward@btinternet.com
Association President: Jimmy Hill OBE Website: www.oldthorntoniansclapham.org.uk