Summer Times, November 2004 - Old Scarborians

David PottageInternational Golf CourseArchitectA Complete ServicefromProject AppraisalthroughDetailed DesigntoTurnkey Development70 Whitesmead RoadOld TownStevenageHerts. SG1 3JZTel: 01438 221026Fax:01438 229271e-mail davidpottage@ntlworld.comMember European Institute of Golf Course Architects

1COMMITTEE 2003-2004PRESIDENTMick Bowman,9 Ilkley Grove, Guisborough, ClevelandTS14 8LLTel: +44 (0)1287 634650E‐mail: mjwb@supanet.comIMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTRon Gledhill +44 (0)1723 362644HONORARY LIFE VICEPRESIDENTSFrank R Bamforth +44 (0)1723 364432Jack Layton +44 (0)1723 362455Geoff Nalton +44 (0)1723 354268Doug Owen +44 (0)1723 360960SECRETARYPeter Robson, Forge Villa, High Street,Ebberston, North Yorkshire. YO13 9PATel: +44 (0)1723 859335E‐mail: Peter.Robson@btinternet.comMEMBERSHIP SECRETARYColin Hurd, ʹLing Vistaʹ, Quarry Bank,Burniston, SCARBOROUGH,North Yorkshire,YO13 0JF Tel: +44(0)1723 870597)E‐mail: colinhurd@yahoo.co.ukFINANCIAL, SPORT, &MAGAZINE ADVERTISINGChris Found, Pinewood Cottage, Silpho,Scarborough. North Yorkshire.YO13 0JP Tel: +44 (0)1723 882343E‐mail: DFound@ukf.netSUMMER TIMES EDITORIALDavid Fowler,56 Prince of Wales Apartments,Esplanade,Scarborough, North Yorkshire. YO11 2BBTel: +44 (0)1723 365448E‐mail: osa@farthings.org.ukDEPUTY EDITORJohn Mannjohn.e.mann@ukgateway.netTel +44 (0)1948 662943 M: 0799 0787089OSA WEB SITEhttp://oldscarborians.orgBill Potts, 1848 Hidden Hills Drive,Roseville, California, 95661‐5804 USATel: +001 916 773‐3865E‐mail: osa@wfpconsulting.comPUBLICITYMick Bowman,9 Ilkley Grove, Guisborough, ClevelandTS14 8LLTel: +44 (0)1287 634650E‐mail: mjwb@supanet.comCOMMITTEE MEMBERSColin Adamson +44 (0)1723 364373Paul Gridley +44 (0)1723 370806Maurice Johnson +44 (0)1262 470272Michael Peart +44 (0)1723 864164Eric Rushforth +44 (0)1723 364018Geoff Winn +44 (0)1723 362414Ex OfficioChris Coole, Auditor +44(0)1723 577587CONTENTS1. Contact details2. Editorial4. Presidential6. Secretarial7. Treasurial8. Membership Secretarial8. Sporting9. OSA web site report9. Missing Members10. From Here & There16. Obituaries22. The School at War23. ‐ Reminiscences of Frank Binder25. ‐ Hov’s War Memoir31. ‐ Extracts from HWM’s War Diaries32. Memories of Wensleydale35. Yet Further Recollections36. A Typist’s Tale36. Comments– Bill Kendall37. Conversations – with George Fowler39. A Cricket come‐back comes unstuck41. Reunion in Western Australia44. A Champagne reunion

246. Prize Crossword No. 647. Crossword No. 5 Solution48. SBHS—The end of an era FD Taylor52. Reunion53. 739 Squadron ATC54. St Columba’s Youth Fellowship56. Municipal School57. E‐Bay Auction; Facts ‐ Summer Times58. Hospital Jottings59. 1961 1st XI Bright Bowl winners60. Future Events60. PostscriptPlease send items for the next SummerTimes to David Fowler, (addresson page 1) as soon as possible but toreach him by 1st February 2005. Itemssent by e‐mail or on CD are of greathelp; otherwise please type, or write,on one side of your paper.EDITORIALJust after I had startedpreparing this issue ofSummer Times, I wasgiven the opportunityof bringing forwardplanned open heartsurgery from mid Octoberto 16th September.To me, the waiting always seems worsethan the deed itself, and, as my Specialistfelt the operation was necessary assoon as possible, I jumped at the opportunity.In the event, all went well. I ended upwith a triple bypass, and planned repairor replacement of a heart valve provedunnecessary. I have nothing but praisefor surgeon Chris Munsch and his teamat the BUPA Hospital, Roundhay, Leeds.I had 4 days in intensive care and returnedhome from hospital on 24th September.Apart from a little soreness ‐ to my chestand right leg (from where the replacementartery was taken) and some stiffness,pain was well controlled and theafter effects consisted of little more thansome discomfort. The strides in medicaltechnology over recent years have beenreally stunning.Tiredness is my main enemy; it comeson very suddenly and I need to stopwhatever I am doing. A week after leavinghospital I am already walkingaround 1 mile a day and my Specialistwants me to increase that to 3 mileswithin 6 weeks of the operation date.At this stage, early in October, SummerTimes is around 3/4 complete. I hope itwill be of the normal size, although,depending on my progress it is possibleit might have fewer pages than normal;it might be a little late arriving; or articlesand letters correspondents wereexpecting to see might have been heldover. Also, the normal detailed proofreading will have been curtailed for thisissue.Whilst John Mann, our Deputy Editorhas been extremely helpful, the computerprogram I use does not readilyallow different people to prepare differentparts of the magazine. Actually, I tella lie. It does, but the subsequent mergingand re‐formatting takes far longerthan were one person to complete thewhole job from the outset.Also, John feels he must step down fromthe committee at the AGM in November

3for personal reasons, so if there is anyoneout there, with a computer and very basicdesign skills who is prepared to getinvolved in the production of the magazine,please let me know and I will sendfull details..An advert giving a little background tothis very satisfying role appears elsewherein this edition. Ideally, I wouldlike to be able to hand over completely,sometime in 2005 or 2006, although anyhelp or assistance which my successorneeded would be available for as long asneeded. An alternative would be for eachof us to prepare one issue of SummerTimes a year which would drastically cutdown on my workload. I will not be thefirst person to say that I need some extratime for myself, as I wish to write a book.However, the first essential is to findsomeone prepared to take on John’s DeputyEditorship position, and if they thenfelt able to take over my role entirely,that would be a real bonus.As you will see from the Treasurer’s reportthe recent appeal for funds to continueto finance the magazine and website, has borne fruit, and both seem to befinancially secure for the foreseeable future.Many thanks to all those memberswho have contributed.However, the other side of the coin isthat articles, letters and copy appear tobe drying up and, if we are to continue topublish two editions a year we do need aregular supply of letters and articles frommembers, in an attempt to keep themagazine fresh and interesting. Our archivesprovide some useful material butwe really do need a much greater supplyof articles, letters and comment—in particularfrom younger members and thosewho attended the school at Woodlands.We have had some criticism recently thatwe include insufficient items about theWoodlands era of the School. But, realistically,unless those younger memberssubmit items, from where do we get theinformation?If the present trickle of copy dries furtherthe alternative will be to revert to oneissue of Summer Times a year. PersonallyI hope this will not happen for the foreseeablefuture, but, from a selfish point ofview it would have some attractions!The remedy is in your hands.Because you may have sent in items recentlyplease do not let that deter youfrom sending in further letters or articles.We rely very heavily on a number ofregular and loyal contributors, to whomwe remain indebted.Contributions should be submitted, preferablyby e‐mail or on CD, but alternativelytyped, or hand written – but, if thelatter, please try and write legibly.E‐mailed submissions are the easiest to‘paste’ straight into the magazine. Typedsubmissions are scanned, then convertedto a text format which can be edited andamended to the appropriate font, sizeand style of the magazine.Hand‐written submissions need retyping.But, please, do not let this deter youfrom putting pen to paper. Providingcopy is received before the deadlineclearly stated in each magazine, we normallyhave the capacity to include anythingthat you care to send. If not used in

4that edition it will normally find its wayinto a future magazine.Very many thanks to all contributors; toadvertisers (who also obtain the bonusof world wide publicity through theweb edition of the magazine), to proofreaders, (whom I assure have not beenignored if they have not heard from meabout this issue!), to committee memberswho turn up for committee meetingsand then are faced with an‘Agenda’ of enveloping, labelling andmailing each copy to around 660 members;and to all our members and advertisersas without them there wouldn’tbe The Old Scarborians’ Association, orSummer Times.Lastly, many thanks to all those memberswho have been in touch, eitherwhilst I was in hospital, or since I returnedhome. It was comforting to haveso many messages of goodwill at a difficulttime.David Fowler (1949-55)EditorPRESIDENTIALOnce again it is time forme to offer a note asPresident of the Association.This will be myfinal effort as my termof office ends in November.It has been agreat honour to followmy father as President of the Old Scarboriansand I must admit the two yearshave flown by.It is the nature of our association thatwe lose members each year and withthem go many happy memories of ourreceding youth. This year however Ihave been personally saddened by thedeath of two members and friends bothremarkable and memorable in theirown ways. Earlier in the year I was extremelysorry to hear of Bob Watson’spassing. I always held him in the highestregard as a teacher and I hope lateras a friend. This was followed, after along and courageous fight, by the deathof Bill Chambers, a character if everthere was one. As with the passing ofall members I feel the world is sadderfor their going.On a far more pleasant note I ampleased to report that the Old Scarborianscontinue to flourish. This is as alwaysdue to the unstinting efforts ofyour committee who put in many hoursof work on your behalf. I would like tothank them all for the support theyhave given me over the last two yearsand comment on the often unseen sideof the group’s work. Over the years wehave been indebted to Maurice Johnson,Geoff Nalton and Geoff Winn for theexcellent London Lunch venues. ToColin Adamson, Eric Rushforth, PaulGridley, Mick Peart, John Mann andDoug Owen for their continued attendanceand support on the often boringbut vital administrative tasks. AlthoughI think in Mick’s case taking me for acouple of pints after the meetings hasbeen his greatest contribution! RonGledhill was a great source of supportin my early nervous days and for this Ithank him. As has been well documenteda small number of members doan enormous amount of work. Chris‐

5A Home from Home with Qualified NursingCareA family run home with the emphasis on a gentle and loving approach.Our home provides comfort and privacy when desired andlong or short respite stay; private or funded are all welcome. Thereis a smoking lounge for relatives and residents, and two south facingsunny day rooms. Even though we are in a rural location, aprivate transport service can be arranged for people, if they findvisiting their relatives or friend a problem. You are welcome tovisit our Nursing Home anytime, for more information please callourMatron: Judy Roddison8-14 Primrose Valley Road, Filey, North YorkshireYO14 9QRTEL: 01723 513545Proprietor: Capt. E.J.Baines M.N.I M.R.I.N.

6Found continues to keep a close eye onthe purse strings and has again organisedtwo excellent golf days and a dinner;Colin Hurd has taken a grasp of themembership and continues to reportnew members each time we meet. Ithank you both. The creation of thewebsite by David Fowler and the expansionof it and professional input byBill Potts was a major event in the OldScarborians’ history and has developedout of all recognition. Again I thank Billfor his continuing input.In David’s case I can only refer you toyet another outstanding issue of SummerTimes. The time and effort that heputs into producing two issues a yearcan never be overstated. I am sure hewill not mind me adding that thismagazines appearance on time showshow dedicated he is as he has done it inspite of a very serious illness. In timeDavid would like to hand on the job ofeditor and if there is any member outthere who would be interested in workingwith him over the next year or twoand then taking over please contacthim. He will be very pleased to hearfrom you so a smooth hand over cantake place. Yet again David my heartfelt thanks for all you have done.As you may be aware Peter Robson ourSecretary is standing down this yearafter five revolutionary years. When hetook over the job the Association was avery different creature. The dramaticincrease in membership, the organisationwithin the dinners, the joint eventswith the Girls’ schools all came fromhim and as an Association we owe himan enormous debt. Peter will be extremelydifficult to replace and any interestedmember should contact him assoon as possible. I am confident thatPeter will still be heavily involved withthe Old Scarborians and will as alwaysbe willing to offer help and advice. PeterI offer you my sincere thanks and onbehave of the Old Scarborians I thankyou for five years hard labour.The next event on our calendar is thejoint dinner with the Girls High School.I bought a ticket for the event but I havebeen told that, as I cut short a familyholiday to play in the golf tournament, Icould not cancel the family holiday inCrete! I hope it is another pleasurableevening. I will raise a glass to you insome Cretian bar.Please continue to support the Old Scarboriansby attending the AGM, playingin the golf tournaments or turning upon Boxing Day at the Rugby Club. Mostimportantly please continue to supportthe dinners and lunches and bring asmany Old Scarborians as you can withyou.My final thanks go to all those memberswho have responded so generously tothe appeal for funds. The next few issuesof Summer Times seem secure.Thank you.Mick Bowman (1954-61)PresidentSECRETARIALFirstly, I would like to thank all of youwho responded to the financial appealwhich was launched in the last issue ofSummer Times. In his report ChrisFound provides the detail of thisresponse but overall it represents a

7heartening show of supportfor the Association.Separately, I contactedseveral of you concerningthe Graham SchoolAppeal. For this, I chosethose of you who had ascientific qualification.The good news is that the GrahamSchool’s proposal to become a ScienceSpecialist has been accepted and OSAmembers pledged £2000 towards the£50000 that the School had to raise tosupport its proposal. The OSA has nothad a charitable role traditionally butthis was a generous response.Colin Hurd, the Membership Secretarywill report the actual numbers but Ihave the impression that recruitment ofnew numbers is going slowly. As usualyou will find a recruitment form withthis issue. Please send it to an Old Scarborianwith whom you have kept intouch but who you know is not a memberof the Association.During the past six months, I have beeninformed of the passing of the following:Bob Watson (1956‐73); Bob elegantlyproposed the toast to the OSA atthe Centenary Dinner in Jan 2002,Robert Glenton, Joseph Donald Baker,Bill Chambers (1955‐61) and DerekWhittaker.This will be my last report to you asSecretary. As I told you in the last issueit is my intention to retire at the AGMin November. In that report also I commentedthat the OSA needed a newsecretary with energy and ideas todrive it forward over the coming decade.I took over from Frank Bamforthwho with Geoff Nalton had kept theAssociation going for many years.Frank and Geoff were at the School inthe thirties. I arrived there in 1945 and Ibelieve it is now the turn of the 50’sgeneration to step up and take the lead.I look forward to remaining a memberof the Association for many years tocome and participating in the eventswhich it organizes. I also look forwardto enjoying the friendship and fellowshipof all its members.Peter Robson (1945-53)SecretaryTREASURIALThe financial appeallaunched with theSpring 2004 edition of“Summer Times” hasbeen very successfuland £3,115.50 hasbeen donated by 144members which gives an average donationof £21.64 (considerably less if youdivide the amount raised by the numberof our total membership). We havenot yet reached the stage of refusingdonations and therefore it is not too latefor anybody who has not yet done so toblow the dust off their cheque book.The highest donation was £250 and wehad 3 gifts of £100, one of $250 and 12of £50. I regret that I have not had timeto write to every donor personally butanybody requesting a receipt has beensent one.At present we have £5,753 in the bank,mainly in a deposit account and thus

our existence for the foreseeable futureis assured. Of the amount in hand £420relates to prepaid dinner tickets and thebalance is uncommitted funds.All our events this year have been run ata profit and our overheads have beenkept to a minimum. Obviously our maincost is that of Summer Times and the netcost per edition this year after deductingadvertising revenue of £672 is £602.I wish to thank all members who haveresponded so magnificently to our appeal.Chris Found (1951-59)TreasurerMEMBERSHIP SECRETARIALSince taking over fromPeter Robson as MembershipSecretary, wehave had another 20new members of theAssociation. This comparesfavourably withprevious reports that I have made. Welcometo the following who have becomemembers since the last issueGordon Cherry (1949‐55)Frederick Thomas Eade (1955‐60)Allan Spavin (1941‐46)Jim Megson (1952‐60)Keith Broadbent (1952‐58)Barry Beanland organised a players reunionof all old rugby players whichproved very popular and it is hopedthat it will be a regular occasion in future.Colin Hurd (1952-58)Membership Secretary8SPORTING EVENTSThe golf days for 2004were as follows:Dr Meadley ‐ Thursday3rd June 2004TA Smith ‐ Thursday22nd July 2004The first tournament ofthe year was for the Dr Meadley Cupand was held at Scarboroughʹs NorthCliff Golf Club on Thursday 3rd June2004. Fortunately after a rainy start tothe day most of the competitors whostarted at around 3 oʹclock in the afternoonhad reasonable conditions apartfrom a small amount of light rain overthe first few holes. As an experiment itwas arranged that most of the playersshould start at the same time so that wewould all be in the bar at the same timeafterwards and this proved very popular.I certainly think that we shouldadopt this format in future but still allowplayers to play at some other timeof day if they prefer it.Because of the difficult conditions thelevel of scoring was high with honourableexceptions.The results and net scores were as follows:WinnerRichard Hutton (Ganton) 71Runner upGeoff Winn (South Cliff) 72ThirdEric Rushforth (North Cliff) 75The total number of entries at 18 wassimilar to last year.On Thursday 22nd July we held theT A Smith Golf Competition and wewere fortunate in having excellent dry

and wind free conditions accompaniedby muggy warmth.Fifteen of the 18 competitorswere able to meet on the first teeat 2.30 and go off in threes and a verypleasant afternoon was enjoyed by allwho took part.The results of the competition were veryclose and Freddie Crosby of North Cliffwas the eventual winner with 38 points.Three players were next all on 37 pointsand after consulting the results of thesecond nine holes second place wasawarded to Mick Bowman of Saltburnand third was Eric Rushforth of NorthCliff. John Brinkler was the unlucky thirdperson on 37 points.In the evening 23 members including thePresident, Mick Bowman, the Secretary,Peter Robson and Summer Times EditorDavid Fowler, sat down to an enjoyablemeal in the Clubhouse and most peopleseemed reluctant to leave at the end ofthe evening as they had enjoyed themselvesso much.During the dinner Chris Found announcedthe result of the Postal GolfCompetition (Stableford) which hadtaken place during June as follows:WinnerBill (George) Kendall of Queensland,Australia36 PointsRunner upGuy Jibson of Daventry 35 PointsThirdPeter Midgley of Aylesbury 33 PointsIt is hoped that more members will supportthe event next year and it is open toall golf playing members anywhere inthe World.Chris Found (1951-59)Golf Secretary9OLD SCARBORIANS WEBSITE REPORTThere is no report fromBill Potts as he was unableto meet an extendeddeadline.He wrote in the last issue,“My current toppriorityitem is the completionof a book while it is still relevantand, as Iʹm not independently wealthy, Ineed the revenue from it. The deadline tocomplete it is almost upon me and I amworking hard to meet that deadline.Once itʹs complete, my time will oncemore be flexible.My book is called Bushopedia, and youcan read about it (and see sample entries)at http://bushopedia.com.”Bill Potts (1946-55)WebmasterMISSING MEMBERSThe following are Members from whoseaddresses mail has been returned undelivered.If you can put us in contact withany of these Old Boys please do so. Allare UK unless otherwise stated.If your name is listed but you receiveSummer Times, please advise us. Addresschanges may have led to a few duplications.Trevor Edward Almack, ScarboroughMichael Anderton, PontefractNeil Beaton, ScarboroughG Ray Bloom, St AlbansDavid Booth, Tilehurst Reading

12that your appeal efforts will have thedesired effect and meanwhile enclosemy own small contribution in supportof a worthwhile cause.I also enclose a copy of Prize CrosswordNumber 5 that I started and surprisinglymanaged to finish.I notice from the current issue that AlanSwanson suggests that the Speech Dayphotograph from Volume 44 is probably1949 but my own thoughts are that amore likely date would be 1959 withwhatlooks like former head boy JohnHall receiving a presentation and theHandicraft teachers Messrs Perry, Duttonand, I think Craven applaudingcentre right…As a postscript regarding the year of theSpeech Day photograph in SummerTimes Volume 44 probably being 1959 Iwould now suggest it was taken thefollowing year. The front row of distinguishedguests behind Mr Marsdenappear to be those that can be seen inthe 1960 photograph on the OSA website.Editor: Crossword number 5 resultsappear on page 47.John Kilburn writes(1942-52)I was at SBHS from 1942 ‐ 1952 andvaguely remember our rehearsing aspecial song (because we didnʹt have aschool song) in 1951. It was an adaptationof a poem, specially used for theoccasion, which was, I think, theschoolʹs demi‐centenary. We maybewent to Scarborough Parish Church (StMaryʹs) for a service. Can anyone rememberwhat it was?Peter Newham writes fromNorthampton (1954-61)With even greater trepidationthan last time(particularly as you then“rocked the matrimonialboat” by publishing myaccompanying e‐mailwith my reference toDeirdre’s typing), I enclose yet anotherprospective contribution, fuelled in partby your importuning for material, andin part by my egotistical self‐satisfactionin producing material.I must however admit that the mines ofmemory are now semi‐exhausted, althoughperhaps the inspiration of anotherreunion may (to mix metaphors)re‐ignite the spark in the future.Editor: I responded: “To restore thematrimonial balance, if Deirdre can bepersuaded to write a piece from thepoint of view of the wife of an OSAmember… “Peter’s ‘Yet Further Recollections’ appearson page 35.Deirdre Newham (also fromNorthampton) writesPerhaps to your surprise, I have takenyou at your word and penned a fewchoice words as the long suffering wifeof an Old Scarborian!! This may be totallyunsuitable for publication, but youdared me to do it and it could havebeen much ruder!Despite her threats, Deirdre’s (quiterestrained!) article appears on page 36.

Andy Baxter writes fromCalgary, Canada (1969-74)Please delete me from the mailing listfor Summer Times. I just find there is notmuch in it that is of interest to my SBHStime slot (1969‐74). Since you are havingtrouble with costs for this publication,perhaps not having the expense of mailingit to me will help.The Editor responded:Whilst I will pass on your request to theMembership Secretary who looks afterthe mailing list, I cannot guarantee youwill not receive future copies, as theseare normally sent to all members automatically.To omit one member brings ina manual element which might get overlooked,as our volunteers change.Regarding items of interest to your timeslot, why not provide an article yourselfand encourage your contemporaries todo likewise? For instance, who were theMasters during your time at school?What were their various characteristics?What was the Woodlands school like?What have you been doing since leavingschool?The magazine very much reflects theyears at school of those who contribute.It is a sad fact, but the more recent pupilssend in very few articles ‐ possiblyas they are still working and havenʹttime for reminiscing! If the Associationis to survive well into the future we doneed their involvement.I look forward to receiving somethingfrom you. The copy date for the nextedition is 1st August ‐ or sooner if possible.13Bill Potts, to whom correspondence iscopied, wrote:Iʹd like to echo what David says.I should also mention that David getssome of his material for Summer Timesfrom the discussion forum on the OSAwebsite. I remember your ʺBiddy Baxterbids helloʺ and ʺMore from Biddyʺ messagesto the old forum at the end of2001. I also remember that nobody replied,which was unfortunate.I note that you have not registered as amember of the current forum. I wouldencourage you to do so and reintroduceyourself. You mentioned some photographsin your original posting. We certainlyhave a shortage of those fromyour years and would welcome anycontributions youʹd like to make(preferably as JPEG files).One of the best ways to get a reaction inthe forum is to relate some story about aparticular teacher (or incident) ‐ especiallyif that teacher was either verypopular or very unpopular. Again, suchreactions are grist to Davidʹs SummerTimes mill.Tony Philipson writes fromWeybridge (1957-65)What has happened to the posting ofnew photographs to the web site, whichseems to have come to a dead stop?I sent in photos many months ago but asyet they have not been published.How many photos have been publishedin the last 6 months?Bill Potts, who looks after the Web site,responded:

You should note that maintaining thewebsite, like all the other tasks undertakenby members the Committee, is voluntaryand unpaid, and is subject to constraintson available time over which wedonʹt necessarily have full control.You might also want to note that theamount of time Iʹve invested in the websitesince its inception runs into manyhundreds of hours. If I had been paid forit, at typical web development rates, myincome from it would be in the $100,000to $200,000 range. I donʹt begrudge thetime, even the tiniest bit. However, Ithink those who benefit from the websiteʹsexistence need to know that itʹs anon‐trivial undertaking.14There is, indeed, a backlog ‐ and it isgreater than six months. My own currenttop‐priority item is the completion of abook and, as Iʹm not independentlywealthy, I need the revenue from it. Thedeadline to complete it is almost upon meand I am working hard to meet that deadline.Once itʹs complete, my time willonce more be flexible and I expect to clearthe entire backlog.Your photographs are definitely in thequeue.Michael Whitaker writes[On the Web site, the] 1969‐70 1st XV unknownplayer is Mick Whitaker.Back row: (L to R) Lionel Howden, Ron Colley, Bert Bassett, David Levy, Billy Barton, & Mr FrancisMiddle row: Don Barnes, David Merryweather, John Yeadon, Peter Midgley & Barry Dove.Front row: Walter Rogers & Gordon Pottage.

Walter Rogers writes fromWalton-on-the-Hill(1945-52)In January of this year I sent in a contributionwhich was printed in theMay issue of Summer Times. At thesame time, I also sent a couple ofnewspaper cuttings of the SBHS under12 cricket and football teams of1945/46, realising that their qualitywas not good enough for including inthe magazine or web site.Since sending these cuttings, my sisterhas recently sent me a cutting from theEvening News about Gordon Pottagecelebrating his golden wedding anniversary.Gordon was a member of boththe teams mentioned above. The article15in the paper said he lived at Eastfield,so I decided to send a congratulatoryletter, although I had had no contactsince the fifth year at school. Next day Ihad a phone call from Gordon, and wehad a long chat about the `good olddaysʹ in which I mentioned the OldScarborians Association and SummerTimes. He has never been a member,but what he has done is get me photographiccopies of the two under 12teams, which I am enclosing. He didtell me that he also has one of thoselong photographs taken of the wholeschool.As a result of my contribution in theMay 2004 issue, Ron Hutchinson, whowas in my German class in the fifthBack row (L to R) Mick Wellburn, Walter Rogers, Peter Midgley, Kewn Lee, Jack Jarvis, Lionel Howden, &Mr Francis. Middle row: Alan Bradford, Lawrence Cooper, Bert Bassett, Colin Smith & Billy Barton.Front row: John Yeadon & Gordon Pottage.

form and tennis team in 1952, made contactwith me.John Knighton writes fromHarrogate (1935-45)Unfortunately, we hardly got a chance fora word at the last ʺdoʺ in Scarborough,but hope we can put that right next Septemberwhen we are coming to the jointSBHS / SGHS reception and dinner.I was reminded that it was past time to putpen to paper by the latest issue of SummerTimes ‐ another outstanding one! I was verysorry to read of the death of Joe Cooper ;when we met him at the Centenary Weekend inJune 2002 I recognised him instantly ‐ justthe same as in 1944, but a bit older! He wasSecretary of Spottersʹ Club No. 213 until heleft the school, when he asked me to takeover, which I did for the next two years(1944 and 1945) ‐ the Club then was workingin parallel with the ATC Aircraft RecognitionTeam, of which I was Captain. Ilast saw Joe and Barbara in HarrogateLibrary briefly about a year or so agoand he still seemed quite perky.I had already heard of the death of DavidMcLintock ‐ he had a very good write‐upin ‘The Times’, as you probably know. Weboth knew him from early days, when heand his parents lived on Filey Road inWheatcroft (very close to Ralph Rowntree),near to our respective homes on thatroad. We had quite a long chat with himat the SBHS ʺdoʺ at the Royal Hotel in 2000.It was also sad to hear of the death of DennisSaunders, who I knew through the ATC.Apart from holidays, our activities haveincluded my being made a Freeman ofthe City of York (2002) by patrimony (agreat‐grandfather was a draper in the16city). Just about a year ago, Gerry Harrisonwas in the UK with his wife Jean for severalweeks and had a day with us. Itʹs good toknow that heʹs recovered very well frombrain surgery. Iʹm in fairly regular touchwith Walter Kent in Devon (andFrance) and hope he might appear in September.It was good two years ago tomeet Julian Johnson and his wife Pat,plus Glenys and Robin Pinder ‐ Julian andGlenys are ʺold Wheatcroftoniansʺ. Again‐ sad news about Robin.OBITUARIESWilliam (Bill) Chambers(1955-60)By S Peter Bell (1957-63)It is with great sadnessthat I report the death ofBill after a long andbrave fight against cancerat the early age of 60.Bill was born in Scarboroughin 1944, living firstat Seamer and then at theold water works at Cayton where his fatherworked. In those far off days the waterworks seemed way out of the village,and was not even connected to electricity.Bill attended the village school at Caytonpassing the 11+ and moving on to theSBHS in 1955. It is fair to say that Bill wasmore interested in sport than the academicside of school life, and he leftschool after taking his “O” levels.He then joined his one and only employerbecoming junior clerk with the Seamerbased S A Bell Ltd.During this period of his life Bill spent

most of his spare time playing sport. Hepreferred soccer to rugby and played withdistinction for both South Cliff (formed bypupils from SBHS) and Cayton Corinthians.even gaining a medal for fair playand sportsmanship; all the more remarkableas most of his time was spent in defence!!His cricket career was perhaps more distinguishedand he played first for Seamer1st XI then Cayton 1st XI then, finally Malton1st XI in the East Yorkshire Cup whichin those days involved a good standard ofcricket.After his football and cricket careersended he played tennis for Settringtonand badminton for Amotherby.In later life he took up golf, playing atMalton & Norton GC and although henever played to the same level as hiscricket and soccer he played until a monthor so before his death. He greatly enjoyedthe SBHS Gold Tournaments at NorthCliff Golf Club.Bill moved with Sandra, his wife, to Nortonin the early 70ʹs where he becameTransport Manager at the Norton depotand was made Transport Director of S ABellʹs in 1986 retiring due to ill health inMay 2003.Apart from his family, work and sport,Billʹs main interest was his garden whichwas always a joy to behold be it his vegetablepatch or his flower borders. Billʹsother great interest was playing cards;firstly whist, at all the local whist drivesand latterly bridge at which he becameʹhookedʹ. His last game was played in theHospice where he later died.Bill was married to Sandra, a Seamer girl17who he met at a local dance, for almost 40years. He also leaves a daughter and ason.Bill will be greatly missed by all whoknew him. He was truly one of the ʹgoodguysʹ and a real gentleman.David Michael TribeBy Barrie Jubb (1947-55)The funeral of Michael Tribe took place atYork Minster on the 9 th August 2004. Hewould have been at Westwood from about1950.I remember him as a very smartly dressedcricketer playing in the Evening Leaguewith Keith Milner and me for WheatcroftSt Michael’s. It was a most enjoyable experience.With only 20 overs, you had toget a run a ball, even if the ball went to thewicket keeper.Mike lived at Wheatcroft and much latermet his wife, Norma, at the North RidingTraining College. His work was in thePolice and the Probation Service and laterhe and Norma lived in Murton near York.Mike’s father had been a Naval man and, Ibelieve, was head of the Maisie GrahamSea Training School in Paradise in Scarborough.Mike’s mother still lives in Scarborough.Both Mike’s sons, Simon andRobert, were head choristers at York Minsterand later graduated from Dartmouth.Mike and his family were well‐known atthe Minster being in the choir, altar serversor carrying the Cross at services.About 3 years ago, he found he had abrain tumour, and subsequently had operationsat Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals.

18Bob WatsonBy Phil Watson (1959-67)My father, Bob Watson,died early on Wednesdaymorning, 5th May. As youknow, he taught English atthe Boysʹ High from 1955until his retirement, goingfrom Westwood, to Woodlandsand finally to the Sixth Form Collegewhere he was Senior Tutor. He hasalso been a great supporter of the OldScabs and has kept contact with many ofthe members and attends various dinnersand functions.For those who want to know, the previousevening he had attended at first nightof the latest Ayckbourn play at theStephen Joseph Theatre, then gone to theʺfirst night partyʺ afterwards where hewas in ʺtop formʺ until the early hours.He then went home but at 5am had chestpains, called an ambulance, went to hospital,seemed to be OK after various testsbut at 7 am suffered a heart attack anddied.As my sister Pat said on hearing that hehad been with all his friends at the theatrepartying for hours ʺhe must be one ofthe few people to have been in heavenbefore he diedʺWhilst Richard, Pat and I and our familiesare very sad to lose him, we are alsothankful that we can remember him assomeone who has had a great life whichhe enjoyed right to the end and much ofthat is due to the friends he made in Scarborough,many of whom are Old Scarborians.The funeral was held on Thursday May13th, at St Josephs Church, Newby.P.S. Coincidentally, I had downloadedand read the latest Summer Times thenight before and read Mick Bowmanʹsreference to Dadʹs 81st Birthday Party atThe Crescent in December. Mick saidsomething to the effect the Dad ʺwas fullof life as usualʺ ‐ Mick was absolutelyright and thank goodness he was like thatright ʹtil the end and that we can all rememberhim like that.Bob WatsonBy Geoff Mountain (Principal6th Form College 1984-1997)(Geoff gave the following address atBob Watson’s funeral service)Bob meant so much to somany of us.I shall do my best to capturesomething of the manand his life. Please forgivemy omissions or blamethem on Bob as he livedtoo full a life for a brief address.Bob was born in 1922, the middle of threechildren. Like his older brother Jack hewent off to boarding school at Laxton,long since closed. There began his lifelonglove of rugby, though initially it wasthe tea after the away games that was thechief attraction, the food at Laxton was sobad.He was an excellent academic and wasexpecting to go to St. John’s College Cambridgewhen the war intervened. Bobserved in the Royal Artillery in Africaand then Italy rising to the rank of captain.Despite the circumstances, he wasinspired with a love of Italy that lasted

the rest of his life. Much later, like manyanother impoverished teacher, he boughta caravan so that he could take the familyon holiday to Italy, holidays fondlyremembered, not least for the VecchiaVerona wine he liked to sample.Bob loved his glass of wine, or two, inthe evening and a glass of single malt, ortwo, at the end of the day. No surprise,then, that almost all his 80 th birthdaypresents came bottle‐shaped.In January 1947 in Hamburg Bob marriedBarbara , whom he had known sinceEasingwold days. For their honeymoonthey went skiing in the Hartz mountains.He then went to Durham University, toSt. Cuthberts, for his English degree, anexperience intellectually rich but ratherless so financially, especially since Philipand Richard were both born in Durham.In recent years he had a lot of fun at thereunions organised at St Cuthberts.In 1951 he started his long and distinguishedteaching career, first of all atRedditch County High School. The familywas completed in Redditch with thebirth of Pat. He moved to ScarboroughBoys’ High School in January 1956 andas we all know never left the town thathe loved.Bob was passionate about his subject; heloved English literature and inspiredgenerations of students with that samelove. I was once in his company whensomebody came up to him and said ‘Iremember when we did The Duchess ofMalfi’.For the first 17 years of his teaching inScarborough he taught only boys. Indeedat one time it seemed to me that all the19men over 40 I met in Scarborough hadeither been taught by Bob or had been inhis legendary U14’s rugby team. Bob’senthusiasm and enjoyment of life wasevident in all his extra‐curricular activitiesas well as the teaching – the rugby,the school library, the make‐up for theplays and the like. One of the highlightsmany remember was the end of termstaff cabaret shall we call it, for whichBob wrote numerous ditties to G & Ssongs. The pastoral advice sometimeswent astray. He once told Robert Palmer,then known as Allen, that he ought tostop messing about with this wretchedgroup and wasting his time on this music.What he ought to do was to get adecent job like being a teacher.In 1973 with reorganisation of educationin Scarborough Bob moved to the SixthForm College as Director of Studies andlater Vice‐principal. He continued toenjoy teaching A level English, of course,but managed also to find the adminwork to his taste. Despite a heart attackin 1980 he carried on working until heretired in December 1983 at the age of 60.It wasn’t quite the end of his teaching,though, because we persuaded him outof retirement to help out in the Englishdepartment on several occasions . Out ofthe goodness of his heart he coached anumber of students individually ‐ one ofwhom, I remember, was the then MissScarborough – it wasn’t all hard work!The end of Bob’s teaching was the beginningof a very full retirement. Sadly fouryears later Barbara died of cancer, a devastatingblow for Bob from which hetook some time to recover. But the oldenergy and enthusiasm returned and hethrew himself into a wide range of activi‐

ties.At St. Catherine’s Hospice for example, hedesigned and fitted out the library inmemory of Barbara. He worked on receptionevery Friday for 15 years or more. Hedid proof‐reading for them and in theearly days he even did some ironing(some of you might think I made the lastbit up!) A totally different interest was hisfather’s World War 1 diaries. He researchedthoroughly, edited and publishedthe diaries in 1994.And, of course, the theatre. If you couldn’tfind Bob at home, the best bet was to ringthe theatre. Bob was the theatre’s honoraryarchivist and librarian, but also envelopestuffer, poster distributor, and organiser ofoccasional visits to Burton Agnes. Theseoutings were usually in the company ofsome charming young actress. He lovedthe theatre and the people. He gave a greatdeal and received much in return. Asmany of you will know Bob went to thefirst night of ‘Drowning on Dry Land’ thenight before he died. He never missed afirst night. After the play he went to thefirst night party, as usual, where he was tobe found with an actress on each arm. As[his daughter] Pat said, he was the onlyman to go to heaven the night before hedied.I have left out so much; the allotment, thechurch choir, the MS Society, the OldBoys’ Association, The Sophie WinterTrust. Bob would have roundly abused mefor getting it wrong, but then I’d havecursed him too ‐ The mutual exchange ofinsults was part of the fun.If I try to sum up Bob I might say; a man ofgreat integrity and honesty, a committedand inspirational teacher, a loyal friend,20always to be relied on, a scholar; I couldgo on but I’m missing the essence: the enthusiasm,the wit, the great sense of funand good humour. It was the twinkle inthe eye.I should like to end with two quotations,the first from one of Bob’s end of summerterm cabarets. You’ll be pleased to knowthat I shall not attempt to sing it, but you’llknow the tune;“We’ve now reached the end of our part inthis show,Sing Watson, Frank Sutcliffe and Penny.So we’ll wish you the best wherever yougo,Sing Watson, Frank Sutcliffe and Penny.If it’s to run around madly or lie in thesun,Your students will thank you for what youhave done,For you’ve shown them that learning andlife can be fun,Sing Watson, Frank Sutcliffe and Penny.Not a bad epitaph for Bob.And finally an even greater writer, muchadmired by Bob, John Donne, who speaksof our involvement in each other and ofour loss in these well known words:“No man is an island, entire of itself; everyman is a piece of the continent, a part ofthe main; if a clod be washed away by thesea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontorywere, as well as if a manor of thyfriends or of thine own were; any man’sdeath diminishes me, because I am involvedin Mankind; and therefore neversend to know for whom the bell tolls; ittolls for thee.”

Bob WatsonBy Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE(Actor Bill Champion read this slightlyirreverent letter at Bob Watson’s funeralservice)My dear Bob,It’s especially sad that that you canʹt be heretoday.For this is an occasion when you and yourcamera would surely be in your element.Here, amongst those who were fond of you,those who loved you and those who valuedyour friendship.What a photographic field day for someonewhom I once secretly dubbed the LordSnowden of the candidly disastrous snapshot.A sort of society photographer in reverse, onewhom many of us would gladly have paidon occasions to keep some particularly unfortunatepicture out of general circulation.But then, throughout our lives, we rarelymanage to cope, any of us, do we, with thesignificant or the momentous? We areforever discovered like naughty childreninappropriately crying at weddings, laughingat funerals or picking our nosesthrough christenings.Times like these, we need to deal with inour different ways. Some of us, bolsteredby strong beliefs, are reassured thatyou are even now somewhere else somewherebetter, still snapping away no doubtwith your celestial camera and causing thelate, the great and the worthy to duck behindmarble pillars.For the rest of us, who have never quite managedto take on board such grown up beliefs,who have never managed to cope withevents like this ‐ we find other ways.21Personally, as someone who has nevertruly accepted the notion of growing up, letalone of death, mine is simply a dogged refusalto allow anyone to die. Those whom Ihave lost in my life‐time, continue to live on.They join the ranks of these other characters,part fictitious, part real, part‐biographical,part auto‐biographical that have constantlyfilled my life.Those are, as you know, Bob, as wellas anyone, a largely eccentric, selfopinionated,wilful bunch. But I do knowthat you treasured their company, frequentlylaughing with them and occasionallyweeping for them. There are hundreds ofthem now and I, for my part at least, amhappy you have joined them ‐ whetherindeed you would have chosen to or not! Ilike to think you would.Farewell and welcome, then, but with notrace of good‐bye.With gratitude and affection,AlanEditor’s footnote: In 2004 Sir AlanAyckbourn again directed his muchacclaimed play, “A Chorus of Disapproval”at Scarborough’s Stephen JosephTheatre. The Cast page of the programmecontained the following dedication:“This production of A Chorus ofDisapproval is dedicated to the memoryof Bob Watson. Theatre lover,friend and supporter.Alan Ayckbourn”Derek WhitakerOne of Scarboroughʹs best‐‐lovedphotographers has died aged 78 fromcancer.

Despite retiring a decadeago Derek Whitaker, ofWrea Head Close, Scalby,never lost his passion fortaking pictures.Born in Leeds, he moved toScarborough with hisfamily when he was a child and lived withhis mother and father Hilda and NormanWhitaker and his sister Joyce in a number ofhotels run by his parents, including theGolden Last hotel, Eastborough, Lord Nelson,in Foreshore Road and the CliftonHotel, in Queenʹs Parade.Mr Whitaker went to the Convent schoolin Queen Street with his sister, before goingon to the former Boysʹ High School.A love of all things photo‐graphicprompted him to leave school at the age of14 and go and train with Grays, in Westborough,where he stayed for severalyears.His sister Joyce Butler said:ʺPhotography was his world. He wasstill doing it even when he retired. Peopleused to ask him to do their weddings andhe would say he would do it forthem because he knew them.ʺHe and his father also built up a reputationfor taking Walking Pictures along Scarborough,Whitby and Bridlington seafronts.Mr Whitaker will perhaps be best rememberedas the official photographer for theGrand and Royal Hotels, and during the30 years he photographed functions therehe met the stars of the day, including Lulu.Local photographer Max Payne whowas friends with Mr Whitaker for 5022years, said he was inspired by MrWhitaker to pursue his own career.Mr Payne said: ʺDerek was one of the oldschool, the perfect gentleman who wouldalways stand up if a lady entered the room,doff his trilby hat to people in the streetand was always smartly dressed andwith a bow tie in his work as a photographer.He was a very special man who willbe sadly missed by his friends and family.”Mr Whitaker also loved to travel and hadbeen all over the world, often accompaniedby his sister.He was an accomplished cook and was amember of the local Historical AircraftSociety and enjoyed building and flyingmodel aircraft and attended the woodturningcentre in Snainton.A bachelor, Mr Whitaker had lived inScalby for 35 years. He leaves his sisterJoyce.Editor: Obituary with acknowledgementto the Scarborough Evening News.MEMORIESTHE SCHOOL AT WARWhilst much of the magazine is taken upwith members’ memories, it was suggestedin our last issue that we include aspecific section for memories of TheSchool at War.Such memories need not necessarily bethose of ex‐pupils serving in the war. Thememories of those still at school duringthat time would be of interest to manyyounger, and not so young members. Therationing, the blackouts; the air raidwarnings; the school “garden” and“farm”. Where did the eggs go whichwere produced by the hens the boys fed?

23Who benefited from the bacon from thepigs they reared?REMINISCENCES OF FRANKBINDERBy Arthur Prust (1935-42)I attended the ScarboroughBoysʹ High Schoolfrom 1935 to 1942. Myfirst acquaintancewith Frank Binderwas in September1940 when I enteredthe sixth form and hejoined the staff. My three subjects forHigher School Certificate were French,German and History. I had in additionto start Latin so as to qualify for Oxbridge‐ I eventually went to QueenʹsCollege. Oxford, to read French and German,but of that more later. My Frenchteachers in Lower Sixth Modern were asfollows: for French language, i.e. translationfrom and into French and Frenchcomposition we had Leslie Brown, forFrench literature and general cultureFrank Binder. We had to study texts byMoliere, Racine and Merimee, and a bookon French life and geography. Binderquickly made me realize that I was enteringa new world of civilization. Thebreadth as well as the depth of hisscholarship amazed me. There wereonly three of us studying French. sothe lessons were more like tutorials,and Binder encouraged us to makeour own contributions to the discussionof the texts.An even more informal way of communicatingwith Binder was afforded me bychance. The sixth formers of that timewere expected to join with members ofstaff on Fire watch Duty ‐ rememberthese were the war years. I had donethis with various members of staffand their wives, but eventually I wasregularly assigned, with another studentof French who was a personalfriend. D J Bradley, to watch withBinder. Whereas with other members ofstaff we had simply arranged a watchrota and then grabbed what sleep wecould on makeshift beds, with Binder itwas a completely different affair. He wasterrified of being buried under rubble ifthe school should be bombed [as indeedwe all were]; so he insisted that weshould carry in heavy tables from adjacentrooms [the fire watching roomwas in the lowest level of the school]and lug mats from the gymnasium andconstruct bomb shelters in the room underwhich we slept when not keepingwatch. He called it ʹ The Mensatic Ageʹ.Of course, all this had to be put back inthe morning before we came off duty.All schools have a distinctive smell ofdisinfectant and sweat ‐ especially in thegym ‐ and Binder used to say that hisdaughter, who was only a little girlat that time. always commentedwhen he came home from fire watching:ʹWo bist du gegangen, Vati? Esgibt einen furchtbaren Gestank imHaus!ʹAnother of his daughterʹs observationsapplied to me. At that time Binder livedin a rented house in West Square whichbacked on to Hanover Road. My homewas in Barwick Terrace, so I used togo through Hanover Road on my way toschool. When I reached the Upper Sixth I

24became a Prefect and wore the distinctivered prefectʹs cap. This promptedlittle Fraulein Binder to comment, onseeing, me pass: ʹ Ist Prust unter den Jungender Konig?ʹThese fire watching sessions were extremelyprofitable to Bradley and mefrom a cultural and civilizing point ofview. Our conversations with Binderranged over a wide field ‐ classical historyand literature, philosophy. French,German and Spanish language and literature.Bradley was an exceptionallyclever boy. He had come to SBHSfrom a school in Liverpool [Binderʹshome town] where he had passedSchool Certificate at the age of twelve.He had done Latin, Greek and Frenchand, on coming to us, had picked upenough German in one year to embarkon the subject for HSC. I hadtaught myself quite a lot of Spanish,and Binder gave me a great deal ofencouragement.In the course of our discussionsBinder soon discovered that our Germanwas not going well. Our teacherwas a Dr Haynes who, although Britishby nationality, had been brought upin Germany. His doctorate was fromLeipzig, and he was a considerablescholar. As a class teacher he washowever hopeless, though he washelpful in one way ‐ he used to takeBradley and me for walks round theMere or Oliverʹs Mount conversingall the time in German and pointingout plants, insects and birds. These tookplace on Saturday afternoons, and weended up having tea with him and hiswife [like Mrs Binder a German lady ] intheir flat in Ramshill Road. One amusinglittle aside concerns the card hehad at the entrance to his flat whichread: Dr OH Haynes. We reported thisto Binder with the observation that peoplemight take him for a medical doctorand seek his help, whereuponBinder commented: ʹAnd he wouldn’tdisabuse them.ʹ When Binder realizedthat our German studies were flounderinghe told us to take our Germantexts with us to fire watching. Wewent through them systematically,and he supplemented this with sessionson Saturday mornings at hishouse in West Square. I owe him anincalculable debt of gratitude for thishelp, for which there was never anysuggestion of a fee.As I have said, during fire watchingwe discussed all manner of things inaddition to schoolwork. He used totalk about style in English andFrench. He admired Racine over Shakespeare‐ the classical precision of theFrench writer is something that I havetreasured ever since. Another writerwhose style he taught me to appreciatewas Chateaubriand. I cameacross a reference to Binder in anOxford publication. I cannot rememberexactly which book it was, but I havea vague memory that it was the OxfordDictionary of Clichés. Binder was referredto as ʹthat admirable prosewriter and acute dialecticianʹ. Ofcourse at that time I had no idea whata dialectician was and had neverheard of the Hegelian dialectic. Anotherphilosopher that he referred towas Heidegger. There was a phrase ‐ I

suppose it must be in the Existenzphilosophie—thathe said was virtuallyuntranslatable. I remember it well: ‘Dasunbedingte Dasein eines seinsnotwendigenSoseins.‘ I have a roughidea what it means but, like Binder, Ihave not been able to produce a satisfactoryEnglish version. Over theyears I have tried it out on variousGerman scholars but without success.A triviality, no doubt, but a glimpse ofhis acute and enquiring mind.An endearing little trick he had wasto be able to imitate the sound of atrombone. He taught me a numberof German folk songs and wouldillustrate the tune in this way.As I said I went to Queenʹs, Oxford,to read French and German. I did nothowever go up straight from school,as I enlisted in the Royal Air Forceand did not enter Oxford until 1946 atthe advanced age of 23. When I was onleave I used to visit Binder ‐ he hadmoved to a house in Prospect Road ‐and we used to walk throughPeasholm Park and round the MarineDrive.I owe a great deal to Binder, as indeedI do to the school in general.Two other masters who became closepersonal friends were F Clarke [Bon]and Les Brown.25HOV’s WAR MEMOIRThe World War II experiencesof an infantry officerEdited byMichael RinesContinued fromVolume 45By Major GeorgeReginaldHovingtonCHAPTER 9: ITALY-ANZIO1943-44We knew that the Americans had madea bridgehead into enemy territory, abouteight miles by four, bordered on oneside by the sea. We also knew that if theAmerican commander, having reachedhis ordered objectives without opposition,had pushed beyond them, the wayto Rome would have been open.Some weeks before we landed in Anzioharbour under shellfire, I was appointedadjutant, my predecessor having beenshot in the thigh by one of our own companycommanders, who, visiting BattalionHeadquarters, had thrown down hisbelt, and his pistol went off!After a four‐mile walk, the Battalionassembled during the night in the sanddunes, much to the relief of the troopswho vacated them. Some trenches wereonly about forty yards away from theGermans’, and the previous occupantshad put corrugated sheets over the topof them to provide protection from

26thrown hand‐grenades. Battalion Headquarterswas situated in a deep gully in asemi‐cave, which was crowded, with theColonel, the Intelligence Officer, two wirelessoperators and me. The doctor had asmaller cave at the other side of the gully.He could do little more than apply first‐aidto the casualties and send them back, ifnecessary, on stretchers, to the nearestcasualty clearing station, a few miles to therear.We had a new commanding officer, reducedin rank from a full colonel in theWar Office to a lieutenant colonel in thefield. He said he did not mind, as hewould be certain to be awarded a DSO,which would further his career in the armywhen the war was over. He seemed capableenough, and showed lots of courage invisiting his companies every night, butwhen I told him, one day, that the Brigadehad authorised the issue of a rum rationfor the whole Battalion, I found that hehad secretly drunk the lot!After a few weeks, I got a message fromBrigade that the Battalion had beenawarded a DSO, four Military Crosses,four Military Medals and an MBE, so theColonel got his DSO after what must havebeen the shortest active service ever!(Only Lieutenant Colonels and above wereeligible for this award). He asked me towhom he should award the MCs. I suggestedthree of the company commanderswho had held the post for some years, thefourth having only just been posted to us.‘What about the other one?’ he asked.‘Who’s had the longest service?’ When Itold him I had, he said that I must haveone then. I told him that I could hardlyaward a medal to myself. It would be obviousthat I had done so, because he wasso new to the Battalion. The award thereforewent to the fourth company commander,who had, in his favour, done activeservice before he joined us. Then Ihad to invent feats of gallantry for eachone of them and transmit them to Brigade!The four MMs were awarded, one percompany, on the recommendation of thecompany commanders, and the LieutenantQuarter Master got the MBE. It was thefirst time I realised that medals came upwith the rations!The Colonel was not the only regular officerto keep a sharp eye on the main chanceof furthering his career. Until the ArmyList arrived by post, I was asked by at leastone of the regular company commandersby wireless every day whether it hadcome. When it did, they had a conferencewith the Colonel, at which they studied itas if their lives depended upon it…’So andso’s dead…and so and so…and that makes12. Whoopee! I’ve gone up 12 places inthe list’ was the gist of the conversation, asthey congratulated each other. Promotionby seniority always seemed to me to be thenegation of efficiency.The adjutant’s job with this Colonel wassimply to receive and convey messages, atype of secretary concerned with details. Iremember once, in the middle of a bombardment,trying to work out a rota for ourmen to crawl out of their trenches, one pertrench, one every ten minutes, to run twomiles behind the lines to have a shower,and, as soon as they returned, the othermen to go. Then there were arrangementsfor men to go on leave and even on

courses. These then had to be replaced inthe line and, as there were about 70 casualtiesa week, every member of the carrierand mortar platoons and assistantcooks and ‘bottle washers’ had to dotheir share of trench warfare.I hated the claustrophobia of the gully,and was pleased when my predecessorrecovered from his wounds and wasgiven his old job back. I was given commandof Headquarter Company, whatthere was of it – only the cooks, a batmanand a runner ‐‐ four miles back in thesand dunes. By day, there was absolutelynothing to do but lie in the sun. Itried bathing in the sea once, but a meanGerman directed shells onto my vicinityand I had to make a hasty retreat.Night was hell. I had to lead a partycarrying containers of hot food up to thefront. It was extremely hazardous, and Inever fully realised till then what a blessinga slit trench was. Shells seemed toland all over the place without any patternat all; then the Germans would sendup flares and you had to shout ordersabove the din for everybody to ‘freeze’.Sometimes sporadic tracer bullets wouldforce you to hit the ground hard, and thestew would pour out of the containers, oryou would lose a container in the dark.Every journey took up most of the night,and was exhausting physically and mentally.It took most of the next day to getthe stench of cattle that had been deadfor months out of your nostrils.27One night, when the Battalion had goneback up the line after their three‐day rest,Private Mannion, an international footballerwho played for Middlesborough,and Corporal Cockburn, both of ‘B’ company,reported to me that they had‘deserted’. I told them not to be so sillyand to go and join their company, forthere was no way anybody could get out.They said they did not care – they werenot going to fight any more. I set themon helping in the cookhouse until nextday, when the Colonel told me that Imust put them in the Division’s prisoners’cages, where they would await courtmartial.About a week later, I got a message fromBrigade that I would be prosecuting themat their court martial, and that an officercalled Montefiore from the Army’s legalbranch would be coming from England,the next day, to preside. I met him off anaval vessel at the docks. He lookedexceedingly distressed, not only becausehe wore battle dress when it was scorchinghot, but also because the ship hecame in had been heavily bombed andthen strafed by a German fighter as itwas entering the dock.He told me that he expected the twocourt martials would take only one hourat the most, and he had arranged a tripback to Naples in two hours’ time withthe captain of a supply vessel. When Itold him that I had heard there were nottwo but 32 prisoners to try, his red faceturned white and he nervously flicked atimaginary flies with a green fly‐whisk,the only luggage he had brought withhim. I got him some food and settledhim into a slit trench with a blanket and aquart of whisky.The courthouse was a cattle shed, situatedabout fifty yards equidistant betweenthe prisoners’ cage – in slittrenches surrounded by high barbed wire

– and the concentration of all the guns inthe bridgehead. Whether the prisoners’cage was sited where it was deliberatelyI do not know, but a few minutes afterour batteries had shelled the Germans,they reciprocated and I was told thecasualties among the prisoners werevery high.The legal officer was no fool – he hadworked the fastest procedure he could.Before each trial, the prosecuting officerof each man was asked if his clientpleaded guilty and, if so, did the Battalionwant him back. If the answer was‘yes’, twice, as it invariably was becausemanpower was scarce, the presidingofficer just passed sentence of 90 days’pay stopped, so dispensing with thetime of a defending officer.I persuaded Mannion to plead guilty,and he happily went back to his company,where he continued to be, as healways was apart from this lapse, a verygood soldier. Corporal Cockburn wasdetermined to plead ‘Not Guilty’, muchto the annoyance of the legal officer,who had to listen to me, as prosecutor,give the facts, and his defending officer(his platoon commander, called out ofthe line) make what defence he could –that it was the prisoner’s first offenceand he had a good record. The Corporalgot two years’ penal servitude and Inever saw him again.The legal eagle came to see me to saygoodbye at about 3.0pm with a smugsmile, having tried 32 prisoners since1.30. It seemed rough justice, but itworked out right. It was natural forsome men to wilt under continual pressure,but after a rest and a cooling off28period they were ready to return to theirfighting unit and their comrades. And,of course, we got back much‐neededsoldiers. Montefiore told me only twohad pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ – if they hadnot he would have been back at Naplesby this time!I managed to get a week’s leave andwent with Oliver Johnson, a sapper lieutenant,to Naples on a tank‐landingcraft .The sea was so rough that it, rolledlike a drunk. The tanks and vehicles onthe deck broke their moorings andmany, after cannoning into each other,fell into the sea. Luckily my jeep wasbelow decks.We booked into a hotel in Naples, preferringto drive down the coast the nextday. In the middle of the night, I wassuddenly awakened by sirens and bymilitary police shouting that all militarypersonnel had to report at once – Vesuviushad erupted and civilians neededhelp. It was impossible to tell whendawn broke, because the whole area wasthick with dust and smoke. As we madeour way in the jeep up a tricky, precipitousmountain road, Italians werestreaming down, not sullen and resigned,as British people would be at theloss of their homes, but screaming andoccasionally beating their heads againstthe ground.The convoy in which we were travellingwas stopped about a hundred yardsaway from the flowing lava. It wasabout three feet deep and seemed not tobe moving till it hit a house or a treewhich, falling into it, sent up sparks andrevealed the red‐hot glow beneath theblack surface. We were told by the mili‐

tary police that, so far they could ascertain,all civilians had been accounted forand our services were no longer needed.We spent the rest of our leave at Positanoand then Amalfi, surely the most beautifulplaces on earth – white houses set onsteep slopes of luxuriant greenery, therocky coast and the unbelievable azuresea. The sea was immediately beneaththe bedroom of the hotel where westayed at Positano and, at night, the waitressbaited fishing hooks, which shedropped on a line into the sea twenty feetbelow. In the morning, when shebrought coffee, she pulled up the fishingline and asked us to select what wrigglingfish we wanted for breakfast. Ifound octopus the most appetising – ittasted of the sea.When we were staying at Amalfi, wehired a fisherman’s boat, anchored it amile out to sea, and swam. The scentfrom the flowers on the shore almostmade you dizzy. On our return toNaples, we called in at Pompeii and visitedits ‘mucky’ room of carvings, whichmade us realise that it was not our generationthat had discovered sex!When I got back to Anzio, I learned thatthe Colonel – a new one from the WarOffice, also in search of a DSO – togetherwith those of all the regiments at Anzio,had been summoned to a conference atNaples held by Lt General Sir OliverLees, the officer commanding all Britishtroops in Italy. He came back excited.The Battalion had been given the honour,he told us, of launching a feint attack onthe coast, where we were, so as to drawall the German fire and manpower29against us, to make it easier for the mainattack by American troops up Route 7towards Rome. The Adjutant told meprivately we had not been so honoured;the Colonel had volunteered us in openmeeting!To fill the officer shortage, 19 young lieutenantswho had never been in actionbefore were posted to us from the RifleBrigade. Not one was over the age of 20.They reported in battle dress – hadn’t theWar Office ever heard of the Italian summers?However, soon kitted out in suitabledress and allocated platoons, theyacclimatised well and soon were verypopular with the men under their command.The break out, when it came a few weekslater, was to be a dawn attack. The Germansmust have realised that an attackwas imminent because, for almost a weekbefore the actual date, our heavy artilleryconstantly bombarded their positions,and fighting patrols were sent outnightly.During the night before the dawn attack,the sappers, covered by a platoon of oursoldiers, went forward to clear the minefields. Some mines must have beenbooby‐trapped, for there were heavycasualties, including all four of the sapperofficers attached to us. Those who returnedalso reported strong patrol attacksby Panzer troops, who screamed so hystericallythat they must have beendrugged.I did not see any of the battle, but it wassuccessful – at a great cost. Few of the 19ex Rifle Brigade Officers survived deathor wounding, and 90 men were killed or

seriously wounded.I find it difficult to analyse the quality ofleadership. Is it the quality of speaking,thinking and acting differently from themen under your command? Is it thequality of being able to put the job inhand before your own feelings? Is it thequality of being so supremely confidentthat you cannot help passing it on toothers – or is it based on the class system;the have‐nots respecting the highereducation and wealth of the have‐nots?In a report of the battle later, I learnedthat these young officers not only displayedoutstanding courage themselves,but were followed almost slavishly,whatever they did, by their platoons.Unfortunately, some of them led theirmen in frontal attacks on tanks ‐‐ menwho were regular soldiers and seasonedin battle who must have known theynever had a chance.It seems to me, while full of admirationfor the young officers’ courage, leadershipis highly dangerous unless it is temperedwith skill and experience.Once the breakout was made, the Battalionwas retired and, despite its heavycasualties, it was pleasing to learn thatthe feint had been so successful that themain attack on Route 7 was made mucheasier. Rome fell in no time.We were told that we were to leave Italyand return to the Middle East for refittingand training recruits to fill theplaces of those whom we had lost. Wehad been on active service for a continuous11 months and it was time to rechargeour batteries and have time tothink.30On reviewing our Italian campaign, Iacknowledged the sound fighting qualitiesof our opponents. However, I deploredtheir resort to mine warfare,though I suppose it is essential if you arealways on the defensive. At the side ofnearly every road we walked on, therewere ‘S’ mines. These had three prongs,no more than an inch long, protrudingfrom the ground but still concealed bythe grass. When you trod on one it setoff a charge that exploded a tin full ofball bearings dug into the soil.When you trod on them, there was aplop and you had three seconds to throwyourself sideways onto the ground beforethe ball bearings scattered with tremendousforce in all directions. Seldomdid they kill anyone, but usually blewoff a foot or a leg. And in nearly everyvillage we captured – depending on howquickly the Germans had to withdraw –there were land mines. We learned veryquickly never to push a vehicle in a villagesquare. Probably the meanest trickthe Germans carried out was to boobytrappublic lavatories ‐ pull the chainand you were a goner!The positions we captured from theGermans were a disgrace, and wouldnever have been tolerated by British Officersand NCOs – no dug lavatories, sothat there was shit and paper everywhere;litter, unburied stale food, dirtyfood containers. The graffiti were socoarse ‐‐ the predominant drawingswere not only of men’s and women’sgenitalia but of their buttocks too – thatit was difficult to reconcile their manhoodwith them.Before we left Naples by boat for Haifa, I

31was sent back to Anzio by the Colonel toretrieve some confidential papers I hadhidden on the previous Colonel’s instruction.It was interesting to see thewar zone as a complete picture. I foundthat what had seemed a great hill beforewas now only a hillock, and the gullywhere Battalion Headquarters were sitedwas not nearly so deep as I had thought.There was little sign that there had beena war there at all, except that the deadcattle were now skeletons, and therewere shell holes and spent cartridgeseverywhere.Italian civilians had appeared fromsomewhere and were searching fortreasure. I remember giving the orderonce in the Apennines for my platoon toshoot two of them who were taking theboots off our dead colleagues whom wehad not had time to bury. Then I saw abulldozer being driven by members ofthe Graves’ Commission digging bodiesout of hastily made graves of our men.No doubt it was a quick and efficientmethod, but I could not help feeling itwas desecration.Editor: The next instalment will followin our May 2005 edition.EXTRACTS FROM THEWARTIME DIARY OFHW MARSDENDuring the War years1939‐45, then HeadmasterHW Marsdenkept a day‐to‐day diaryof visits and news ofOld Boys of the school.His Diary containsitems of sadness, and of humour duringa time of national crisis.A few early extracts follow.11.10.40 Corporal Archie Brown gave ahandsome gift in cash to the School Library.One of the books purchased withit will be Leo Walmsley’s Fishermen atWar.KG Pickles in Hospital in Scotland.Had the distinction of being loweredover the Nelson’s side in a crane.Commenting on International Affairs hewrites, “I was rather disappointed aboutthe Dehar incident...I just missed it.”Donald West and Colin Smettemsnatched a brief leave from theOCTU at Larkhill. Came by car – whoseand whose petrol not known.AG Kidd comes on the Staff inplace of Mr Hovington, called up. Kiddwas School Captain in 1927‐8 and wasprominent in both Soccer and Hockey.BA of Leeds.TB Weightman is on draft forRAF duty in South Africa.14.10.40 CW Brown in the Navy andrecommended for a commission. 3months ago he was in the Town Hall.17.10.40 A Bridgewater Leeds Trainingcollege presented a Silver Cup to theSchool for under‐12 House football. Hewas today elected winner of the TetleyMemorial Prize.18.10.40 Frank Mellor Grade 3 is at presentin the Army Pay Corps where hiswhole object in life is to attend to SherwoodForesters whose names begin withQ & R. He is not very happy about it.

32With him are J Appleby, L Halstead, andJ Leppington.19.10.40 Peter Albeury sent a cheque for£2.2.0d to the Library. He is near Bournemouthhandling Seaplanes.23.10.40 Dennis Hervey Jones DSC isReported Missing, believed killed.24.10.40 William Kirk RN (1923‐6) isreported Missing.28.10.40 AN Wright is leaving Signals foran Infantry OCTU. He has been acceptedfor the Field Security Police in which arealready Mr Cornish and Mr Lovett.29.10.40 Mr Hovington, critical and goodhumouredly cynical, finds the fleas ofPontefract and the snoring of his Barnsleypit‐lads somewhat trying. His impressionof the Army so far is “a narrowunintelligent world where the onlythings that matter are the belly and thefeet.”30.10.40 Noel Colley is on his first leavesince January. He has been stationed thewhole time in the Orkneys near ScapaFlow with Signals. He says the life isextremely boring and uneventful.12.11.40 Geoffrey Nalton is going to aSergeant’s Course at Catterick.13.11.40 Dick Hollowood RAF has finishedhis Wireless Course. He is at presentat Aberdeen.18.11.40 Hubert Bland is a Corporal inthe RAF at present stationed at Swansea.He tells me that his younger brother JW,who failed his RAF exam, was caught inthe Coventry raid. He was in the basementof Sainsbury’s stores, where he isan apprentice. The shop was damagedand unusable but JW has stayed on andis working with the Communal feeding.22.11.40 Peter Alderson has beenawarded the DFM.25.11.40 George N Schofield is an LAC.His mother’s house at Purley wasbombed. She is living for a time at 1aRothbury Street.1.12.40 Sgt Michael Russell RAFVR wasmarried last week to Miss GwendolineRose Povey at Markham Parish Church,Norfolk.1.12.40 John Yindrick is on the Greekfront in Albania acting as Special Correspondentfor the British United Press.2.12.40 WR King was Second Officer onthe Elders and Fyffe’s vessel torpedoedand sunk in the Atlantic on November3rd.2.12.40 TG Wilson, Merchant Navy isReported Missing.9.12.40 Mr Lovett is on leave in the ScarboroughDistrict. He is not impressed bythe Army at all. He is leaving Bury forWinchester next week where he expectsto join Mr Cornish.9.12.40 RAC Lewty in the RAF has beenin Action at Dunkirk and on the SouthEast Coast.MEMORIES OFWENSLEYDALEBy Barrie Pawson(1950-51)Having seen a reference to Wensleydalein the recent Summer Times I am prompted46.Prize Crossword No. 6 to send youthese photos which may be of interest toour readers. Most of the photos weretaken at Camp at Semmerwater in

331951/2. The photo belowis of the playground atHawes, and that at thetop of the next columnprobably a Staff V ???match at Olivers Mountaround 1950/51.Editor: The photos Barrie sent werevery small contact prints taken with,he recalls, a primitive Box Browniecamera. The quality compared to presentday standards is poor, but thephotos give a flavour of those carefree,long gone days. Can you recogniseanyone?Below back right, Gerald Hinchliffe,Hov, 4th right Jock Roxburgh, 5thright Les Brown, and far left FerdieFreeman. Front right, NormanStoddard, front left AJ Perry.On page 34 top left is the playgroundat Hawes and top right includes BiffSmith (looking more like a pupil thanthe pupils!) and Les Brown.

YET FURTHER (PERHAPSREPETITIVE)RECOLLECTIONSBy Peter Newham (1954-61)The difficult task ofDavid Fowler in solicitingcontributions to SummerTimes is perhaps renderedslightly easier byour continued attendanceat lunches and dinnerswhich tend to promptstirrings of the distant subconscious; nevertheless,there is a limit to the interestinganecdotes and recollections of eventhe most literate among us after the lapseof so much time.Perhaps, however, they have also somecathartic value even after all these years,although it is difficult to avoid repetition,albeit that we all approach the days ofour youth from an individual angle. Ipersonally, like Dorian Gray, refuse toacknowledge that I have grown older,(though doubt has been cast in somequarters as to whether I have ever properlygraduated from passed the growingupstage) – “elderly” is always someoneolder than you and the Associationlunches and dinners do provide somecomforting reassurance in this respect,irrespective of any personal sensitivity toloss of one’s hair (unlike the Geoff Naltonsof this world, who have obviouslydiscovered the elixir of youth).With these excuses in mind, back to theSchool Camps, most of which, albeitcharacter building, were perhaps betterenjoyed in retrospect as experiencesrather than in reality at the time.Arosa and Innsbruck were memorable to35me in relation to the awful weather, thetents being uncomfortably elevated bywood chippings in view of the state ofthe ground underneath, and were enlivenedby the would‐be Rory Bremners inour midst, who could provide each eveningeffective and grossly exaggeratedimpersonations of masters such as ZennaPotts in full flow, although I never understoodwhat degaussing was, let aloneits major contribution to the war effort!The interminable train journey acrossEurope, including sleeping on the roofrack in the compartment were alsomemorable, as were attempts to disposeof food, including glutinous tomatoes,through the carriage windows at speed,which more graphically illustrated thelaws of aerodynamics than your averagephysics lesson, by semi‐re‐entry of thefoodscraps into the following carriagewindow.For me, Norway, of which I have writtenbefore, was an eye‐opener, embodyinggood weather, incredible scenery andmore civilised accommodation in YouthHostels rather than a tent, and even thegood ship Venus from Newcastle wasbearable, with the sea like a millpondeven for the bad travellers. Going back 40years later, little had changed apart fromthe greater degree of comfort to which Inow consider myself justifiably entitled!Reflecting more widely on Scarborough,which I have visited only intermittentlyand in passing since leaving 38 years ago,it would be disloyal on my home townand County to pass any judgment as towhether it has “gone to the dogs”. Indeedit is perhaps inevitable that thisgrumpy old man would predicate that

things are not what they used to be,whether educationally or otherwise. Icannot however help feeling that to adegree this may be true, at the risk ofattracting the ire of the many Old Boyswho have remained there.To quote LP Hartley in the Go‐Between,“the past is another country; they dothings differently there”. Perhaps howeverhe got it wrong, and, with eachyear that passes, it is the Present whichseems more like a foreign country, buton this rather pretentious note perhaps Ishould quit while I am winning!A TYPISTS TALE!!By Deirdre NewhamAs Peter’s better half and conscriptedtypist for his various Jottings and otherliterary pretensions for Summer Times, itwas lightheartedly suggested by DavidFowler that I ought to get my own backby contributing a perspective as the wifeof an Old Scarborian.Peter immediately offered to write it forme, as he considered that only he couldproperly convey the fortunate and privilegedposition I occupy, married to anOld Scarborian and a dyed‐in‐the‐woolYorkshireman, but as an expatriate Scotwho knows better, I managed to resistthis!From my own rather selfish perception Ido wonder whether the Reunion Dinnersare a good thing – on Peter’s returneach time, a certain amount of retrainingis always necessary to iron out the malechauvinist “Yorkshiry” which I had deludedmyself that nearly 40 years in thesouth of England had bred out! I mustadmit that it has always been my beliefthat it takes a good Yorkshire woman to36tame a Yorkshireman!!Intermittently I have visited Scarboroughover the years and had pointedout to me (repeatedly) Westwood School(the door to the headmaster’s studywhen we visited the school to see anAlan Ayckbourn play – was he oftenwaiting outside there?) and even theOliver’s Mount pitches which did solittle for his physical prowess, togetherwith other landmarks of an appropriatelymisspent youth.As an even further Northerner myself,and having spent 10 years in Leeds beforeI met Peter while he was studyingLaw, I must concede, that (Scotland excepted)God’s Own County and theNorth Riding in particular (Peter refusesto recognize the modern “North Yorkshire”)beats Northampton hands downany day, and it is a place we could resettleeasily. I could perhaps then havesome tips of how to properly control arecalcitrant Yorkshireman.COMMENTS on the MAYISSUE of SUMMER TIMESBy Bill (George) Kendall(1947-55)Kneale Marshall is mentioned ‐ Iwonder if he remembers when he wasthe lighting engineer at the Futurist for alive show and he invited me along to seethe operation. Kneale was in charge ofthe carbon arc spotlight that was trainedon a lady singer. I was put in control fora while and of course, experimentedwith the spot, slowly making it smalleruntil it went out leaving the poor ladysinging in the dark. Kneale came to therescue ‐ I don’t know if he got any morework after that incident.

Geoff Winn the accountant. I wish Ihad known him better at Leeds Universityso he could have helped me with the betting.Did Geoff ever sit in the commonroom where we used to watch the raceson TV and do some phone betting? In my1958 Leeds University Diary there arelisted the following: ‐ 6 th March La Mon2.30, Spithead 3.05 and Dantelle 3.45, let’shope I made a profit with them. Geoffalso mentions Dave Goulding at the University.Dave Goulding arrived at the Universityand started calling me George,when I was telling everybody I was calledBill. Although it again created problems itdid have some usefulness when datingnurses!Mike Rines thanks for the excellentcricket summary. Mike mentions LenHutton, as I was born in Pudsey andwould have gone to Pudsey GrammarSchool if we hadn’t moved to Scarborough,I followed Len’s career and sawhim and Bradman in Scarborough, alsomy mother’s sister used to bowl to Lenwhen they were young. She said that allLen wanted to do was bat irrespective ofwhom bowled to him.Ted Lester Yes, the cricket ball hitover the houses in Trafalgar Square fromthe Scarborough Cricket Ground was partof the folklore when I lived in TrafalgarSquare and watched the cricket from abedroom window in the late 1940’s onwards.I missed the big hit but I did see acouple of hits into the access way betweenthe houses and the cricket field wall; incidentallythe wall was topped with glassset in concrete to deter would be wallclimbers, an insurance nightmare. I used37the practise cricket nets in the grounduntil a rising ball hit me in the mouth inabout 1951 or 1952, which resulted institches and many visits to the dentist. Inoticed a few months later that the bloodsoakedbatting glove was still being used.Did Ted ever buy fruit from the greengrocer’sstall at the top of Trafalgar Square,particularly during the Cricket Festival? Imay have served him. I also lament thedowngrading of the Festival; it reallyused to be the highlight of the cricketingyear for Scarborough and for the occupancyrates of the boarding houses in theSquare.Brian Shipley would know all aboutthat as his parents had a business acrossfrom us.Mike Elvy wrote from Malton. Butwhere is Sam Malton who was bornon the same day as me?CONVERSATIONSWITH GEORGE FOWLER(1926 –31)By Tom Gofton (1951-59)from a conversation withGeorge FowlerAt 89 years of age, George must be one ofthe oldest of old boys and I thought itwould be interesting to get his recollectionsof the School as it was 78 yrs. ago.George was a pupil at Central School andpassed his entrance exam to the HighSchool at the age of ten, only to be told hewas too young to take up his place andwould have to reapply the following yearwhich he duly did. He passed once moreobtaining a free place worth he thinks, tenpound per annum. The entrance exam

taken in English and Maths included aninterview with the then Headmaster Mr.Mayor, who asked him only one question,“what is the temperature of myoffice ?”In 1926 boys had to wear a cap and tie inthe school colours, blazers were onlyworn by those who could afford them,not working class boys on scholarships.38Mr. Mayor is remembered by George asa calm, laid back bloke. He was succeededby Mr King who, after a fewyears left to be Head at Dulwich College.Moving from head of a stateschool to head of a prestigious publicschool would be unusual today. However,in the 1920s the High School was avery celebrated school so perhaps thiswas not surprising. Mr. King was followedby Mr Marsden who was viewedas a caring and innovative head. Disciplinewas very strict particularly whenMr King was there, whom George describesas a patrician.George was one of 40 boys in his class.He recalls many of his teachers and alittle of what they taught him.Chemistry was taught by Mr Walsh.Physics by Mr HallidayLatin by Mr BrownFrench was taught phonetically by MrFrancisGeography by Mr RichardsonEnglish by Mr Yaffe (an Egyptian)And Mr Bradley taught P.E.Mr Rudsdale was form master andHouse master of Ruskin top house inthose days.During his time at school Oliver’sMount fields were purchased. Lunchtime was extended by 1hr to allow theboys time to get there. In winter football,rugby and hockey were played.Cricket was the summer sport. Boxingwas also on the curriculum. Little interschool sport was played.There was insufficient room at theschool to do Art so 1st and 2nd yearboys had to go to the Art College inVernon Road to be taught by a MissClayton. Mr Taylor taught the olderboys. It was he who designed the Pagodain Peasholm Park (when will it berestored I wonder?) and also theDragon. George, who was artistic remembersgoing with Mr Taylor to seetheir construction.Assemblies were partly sung in Latinand not understood by the majority ofboys. George thinks Mr Marsden put anend to this.Detentions were always full and lastedfor between 1 & 2 hours. Miscreants hadto copy from a book (nothing changes)but sometimes it was possible to dohomework.George was in a class with Ken Goodallof Estate agency fame, who was seen byhis classmates as very tidy in appearance,gaining notoriety for combing hishair before school.Whilst he was at school George appearedon television, surely the firstHigh School pupil to do so. His chancecame when John Logie Baird visitedGala Land with his new mechanicalsystem of television in which the picturewas formed by a spinning disk. He was

touring the country publicising his inventionand George was invited to havehis image transmitted much to theamusement of his friends.On leaving school George was apprenticeto a hand sown shoemaker for 5years and the worked for ScarboroughCo‐op as a cobbler. He joined the RoyalArtillery in 1940 and then transferred tothe Durham Light Infantry in 1944 asPlatoon Sergeant taking over the platoonor what remained of it, previously runby his brother who was captured in 1944.After being demobbed he returned to theCo‐op and then went to Earlstown outsideManchester selling shoes beforemoving to Long Eaton near Nottinghamas manager of 8 shoe shops. Whilst atNottingham he took accountancy qualificationsand then went to work forLetraset, retiring in 1980. He was marriedto Alice for 61 years. He is nowback in Scarborough living on WeydaleAvenue.39A CRICKET COME-BACKCOMES UNSTUCKBy Mike Rines (1941-52)When we were young,new doors were continuallyopening for us.As we grow old, manyof the doors that giveon to physical activityinevitably close. Inmy case, I stoppedplaying rugby when, though I could getfit, I no longer felt like getting up after atackle; I stopped riding when I fell offtoo often (on one occasion ending up inhospital with concussion); I stopped sailingafter several strokes got my wifeworried about the consequences of afurther episode in the middle of theNorth Sea; I abandoned snooker after afall while roller‐skating snapped a tendonin my thumb and made it impossibleto form a bridge. However, I’m stillskiing, though it’s more of a struggleeach year, and I should be able to keepon walking ‐‐ I got to the summit ofConiston Old Man last Autumn.I gave up cricket, my greatest passion,many years ago, not because of physicalfailings, but because I found it so muchless enjoyable after moving from Yorkshire.I missed the needle and disciplineof northern league cricket too much.However, I’ve always fooled myself thatI could still play if I really wanted and,when we moved 18 months ago from thecountry into a small town as sensiblepreparation for our old age, I decidedthat one way of making new friendswould be to get involved in the towncricket scene.The local cub is a combination of Woodbridgetown players and old boys of theWoodbridge public school, and enjoysthe superb facilities of the school. Lastseason, 2003, I watched a match in whichseveral veterans played, and I decidedthat this year I would try to get into theclub’s friendly side. In preparation, Itook a cricket ball with me on my dailywalk and practised throwing and bowling,and got a companion to throw mecatches..At first, it seemed hopeless. I had noproblems going through most of the necessaryphysical motions, but what Icould not do was to get the ball to go in

40the right direction, in either the verticalor horizontal planes. The problem wasin the fingers; I never realised in myyouth how big a role they played inthrowing and bowling.However, with practice, I got both undercontrol. So I was emboldened to turn upat the nets at the start of the season withmy patched up pads (bought in 1954)and with the woodworm in my battreated with Rentokil. I was lucky in myfirst session in that I was bowled at bytwo members of the women’s team, butin subsequent sessions I managed quitewell against the medium pace of severalmale players.My first match, an all‐day friendly, wasin early August against the Pimpernels,a side that Woodbridge had thrashedlast season. To make it more of an evenmatch this year the other side hadbeefed up their strength, not knowingthat, with the same intent, Woodbridgewas deliberately fielding a weaker side.As a consequence, Pimpernels, battingfirst, thrashed our bowling before declaringat 250 for 4.I protested in vain when our skipperasked me to bat at first wicket down,and when I saw the genuine pace of theopening bowlers I was walking over topersuade him to change his mind whenone of our openers was bowled.I walked out feeling quite naked withoutthe big pads, thigh pad, arm guard,chest protector and helmet sported bythe other batsmen. The first ball was agood length, but outside the off stump,and I did an elegant ‘leave’. The second,an in‐swinging yorker, crashed inelegantlyinto my middle stump.I was offered an away game later in themonth, against Nacton, the villagewhere I used to live. And having establishedthat their best bowler was a fourteen‐year‐old,I accepted. On the day,we drove to Nacton in convoy, only tofind that the gate to the ground waslocked and nobody was there. Enquiriesat the village shop elicited the responsethat there was no game that day. Cockup!Today, August 30, I have a feeling thatmy cricket career could have drawn toits close, but I hope my recent experiencesmight be useful to any of my formerSBHS cricketing friends who mightbe contemplating a come‐back next season.First, there are some big differences inthe modern game. Bats are heavier thanin our day, and seem to have a bettersweet spot in the middle of the blade sothat even a firm push can go for four.Second, the protective equipment usedby batsmen is much thicker and moreextensive than in our day, and playerswear the full regalia, including helmets,even in the nets against just mediumpace bowling. And even though lightweightmaterials are used, it is hard tounderstand how they run between thewickets with all this clobber on.In matches, today I find the constantshouted exhortations, by fielders as wellas wicket‐keepers even in friendlies,distasteful.The all‐weather net wickets these daysproduce far more authentic bounce andturn than the coconut‐mat on concreteaffairs we put up with. And, though Idon’t suppose the Woodbridge School is

typical, its facilities include two bowlingmachines, two cradles and indoornets.As for the physical consequences ofplaying the game in one’s dotage, Ifound the best part of a day in the fieldleft me tired and with aching thighsfor a day or two, even though I had todo very little running in the game Iplayed. Sprinting is difficult, becauserunning on your toes depends on goodbalance, which deteriorates with age.Catching is quite unpleasant for nolonger supple old hands, and if youhave to look upwards while you runyou will probably fall flat on yourback, because of the balance problem.And if you get hit, the resultingbruises are quite spectacular.But don’t let all this put you off reopeningone of those closed doors.Take Dylan Thomas’s advice.‘Do not go gentle into that good nightOld age should burn and rage at closeof day;Rage, rage against the dying of thelight’I really enjoyed the nets and the onegame I played, and it is very rewardingto be part of a team again. And, ifyou think balance might be a problem,make a habit of standing on one legwhile you shave and clean your teeth.I promise it works. And perhaps withthe smell of new mown grass nextApril …41REUNION IN W.A.By John Mann (1950-56)During the earlymonths of this year agroup of Old Scarboriansand their wives,many of who are ex‐S.G.H.S. met either byplan or by accident inWestern Australia. Theintrepid travellers were David andJennie Groombridge, Mick and JoJohnson, John and Val Brinkler, Kenand Maggie Short, Mick and BabsCammish and John and Anne Mann.Scarborough must have been deserted!John and Val Brinkler had spentChristmas and New Year with theirfamily in Melbourne and had travelledto Perth via Ayers Rock. There theymet up with the Johnsons and theGroombridges, spending two weekson the coast before the Groombridgesleft for New Zealand. The Johnsonsand Brinklers then travelled down toMargaret River, staying in a housebelonging to a friend of Jennie Collins(Palfreman) and known affectionatelyas Pete the Greek. Whilst out shoppingone day Jennie Collins bumped intothe Shorts and Cammishes who hadrecently arrived in the area. Thechance meeting was followed up witha surprise barbecue that evening, all 10people attending being from Scarborough.Subsequently, the Johnsons andthe Brinklers returned to Perth to staywith yet another Old Scab, TrevorReeve.The intrepid Shorts had bought a car

and camping equipment in Melbourneand had driven across the notorious NullaborPlain in their 20 year old ToyotaStation Wagon, camping at remote roadhousesalong the way. The journey acrossthe Plain took 3 days and there weretimes when Maggie thought that theymight never be heard of again. They arrivedfinally in Margaret River and whilstsunning themselves on the beach one daytheir mobile phone rang. A voice said,“We can see you but you can’t see us.” Afew minutes later Mick and Babs Cammishappeared and they subsequentlymet with Jennie Collins and the Brinklers.The Shorts are currently planning on visitingPeru, once again trying to get lost.Ken hopes to return in time for the Christmasdinner so if he does not turn up volunteersare required to search them out inthe depths of the South American jungle.Anne and John Mann had visited WesternAustralia on two previous occasions andthis time decided to travel North to SharkBay and the Gascoyne. After spending acouple of weeks relaxing in the Perth regionand meeting up with Trevor andCarolyn Reeve, the long, extremely hotjourney along 600 miles of arrow straightroads to Shark Bay was undertaken. Thejourney took 3 days. After a week in theShark Bay area the return journey wasmade via the coast road, a more leisurelytrip stopping off here and there as thewhim took them. Once back in PerthJennie Collins and Trevor Reeve werecontacted, the highlight of this section ofthe holiday being a barbecue arranged bythe Brinklers at the home of Trevor andCarolyn Reeve. 17 guests attended thebarbecue, 15 Brits, one Aussie and Pete42the Greek. Although Trevor Reeve andJennie Collins had both lived in W.A.since the late 60’s no more than 10 milesapart, this was their first meeting.Jennie Collins, then Palfreman, had firstgone to Australia in 1966, initially for 2years, but had decided to stay on afterbeing appointed to lecture at a Teacher’sCollege in Perth. After playing Mum for afew years she returned to teaching andwas appointed Lecturer in Health Promotionat Curtin University. Her role therehas included much overseas travel inSouth East Asia, the Pacific and Africa,mainly lecturing and studying in the areasof HIV/Aids prevention and ReproductiveHealth.During her time in W.A. she has played‘A’ grade hockey and was the first coachfor the Western Australia Women’s Lacrosseteam. She returns regularly to Scarboroughto visit her Mother and sisterand is now looking forward to retirementin 2005 when she intends to play a lotmore golf!Trevor Reeve first went to Australia in1967 to work for the Blue Funnel line sailingmainly between Singapore and Fremantle.He returned to the U.K. in 1969 toobtain his Chief Engineer’s Certificateand then returned to W.A. where hejoined the government Health Department.In 1978 he returned to marine engineering,working from Port Hedland for atowage company. Now, semi‐retired heworks for TeeKay Shipping (Aust) flyingup to Port Hedland several times a yearfrom his home in Fremantle.Trevor and his wife, Carolyn, visit theU.K regularly but usually en route to or

43from more exotic locations such as theInca Trail, walking the Sierra Nevada,trekking in Nepal and the White Mountainsin Crete. Trevor plans on retirementin 2005.The photograph (below) shows fromleft to right: Standing: Trevor Reeve,John Mann, John Brinkler. Seated: ValBrinkler (Berryman), Jo Johnson(Ankrett), Anne Mann (Topping),Jennie Collins (Palfreman)PHOTOGRAPHER WANTEDDavid Fowler is looking for a member who normally attends OSAfunctions, and has the use of a digital camera, to take over his roleof photographing those members present.The photographs taken, are then passed by e‐mail or CD to BillPotts who incorporates them into the OSA Web site.For more details please approach David Fowler.

44Why not advertise inSummer Times?Summer Times is published twice ayear and is mailed to around 670members. Additionally, the magazineappears on our web site where advertshave unrestricted viewing world wide.And the prices to advertise?Full page outside back cover £70Full page inside back cover £65Full page inside £55Half page inside £35Quarter page inside £20Details fromChris FoundPinewoodSILPHOSCARBOROUGH YO13 0JPDFound@ukf.netPhone 01723 882343A CHAMPAGNECELEBRATIONA Champagne celebration washeld to celebrate RevanTranterʹs 70th birthday at theCafe Quadri in the Piazza SanMarco, Venice in May, 2004.This was a double celebration asMike Rines also presented Revanwith an OSA tie ‐‐ his prizefor winning the Summer TimesNo. 4 crossword competition.Top and centre opposite: MikeRines presents an OSA tie toRevan Tranter. Bottom opposite:Ann Rines, Elsa Tranter, RevanTranter, and Mike Rines celebratingRevan’s birthday.SUMMER TIMESDEPUTY EDITOR WANTEDFor personal reasons, John Mann is having tostep down as Deputy Editor, so a replacement isrequired as soon as possible.The aim would be for this member to take overfrom David Fowler as Editor — possibly during2005/2006Access to a computer, a degree of computer literacy,some basic computer design skills, and computerInternet access are preferable.All necessary help will be provided.Please contact David Fowler for full details

46PRIZE CROSSWORD NUMBER 6By Alan Bridgewater (1933-40)Across2 Was Jackʹs blindness caused by his pupils? (6)5 The School was transferred near here during Joeyʹs ʺreignʺ (9)6 F.C. was this of the ʺMud Pieʺ (6)9 We often used these when we did not know the answer! (7)11 Cleopatraʹs ʺboy friendʺ? (7)14 He was small in stature but large in Mathematical knowledge (4)16 It led to the Cricket Ground ‐ a place of pilgrimage in the summer hols! (5,6,4)19 The boys of this wore red badges (7)20 We were often this when caught ʺred‐handedʺ (8)22 The boys of this wore yellow badges (8)26 The final set of initials on reports prior to 1971 (3)27 Magnus was often on ʺtellyʺ (8)28 This type of year creeps up on one! (9)29 Some pupils attended this in Queen Street (7)Down1 He taught Maths to the lower forms and had an engineering qualification (1,1,4)2 He of the greatest ... came down from Olivers Mount the quickest! (6)3 ʺBiffʺ Smith taught about this chap known as ʺthe greatʺ (9)4 The fishermen from the harbour measured in this (6)7 Situated on the foreshore, it is the local ʺPalais de danceʺ (7)8 Ouch! He of ʺdouble beaterʺ fame!! (4)10 Back in the ʺWestwood daysʺ Speech Days were held here (11)12 He always finished the Times Crossword before starting the physics lesson (5)13 His trunk is not used for transporting clothes! (8)15 One of the poets who ʺappeared ʺ at School Cert. time (7)17 Another nick‐name for J.R.Liddicott (3)18 These pupils had blue badges (6)20 A ... by any other name smells just as sweet (4)21 In his younger days he played International Rugby. (5)23 This School moved from Paradise to Woodlands (6)24 One of these was lit on Coronation Day (6)25 These pupils had green badges (6)Entries to the Editor please, by 1st February 2002. Contact details on Page 1

471 2 3 45 6 789 10 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 23 24 2526 272829CROSSWORDSOLUTION No. 5May 2004Congratulations to winnerMichael Kemp (1954‐62),whose prize is on its wayto him. Michael’s entryarrived 24 hours beforethat of another correct entryfrom Graham Rew.(1958‐60)1 2 3 4 5 6B D G H A N C O C K J7U G R A H A M E HL O L C N RL I L O T W A10 11N O R T H M A R I N E R O A D CE O G V A T EC Y H E L L I S13K J A M I E S O N H OA R T A R N O L D17 1821G M K L L UA E I W H A L L E Y TR U S K I N I N M T22D G I B L E T T P OI P S S H D A I NN I L O O AE K E N NR O S E Y Y E D D I E81219 2023 2425 26914 15 16

CROSSWORDSOver recent issues we have now publishedthe 6 Crosswords compiled byAlan Bridgewater (1933‐40)Alan writes...As you will realise I have just about runout of clues for the OSA crosswordswhich have a SBHS connection as I leftschool in 1940 and my generation MUSTbe in a minority now. I have had athought which might work and producemore crosswords suitable for the generationswhich were at school after the warand nearer the demise of the school.If a member makes out a list of solutions(no need for clues yet) and sends it to meby e ‐ mail if possible,[a_bridgewater2000@yahoo.co.uk]. I canuse my compiler program to fit them intoa grid. Not all will be used, but I can thensend the ʺusedʺ list back to the memberfor him to add the clues. When he returnsthis to me I can finish the crossword andsend it to him to check and pass to youfor publishing. To try this out, I wonder ifyou could put on your ʺthinking capʺ andmake out, say, 30/40 or so solutions fromyour days at school and send it to me andIʹll make out the grid and return it to youfor the clues.What do you feel about the idea? I suggestthat such a crossword be publishedunder the memberʹs name ‐ I shall only bethe keyboard chap!! If this works I willput a request on the discussion forum onthe web site (and see what happens!)Editor: If you feel you can provide Alanwith solutions which he can then fit intoa crossword grid, do please get in touch48with him. He would particularly like tohear from some of our younger members,but all contacts will be appreciatedFD Taylor writes fromScarborough (1921-26)The enclosed items came to me after thedeath of Bernard Crosby and it is up toyou to use them as seems best. Bernardand I were at the High School at the sametime. I came to the school with the closureof St Martins Grammar School, somewhere around 1921 and always thoughtthat I was pushed in with the rest, becauseit is doubtful whether I could havetaken the entrance exam.“Bot” Beaven was the head then and theValley Bridge was rebuilt during mytime. The School was truck by lightningwhich knocked me out for a while , andFreddie Mayor occupied the top job beforeI left. I was hopeless at spelling (stillam) and in spite of getting five credits intwo consecutive School Certificate exams,did not get a matriculation because Ifailed both times in English Lit.Teachers remembered include “Titch”Richardson, “Snaff” Rudsdale, Tweedie,Brown, “Cush” Turnbull ( ex head of StMartins), Shires, Bradley, Halliday,“Buggy” Walsh, Francis and“Rubberjaws” Burnley.The enclosed photo with subscript showsme as HO Taylor which was my father’sname and I carried on the family businessin Westborough in that name. My nameis Francis Dixon Taylor, but friends andfoes call me Frank, so please feel free todo that. I was born in 1911Editor: The items Frank enclosed were a

1921 school photo and a copy of thefollowing article from 1959 when theschool moved to Woodlands fromWestwood.THE BOYS HIGH SCHOOL– THE END OF AN ERABy Sidney ClarksonFrom an article in the ScarboroughEvening News July 1959Towards the end of this month theScarborough High School for Boys, orthe “Old Muni” as many of us oldscholars persist in naming it, leaves itspremises in the Valley for the newschool by the “New Hospital”. Perhapsa nostalgic look at the old place and theold names may be granted at this stageof its history, as the door closes on astage in the development of the school.There is no doubt that the MunicipalSchool was the last word in schoolbuildings when it was built in WestwoodPark and catered for boys andgirls of the town as well as quite a fewpromising country scholars who passedthe then County Minor Scholarship. Alaundry and domestic science room,now the standard provision for all SecondaryModern schools, was thoughtof 40 years ago. Several science roomsand natural history laboratories gave astrong bias to the teaching in the earlydays.Mr. Tetley was first headmaster and hisname is maintained in the annualaward of a Tetley prize for the scholarwho is adjudged by popular vote tohave best served the school.49Quite a few of the first members of staffemanated from the Friarage school –particularly I believe, Mr. Estill, MrKing, Mr. Rudsdale and Mr. Burnley.A succeeding headmaster, Mr DavidBevan (botany) held the tradition andhigh regard for natural sciences. WithMr. G.B Walsh (chemistry) and Mr. A.I.Burnley (geography), this strong teamenriched the school and the scientificlife of the town through the museumsocieties.Many old boys will recall Mr. Walsh’stea parties, where scholars who had notreached the magic mark total of sevenin the weekly test were “invited” tostay with him on Thursday evenings tolearn again the current page of chemistrynotes. I am sure many boys owetheir perhaps only success in science inthe old School Certificate examinationto this systematic teaching carriedthrough with humour, fairness andgrace.Mr. Walsh had a ready wit, and, as agifted teacher, could enliven the mosttedious science with a relevant joke. Inhis days some forms took Latin andwere so labelled Form 3L or 4L. Oneafternoon, with trying class and subject,a boy on an errand poked his head intoMr. Walsh’s laboratory, asking, “Is this3A, sir”. In a flash came the reply: “No‘el.”Headmasters I remember were Mr.“Freddy” Mayor, a brilliant mathematicsteacher, who carried the chief “log”numbers in his head. This Preston‐bornman went to Hull Boulevard School

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51and never lived to enjoy his retirement.“After a Mayor, a King”, jokingly saidMr. Raymond H. King, a brilliant administrator,now I believe in London, whotripled the forms, extended a powerfulsixth form and inaugurated the houses,Arnold, Carlyle, Kingsley and Ruskin,Victorian names , many of us had neverheard of but were soon to call as encouragingcries.Teaching staff certainly grew with thedevelopment of the school around 1924.It would be interesting to know if oldscholars after this lapse of time , pin thenames of teachers to the nicknames wehad for them – “Snaff”, “Froggy”,“Rattlesnake”, “HH”, and “Buggy”? Inour case , I am sure the giving of a nicknamehad no hint of viciousness in it, butwas a hall‐mark of popularity.If work claimed first priority, sport wasnot neglected, and the clean stretch ofsands in the South Bay engendered theschool game of hockey. Matches werearranged with local banks, Army sides,and country clubs, when the state of thetide allowed it, the idea being to mark atop touch‐line on Saturday morning asthe tide was receding , writing the namesof the teams. These were honoured by allparties and I have played in a schoolmatch against adults whilst two or threeother games were in progress. SometimesMr. Bradley would play at centreforwardas our games master and Mr.Francis (French) on the wing. With thesetwo and a lively lot of scholars all inpumps, we could run rings round mostadult teams.Perhaps it may be diplomatic to mentionat this safe moment the appearance of ateam the Casuals. Some misdemeanourby the prefects, never fully known,caused one of the early headmasters tocancel all school hockey matches. Thisunjustified step was resented as a toohardimposition by the players of my daywho carried out the fixtures “under newmanagement.”In passing, one mentions with pride, theGreen House, of which I was member,providing seven of its team for the schoolteam. Of these, most went forward to thetown team, which not long after providedfor the county a centre‐forward, Pop Elliottand the whole half back line. IndeedHarold Sargeant, still playing (turned 50)occupied as captain the centre‐halfpostion for about ten years!Spring saw every year the cross countryround Oliver’s Mount, finishing in theschool grounds. One particular race wonby G.B. Wood, an American boy whosefather was pastor of the Columbus RavineBaptist Church, stands out in memorydown the years. One of our thirdformers,Gus (“Ginger”) Angus, greatlydaring had entered along with the greatones of the sixth. Many of us offered publicprayer for his welfare as he went Excelsior‐likeup the slopes. Staying afterschool with a kind of morbid curiosity,we hailed the winner and succeedingrunners. But at five o’clock, Gus, like TomPierce’s old mare had “not trotted home.”Debate was waging between sending foran Ambulance or St Bernard dogs when ashout from the Valley heralded the prodigal.This third‐former actually received a

52greater cheer than the winner throughsheer relief. Unconcerned, he had felttired on the slopes of the Mount and hadtaken a little rest under the shade of atree!Strange how small data are stored in themind over the years. I can never readMacbeth without recalling our study ofthis with Mr AE Tweedy, a mathematicsmaster who left us to go Hull with MrMayor. This fine man turned out andplayed soccer and hockey with us thoughwell on in years. One evening a millionto‐onechance saw us reading in the murderscene in this play the lines “I go ‐ thebell invites me”, when realism was addedby the sound of the school dismissal bell.Several scholars of the old “Muni” regrettedthat a later headmaster changed theschool motto to “Tene Propositum”. Wethought that the unpretentious“Forward” blazoned on our caps moredirect.The School poem written by Mr. DuncanFairley, an English Master, was declaimedby the head boy at the first dayof every term. Perhaps by literary standardsit was not great poetry but theanalogy of life as a journey made a directimpact on the imagination of many of us.After 40 years and as the school doorsclose on a page of history, one can relevantlyquote:The paths of your life may lead throughstrife,Bring cares and anxious doubt,And a friend may stand on either hand,Or alone you step it out.Still follow your soul to the distant goal,Its a lamp to guide your feet,For its in that light, you’ll be judged atnight,When the map of your life’s complete.Oh, its forward and upward and onwardand through,Till your strength gives out as the daydraws in,Let the night ever find you staunch andtrueTo the hope that you’ll conquer, to thefaith that you’ll win.Editor: Douglas Fairley, the EnglishMaster who wrote the school song, waskilled on Active Service in the FirstWorld War.REUNION(Published in The Spectator 9 th October2004)At some time, I suppose, we all acceptsome regimental, college, school or teaminvitation. Wish we’d never been,but stayed, instead, at home and had notseenour older selves in other older eyes ‐‐‐‐children, marriages, memories distancingwhat they know of us and we of them,those people we once were, secured behindthe fatter shadows of a slimmer mind.Nor noticed how our slowly speckledhands ,No longer flexible as once they wereWhen tossed the ball, Which end do youprefer?

53Holding that slippery, long, matchwinningpass,Now tremble when they reach out for aglass.Ian Blake739 SQUADRON(SCARBOROUGH) AIRTRAINING CORPSSome of you may recall the large photoof the School’s ATC Squadron, reproducedon pages 38 and 39 of our lastissue (Vol. 45) and reproduced muchsmaller below.In July this year I received the followinge‐mail:“My name is Matthew Cawley and I aman officer with 739 (Scarborough) AirTraining Corps. I am writing to you forsome help! We are trying to find outabout the two schools that formed thecurrent squadron; we know that the twoschools are Westwood and Scarboroughschools. we would like to find out1) the two Squadron numbers2) both schools’ mottos3) pictures of both schools’ crestsif you can help this would be great!Thank youMatthew”David Fowler replied:“Hello Matthew:My understanding is that 739 Squadronstarted as the Scarborough High Schoolfor Boys Squadron around 1940. I do notknow of another Squadron.I edit and put together a magazine forthe Old Scarborians Association (OldHigh School pupils and retired staffmembers) and we included a phototaken in 1941, in our last edition.An article in the same issue goes on tosay that, ʺHW Marsden, (then Headmaster),went on to form one of the first ofthe early Air Training corps....ʺIʹll send you a copy of the magazinecontaining this information.Group Captain Maurice Short MBE,AFC, RAF Retʹd is one of our membersand an old pupil. He wrote the item inthe magazine. He joined the school in1938, and was a member of the Corps so

54he will be able to tell you far more thanI can. When youʹve seen the magazine,if you care to contact me Iʹll pass on hiscontact details. There will also be othermembers who may also be able to help.To answer those of your questions that Ican:1: 739 Squadron was attached to ScarboroughHigh School for Boys. TheSt COLUMBA’S YOUTH FELLOWSHIP 1956. This photographof St Columba’s Youth Fellowship, was taken in 1956, and appeared recently in theScarborough Evening News.

2: The motto of the school was ʹTene Propositumʹ‐ It translates to ʺStick to yourpurposeʺ I was told, although I was nevera Latin student.553: The school crest was a block drawingof Scarborough Castle with waves belowand the words Tene Propositum eitherbelow or above. (to page 56)Chris Found managed to obtain a copy of the original which we reproduce here. Howmany SBHS, SGHS, and Convent of St. Mary pupils do you recognise?

56Above: The Municipal School shown in 1918. Note the sparseness of Olivers Mount.No TV masts, no mobile telephone booster aerials, no War Memorial and no tree lineas at present. (Photo reproduced with thanks to NYCC archives department.)School was then, of course, in the Valleyuntil SBHS moved to the new Woodlandssite.Iʹll attach a copy. The crest appeared onour school caps (in different colours dependingon your house) and on blazers.Uniform colours were black and red—black blazers with red piping. Caps werequartered red and black with an appropriatelycoloured badge depending onhouse.One good turn deserves another!! Iʹmalways looking for items for the twice ayear magazine and something from youor your members about what the ATCnow does could be of great interest to ourolder members. Morse, I gather has gone,and you may now have girls as members.There must be many other differences.Best wishesDavid Fowler”Matt Cawley replied:“First let me thank you for your help.The photo is great! I just wish we hadthat many cadets now! (There were 168members on the school photograph!)The squadron at present meets at thecadet centre behind the TA Centre inColdyhill Lane, Scarborough, on Tuesdayand Fridays.We have 30 cadets on the books, of whichabout 1/3 are girlsThe cadets can go gliding at Topcliffe andflying at Church Fenton,They also shoot 2 weapons; the no 8 andthe L98 cadet rifle.

57We also prepare them for the Duke ofEdinburgh award scheme.The age of the cadets is from 13 to 22, ‐and , yes, Morse has gone!!I am going to send you some more informationabout the squadron and some ofthe cadets are putting some items togetherfor you.Let me thank you again,Matthew Cawley.”E-BAY AUCTION HOUSEAny member who has access to theInternet will probably have heard of E‐Bay, an online auction house where youcan buy or sell literally anything.Earlier this year the following item wasadvertised. We reproduce the advert asit appeared.Title of item: SCARBOROUGH HIGHSCHOOL FOR GIRLS’ MAGAZINES1946‐48Seller: thrillsandfrillsStarts: 17‐May‐04 14:26:17 BSTEnds: 24‐May‐04 14:26:17 BSTPrice: Starts at £3.00Item Description:THERE ARE 3 OF THESE MAGA‐ZINES.THEY ARE IN GOOD CONDITIONWITH JUST SOME DISCOLOURATIONTO THE COVERS AND THE STAPLESBEING RUSTY WHICH MARK THEMIDDLE PAGES A LITTLE. THEYCONTAIN DETAILS OF THE SCHOOLYEAR INCLUDING STAFF CHANGES,SCHOLARSHIPS, SCHOOL PRIZES,SPORTS DAY RESULTS, NEWS OF OLDGIRLS, ETC ETC..... THERE ARE UP TO30 PAGES IN EACH. THEY MEASURE23 x 15 cms EACH. PLEASE FEEL FREETO EMAIL ME WITH ANY QUES‐TIONS YOU MAY HAVE.Visit eBay, The Worldʹs Online MarketplaceTM at http://www.ebay.co.ukEditor: Who knows? In years to comesomeone might be selling SummerTimes on E‐Bay!FACTS—SUMMER TIMESThe May 2004 edition of Summer Timeswas posted to 640 members. This mailingcomprised 580 Inland, 50 Internationaland 10 European copies. Thatʹsour largest circulation to date.—certainly in recent years.700 copies were printed (so new memberscan be given one). These copieswere made up of 21,000 double sidedprinted pages of A4 paper, 1400 doublesided A4 printed card covers, 700 envelopes,1400 insertion leaflets, 1,400 staples,640 address labels, 640 return labels,640 stamps and 5 CD‐Roms.Not included in the above statistics arethe initial computer generated draft copies,and copies for 4 proof readers.Additionally, each edition is reproducedon the Association’s Web site by BillPotts, and is available for viewing anddownloading by millions of internetenabled computer owners world wide.

58HOSPITAL JOTTINGSDavid Fowler writesWhilst in hospital recently, and knowingthat I had this issue of Summer Times tofinish when I was allowed home, I tookpaper and pencil with me to jot downanything which could be used to completethe final page or so of this issue. Iassure you the following are all true!After surgery, I was being monitored inintensive care for a wildly wanderingheart beat.At the time I knew nothing of this. I wasfast asleep and dreaming fondly of homeand Scarborough. I was promised I waslikely to have “vivid” dreams but thisone appeared very ordinary until Iawoke. I remember in the dream that Iwas in our lounge on Esplanade in Scarborough,looking down at the harbour. Ithen watched the lifeboat beinglaunched and when it had safely left theharbour I went to switch on a light ‐ andreceived a large electric shock.There, the dream ended and I awokesuddenly to find a group of “whitecoats” around the bedside.Just then, what appeared to be a heavenlychoir started to sing what soundedto me like a heavenly choir chorus.“Where am I,” was my first thought?The doctors assured me I was in hospitaland not in danger. They explained thatmy heart beat had just righted itself afterfluctuating wildly for some time. Theyalso said it seemed obvious that the correctionhad awoken me. But, I stressed, Ihad awoken following the electric shockin my dream.The doctor confirmed from the hightechequipment to which I as attached,that the heart beat adjustment had happenednaturally, by itself, and secondsbefore I awoke.But how could my dream sequence havecommenced some time before the heartbeat adjustment, and then seamlesslymerged itself so the dreamed “electricshock” coincided with the reality of myheart beat adjusting itself?No doubt you scientists and doctors outthere will have a simple answer. If thereis one I would be delighted to know!Oh, and by the way; the heavenly choirturned out to be a CD playing in theoperating theatre which was being preparedfor the following day!HOSPITAL JOTTINGS 2A Senior Nurse called into my room.SN: “I’m told you are a Bank Manager.”Me: “Was. I retired 10 years ago.”SN: “Well. Do you give advice free?”Me: “ It depends on the advice.”SN: “My husband plays golf and has anexpensive set of clubs.Me: “Yes?”SN: “Can I ask the Bank to put the clubsin its vault?”Me: “Why?”SN: Well. He’s had an arm operationand his specialist says he can practicegolf, but by putting, not swinging.”Me: “So?”SN: “Well. I looked out of the window

59The Palm Court is a 3 Star Hotel with a superb central location and guaranteed free covered parking,minutes to the beach, town centre, theatres, Spa.All 47 bedrooms en-suite with colour television, tea / coffee facilities, telephone. Ideal for the discerningconference delegate offering in-house conference facilities in the hotel's purpose builtconference suite.The elegant Rosedale Restaurant offers full traditional English breakfast, Table D'Hote and A laCarte evening dinner. Adjacent is the Troutsdale Ballroom which is available for private functionsor a conference suite seating up to 200 guests.Other facilities include Indoor heated Swimming Pool, Cocktail Bar, Lift to all floors, Weekend,midweek, weekly breaks all year, Saturday Dinner Dances, Christmas and New Year breaks.Rates: B & B £32.00 - £49.001961 1st XI ‐ Winners of the Bright Bowl (defeated Forge Valley Juniors, Ebberston, ScarboroughCollege and Oriel Juniors, in final at Scarborough Cricket GroundBACK : Rice (Scorer); Loyd?; Stoddard; Pester?; Dowson; Rothery; Wilson?; Mr J Oxley.FRONT: Goulding; Snowden; Hepworth (Captain); ? ; Lassey.

and he was practising.”Me: “Was he putting or swinging?”SN: “I don’t know the game. What’s the difference?But I want to put his clubs in the bankstrong room so he can’t practice at all.”Me: “You must realise you could be on dangerousground. Would you want to be accusedof stealing his clubs? And if you tried to hideyour booty in the Bank they wouldn’t be toopleased if they were accused of aiding andabetting, would they? You’d also probably bewhisked through the divorce courts, or, at theleast your husband might practice his swingon you. I would discuss your concerns withhim.”SN: (2 days later) ”I’ve discussed it with him. Iwon’t hide his clubs but if I think he’s overdoingit, I’ll just nag, ‐ or maybe divorce him!”HOSPITAL JOTTINGS 3Before being allowed home I had to satisfy thephysiotherapists that I was capable of walkingand climbing stairs. In the latter stages I wasallowed to “wander” throughout the hospital,on my own, fully dressed.After one such wander, I returned to my roomand sat in the chair to rest.A woman barged in, sat in the other chair, andsaid, “What are you doing in my room?”I assured her it was my room and I was a patient..“You can’t be a patient. You’re fully dressed.You look like a doctor. Have you come to myroom to examine me?” Her hand was movingtowards her dressing gown cord and by thisstage my hand was slowly moving towardsthe alarm button!“I am a patient, “ I said, “and you’re in thewrong room. Want to see my scars?” Exit onewoman, very red‐faced, with profuse apologies,gathering her dressing gown around her.60HOSPITAL SUMMARYI was fortunate in having Private Health insuranceand being able to have my operation atthe BUPA hospital at Roundhay, Leeds.If you are needing Private treatment I do suggestyou add them to your short list.The specialists, nursing, and all support staffare first class and nothing is too much trouble.And the food is superb and of 5 star standard.Many thanks, BUPA Leeds and to the excellentdedicated team who looked after me so well.FUTURE EVENTSAGMTuesday 23rd November 2004 at 7.30pm atHoxton Road Chapel, Hoxton Road(Columbus Ravine end) Scarborough.CHRISTMAS DINNERFriday 26th November 2004 at 7.30pm for8.00pm at the Palm Court Hotel, Scarborough.A booking form is enclosed in this issue.LONDON LUNCHSaturday, March 19th 2005, at the NationalHotel, Russell Square, London. Please indicateyour provisional interest on the attached form.POSTSCRIPT• A CD containing all issues of SummerTimes since 1999, is available at £4 (£5 overseas).Please order from David Fowlermaking cheques payable to the OSA.• Please pass on the enclosed membershipapplication form to a non‐member old boy.If everyone found just one new member,we could double our membership veryquickly and with little effort.• Volume 47 of Summer Times will be publishedearly in May 2005 – assuming YOUsend in sufficient articles etc.!!

Published by The Old Scarborians Association, Telephone 01723 365448Printed by Prontaprint, 5 Station Shops, Westborough, ScarboroughTelephone 01723 367715