Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

ut was playing rugby again a week later. We had at least one match with
Netherfield workers (from a local factory) - adults, so much bigger than us but we
won, probably because we were fitter!.
We also had a number of fixtures playing against Heversham School, near
Morecambe Bay, which was an altogether different proposition; these games were
very hard and what would now be called ‘physical’. We enjoyed those games
particularly, home or away, and I made good friends among the other team, in the
post-match "get-togethers", in the showers or plunge-bath, or later over tea and
cakes, feeling tired but suffused with well-being, whether we had won or lost. One
particular friend was John Moss, who was I think the rival hooker (I forget, but he
certainly played in the scrum). John had suffered from polio and one of his arms was
wasted, but this did not reduce his drive and menace; and he had a great sense of
humour. (Later we saw much of each other again in Cambridge, where he was at St
John's).
Unfortunately, during these years I had problems with one leg; running flat out
down the pitch I would suddenly be brought up short with an excruciating pain and
either fell to the ground or be unable to move. Despite seeing several specialists,
having X-rays and treatment, it was not cured. But I continued to play, although it
was unsatisfactory, and it was not until my second year at Cambridge that it finally
was cured. (A girl friend suggested that I should go to the British Osteopathic
Society in London, near Paddington Station. After paying only two visits to them it
was completely cured, by manipulation. They didn’t charge a fee, but there was a
box at the foot of the stairs for contributions from grateful patients).
Charles Hay had founded the school Scout Troop at Wigton, the 17th Carlisle
and it continued in Windermere, renamed the 22nd Newcastle, becoming a vital part
of the life of the school. It was an exceptionally good group and I rose to be the
Troop Leader - of a motley crowd of some 60 boys. It included one who became the
Director of Kew Gardens, another who became Director of the Royal Academy of
Music, several University Professors and other University teachers, medical Doctors,
the Gardening Correspondent of the Sunday Times. There were Bank Managers,
Businessmen, and no doubt some who made a career in the Armed Forces and other
professions. It provided a good training for leadership and I organized ‘wide games’
up on Orrest Head above Windermere, and among the bracken, trees and heather at
High Borrans where we had the time of our lives and became closely acquainted
with the local natural history. For instance we collected adders, which abounded; the
farmers believed they were a hazard to their sheep and paid us a small bounty for
the skins - an activity which would certainly be frowned upon now, but was
regarded as a public service then!
I also took parties of scouts to the Ferry Hotel, Bowness, at weekends, where we
undertook various "backwoodsman" type jobs, like felling trees, clearing scrub and
building log-bridges over streams. The way these jobs were carried out was left to
our own ingenuity. In return the hotel manager, who was I think a brother of our
headmaster, used to provide a really slap-up feast of tea, sandwiches and cakes as a
reward for our efforts. These tasks taught us practical skills. Fortunately we did not
have any accidents, though we no doubt took some risks and were lucky. Such
activities would not be permitted, let alone encouraged, today, but they
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