MEMORIES

As the JCS Website has given me so much pleasure I thought it was about time I made a small contribution. I discovered the Website last year by accident and was really impressed with the different aspects within it. Thanks I am sure to a lot of hard work and time given by the producers.

I was a bit disappointed to find just two other members of my year (1943-1948 ) were ". on the web ". I have been in contact with one of them ( Ron French ) and we are catching up over 60 years. We have a lot of similar memories and some very happy memories of the School Christmas Parties and the Friday night Dances which were organised and taken by Mr Jones who was our Maths teacher in form 1A. The other person who`s name I recognised was Evelyn Morrison (Hardisty) but I have not been in touch yet . I understand that she has lived in Worcestershire for a number of years. I feel certain there must be a few of us still around so I live in hope that one or two more will appear one of these days. My closest friends that I had at school were -- Sheila Potts, Jean Humble, Jackie Paisley and Margaret Robinson but I have lost touch with them all over the years It would be lovely to hear news of them and anyone else that remembers our year.

I have lived in Cullercoats for the past 46 years. My husband died in1999 after a long illness so my life has changed quite a bit these past few years. I have two daughters and a son ( all married ) and six Grandchildren ( 3 boys and 3 girls ) ranging in age from 27 to 12 . I get a great deal of pleasure from the family but inspite of a few health problems I manage to keep fairly busy. I enjoy gardening and reading and have studied Social History at the WEA. ( A subject I find fascinating ).

The teachers I remember most are Mr Jones, Miss Scaife, Miss Carr, Miss Scott, Mr Ramsey, Miss Davis, Mr Young, Mr Hoyle , Miss Bullock and ofcourse Mr Younson The Headmaster who took us for History in our final year before we took the Oxford School Certificate Eaxam. which we all passed I think. One of the memories I have of Miss Bullock is having to give out TWELVE currants to each girl when we were making Rock Buns. It was during the war and the ingredients were supplied ( I don`t know who supplied them ! ). and we paid for them, but Miss Bullock wasn`t going to be wasteful and being Miss Bullock nobody would dare challenge her. She was a big , strong woman ! Does anybody else remember her ?

During my time at JCS (1953-58), I took part in a few school plays and sketches. As many pupils will know, Mr. Casey was the producer with Miss Davis being responsible for costumes and make-up. In one of the sketches, I was to play the part of a Russian woman spy called Olga Pilofski, this entailed getting dressed up as a woman (the habit never
stuck!) and wearing high heels. Miss Davis applied my make-up and spent many hours trying to teach me to walk on high heels like a woman. I got to know her quite well during this time and had great respect for her. Around 1980-81, I attended a school play at Springfield Comprehensive in which my son was performing. By then Miss Davis was teaching at Springfield. After the performance, I introduced myself to her; I hoped she would remember my high heel training. To my disappointment she could not remember me (not surprising considering all the pupils she taught and the twenty-five year gap), but we had a good talk and she had great and fond memories of JCS and how much she missed the old school. She looked very
well at that time so I was shocked to find out recently that she had died suddenly in 1983, not too long after I had talked to her. I shall always remember her.

Although not directly related to JCS, I think John Lumsdon's splendid article, set in the 1930s, is of interest to all of those (and I hope that includes the majority of us) who value local history.

Childhood Memories of Felling Shore

By John Lumsdon

I was born in May 1927 in a small community called Felling Shore, on the south bank of the River Tyne in Co. Durham, between Newcastle and Jarrow, the town that was murdered in the 1930s with 72% unemployment. My grandma, Mamie Lumsdon, managed one of the three public houses, the Bee Hive, and like many pubs at that time the floor was covered with sawdust.

There was a Co operative store, a long building that covered one side of the street. This was the main shopping centre, with its grocery department that had a long, low, wide counter and in front of this was a great variety of biscuits, packed in tins, with the various manufacturers names on and from which the biscuits were weighed and served in paper Blue paper bags. Along side these were bags full of peas, beans, sugar etc., and served in the same manner. Behind the counter was row after row of draws labelled with their different contents. At the top end of the department was another counter, behind which were huge blocks of butter and cheese that were cut to your requirements and hand wrapped. The bacon slicer was also located here, with its peculiar sound as it sliced through a side of bacon. The lovely smell of that Department I can still remember now.

When a customer paid for the goods, the money was put in a cylindrical container and attached to an Ariel wire, which, with it a swishing sound, was transported to a glass cubical where the cashier checked the amount of money for your goods and returned the change by the same method. It was all far removed from the computer checkouts of today. One made sure before you left the shop, your co op number was noted in order to accumulate your dividend, paid periodical, as the more you spent the higher was the dividend.

Next door to the grocery department was the drapers and haberdashery, managed by Mrs Hogarth, a tall woman with her dark hair swept up into a bun. She always dressed in black, with a long skirt that almost touched the floor. To me, she resembled a Victorian lady.

Next to the drapers came the butchers, with a vast array of knives, cleavers and saws hanging up in a row, ready to cut and carve the fresh meat, on thick, well scrubbed, wood tables. In the corner stood a sausage-making machine. Its produce could be eaten raw, unlike today's sausage. This shop had its distinctive smell, probably the fresh meat as opposed to the frozen and chilled produce of today. The floor was covered with clean sawdust.

Then came the stables that housed the horses and a variety of carts. There was a two wheeled coal cart with its high sloping sides, and a weighing machine hanging on the back; a flat four wheeled cart for transporting hay bundles and the like; and there was the covered wagon type for delivering groceries etc.

All the vehicles had four sided glass lamps on either side, plus a red one at the rear; and were illuminated by candles. The clip clop of the horse’s steel-shod shoes and the noise of the steel clad wheels on the stone cobbled road are sounds that have been lost in history.

Attached to the stables, was the slaughterhouse. As youngsters, we would climb up the iron barred, meshed windows to try and look inside, but were always chased away.

The end of the building housed the horse keeper and his family. At times he allowed me to ride on the back of a shire horse, which, to me, seemed like a giant. My legs were spread wide over the broad back and I clung on to it's main for dear life, rocking side to side as it plodded forward.

On the opposite side of the street stood a row of houses with a fruit shop on the corner owned by the Stell family. At the other end was the Methodist Chapel, and, at right angle to this, a row of houses called Stony Bank, probably because the road was made of cobblestones. This is where I was born “No1 Wallrus Buildings” in May 1927. It was not my home and the reason I was born there was my mother went into labour when she visited her friend. We, my mother, father and elder sister Molly, lived at the bottom of this bank in a square called Pottery Yard. In this square was the communal washhouse, that contained three large copper boiling pots, encased in brick, with a fire under each pot. On Monday mornings, the noise of the women posing the wash in wooden tubs, with wooden, posticks, (Dollysticks) echoed round the valley in which this small community nestled, another sound lost in history.

For every four houses, there were two outside toilets. The toilet paper comprised of squares of newspaper, hanging on a nail on the wall. In the back lane stood a large iron water tap with a cone shaped handle. It took my both hands to turn it on, and, if I let go, it would automatically stop, so, therefore, I couldn't get a drink without a container, unless someone held the tap on for me.

The local football team was called Felling Shore Tyne Villa and played in the Tyne Valley league, which was founded in 1923. The football ground had been made by the community and my uncle Abraham was club secretary. My father played for the team and was reputed to be an excellent player and had a gold medal which my sister Molly now has. What I remember most clearly was the aroma of hot coffee in the wintertime, mixed with the smell of liniment in the changing room, and slices of orange in the summer.

The main source of employment was a paint-manufacturing firm by the name of International Paints Ltd. A German by the name of Holzapple had started the firm. At that time ingredients had been put in a wooden barrel and a handle was turned to agitate the mixture, (this was exhibited in Tankhouse 5.) From these small beginnings, the firm later spread to many parts of the world.

As a child, I remember standing with others outside the factory gates begging any food the workers had left, after they had finished work and were on their way home. Monday was always a good day. I suspect this was because some had too much ale to drink at the weekend.

Bath time was usually in front of the fire in a tin bath, but in summer time, I would get bathed outside in a wooden tub that was used for washing clothes. This also served as a table, when turned upside down, for an old tramp, who came round periodically and my mother gave him some food.

Our house was not well furnished. We had some home made mats on the floor. These mats were made on wooden frames, by a group of neighbours who moved from house to house as they were required. This kind of social gathering fostered a community spirit, with problems being discussed and sometimes solved. The mat clippings came from old clothes that were not good enough to be handed down to smaller brothers and sisters. The cloth was cut up into two inch strips then pronged into a Hessian cloth with a progger, (a steel or wooden pointed tool.) All sorts of coloured, patterned, and floral designs were made on these mats.
In our living room there was a well scrubbed table, covered with newspapers that acted as a table cloth, except on Sunday, when an oil based cloth was brought out. There was a home made wooden form for us to sit on, a few chairs, a sideboard and a chest of drawers.

A large fireplace, with an oven on the left side for cooking purposes and a water container to heat water on the right, kept the house warm. All this was black leaded, and the hearth itself was white washed, and on it stood a gleaming fender that had been cleaned with emery paper and Mepo polish. In the fender were pokers, rake, shovel and tongs, the tongs at times being used for cooking kippers over an open fire. Toasted bread from this fire always tasted nicer.
Above the fireplace with its cloth fringe was a mantelpiece on which stood a red pottery elephant in the centre, flanked by vases and gleaming candlesticks.

One evening I was in the house with my mother who was ill and expecting a baby. The bed had been brought down stairs for some reason. I was sitting on the fender with my back to the fire, when, maybe I was tired and dozed off, I fell back. My head was burnt on the hot bars. The baby was born some time later but she died shortly after birth. The infant mortality rate was much higher then than it is today.

The wireless we owned was called a cat’s whisker, but only one person at a time could listen to it, because there was no loud speaker, only a set of earphones. Various knobs had to be twiddled to get good reception, interrupted at times with whistling sounds, which varied in intensity.

As children, we had to make our own entertainment without cost. Our games included mulltikitty; kick the block, battleships and cruisers etc. or football, with an old tin can. My mother was saving up the cardboard wrappers off oxo cubes to get a free football.
Although we had a big drawer full of these wrappers, we never got a football, so I don't know how many were required. The nearest we got to a real ball was an old leather case ball, seconded from the local team and stuffed with paper. This was an improvement on a tin can from which on one occasion I got a nasty cut on the face.

A few hundred yards to the west of our house were some old wooden coal staiths built on the banks of the river Tyne. This was another recreation area, although derelict and potentially hazardous, where young people played at that time. I was attempting
to jump across a hopper one day, (once used to discharge the coal from wagons down a chute into the ship's hold,) when my foot slipped and I fell into the chute.

It was only my plimsolls that saved me as I spread my legs with a foot on either side of the chute, the rubber soles acting as a break. I was extracted by some older boys and shaking slightly, looked down to what may have been my watery grave.
Years previously they were very busy, as coal from the local collieries, brought by rail was tipped down the coal chutes into the holds of ships anchored in the Tyne.

Nearby were the remains of an old stone built pit-winding house. I climbed up with other boys and threw stones down a built up pit shaft, that had a steel grid cover and listened for the splash as the stone hit the water down the shaft. In the 1832, when this pit was on strike, along with the coal field, lead by Tommy Heburn, there were riots here as the striking miners and their families were evicted from their homes, the army being called in to protect the bailiffs. I once saw a sketch of this scene entitled “The Battle of Friars Goose”.

The Felling Shore boasted one motorcar, a Baby Austin. The owner was, I think, Charlton Pig, who played a big part in running the local football team. I thought he must be a very rich man to own a car.

Living near the river, it was inevitable that people were drowned, some accidentally, others by suicide. One man, Pinter Wilson had been drinking and made a wager that he could swim across the river and back, but, as he got half way across, he disappeared. A boatman, Bunker Russell, using grappling hooks, recovered his body three days later. An other incident occurred when children were playing on some steps used by merchant seamen who came ashore from their ships. One boy pushed a girl into the river, another boy dived in to rescue her, but, as she struggled with fear, the boy who attempted to save her was drowned. Another boy got her back to the steps.

The Tyne was a very busy river at this time with ships of all shapes and sizes. Pilots guided the ships up the twisting river from Tynemouth to Newcastle and beyond. Some of the bigger ships with cargoes of grain for spillers were ushered by four tugs, two at the stem and two at the stern.

The Tyne must have been reasonably clean then as the locals caught quantities of Salmon, although this was unlawful. There were river police patrols to prevent poaching, but a lookout could spot those patrols in plenty of time so no one got caught. As there were no fridges, the catch was often shared, and then the Salmon was mixed with potatoes to make fishcakes.

My first school was a huge stone building named St. John's I think, although every one called it the "Clock School" owing to a large round tower incorporating a huge clock face.

It was built in the 1840's and had been donated by a chemical firm. The road from Felling Shore to the school was an upward gradient, and at the roadside was a mountain of chemical waste that was flat topped and grassed over. It had been there for many years long before I was born, and, as it rained, the water seeped through this heap, then into a gutter at the roadside where it flowed on to the River Tyne.
At times the stench was terrible, hence the local name for the road was the ’Stinking Lonnen’.

Many of the children's clothing was old and patched, but we all had footwear. In summer sandshoes or plimsolls were worn, and, when holes became worn in the soles, inserting a new sole inside the shoe cut from a cardboard box repaired them. In winter, boots, filled with studs were worn. But, I can remember myself and another boy, going to school for two days in our bare feet.

There was another addition to our family with the birth of my sister Peggy. Then, before moving from the Felling Shore, I recollected two other points that stuck in my memory, the first was a political rally. It was an election campaign. The Co-op store horse and cart was gaily decorated in the green and white colours of the Labour Party with the candidate making a speech using the cart as a platform. I helped by distributing leaflets. Then, the horse and cart moved to another location with all the children singing an election song. My other recollection was standing outside a small shop at the top of Stony Bank ran by Alice Mason, alongside another boy we were discussing what sweets we would buy if we were millionaires, when the parish priest, Father Costello came up behind us, took us inside and bought us a halfpenny lucky bag, containing sweets and sherbet.

The list of former JCS sportsmen continues to grow. Tom Wheatley was another unsung footballer who reached, albeit briefly, Football League status. Although Tom Wheatley wasn’t as tragic a figure as Jimmy Thorpe was, it would seem that JCS goalkeepers didn’t have the best of luck in their footballing careers.

The information below was from a Leeds United site. Tom Wheatley and Gordon Wheatley (see Memories page) were in the same class although not related.

Tom Wheatley

Position	Goalkeeper
Born	01 Jun 1929, Hebburn (England)
Height	181 cm
Weight	68 kg
International Caps	none

Club	From	To	Apps	Goals	Sold for
Leeds United	01 Apr 1953	01 Jun 1954	6	0

Leeds Career	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other
Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1953 - 1954	6		0		0		0		0

Jabba's Comments

Back-up keeper brought in as cover for John Scott in 1953. Leeds only lost one of the 6 games he played, but Roy Wood was starting his career at Leeds, and the next time Scott was unavailable Wood replaced him and Tom Wheatley was on his way out.

Tom Wheatley says: After what was described above I refused a free transfer to Stoke City and moved back to the North East where I played semi professional for Horden Colliery Welfare in the North Eastern League. My career ended in 1956 when I lost a finger on a centre forward’s boot while playing against North Shields. Nobody wants a four-fingered goalkeeper.

Did you know Tom Wheatley at school, live near him or buy a second hand car from him?

If you did let us know.

Memories – Part One
By
Elizabeth Tindle (Baker)

I attended St. Oswald's Primary school but had a substantial break during my later primary schooling because of Pneumonia and Tuberculosis. I was sent to stay with my Aunt Lydia who lived in Kent and will be 100 years old this year. I was sent to Aunt Lydia's to convalesce and was not allowed to attend school. I spent most of the day (for months on end) playing doubler: throwing two (or sometimes three) tennis balls against the wall. This developed my catching skills which proved important in playing netball when I started at JCS.

When I was in First Year at JCS, I met Jean McIntosh from Hebburn New Town School, who became my closest buddy. Almost all of our spare time away from the classroom was spent playing netball or bundlies, a rougher version of rugby. There was one netball and about five or six teams from different classes, all trying to get the ball in any way they could.

School was one big game. Every day we racked our brain as to what we could get up to for laughs. I was often the ring leader, I am ashamed to say. I think of the day when I went to school in a blue and white sun suit which had brief, matching shorts underneath. Aunt Lydia had given it to me. I removed the front buttoned skirt and before I knew it, it was being passed around Mr Bond's Geography class. The lesson was coming to an end and I needed to get my skirt back. I walked out to the front of the classroom and said that someone had my skirt. Cyril Bond said, "All those involved in the lost skirt, come out here." Of course just about the whole class came out and it was bedlam. Mr Younson, who must have heard the din, walked in. I had to stand at the side of the desk so he could not see that I was wearing only shorts. The whole thing eventually resolved itself.
There are dozens of instances like this. We really did not listen and probably learned very little, yet Geography became one of my favourite subjects and I eventually taught it at Ponteland Secondary School, in Northumberland, my first teaching post.

We also played Follow the Leader in Mr Young's Scripture classes. Everyone tried to follow the action such as scratching one's back with a ruler, swinging on two legs of the chair, blowing one's nose and so on. Imagine a whole class in synchrony doing these things!! I must say he was very patient and tended to ignore it.

When my brother Alex was doing his National Service, I sometimes had to go down to the allotment to feed the pigeons. I was usually given permission to go and Jean came with me. While there we collected a bundle of rhubarb from the forest of the stuff and brought enough back for the class to nibble on during lesson time.

We also had the habit of whitening our sandshoes for the game, putting them on an upstairs window sill to dry and then accidentally knocking them into the street below, thereby having to go down to collect them and missing lesson time. We liked getting out of the classroom.

The netballers idolised Miss Davis who took us all over the place on public transport to play netball against many different schools and to participate in tournaments. She used to allow the older netballers to coach the juniors while she stayed in the staff room and looked out of the window from time to time to make sure everything was OK. Jean and I loved doing this and appreciated the trust she placed in us.

After doing O Level Oxford GCE I decided to go to the Grammar School to do A Levels as I was too young to get in to Teachers' College. Jean could get in a year earlier than I could, her birthday being in September and mine in March. She and I walked over to the Grammar School and were received by the Headmaster, Mr Robinson. We had no appointment, not really knowing the etiquette of such situations. As it happened, we in the Central School had better results that year than the Grammar School students so the Headmaster rang County Hall who immediately gave permission for me to do two years A Levels at the Grammar School.

I wanted to study Biology, in which I had gained one of my highest marks in O Level, but was not permitted as I had to do Arts and ne'er the twain could meet in those days. I studied English, Geography, History and Religious Knowledge. That made seven years of Religious studies in my secondary school career! For most of the two years I scarcely had a Geography teacher or a History teacher. They left and were not replaced. We had to learn the work on our own.

From Grammar School I went to Eastbourne Training College in Sussex. It was like going to Boarding School. We had to be in by 10pm on week days and 11pm on Saturday. The work was so pathetically easy that I tried to transfer to something else (Goldsmith's in London) but was not successful.

My first teaching post was at Coates Endowed Secondary School in Ponteland. I was interviewed for the job by all the Church of England vicars in Northumberland, all men of course, as this was a C of E. School. Thank Gawd I had studied the seven years of Religious knowledge because they gave me, what I thought was, the third degree.

I started teaching in September 1959 as a Geography specialist and remained until May 1963. They were very rewarding years as there were no forms in triplicate to be completed at every turn. I took Geography classes to Ford Castle for a week at a time for field work: we had International camps in Cheshire, I organised trips to Norway on the SS Leda and to Germany by land and sea. I had the freedom to take classes out to map areas around the school, crossing stepping stones on the River Pont and identifying all the landmarks. That same year I crossed a vastly wider stretch of water than the River Pont.

The other day, re-reading an Editorial about Punishment at J.C.S. brought back memories of when Pat Casey was my form Teacher in 3T/4T. Casey had many methods of punishment of which, I feel, the following two are worth re-calling:

After leaving the classroom for, playtime, dinner-time or to go home, we were always required to put our chairs back under the desk.

If we didn’t we would find that, on our return, a huge “C” was scrolled on our desktop.

Nothing would be said about this until the next time we were preparing for a P.T. lesson. After we had changed into our shorts and vests, the deed would be brought back, rather vividly, when Casey would remind the offenders of the “C’s” on their desks, and ask the culprits to please line up at the front of the room next to his desk.

The next step was for the first boy in line to open the bottom drawer of his desk, while the second in line, removed his gymshoe. The first boy was then required to bend over and hold the drawer while the second boy had to belt the hell out of the back-side of the boy in front of him. If he didn’t hit him hard enough then he would get one off Pat Casey, plus the one he was due from the lad behind him. Believe me those thin shorts were not much protection if you had a big lad behind you!

If he could hold onto the hair next to your ears too easily, he would hold onto it in such a fashion that he had you standing up on your tiptoes, while going on about “Thinking somebody needs a good haircut”

Malcolm Rigg’s memory of “Titch” Schofield caning a class because of their football allegiances caused me to think about “Crime & Punishment” in JCS.

“Titch” caned a lot. Out of the 30 odd classes I had with him in 1A woodwork, I must have been caned in about 20 of them. Some were for “misdemeanours” he saw like having a hand in front of a chisel blade, but others appeared to be at his whim. One week he started the class by asking the date: “13^th, sir” we all said. “Ah 13^th unlucky for some. Line up here”. We did - he caned us all. Another day happened to be the 26^th; so we got two strokes each, as it was “doubly unlucky.”

“Titch” was also the cause of a number of us being caned by Mr Hopwood for arguing with the teacher i.e. Mr Schofield. It was like this: Mr McKenna was off sick; Mr Schofield took his literature class and decided to do Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha”. So far so good. Some time during the class we had managed to include Pocahontas as well as Hiawatha. “Titch” calmly states, “Pocahontas and Hiawatha were Indian braves”. Some of us say, “No Pocahontas was a squaw” – “Titch” is adamant that “he is a man”. We continue to argue. “Titch” eventually sends about six of us out of the room to stand outside the headmaster’s office. Mr Hopwood comes out asks why we are there and then consults Mr Schofield. Mr Hopwood gives us the cane.

The regular canings by “Titch” and some others meant some of us became blasé about it. In fact you got called names by some of the other boys, if you had not been caned for a long time. This was happening to me when in 4G. Then, one day rushing to a class, as only a teenage boy can, Mr McKenna behind me “CAVALIER come here”. “Why were you running down the corridor?” he asked; I stuttered, “So I wont be late for class”. “Well you will be now – two strokes for breaking school rules”. Out came the cane from the staff room and two strokes were administered. Mr McKenna was a little bemused when I walked away with a smile on my face – Dave Laurie and Billy Rounce had walked by while I was being caned and they would report to the class – the name calling stopped.

I do not believe that caning harmed me in any way, but it did not make me any better than I was – I still ran down the corridors when I needed to. I was caned twice for smoking, but did not give up until I was 27, which was rather a delayed reaction to the caning!

My father’s reaction to caning was, “You must have deserved it”. His reaction to an excessive “lines” punishment was to write to Mr Hopwood and complain. The situation was I was given 100 lines by a prefect, I cannot remember why. As was usual lines issued by prefects were about 3 or 4 lines long when hand written on foolscap. I did not do them. Prefect doubles them to 200 lines. I still did not do them. Doubled again to 400 I decided to do them – Sunday night before they had to be in. Dad sees me doing them and asks what I was doing. He writes to Mr Hopwood. The gist of the letter was to say 400 lines was excessive and meaningless, and why had the school not informed him when I had failed to do the first punishment of 100 lines?

Which brings me to the ultimate punishment the school could have given me – tell my parents.

Jarrow Central School can boast many pupils who have made their mark on society in differing ways; Peers of the Realm, Members of Parliament, Footballers, International Achievers and Company Presidents to mention but some of the illustrious heights reached.

Because of my musical background I'd heard of Jim Reavey and knew of his fame as an outstanding accordionist but, until Walter Wears told me, I didn't know he'd attended JCS.

Walter recalled hearing Jim playing the accordion at school even though the instrument probably weighed more than he did! Even then, at a tender age, he showed promise although few anticipated just how good he would become.

He was at The School when Major Dawson was headmaster and left in the mid 1930's. During The War he served in Bomber Command and upon demob played Summer Seasons in Scarborough for a couple of years followed by appearances throughout the British Isles. His prowess increased and in the early sixties he was acknowledged as The World Champion in Copenhagen. He also won other prestigious titles in Italy such as the World Oscar at Pavia and Le Tournoi European de L'Accordion in Como. For an Englishman to win an accordion playing championship in Italy takes an extra special talent and Jim certainly had that. His success led to international appearances with symphony orchestras on stage, television and radio, in Canada, Italy, Sweden, France, Kenya and Saudi Arabia; Jim even played in Iraq and The Sudan as well as numerous other countries.

Married with two daughters, he is now in his 80's; he still lives in Felling where he was born although, these days, he no longer performs in public and why should he? He's done it all.

This story goes back to, I would think, about 1950, and took place in the Woodwork Class under Mr. Scurfield
(Titchy to most of us.)
Things had got slightly out of hand, as they do when a class of 12/13 year olds gets together. Titchy
asked what all the noise was about. We replied we were arguing about football teams and who were the best.
Whereby he called all of the Newcastle supporters out to the front and proceeded to give them all a whack.
This of course encouraged the Sunderland supporters to fits of laughter but Titchy, being Titchy, then called out all of the Sunderland supporters and meted out the same punishment to them. Which of course cooled things down a bit.
Titchy's next words were, something like, " You will all be happy now, you've all felt the Strap"
One little voice replied "Sir, I haven't"
Titchy then said " Well who do you support?" The reply being "Middlesbrough"
Of course the next words were "Come out all the Middlesbrough Supporters" and you can guess the rest?
Whose was the little voice? None other than our own Editor Lance Liddle!!!!
Can anyone else remember this, or any other stories?

Malcolm Rigg November 2003

Running the gauntlet on day one,
Mr Younson and Miss Mackie dressed up as Batman and Robin.
Why were all French cats female? (how did they breed?)
Did Bob Copeland ever have a day when he lost his temper?
Did Pop Young ever have a day when he didn't lose his temper?
Handball in the drill hall.

Volleyball in the schoolyard
The smell of cabbage in the dinner centre.
The smell of paint in the art room.
In assembly; What was the second line of the prayer that began "Oh Heavenly Father"?.
Football at Jarrow Park and the inbuilt showers when the rain came through the broken windows.
Penny ice lollies at Bill Arnotts.
Penny toffee cakes in a backyard in Jarrow; later closed down as a health hazard.
Getting thrashed by Ollie Overton on my birthday for not attending a football meeting at playtime.
The realisation now, that a lot of the teachers were only in their twenties.
The realisation when I started work that schooldays really were the happiest days of your life.

When I spoke to Helen Riddoch, who left JCS in 1932, she mentioned Kenneth Lewis who went on to become Sir Kenneth Lewis, MP. Helen said that Gordon Johnson, who still lived in Hebburn, also went to school with the future Member of Parliament and would be able to tell me a bit more about him, himself and the school.

At school Kenny Lewis was nicknamed, 'Goofy'. 'He was a complete nutcase'; said Gordon who was amazed at his classmate's later achievements. 'All he was good at was talking, the gift of the gab, he could talk his way in and out of anything.' Which I suppose is the one attribute all MP's have in common. When he left school Lewis worked as a dental mechanic for Crowther, a well known Jarrow dentist who had his theatre of operations on Grange Road. During this time Lewis became secretary for the local Young Conservatives and, eventually entered The House in 1957 having failed in three previous attempts during which time he ran a travel agency.

When he became MP for Rutland and Stamford (later Stamford and Spalding) he served them for 28 years, receiving a knighthood in 1983 before retiring in 1985; He died, aged 81, in 1997.

Whilst 'Goofy' was travelling the Road to Westminster Gordon Johnson was taking a different journey as part of the Russian Convoys during the Second World War. Even today, aged 87, he still meets up with other ex crewmen at their monthly meeting in South Shields.

Like so many ex JCS his happiest memories are of the school dances and the summer camps. Then, as in later years, the dances were held on Friday evenings in the run up to Xmas. The camps were at Mitford and Redcar. He remembers Kenneth Lewis trying out for the cricket team. Despite being possibly the worst bowler ever to pitch leather against willow he managed to talk his way on to the team - no wonder he was a successful MP!

Another of Gordon's classmates was Raymond 'Fatty' Marshall who went on to become skipper of the Ocean Monarch, a famous passenger liner.

The headmaster in those days was Major Dawson whose daughter ran the 'Tuck Shop' during the school camps. Several of the teachers' daughters helped out at camp and extremely popular they were with the boys!

Others have mentioned Mr Giles and Gordon Johnson also remembered him. He had a very good sense of humour, said Gordon, and a sadistic streak - a trait not uncommon amongst the older breed of teacher.

When teaching Theorems Mr Giles deemed any mark less than 8 out of 10 to be unacceptable. If a pupil got 7 out of 10 he was caned once, 6 out of 10 he was caned twice and so on. One unfortunate lad, Jackie Armstrong, who totally failed to grasp the Theorem principles automatically, at the start of each lesson, went to the front of the class and held his hand out for the six of the best he knew would be his due.

Another teacher was Bill Ramsey who remained at the school almost to the bitter end; he was Deputy Head for a while in the latter years. He was the same megalo-maniac as a young teacher that he was in later years. I suspect he didn't achieve his paranoiac behaviour, or have it thrust upon him, so perhaps his parents were to blame. Teddy Brown was another teacher who had an attractive daughter. Mr Brown had fought at the Battle of the Somme and was easily diverted from teaching Geography and talking about his war experiences instead.

Other teachers he recalls were 'Fanny' Mackie, Miss Carr, Mr.Seaton, Billy Neave and Mr Woodcock.

It was a pleasure talking to him and, like so many of the older generation of pupils, age has not withered nor custom staled the infinite variety of his conversation.

I was very surprised and delighted to see mention of the visit to Miss Pattie on the JCS website - what a wonderful old lady. I'm sure most of you will agree that the teachers appeared to us, then, as being old and I just assumed none of them would be around today. I must confess I was terrified of Miss Pattie and dreaded the maths lessons. I remember well when, assembled in the school yard one morning, I wore the latest, psychedelic, lime green, socks which I thought blended in rather well with the school uniform. Unfortunately Miss Pattie disagreed and singled me out with a good telling off for coming to school in 'those outrageous socks'! I felt very embarrassed and as a consequence dreaded the lessons with her even more!

Does anyone remember Ma Mackie We all thought she was somewhat eccentric and she used to be an amusing talking point. I remember my French name was Germaine and passionately singing French rhymes.

Ms.Davis remains in my memory as a modern liberated funky type of teacher with reddish hair. I think she was the leader of the house of Cuthbert and I used to feel proud to wear the red girdle and take part in the races on Sports day; competing and shouting passionately for Cuthbert House.

Does anyone out there remember the school choir performing 'HMS Pinafore'? I have vivid memories of that and we all felt very proud to be taking part on the day. The person who stands out in my mind was a boy with a very deep voice who was the star of the show. I do not remember his name for sure, although I do have the name 'George Johnson' in my memory. Also, I remember a John Craven who used to go around singing 'Hot Toddy' which was a hit around that time.

I seem to remember most of my class were from the Felling/Pelaw area and as far as I can see they do not appear to have contacted the JCS site or 'Friends Reunited'. I do remember, very well, walking to school each day with Gillian Elley whom I remember as being a very nice person, although we did have arguments over how long to spend on the swings on our way to school! I would like Gillian to please contact me again as I lost her email address due to a computer crash caused by a major storm here in Portugal.

Editors comment. Thanks for the memory, sorry you can't get to the reunion. If we can contact Gillian we will certainly put her back in touch with you.

I lived in Franklin St. Jarrow with my widowed mother and two younger sisters. I passed the exam for Jarrow Central School in June 1942. Prior to this I had been at the Grange School which was next door.

I started in 1a and some of the boys I remember were: Davie White, Robbie Maughan, Bob Hall and Derek Colquhoun. I can only remember two girls names both were called Joan Wilson. One was from Monkton and the other from Felling.

Mr.Younson was headmaster and teachers I can recall are Messrs. Ramsey, Hoyle, Jewell, Jones, Giles, Ridley (Woodwork), Knaggs (Metalwork) and Mesdames Mrs.Young, Mrs.Scott (Music), Miss Mackie (French).

Because of family poverty, my father had been killed in a mining accident in 1937, I left school from 3T in July 1945 and got a job as a labourer in Hebburn Palmers.

In October 1946 I began my apprenticeship as a Marine Fitter and Turner at Swan Hunters, Wallsend.

In 1949 after declining deferment I was conscripted into the Royal Engineers and served in various parts of Great Britain over the next eighteen months. On completing my National Service I returned to Swans to resume my apprenticeship. The first thing I did was to join the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) and so start my lifelong commitment to the Labour movement.

Prior to National Service, like all apprentices, I had worked in the fitting and machine shops but now I was sent to work on the ships. The first ship I ever worked on was HMS Albion, an aircraft carrier which had been brought out of 'mothballs'. This was the onset of what later became The Cold War.

On completing my apprenticeship in 1952 I joined the Merchant Navy as a Ship's Engineer and over the next three years I saw service all over the world:- USA, Africa, India, Japan, Australia, Europe etc., in various trampships and tankers.

I quit the MN in 1955 and returned to Swans, rejoining the Labour Party and soon I was involved in trade union and political activity.

During 1956 my union and political activities increased considerably. In November I met my future wife, Joan Slater, in the Majestic Ballroom, South Shields.

I should say at this point that the greatest lesson I ever learned at the Central School was how to dance and dancing is still our greatest pleasure. Joan lived at Rede Avenue, Hebburn, and went to Clegwell.

Joan and I were married at Glen St. Methodist Church on 6 June 1959 and our first home was in Bridge St., Jarrow. After eighteen months we moved to Argyle St., Hebburn and in May 1961 our first son was born.

In May 1962 I was elected as Labour councillor to Hebburn UDC and, later that month, our daughter Judith was born. In 1964 I left Hawthorn Leslie's where I had been AEU convenor for a number of years and took the job of full time secretary agent of the Jarrow Constituency Labour Party. In 1966 the Executive Council of the AEU placed me on the unions Parliamentary Panel creating the vision that I might one day become an MP.

Over the next few years I was nominated for a number of seats without success but gaining great experience.

In 1967 I left the Jarrow Agents job and returned to the shipbuilding industry. In May 1967 our youngest son was born and we moved to Tennant St., Hebburn.

Then, on 2 March 1973, the 36th anniversary of my father's death, I was successful in winning the nomination for the Newton Constituency in South Lancashire. The election took place against the backdrop of the First Miners Strike and Tory Prime Minister Ted Heath's three day week.

I had three collieries in my constituency which was one of the biggest in the Country and I was elected with a 14,700 majority and Harold Wilson formed a minority Labour Government.

The next six months were frenetic having to travel a huge triangle of Hebburn, Westminster, and Newton.

Eight months later I increased my majority to 16,500 but the Labour Majority was only three.

For the next two years I travelled to every common market country holding seminars and meetings with people desperate for financial aid from Brussels.

It was rewarding work but very exhausting as I was frequently summoned to The Commons to bolster the Labour vote.

After two years of chairing that multi-lingual, dual agenda (regional policy and European transport) committee which had entailed thousands of miles of travel throughout The Common Market I decided in 1978 that it was time to return to The House of Commons full time.

I had only been back a few weeks when Prime Minister Callaghan, who had taken over from Wilson in 1976, invited me into his government as a Whip.

This was the period of a minority Labour Government struggling to survive 'The Winter of Discontent' and regularly sitting into the early hours four nights a week.

It was a fantastic time and I learned more about the art of Government Business Management during that period than in all my previous political life.

It couldn't last and The Government lost a confidence motion in 1979 and were defeated in the subsequent General Election. I retained my seat in Newton but with a reduced majority of 11,500. I didn't appreciate then that I was going into 18 years in Opposition!

Jim Callaghan continued as Leader of the Opposition and I continued as an opposition Whip. During the next two years I established a reputation as one of the Labour Parties leading experts on Trade Union and labour relation affairs. Civil war was breaking out within the ranks and various Trotskyist factions were beginning to manifest themselves within the party. A weary Callaghan resigned in 1981 and after a bitter and divisive contest Michael Foot and Dennis Healey were elected Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Another great shock was in store for me because, immediately following the leadership election, Michael Foot appointed me his Private Parliamentary Secretary.

The strife within was now getting very bitter and dirty both on The Left, with their militant tendency, and on The Right with the breakaway faction which created the SDP. I was at the very heart of the conflict.

In 1980 the National Union of Labour Clubs, which had a strong organisation in Lancashire, had asked me to assist their organisation in its political work and in 1981 I became their National Political Secretary. In 1982 the NULSC nominated me to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party. I received strong support from a number of other Socialist Societies and was duly elected to the NEC at Blackpool in September 1982. My election broke the hard left majority and gave Foot and Healey a crucially important majority of one.

In 1983 a major boundary redistribution took place and my constituency disappeared. I was subsequently elected for the new constituency of St. Helens North in the General Election which took place against the backdrop of Mrs. Thatcher's Falklands victory and the bitter civil war within the Labour Party.

Labour were heavily defeated, Foot and Healey resigned, and Neil Kinnock and Roy Hattersley were elected Leader and Deputy Leader of The Party.

Neil Kinnock immediately appointed John Smith and myself as Labour's new employment team and we were soon into battle against Mrs. Thatcher's Trades Union Bill the purpose of which was to cripple the Unions and break the financial links between The Unions and The Labour Party. Our task wasn't made any easier by the Miner's Strike which was running in parallel with the committee stages of the bill. Nevertheless we succeeded in winning major concessions which protected some of the rights of Union members. Interestingly two of the new members who served on the Bill's committee were Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Over the few years I was chairman of the Energy, Youth and Finance committees - not all at the same time. I was elected Chairman of the Labour Party for 1991/92 and I chaired all meetings of the NEC.

In 1992 we suffered a grievous blow with an unexpected defeat in the 1992 General Election. Kinnock and Hattersley resigned and I presided over a special party conference which elected John Smith and Margaret Beckett as Leader and Deputy Leader of the Party and in September of that year I chaired the Party conference at Blackpool. As I sat in the chair just before I rose to open and deliver the Chairman's Address to Conference I reflected that the impoverished little boy from Jarrow Central School had come a long way.

I continued to serve on the NEC until the 1996 Conference, John Smith had, tragically, died, and Tony Blair and John Prescott were now Leader and Deputy Leader of the Party. I reflected upon all the effort and work and constitutional changes that I and others had embarked on in 1982 which had resulted in many titanic struggles at Party Conferences over those years: Ridding The Party of the militant tendency and other Trotskyist groups. The introduction of one member, one vote for parliamentary and council candidate selections. The establishment of a mass party with a national membership scheme and the creation of a party with sensible policies which had great appeal to the British public and the near certainty that Labour would destroy John Major's Tory Government. This lead me to the conclusion that it was time for me to step down from the NEC.

In 1997 as I prepared to defend my seat in the May General Election there was a great shock awaiting me.

I and another twelve long serving Labour MPs were asked by Tony Blair to stand down as a candidate and accept Life Peerage on the grounds that he needed to strengthen Labours membership in the House of Lords. I accepted.

In June 1997 I was inducted - complete with hired ermine robes - into The Lords.

I will never forget the words of my 8 year-old granddaughter, "Granddad," she said, "you didn't half look stupid bobbing up and down in that long red dress!"

Finally, when I look back to my years at Jarrow Central School and consider the education we received and the craft skills we learned, during wartime, in large classes with elderly teachers I am eternally grateful as I am sure everyone else is.

If any of my Central or Grange School friends read this I would welcome hearing from them.

They can write to my c/o The House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW or phone me, Lance Liddle (Editor of this splendid website has my number). I regret I am not computer literate so I don't have an email address.

Physics exam

There we were in the Physics Lab working on some problem set by Chuck. Chuck

for some reason left the room. We continued on the problem. In comes the

School secretary with a pile of papers. Asks where Mr Charlton is - we say

he's just popped out. She leaves the pile of papers on Chuck's desk.

Being the inquisitive souls we were (i.e. nosey) a couple of boys looked at

the papers and discovered it was our forthcoming Physics Exam. Cant remember

who was posted as look out, but by the time Chuck came back details of every

question were in the classes possession and the papers looked pristine on

the desk.

Exam came - every one got at least 90% - majority over 95%. School thinks

something fishy about results - make all do another paper results the normal

distribution for the class.

Miss Fairburn

Miss Fairburn first came to JCS on teaching practice as a student teacher.

An attractive 21 year old. She comes into 3G to do some poetry. Her skirt

was shortish, her neckline showed some cleavage. We 14 year old testosterone

enhanced boys let her know our appreciation. She calms us down. Tells us we

would be doing some poetry - asks do we know any poetry. Boy at back hand

goes up. "Would you recite it then?" - "Yes miss" - pause, drawing of breath

"It is long and thin; covered in skin; Red in Parts; Used in Tarts" -

collapse of class into giggles; Miss Fairburn blushes! Boy says "But its a

ode to Rhubarb Miss"

Why she came back to teach after getting her Cert Ed - but I do not remember

her wearing a low neck line ever again.

Gerard Cavalier

Mac Rigg has suggested the gymnastic competition held between Clegwell and JCS was an event to forget. IMPOSSIBLE! I was a member of that team – and I know exactly to what he is alluding. We were beaten. We were thrashed. We were hammered – there are other words to describe how we fared - but not suitable for these notes.

Pat Casey was responsible for the selection and training of the gymnastic team. I really don’t know why I was chosen but I was quite chuffed when he picked me. Other members of the team included Mac Rig, Colin Bell, Billy Ulyart, George Turner, George Rodgers, Eric Darling and Colin Buckley -(whose head-stands were absolutely amazing)

Pat Casey “requested” the members of the team to attend after school hours training. It was during these sessions that the better athletes were selected for the more demanding activities. I seem to remember Colin Bell was pretty good on the pummel horse along with George Turner and George Rodgers. I couldn’t even mount the blasted thing never mind perform the exhausting twisting and turning on the device. Not suprisingly, I wasn’t chosen for that event. However, there were three other activities for which I was selected. The LONG-FLY, the HEAD-SPRING and the HAND-SPRING which were to be performed on THE BOX.

Having lined the team up in the school hall, we began our training. The LONG-FLY. For those who have forgotten, required the participant to run up to the box, spring off the floor and dive along the box length, place ones hands on the far end and straddle off onto the floor.

For me, a short house, it was absolutely essential that my approach was made at 100 miles per hour. Then I was to hurtle myself across the black patch of leather and desperately seek the box end and complete the fearsome event without leaving any personal possessions behind. I could do this. Only just - but I could do it. I applied similar subtle methods for the two other events, the head and hand-springs. These training sessions were in preparation for an inter-school competition with Clegwell.

Came the big day, the two teams lined up in the Clegwell Gym and faced the equipment. As has always been the way in my life, being one of the shorter chaps meant I had to go first. This appointment has always defied any logic but this selection system followed me to my National Service and is still applicable to this day.

Given the “GO” signal by Dickie Bond, I charged down the runway towards the apparatus at break-neck speed, bounded in front of the box and made my leap. The world went mad. The box disappeared from under me and I was straddling Mr Casey who was there to help us make gentle landings. With my arms and legs wrapped around him akimbo, I thought perhaps I should kiss him. He dropped me like a brick as by now the next “GO” command had been issued. Same again. Mac Rig landed on top of Casey who was by now uttering oaths of which Shakespeare would have been proud. Then came George Turner. Snack as he was affectionately known to everyone was tearing down the runway like a demented tornado. Suddenly he was catapulted into the air and was scrambling along the top of the box on all fours. Casey’s attempt to arrest the forward motion of this human cannon ball had to be seen to be believed. This rhinoceros ploughed a path of havoc which was only halted by the strength of the Clegwell building itself.

Casey staggered into his arresting position once more.This time he adopted a totally passive stance with his hands on his hips desperately seeking an end to the proceedings.

“Go” said the GO-MAN and the next combatant was on his way. George Rodgers, the worlds first skin-head had focused his one good eye on the box and was intent on destroying all before him as he too was propelled over, rather than onto the equipment. Casey Ducked. Lovable George careered into those attending to Snack, scattering the light brigade of St John’s Ambulance men and women in their black and white uniforms. We lost the competition. We won nothing, nothing except praise for our enthusiasm.

An enquiry into the Peculiar Hebburn Happenings demonstrated the effect of the SPRINGBOARD. This simple device had been one of two contributory factors in our downfall - or should I say, unintentional high flying acts.

We at JCS didn’t have one of these boy-catapulting weapons. To overcome Newton’s Law required us to extreme measures of performance - just to clear the box. The catapult effect of the springboard had been alarming, but, said Campbell upon hearing of our demise, informative.

To compound the problems, THE CLEGWELL BOX WAS FOUND TO BE SIX INCHES SHORTER AND FOUR INCHES LOWER THAN OURS.

With such wonderful athletes as Ronnie Softley, Allan Drummond and Allen Carter, - why did Clegwell have to resort to such measures to beat us?

School to me was a necessary evil. I went, I suffered, I looked forward to leaving.

When it came to sports the only thing I ever took part in and nearly shone was the slow cycle race. The Bede champion (Alan Purdy) of course always beat me into first place or should that be last place? Never mind there was always football that was until Ron Niven ran rings round me at the house trials. (All is forgiven Ron).

At my first School Christmas Party, in the quaint terminology of the time I took Noreen Gutteridge into supper. It must have had a profound effect on Noreen as she transferred to the Grammar School after that. I think it was Miss Davis who said I would never get anywhere with my two left feet! Yet 20years later I was a Gold Medallist in Ballroom Dancing.

Music I quite enjoyed and vaguely remember being tested for violins, only to be told later that they were not affordable. Not the same feeling with recorders.

Art was fascinating but why did Mr Johnson always say my pictures were different! Was I ahead of my time in style a budding Picasso? Not really, I discovered some years later I was colour-blind.

Maths I liked and many tales have already been told of Mr Casey and his wall game. Handcraft was my favourite particularly Metalwork. That is to say after Mr.Troup took over from Archie Campbell. Tech Drawing another favourite.

Science was not my favourite and I remember being one of two in the first year who got less than 5/10 for a piece on Sir Humphrey Davies and his lamp. First time I was caned – still remember that vividly. My handwriting at this stage was very poor and Archie took time and patience to help me improve. We developed a mutual respect after this. Met him and Olly Overton some years after leaving school and had a pint with them in the Vigilant near the Nook.

Through Keith Anderson I became friends with the caretaker. These friends in high places helped me to explore the school attic, filthy and fascinating. This was my forte – up to the eyes in muck not books.

My apprenticeship at Parsons Marine almost helped me avoid the Dreaded National Service. Sea trials (commissioning new ships) were the highlight and I determined to join the Merchant Navy but my job offer on the Queen Mary was withdrawn when they discovered my colour-blindness.

A broken nose from a cycle accident and, later, an encounter on a zebra crossing with a speeding van, did not prevent my country needing me for National Service. The insurance payout from the latter crash did pay for a beautiful engagement ring.

Instead of the Spitfire, parked at the RAF camp gates, they gave me a Caterpillar bulldozer to drive. A dumper truck fitted with a Morris Minor gearbox in reverse was my downfall. I had a job vital to the nations security --- emptying latrines on a remote site. Jumped into seat, slipped clutch, switched engine on, put into first gear, (or so I thought) let out clutch. Truck reversed suddenly and contents reversed even faster, I was showered with contents……………..!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was fine after three days showers and injections. Things could only get better. I was chosen for route linings in London. I welcomed the King of Nepal. I bade farewell to Churchill.

Rather than Married Quarters, we chose to live at the Manor, Haddenham, Isle of Ely. Our landlord , a barrister, defended one of the Great Train Robbers who got 14 years. Andrew, our eldest son was born at RAF Ely Hospital where all the cocooned babies were laid on their left sides for Matron’s Inspection!

In civvy street once more, I started as a Design Engineer with Black & Decker. I travelled for them to many countries in Europe, Middle East, Far East, and USA. I spent five years at Flymo, after being head hunted, during which time I had the privilege of meeting the Duke of Kent, and Raymond Baxter.

Returning back to Black and Decker I retired after a further 29 years with them.

Our second son was born just prior to my joining Black & Decker. During this time Lynne (my wife), as a qualified teacher, ran a pre-school playgroup.

In my early days back in civvy street I was a Parish Councillor on one of the largest Parish Councils in the UK (21 Councillors).

As the boys grew older both Lynne and I were involved in Scouting, and Cycling Proficiency as ROSPA Examiners.

Prior to the advent of CB Radio I qualified as a Radio Amateur (Ham) call sign G8PNO (which I still retain today) and was secretary of the local club.

My computing interests were born from our boys at school and indeed as they both obtained Hons. Degrees in that field they are still teaching me.

Leisure and travel for some 14 years was mainly cruising the Mediterranean, Canary Isles, Baltic, and Scandinavia. One special cruise which Lynne arranged as a surprise for our 25thn Anniversary was a luxury cruise to the Hebrides. Later holidays to S.Africa/Botswana/Zimbabwe, and China including a 5 days cruise on Yangtze. The Great Dam is spectacular and will displace 1.2m people when completed.

Reunion & Website

The reunion in October 2003 suggested to me that sufficient people were interested in keeping JCS and its memories alive. Future communications would possibly be the problem so why not a website? After discussing with Lance & George the merits of such a venture it was decided I would put a site together as a trial. Time has, I believe, proved its worth.

Present Activities

Considering my shyness at school it is now great to meet and talk to pupils of that era I have more interest in JCS now than I ever had then.

I didn't enjoy school and like most people, if they're honest, I was glad to leave.

I am amazed that Lance, my husband, and some of the others can remember so much about their schooldays.

He asked me to draw up a list of my year (1952) prompted, I believe, by Allan Castelhow so here goes - there are plenty of gaps to fill in!

Margaret Lambert, Margaret Lawson, Margaret Johnstone, Barbara Ogden, Doris Fulcher, June Mamo, Dorothy Furlong, Molly Walker, Carol Franklyn, Joe Gray, Bryan Dakers and Freddy Williams.

Freddy Williams (It may have been Williamson) died. Many years later, for a short while, I was Bryan Daker's secretary at Reyrolles. I think Carol Franklyn may have been Vivian Franklyn's sister and Margaret Johnstone, who joined the school in 3rd year later became Allan Castelhow's wife.

When I was in 4T the whole class was conscripted into the school choir. The practices were held during the lunch period in the music room. One particular day, when a few of us came from lunch ( the mess hall on the other side of the road) there were very few pupils in the school yard , which we thought was strange. As we came up the stairs by the men’s staff room a few boys were standing outside and Mr Casey was standing by the door. Upon seeing us he immediately ordered us to the rear of the line. When we protested saying we were on our way to choir practice he insisted in no uncertain terms for us to get to the back of the line and refused to accept our statement. We did as instructed. As we passed through the door to the upper level of the assembly hall we could see why there was very few in the yard, the line stretched to the art room. We waited as the line reduced until we faced Mr Casey. When we asked what the problem was he replied that we had been kicking a wooden block around in the yard (ball games were forbidden) . The punishment was then administered the cane on each hand, this the made us late for choir practice and Mr Ormston ( music teacher) did not accept our excuse for being late and administered his punishment, again cane on each hand. The same afternoon 4T had a music lesson and when Mr Ormston was out of the room Dickie Stenner went to the cupboard and got the cane and smashed it into small pieces and threw it out of the window ( Mr Ormston never found out what happened to his cane) Oh happy days of youth.

So what one might ask? How many times over the years have we said, “ I wonder what happened to Joe Bloggs or whoever?”

Well our editor has asked me to start a new idea in answer to this question, that is, to try and write something about my own life. As you all know Lance did a brilliant job of his life-story, (Music! Music! Music!) If you haven’t read it then shame on you, its available world-wide, or at least, it can be if you send your orders to Lance.

First I suppose I should say a little bit about myself from schooldays, and why some people might remember me.

I played football for the school juniors and took part in a number of Swimming Gala’s, both swimming and diving. I was also a member of the Gymnastic team that made such a “name for itself” in the competition at Clegwell (Definitely one to forget!)

Ronnie Niven and I were Lab Monitors for a while, and we were also among the first D.J.’s of the time! Playing the records for the School dances on the Friday nights (Juniors one week Seniors the next!)

I was saddened to hear, at the reunion in September, before the “Big one “ in October which I missed, that, apparently, I was a bit of a bully? I couldn’t believe it? Take a look at the picture of the Junior football team, I’m about the smallest on the team!

I left school at Christmas 1952, and in January ’53, I started at A. Reyrolle and Co. Ltd.

I started as an office boy and began serving my time as an Electrical Fitter later the same year. I completed my apprenticeship at 21, and expected to go into the Forces to do my 2 years National Service, however I failed the Army medical, and that was that!

I worked in Reyrolles for over 40 years, mainly in the Inspection Department. When I was made redundant for the 3^rd. time, aged 60 ,I took the hint and went elsewhere!

I worked in a screen printing company until I was 65. However I couldn’t stand the boredom and took a part-time position with a local fruit packing company, where I’m still involved with the Quality side of things, in fact I’m one of those men from Del Monte who says “YES”, I also say “NO” as well!

My family life has been a bit of an up and downer, I married for the first time in the early 60’s and had 2 children both boys who are now in their 40’s. Between them they have made me a Grandfather 6 times over (5 boys and 1 girl) I also have a Great Grandson as well.

However this marriage came to an end and, being a glutton for punishment, I married again.

This marriage has also been blessed with 2 children, a boy in his early thirty’s and a girl in her mid 20’s.

At the time of writing this, just before Christmas 2003, we, that is my present wife Maureen and I are on tenderhooks awaiting