On the rugby pitch, possibly
68/69: As a
spectator at a Staff v Pupils rugby match I recall Mister Charlesworth and
Mister Askew using their hefty backsides to great effect when warding off
attempted tackles.
Near the main doors 69/70: I once saw a kid who shall
remain nameless (it rhymes with Jamie Montgomery) lying on his belly, letting a
teacher’s car tyres down.
On the stage: As part of a presentation of
the elements, one class danced wildly to the song Fire by The Crazy World of
Arthur Brown.
On the telly: When Southern Soccer screened recorded highlights of a Gillingham game
one Sunday afternoon, sometime around 68/69, the commentator made an amazing
blunder, calling Carl Gilbert Ray Bailey throughout
the entire game.
The hall: Some spotlights were stolen.
When, I can’t recall, but when the theft was announced at assembly I got the
impression they’d been mounted high on the windows on the pool side of the
hall. While the teachers sat grim faced, I marvelled at how the thieves had
got up there.
A story from the rugby pitch,
around 67/68:
Ron Chadwick, or Chaddy, as he was known to some, was said to be well blessed
in the trousers, an asset that contributed to his legendary status after an incident
on the rugby pitch. The tale I heard went like this…
“Chadwick’s
shorts got ripped and everything was hanging out! He wanted to change his
shorts but Mister Charlesworth told him to play on. So Chaddy turns to him with
his cock flopping in his hand and says ‘what am I supposed to do with this?’ What
a laugh! And there were girls on the touchline too! Mister Charlesworth had to
let him go and get changed.”
This picture shows a page in
my maths exercise book, from the summer of 69, at the end of my third year. It
looks like I was working with a ballpoint pen. As my ink-splashing memories
occurred in the lower school, I’m left to wonder; were ballpoint pens the norm
in the upper school, or had ink pens been dispensed with by 1969. I really
don’t know. And I never did find out what Cyril’s R stood for.
Kes
was released at the cinema as I left Upbury. The football match sequence, with the boys in all kinds of odd kit is a wonderful reminder of the
times.
Myths and Legends
1 Did
someone saw through one of the piano legs before assembly? I don’t know. Sawn
or not, Margaret Parish, who remembers the piano collapsing, says it made an
enormous noise.
2 Did
Cyril Rye really knock out a yobbo? The story goes that Cyril, who had just
blown the whistle to end break time, was standing on the low wall by the
entrance that led up to the science lab, when he was challenged by a leather
jacketed yobbo who’d casually strolled into school.
‘Are
you
If the yobbo was looking for trouble, he found it when our hero hopped off the wall and laid him out with one punch, whereupon he instructed some prefects to carry the intruder off the premises. As far fetched as it sounds, I want to believe it’s true.
3 Did Mister Rye's moustache cover a
scar he acquired as a Spitfire pilot? Rumour says yes. (From David Smith,
who had Mister Rye as his form teacher at Woodlands Road, in 1950/51.)
4 Did
Mister Charlesworth ever wear a kilt? Yes, I saw this for myself. I presumed he had
Scottish blood when he turned up one St Andrew’s Day in full ceremonial get up.
5 Mister Berger’s funny walk was attributed to him having some
toes missing. Two toes, some said. Others said three. Some claimed he’d lost them
all when a plane ran over them during the war. The truth? I don’t know.
6 Was
Mister Berger ever trapped under the stage? Yes, says a confidential source.
“The
set of steps at the right came out to allow access under the stage, where
Mister Berger was building a boat. He was down there one day when someone
(they never found out who) pushed the steps back. It must have been done before
assembly or something, because we were all lined up when we heard the sound of
frantic knocking. When they pulled the steps back, Berger and some very
dishevelled boys emerged like they'd just been excavating an Egyptian tomb!”
2 comments:
You mention Cyril Rye, in1950/1951 I was at Woodlands Road School.
Mr Rye was our form master ( 4a ) and as mentioned very handy with the cane !
He was also infamous for bellowing down the corridor " boy come here " that was generally the signal you were going to get one on each hand , and I assure you it was no little tap .
There was also a rumour that he grew the moustache to cover a scar on his nose that he acquire when he was a Spitfire pilot,if that was true or not is open to conjecture .
During those years I was also made School Captain.
I always felt that Mr Rye was one of my promoters.
Derek Smith
Hello Derek, thank you for reading and commenting, and filling in a bit of Mister Rye's past. I've not heard the rumour about his 'tache before but I'll gladly add it to the above post. Thank you!
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