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
9 April 2009
Annual General Meeting
The Association’s second AGM was held at The
Windmill on Saturday 21 March 2009 (postponed from 7 February owing to the bad
weather over that weekend). The main
items discussed or reported were:
●
Jimmy
Hill OBE was re-elected as President for a further year. The other Committee members elected (or
automatically eligible) to serve until 31 March 2010 are:
Chairman: Jeff Green
Vice-Chairman: Brian Bloice
Secretary: Ted Hayward
Treasurer: Terry Lawlor
Co-opted: Mike Surridge
Entry-year representatives:
1930s/1940s – Brian Robinson
1950s – Chris Bishop
1960s – Peter Greenwood
1970s/1980s – (Vacancy).
●
The
audited statement of account for the year ended 31 December 2008 was adopted
(copy attached).
●
Annual
subscriptions: on the recommendation of
the Management Committee, this year’s subscriptions for those in membership
at 1 January 2009 have been waived, in view of the Association’s healthy
financial position as shown in the 2008 accounts and as there are no major
projects planned for the current year.
Joiners in 2009 will still be required to pay the relevant sum
(unchanged at £10 for Full or £6 for Associate membership).
●
Memorial
plaque: it’s hoped to give members more
information shortly on the timetable for installing the plaque in the new Sixth
Form Centre at Lambeth College, South Side, which is due to open in
September; proposals under
consideration by the Management Committee, in conjunction with Richard
Chambers, Principal of the College, include arranging a dedication ceremony/service
to which OTs, any traceable relatives of the former pupils named on the plaque,
and representatives of the College, adjacent Lambeth Academy and local press
would be invited.
●
Old
Thorntonians Football Club: at the suggestion of Mike Surridge the Committee is
exploring ways in which the Association could be more closely linked with, and
offer practical (if limited) support for, the Club, which was founded in 1928
and is still going strong, currently fielding three teams in the Amateur
Football Combination League ; for further information check the Club’s website
– the address is on the Association’s Home page. One possibility would be for the Association to present a “Player
of the Year” cup, supplemented by a personal award for the individual
concerned.
●
Pupil
honours boards: currently held at the
Adare Centre (an associated site of Lambeth College); no decision has yet been taken on their long-term future
storage/display, although one option being explored is for them to be offered
to the Museum of London for safekeeping.
Membership
The present total is 109, including two
Associates. A special welcome to Nick
Bird, the latest joiner (as an Associate member), who is the third
great-grandson of Henry Thornton. Nick,
who lives in Australia, has kindly provided Ted Hayward with an extract from
Henry Thornton’s “Recollections” of c1802, which has now been added – with a
typed transcript for ease of reference – to the relevant page of the website.
Another OT/OC Meeting?
As reported in issue no 7, five OTs held a
successful “mini-reunion” with a few of their Chichester High School for Boys
(CHSB) counterparts in July 2008. This
year is the 70th anniversary of the evacuation of HTS pupils to West
Sussex, and it’s been suggested that for this reason a return visit would be
appropriate. No firm plans have yet
been made, but Terry Sharp has kindly agreed to act once again as co-ordinator
for any OTs who may be interested and to liaise with the relevant persons at
CHSB. His telephone number is 020 7223
5102, or you can write to him at 10 Wakehurst Road, London SW11 6BY.
From Bert Armington (1960-1), an American
exchange student: In
1961 I was 16 years old. My parents
were best friends with Walter and Alma Brownsword, school teachers in the
United States who had the opportunity to become exchange teachers in the UK for
a year. Their son, Ken, who was my age,
didn’t like the idea, so they suggested that I join them and accompany Ken. My parents were not
the type of people who would place their child in the care of another, but they
thought it would be a spectacular opportunity for me, and welcomed the idea.
We arrived on the SS
United States in August 1961 in Southampton, and moved into a flat on
Farquhar Road, just below the old Crystal Palace in the Gypsy Hill area which
belonged to their exchange partners, Brian and Ann Atkinson. They had arranged that the two of us would
attend Henry Thornton School, and after a conversation with Mr B J F Dorrington bought blazers and
ties.
Autumn arrived. We met with the Head Master, who was more
than supportive. He suggested that, if
we had a valid reason, we could skip school to attend museums, theatre, and
cultural events. I think Ken and I were
highly abusive of the opportunity. The
school year began; we were the Yanks. A
blessing and a curse, but I found it a thrill to be in a new world. I do remember English in the Lower Sixth,
and Mr S Read calling out the attendance – and I wasn’t named.
“Anyone else?” he
asked. “Me, sir.” “Who are you?” “I’m new, sir.” I replied.
“How do you spell that?”
The boys broke out in
laughter. I was instantly accepted.
Every morning we took
the Southern Railway from Gypsy Hill to Balham, changed to the Tube, and bumped
along to Clapham Common. I remember the
old trains of 1960, the old gents in bowler hats smoking their Balkan Sobrani
tobacco in tight compartments.
Sometimes, during the evenings, we’d slip onto the buses (number 3 to
Crystal Palace) or the trains or subway, using our student passes, and go as
far as we could on a 3d ticket. (You
know what I’m talking about.) I didn’t
return to London until 2002, and when I did was startled to find the London
Transport buses and rail cars I was used to hiding in the London Transport
Museum. God, I must be older than I
imagined!
1960 was a beautiful
year. I attended Shakespearean Theatre
at the Old Vic (galleries of course), drank Bitters in the local pubs,
travelled the Llangothlen canal in a barge, saw all the sights of London
several times over, lost my virginity, joined the CND (Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament – Streatham branch), toured France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany
on a Bella Zundapp motor scooter with David Kween from Henry Thornton, and
visited Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
I returned to the USA
on the Queen Mary, used in World War II as a troopship, and now a museum. (I’m even older than I thought.)
So much of my core was
formed and strengthened by my experiences in my sixteenth year at Henry
Thornton, that I just want to say “thank you for the experience!” Nothing since has meant more to me than
standing with all the boys and singing “And Did Those Feet in Ancient Times”.
Further reflections from Donald Bishop
(1934-41) on his time at Chichester: … HTS was evacuated to Bognor Regis in
September 1939. It was a blunder as
there was no grammar school in that town.
By 1 November 1939 HTS was settled in Chichester High School for Boys
(CHS).
Boys-only the two
schools may have been, but there were differences. The Head Masters were a
contrast. The host Head [Dr C W Bishop]
came across as serious, rigid, distant, and easy to mimic. I never caught him laughing, and I never
exchanged words with him during all my time on the school premises. So I cannot offer a balanced and fair view
of the man.
The guest Head [Mr W D
Evans] was relaxed, very human, not forceful in manner nor speech, but
nevertheless a strong character. As
School Captain [1940-1] I got to know
him well. He consulted me on who should
succeed as School Captain when I had left HTS.
My assessment of him is much more balanced: he was an excellent Head who took us once a week in the Sixth
From for what can best be described as Current Affairs. He was very knowledgeable, interesting and
stimulating.
It was wartime, and
both schools got on well together.
There were no fights in my time!
The HTS buildings in
London had warm, enclosed corridors.
CHS classrooms opened on to fresh air.
In the winter our staff wore overcoats!
CHS staff were more Spartan, or were they not allowed to follow the lead
of HTS? Sessions were marked by an
electric bell that rang in all parts of the HTS building. It was rung when required by the School
Porter; CHS had a hand bell rung by prefects.
HTS prefects had to ring it at times, and managed to break the
bell!
HTS Sixth Form
included teaching of Economics, Economic History and British Constitution to
Higher Schools level. These subjects
were not on offer from CHS, so there could be no joint classes.
Pupils from both
schools made friendships in youth clubs, sport, church and so on. I made friends with Geoffrey Barnard also [CHS
School Captain 1940]
We both went to the Pre-Officer Training Unit, sailed to India, and
spent six months at the Officer Training Unit, Mhow. He went to Italy and I went to Burma. Periodically we have managed to keep in touch. It was easy to do so at one time, as CHS for
Girls gave me my wife – for 55-plus years now!
From Terry Sharp
(1938-45): Peter Lawson’s
reminiscences [issue no 8] as a wartime evacuee to Chichester intrigued
me as I also went on the train from Balham station to Bognor on 1 September
1939. My school House (?Pepys) moved on
from Bognor to Mundham, a village on the road between Bognor and Chichester: some boys found billets with families at
North Mundham, but I was one of those who drew the short straws and went on to
the comparatively remote Manor Farm at South Mundham, some three miles away.
Farm life was a
complete eye-opener for a young Londoner like myself, but with schooling at
Chichester High School several weeks away I quickly became involved in farming
activities. In no time I was introduced
to milking cows, and when winter came I usually found myself before dawn,
hurricane lamp in hand, chasing up cows from the field to the milking
shed. I used to milk half-a-dozen cows
before cycling off to Chichester and then the same group in the evening after
school, and before tea and school homework!
Suckling new-born calves proved to be an amusing diversion…
I spent two years at
South Mundham cycling to and from school – a miserable experience in bad
weather – and I was then rebilleted, and lived more comfortably with Mr Read,
the Chemistry master, and his family in Chichester itself. “Sammy” Read, as he was generally known, was
also a weekend lieutenant in the Home Guard, and I used to pedal happily round
the southern part of the city as his messenger, delivering notes to his platoon
on their next rendezvous. At that time
the Home Guard was provided with a miscellany of arms, machine guns, etc, and I
spent many an evening chez Read practising how to assemble a range of
lethal weapons. The Read household was
never short of rabbit as a foodstuff because I used to accompany Sammy on
early-morning walks along the canal, retrieving his kill with a .22 rifle. With a neighbour we occasionally went
duck-shooting at Dell Quay: the men had
12-bore shotguns, and I sported a 410.
We had only moderate success, as many of our kill ended up in a deeply
flooded meadow behind the Quay. Our neighbour
used to take his spaniel with him in the hope that it would act as a retriever,
but the dog wisely refused to have an early-morning swim – just as well, as
transporting it home would have been very unwelcome!
Derek Yandell refers
to Mr Read playing the piano and flute.
The only instrument I heard Sammy play was a bassoon, and one
Christmastide our neighbours, including Mr Dix, the Art master, were highly
amused by carols sung by one treble (me), accompanied by Mr Read on his
bassoon.
Incidentally,
the accepted reason why Chichester was comparatively unscathed from bombing was
that German pilots and navigators preferred to retain the Cathedral spire as a
landmark. The proximity of Tangmere was
a deterrent, too…
The
school returned to London in 1943, and so ended for me an interesting and
amusing four years. I regularly listen
to “Farming Today” on BBC radio: it
stirs up many memories from nearly 60 years ago!
From the Pages of The
Thorntonian
Summer 1951: THE NEW HEADMASTER
To
succeed Mr. Evans the Governors and L.C.C. have appointed Mr. D. B. Gaskin,
M.A. (Oxon.).
Mr.
Gaskin was born in 1909 and educated at Oswestry Grammar School and Worcester
College, Oxford, where he took an Honours Degree in Modern History in
1931. After some experience at Newcastle-on-Tyne,
he was Senior History Master at Devonport High School, Plymouth, from 1938,
during which period he served with the Royal Armoured Corps from 1942-5. He was appointed to Emmanuel School in 1946.
A
former County Lawn Tennis player, he is keenly interested in sport of various
kinds, and in other out-of-school activities, especially debating. Indeed he has been selected as one of three
delegates for the United Kingdom to the International UNESCO Conference in
Paris in July and August 1951 on History and International Understanding.
[Mr
Gaskin left in December 1955 to take up another Headship at Moseley Grammar
School, Birmingham. The article in the
same issue on Mr W D Evans’s retirement will appear in the next newsletter. Ed].
Spring
1932: “Si
Monumentum Requiris…”
Let
schools more ancient celebrate,
In
doggerel Latin verse,
Foundations
of an ancient date
From
some old grandsire’s purse!
Such
origins we cannot boast;
No
palaeologne our pen;
We
house no bygone hero’s ghost,
But
nourish future men.
And
though our names from worthy folk
Of
Clapham have their birth,
’Tis
but that who these names invoke
May
imitate their worth.
Some
Cavendish and Stephen took,
Macaulay,
some for name,
Some
Wilberforce and Pepys and Cook
Of
Australasian fame.
For
men, not walls, a city make,
Whether
they’re wise or fools,
And
schools make men, lest I mistake.
So
should you seek a monument
To
make our name endure,
We’re
it, than bronze more permanent,
Than
Parian more pure!
Ben
W. Vincent (Old Thorntonian)
Autumn
1961: VALETE
Two
members of the staff who have given us a quiet strength are leaving this term,
Mr. A.W. Lambert and Mr. S. V. Yorke.
The
former has served the School for thirty years, for most of the time as Second
French Master and recently as Head of the Department. His work has been marked by a quiet efficiency and unpretentious
success, and this year a pupil of his has continued the tradition of winning a
Travelling Scholarship. Mr. Lambert is
well-read in French and German, and has a considerable acquaintance with other
European languages. We shall miss
seeing his exact mind combining with that of Mr. Yorke in solving The Times
Crossword.
Mr.
Yorke came to us from St. Olave’s and his contribution to the School has been a
painstaking and conscientious training of boys in Mathematics, his care
resulting in an intimate knowledge of each boy’s work and capabilities. State Scholarships have been the reward for
his work in the Sixth Forms. He has,
like his co-solver of The Times puzzle, an exact mind and a passion for
accurate definition. His range is
wide. Who else indeed would know the
name of Thackeray’s dog? The Staff Room
will be the duller for his passing, but the Oval pavilion will no doubt be
richer for his emphatic judgments on the Selectors, or perhaps he will be found
apostrophising the rubs of some village green.
Will he ever win County Colours?
At any rate he will now have time for those walks of his; more than one
of the Staff have followed his itineraries with pleasure.
We
wish them both renewed energy in happy and lengthy retirement, and a full life
undisturbed by the strains of the classroom.
Staff
Future
issues, starting with no 10, will include lists of teaching staff (other than
those with temporary contacts) who were known or believed to have held appointments
at the school at both Clapham and, during the wartime evacuation,
Chichester. The information in each
list, from the 1920s until the 1970s/1980s, has been compiled by the Editor
primarily from reports on joiners and leavers as they appeared in the
magazine. As always, he would be
grateful for readers’ comments and corrections!
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Editor welcomes contributions for future
issues. Please post or e-mail them to
Ted Hayward, 31 Linfields, Little Chalfont, Amersham, Bucks HP7 9QH; ted.hayward@btinternet.com
Association President: Jimmy Hill OBE Website: www.oldthorntoniansclapham.org.uk