15th December 2009 (UD09/22)
Richard Statham asks if anyone remembers Brian Wall - there is a picture of him as he was when in the Rhodesian Police Force on this picture he is on the left and Richard's wife's cousin on the right from when they were training together.

3rd November 2009 (UD09/21)
Colin Fry has sent me an anecdote of the time the cricket pitch was invaded by an American girl; I believe this to have been Barbara Farmer - you will see her account here. Colin mentions a few of the people playing: Roger Davis, 'Taffy' Eldridge and Peter Bailey - I wonder if any one can add their recollections to the anecdote?

30 August 2009 (UD09/18)
Pete Furness, with whom I exchanged emails through FriendsReunited remembers he was Head Librarian at KS in his day. He was also introduuced to Martial Arts by Mr. Isset. He left in Summer 1966. If anyone wants to contact him through free registration on Friends Reunited, he will reply.

2nd August 2009 (UD09/17)
Richard Benson remembers the John Morley teeth incident: 'the starting handle was worn and it slipped out of the cog.' He also remembers 'nurse Zoe Chilcott, as John says, she made the pulse race, although too young'. [I think his final comment refers to his own age at the time. Ed]

Clive Perkins:
"I arranged a weeks sailing with several of my old school friends all of whom happened to be experienced yachtsmen, we had a fantastic time which we will repeat in 2010. It was a great experience bearing in mind that nearly half a century had passed since we had all boarded at Kings and lived in close proximity. I am deeply indebted to you and George without whom we would never had such a great time.

22nd July 2009 (UD09/16)
John Morley comments:

I am prompted to write, as the photo of the Atco mower from Richard, was responsible for knocking two of my front teeth out!! There was a ratchet starting handle which broke and hit me in the side of the mouth, two teeth pinged in to the grass box. Not a happy experience, but I did get some home leave.

Does anybody remember Zoe Chilcot, a nurse that got the pulse racing for a few of us in my era. She, I remember was very sympathetic over the teeth problem.

Cutting daffodils on the right hand side of the drive into school for sale in the Cheltenham shop.

Teachers Peter Thomas, Frank Winn. Brian Sims - French being my worst subject. I would tell him I did not like French and would never go to France, and guess what, my first holiday after leaving school was a touring holiday in France. Mr Chadwick a great teacher. Nurse Boughton from Walingford.

I read about radios: I had crystal set and used to listen to radio Luxembourg while in dormitory 54; the worst in the school, one winter a glass of froze, it was placed in the centre of the room. it was a cold place.

Pillow fights on the top floor - get caught and it was the cane; oh how things in schools have changed. Health and safety's gone mad.

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12th July 2009 (UD09/15)
I welcome Richard Benson as a new member, number 73, to the KS Update, he attended school in my era starting a year behind me. Memoirs from his school days:

"The woods: were a great place to play and to visit the quarries making dens.

The gardens/greenhouses: playing ones cards right it was possible to do some work in the gardens crocking pots ready for the carnations to be planted in weeding was one of the worst jobs, but at the there was a small financial reward at the end...

The tractor shed: there were a few boys who were in charge of keeping the grounds tidy, cutting lawns and hedges. It was a shed on the right hand side just before going out to the swimming pool. We had some great times in the shed feasts of corned beef to supplement the school food was enjoyed by most of us; we would take it in turns to go to the village shop, trying not to be caught by a teacher.

In the winter: great fun was had with the first snow fall it would be a mad rush after lessons to up the valley to do some sledging, mainly using corrugated iron.

The highlight in any term: was the weekend away with parents, I remember once my mother picking me and taking the wrong road home turned the car over, neither of us were hurt. It was it the time of ration books and I could see the engine oil spilling over the books on the sweet page."

10th May 2009 (UD09/14)
Clifford Jones comments on:
a) The 'Bedstead family' and the chicken farm, written by Andrew Tillett in (UD09/09). Clifford elaborates in a nice anecdote.

b) Mr Chadwick was very straight laced and couldn't cope with the banter.

c) Does anybody remember the winter of '63?
"Dave Pullen got me the stalwart job of connecting the water hose that JM had purchased from Burford Fire Station to the hydrant in the middle of the road outside the back of the school in a line with the old bike shed. Anybody remember being on the team I put together? It was great wheeze, we missed assembly, had a late breakfast but worked very hard to fill the great tank in the roof everyday, because the water pipe from the River Windrush had frozen. More about that another time as we used to look after the pumping equipment with Dick in the field between the river and the school."

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25 April 2009 (UD09/13)
Mike Abbott says:
a) On the subject of fountain pens: I had a Waterman, a gift from my grandmother when I started at School. I still have it, I come across it from time to time when I am looking for something else! The ink bladder will be well perished by now! In 1957 ish I had a Waterman CF it had a two tone colur barrel, coffee / off white I recall. I lost it at school. I then had a Parker 51 with a teal blue barrel and silver machine patterned cap. I still have the pen and I used it regularly until about 5 years ago when I broke the pocket clip. I have recently had a quote for a replacement clip and service which I shall take up next time I am back in UK.

b) Toothpaste - Soap: Gibbs supplied this in pink and blue tins. My sister and I used it as children. I think I was provided with Breeze soap for use at School.

c) Supper Urn: Remember it well and its tap operators Stan ( always with cigarette) and Reg. I dont remember the meat paste though, in my time it was jam.

18 April 2009 (UD09/12)
Richard Statham:
Pens - I remember the Parker 51 well. It was excellent and there were two versions, one was conventional with an indented finger hold and the other was sloping all the way down to the nib, more streamlined. There was also a fountain pen called the "Onoto" and I remember somebody in class had one. I recall Al Hawkes saying to that boy, "Could you lend me your goodly Onoto?" Honestly, the things we remember! And I can't even remember what I did yesterday! The first Biros leaked like sieves, blotchy, messy ink all over the place. They were shaped like the Skylon, of Festival of Britain fame and I think were introduced about the same time. I still dislike ball points but they have their uses.

Soap & Toothpaste etc - And yes, Knights Castille and Kolynos - I had forgotten the latter - and the one in a tin was Gibbs 'Something or Other'; pink, as I recall. David Walter (?) used to plaster his head so much with Brylcreem that only a tornado would move it. Can't quite remember his surname. [Yes, Richard, it was Gibb's 'Dentifrice' apparently and had a castle on the front of the tin, blue I think.]

Poetry - The Ancient Mariner has about 50 stanzas in all. "Grass" only had an abridged version.

Patrick Delaney:
Pens - The Parker 51 was designed by Laszlo Moholi-Nagy (pronounced 'Nage'). He was born in Hungary, but after WW1 moved around a lot. He is most well known as one of the Bauhaus professors, in charge of metal work. He was a painter, photographer, book designer, film-maker and other things. The Nazis shut down the Bauhaus as soon as they came to power and eventually Moholy-Nagy went to the USA and headed The New Bauhaus in Chicago, which became the School of Design Chicago, which became the Institute of Design in 1944.

'As consultant for the Parker Pen Company he was influential in all their design problems, from ink-bottle labels to factory buildings. His æsthetically most mature accomplishment here was the design of the Parker 51 pen ...' (The Bauhaus, Hans M. Wingler. English-language edition, MIT Press).

I had a Relief fountain pen, which fell out of my bike's saddle-bag somewhere near Little Rissington in 1950. It was a present from my father when I was 10 in 1943, and since my father was now dead, I was extremely upset - still am in a way. I cycled around looking for it, but eventually gave up. I blamed myself for having it in my saddle-bag, for a reason I no longer remember.

I had one of the first Biros too. Another present from my father, just before he returned to Ceylon in December 1946. Yes, they were blobby. Mine was stolen by someone where we stayed during the holidays, the next year. I was upset, and the couple we stayed with didn't invite us back.

Jack Knife - I had one which I lost, but found another one on a country walk in 1958! And, the Marlin Spike was not for taking stones out of horses hooves. Don't know where that myth came from. It was used for splitting ropes, and re-sewing the ends. They were War Department Marine issue. Mine has the WD symbol, 1941 stamped on it.

Mike Abbott:
On radios - John Reader had the Ever Ready Model C. Having now 'read up' a little, I think I have to agree with Richard, the Vidor (CN 414 model) portable must have been an all valve set. But in saying this, I don't recall the Vidor taking very long to come into life after switching on (opening the lid) unlike HMV car radio's which always seem to take for ever!

Andrew Cameron-Tillett: Supper Urn - who remembers cocoa from a green urn outside the servery in an evening? Door step slices of bread and a dish of meat paste. In the Summer term instead of cocoa we had Lemonade made from lemonade crystals. Ed.

Bob Marshall recalls the Lab incident:
"Regarding the explosion in the Lab: I was present at this event which took place in the temporary Lab near the back entrance to the stable yard.The teacher could well have been Chadwick in one of his first Lab lessons. I remember a small piece of phosphorus was dropped into a trough and shot round very impressively in a cloud of smoke and spray…We all woke up and implored him to put in a larger piece.Playing to the crowd he duly obliged but accidently dropped in a very large lump which shot round and then exploded like a small hand grenade.The trough shattered and glass and water went everywhere and it was a miracle that there were no injuries,just wet trousers…no problem there as we were used to that!"

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29 March 2009 (UD09/11)
Iain Cameron reminisces:
I wasn't as lucky as: "...... Richard Gunston (or was it Curtis II?) and a record player (constantly playing Del Shannon's "Runnaway") inside which he hid a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover......"

I had purchased my copy of Lady Chats at the local newsagent and was so excited I had to drop everything to read it. Half way through, and not coming to one juicy bit, I realized I had just bought the abridged version. So back to the newsagent. First day at school with my smuggled copy, in fact within a few hours of arriving, after hastily putting the book in a brown wrapper just like the other school books, and feeling rather smug with myself, I was approached by Thomas who says '...give me your copy...'.

Now this was the same man who had torn up and thrown a note book at me simply because I spelled grammer wrong, or is it grammar..? Anyway I wasn't going to argue so I dutifully handed it over, and as he waltzed away he said he would hand it back to me at the end of the term. Fast forward to the end of term, he gives it back to me and I ask how did you know - he replied; ...I didn't, I just assumed...! I took it as a compliment.

One from me:
I recall that the Parker '51 was a must have fountain pen when I was at school. It was a beautifully styled pen and mine had a satin finished cap. Some of the boys from overseas had more expensive finishes (Sorry! that should read: "some of the pens of the boys from overseas had more expensive finishes."). Although called the '51' it actually came on the market in the '40s. Boys being boys I can remember dropping mine from desk height and it piercing the wooden floor in my formroom - just like a dart - perfectly balanced!

Can anyone else recall the sort of pen they had? Or the blobby early ball point pens - if you can give me a name I will endeavour to find a link to a picture for you. Are there any other artifacts that come to mind? If I get sufficient response we could have a page of such memorable items.

I also recall Knight's Castille soap and Kolynos toothpaste - also a block of pink toothpaste in an aluminium round 'tin.' Rememeber another item no self respecting Cub or Boy Scout would have been without - the 'Jack Knife' which of course may be frowned upon in this day and age. I had one in my pocket from age 10. Games we played included Manopoly and Rich Uncle. We read Marvel Comics, Action Comics, Dandy, Beano and The Eagle (I have a single copy still).

We did not have hair wax but Brylcreem and Trugel. Here is a nice site for adverts of the era. Some will have had Senior Service, Player's Navy Cut and Woodbines!

Mike Abbott:
a) On the subject of poetry....I remember Grass of Parnassus poetry book very well and its distinctive green cover. The memorable Ancient Mariner and its seven (?) parts springs to mind. In my days 'the book' seemed to be used primarily as a means of punishment to errant boys handed out by JHM and Prefects.

I once received a 'punishment' from JHM probably in my 2nd year at School 'for looking out of the window' during morning assembly which involved me having to learn a verse or two of a poem from 'the book' and secondly to learn part of the piece that JHM was reading from the Bible at Assembly. I was to attend the Study after lunch the following day to recite the pieces to him. Fortunately, Mike Henbest came to my rescue for the Biblical content which JHM had been reading, aided by I understand a couple of other staff members. I duly reported to the Study to learn that JHM was not at School, so Dennis Guildford heard me recite the first verse of the poem and sent me on my way!!!

Later on, as a Prefect, I used the book as a punishment to those who misbehaved....again the Ancient Mariner springs to mind. Didn't JHM take the School for poetry lessons on Tuesday afternoons, before or after his Current Affairs lesson??

b) On the subject of portable radios (50's) I recall us having one at home, it had a dark green leatherette finish on a plywood case about 12"x 10" x 4" deep and this one too switched on when the lid was opened. I too believe it must have been part transistor part valve because I recall it 'working' almost as soon as the lid was opened. I don't remember the make, but I have a vague recollection it had a Vidor label on it (centre of the internal face of the lid).

Richard Statham drew my attention to the birth of transistors:
"Just a small point, the transistor was first tried in 1947 (see Wikipedia, not always accurate, but I think this is correct) so I'm quite sure there were no transistors in the radio sets back then." [I checked this out Richard - the radios referred to by Chris King and Mike Abbott were 'small valve' with no mention of transistors on their specifications. Ed]

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20 March 2009 (UD09/10)
Chris King is prompted to say:
a) Richard is correct Ken Bridges had the portable radio which if my memory serves me was a cream coloured leatherette case and as you opened the lid the radio switched on. I think it was a Marconiphone and it had a 9V battery. I think it could have been (even in those days) part transistor & part valve. The reason that I remember this is that at that time I was most interested in becoming a radio officer RN or Civilian man. Hence Conrad, if you remember my interest in crystal sets.

b) Yes also, I remember George Young's socks-what an awful smell! We used to get George to hang them outside the big dorm window at night, but the smell must have killed the local wild life for miles around! Did he come from Wishford on Salisbury plain? If he was a farmer (and I think he was) I met the vicar some 20 years ago who buried him in Wishford. I also remember that he used to get out of lessons by saying "can I feed the fowls sir?"

c) Yes, I too can remember the chemical incident in the stables - but like Richard, I cannot remember the science master's name.

Conrad Roe:
In the early 50s I had a (now vintage 1946) RCA Victor Model 54B2 (Superheterodyne) (small valve) Portable Radio about the size of a small brick - and the same weight too! It had a hinged lid with the aerial in it. Later I had a Marconiphone T24DAB. *The e-bay links will end after the item is sold but I have pictures if anyone happens upon this item in the future and is interested. Ed. 13 March 2009 (UD09/09)
Andrew Cameron-Tillett recalls "...memories of "The Gardens"...
My first weekend was spent picking apples - made me think I might enjoy this school...
Shortly afterwards 'Mr Bedstead' arrived to run the garden enterprise, together with his somewhat large family (hence his name - it was actually Wellsted, but bedstead seemed more apt) He had a well endowed daughter - who seemed to make friends VERY easily, but being a son of the Rectory I had been forewarned to stay well clear of such girls ...... but there were many other eager takers. I expect there are several pages of names written in Prefects pocketbooks!

Richard Statham wrote me:
a) May I add to Mike Abbot's comment regarding transistor radios, Bridge (Christian name, possibly Ken?) had a small valve radio, I'd say about 8" by 4" and made by Mullard, I think, when he was in the Big Dorm (early 1950s). We used to listen to that, I remember. Not long ago a friend of mine picked one up at a jumble sale and although I had a look at it I didn't think it could be made to work again. Does anybody remember that? And George Young's socks that we made him hang out of the window at night?

b) Regarding Mr Chadwick; I well remember his comment when he walked into a classroom on one occasion and it was a bit rowdy - it could have been the first time he came to us - "Whoa, I'm respectable!" It was a comment that rang down through the years and gave those who were present much amusement. He certainly had been a scientist. I remember two things he mentioned. One when he was an analytical chemist and was asked to test a water bore hole for the hardness of the water. I think "soft" was, say, 50 Thingys and he finally came to the result that this water was 800 Thingys. "End of boring", he said.
The other was when he told us of superheated steam and seeing bones, I think it was, glowing red hot under its influence. We had no idea that water/steam could get so hot, under pressure, of course.

c) I wonder if any of you remember an incident when the science teacher, not Geoff Perry, I don't think was conducting a class in the stables where there was then a classroom. He used a glass dish about 12-15" across, filled it with water and put a piece of sodium in a wire cage into the water to produce hydrogen(?). The sodium melted in the heat of its reaction to the water, rose up to the top, fizzed for a second or two and then went off with a huge bang which blew the bottom out of the dish. Much excitement all round! I wonder what the H&S clipboard wielders would say about that these days?

d) Does anyone remember "Grass of Parnassus" one of our poetry books? [I wonder which remain our favourites and if you were influenced by them? Ed.]

Conrad Roe:
I recall Mr Chadwick having a 12 volt battery and getting a few of the bravest (or was that naivest) of us to hold hands with the first and last holding a wire attached to the battery terminals; I cannot recall how the experimenter's guinea pigs took it, not being one myself - but as I recall it gave great amusement to Mr. C! [Ed.]

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3rd March 2009 (UD09/08)
Brian Bolton adds a little more to the memory of Mike Abbott on Israfil's tuck parcel:
"For reasons that nobody really knows - or new at the time - Izzy's family sent him a tuck parcel that was something of the size of a small container load. As far as I recollect Izzy was as surprised as anyone else at even receiving a tuck parcel from home. I do remember many of us feeling that JHM totally over reacted with the confiscation and public flogging that followed."

Chris King adds on the WWII plane subject:
I too remember the Dakotas at Little Rissington RAF base but I think there was also some Wellingtons there as well as I seem to remember a type 19 radio set which like Richard I tried to snintch but I could not get at the mounting with the primitive tools we had at that time. I also remember a time when we were nearly caught by the RAF police and got away just in time (JHM) would have crucified us had we been caught! I think I have still got some switches with luminous ends somewhere in my workshop - I havent seen them for years. [Perhaps they lost their luminosity! Ed]

Chris Marx says that he has been greatly influenced in his thinking by JHM and has a page devoted to the fact; I have provided a link here titled "In memory of JHM's art of education". If anyone has any comments about the page please contact Chris direct; I can provide his email address if you want it.

20th February 2009 (UD09/07)
Iain Cameron says:
Regarding the "Concordsky" TU-144 crash; "I was there too... I remember how silent we all got - you could have heard a pin drop."

Bill StAubyn asks:
"Paris Tour - did anyone attend? First I knew of it was last week!!!!!" Bill has kindly provided a picture of the letter which I have placed in Documents (1960). He has also added names to the Cup Winners here (2nd row 3rd from left).

Three character pictures are from 12th Night (1963) so I have added them to that page. There are also a group of 'characters' allegedly Masters from 1963.

Richard Statham says regarding (UD09/06 - item 2 below): "My memory is that the aircraft there were Dakotas, not Liberators, but I could be wrong - perhaps both were there. I do know that Daks were there because Eric Clifford & I + a couple of others went there and also snitched bits from them. I got a switch bank. These would be worth lots now!

I can tell you that if Chris Marx heard the sonic bang from a Meteor it was the bang as it broke up! I can tell you from experience that no "Meatbox" ever went supersonic and it started to do all sorts of nasty things beyond about M .85.

Mike Abbott has added a few of his own memories, prompted by Andrew's anecdotal writings. On the subjects of:
"Receipt of our pocket money on Friday evenings on the Quarter Deck, in my time it was 1/6d for juniors, 2/0d for seniors and I think when I was a Prefect it increased to the princely sum of 2/6d.
Tuck Shop provisions - I also remember in my last year being the Prefect responsible for making up the purchase order and quantities for the Tuck Shop provisions. I remember thinking at the time, the mayhem it would have caused had I under ordered and supplies ran out and the grief I would have had from JHM for still having a cupboard full of 'stuff' at the end of the Summer Term. It must have been luck rather than skill that got it about right!!!

The Prefects Room (cupboard under the Ship Hall staircase was 'built' I recall by a few of the Prefects between the end of their GCE exams and EOT. So I don't believe that those lads would have had much benefit from their labours.

In my final year we did better than Camp Coffee, we used to 'chip in' and buy Nestcafe, sugar, and chocolate digestive biscuits from the Village Shop.....couldn't stretch to milk though! Peter Thomas and Bob Wellings were occasional guests for coffee. Always alert, of course, that naked flames and timber staircases need to be kept well apart!

Transistor tape recorders, I certainly remember Mike Harmer owning a smallish transistor radio circa 1957 which his father had bought for him during a business trip to Poland. It was quite something in those days.

Greengrocer Shop in Cheltenham, yes, I remember this, lettuce (grown under glass) mushrooms(grown in the Summer House), various root vegetables, chrysanthemums and carnations also grown under glass. The flowers, root vegetables and lettuce production ceased when 'the gardener' left his employment."

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14th February 2009 (UD09/06)
Chris Marx comments on the bubble car issue:
The Messerschmidt Karo (Kabinenroller) was partially made with the tooling (& knowhow, of course) of the fighter cockpits.

Which reminds me, that on the airfield of Great Risington, where hundreds of Liberator bombers were deposited from which we used to take instruments (I had a wonderful big compass from there), I also saw a Messerschmidt Me 262, the 2 "Turbo"-engined jet fighter. Fortunately all weaponry had been removed from the WWII planes, or I'm sure JHM would have had to put up with a machine gun or cannon (guarding his grocery farm), even have stumbled on the idea of excavating the swimming pool at a single go with a bomb - what better school could anyone have chosen at that time? Once we also went to the "Battle of Britain" airshow, where there were flybies of the Meteor fighter demonstrating supersonic flight with a loud bang.

Many years later I had the opportunity of remembering those days in a Concorde flight from Washington to Paris at over Mach 2. But 4 years earlier at the Le Bourget (Paris) Airshow of 1973 I had also seen the "Concordsky" TU-144 crash when showing off extreme flight manoevres.

10th February 2009 (UD09/05)
I am sad to report that Julian Boby, one of the older Old Boys died after an operation on the 14th December 2008, he was aged 75. His partner Jenny left me with an encouraging remark, "Well done with your school-work."

Tom Mosey:
"I do recall him talking about this to me. As I remember his factory was called Griffin Leather Company (although I am not sure why it was called "leather company" when it manufactured rubber heels) he had a design that maximised the cut out of a piece of material for making heels for shoes. He said that this business failed during the depression."

Tim Prestage:
"Mosey's rubber heel factory also retreaded tyres and it was in Gloucester. He tried to sell the business to my father who was in the motor trade. "

Bill StAubyn who started off the whole debate about:
"My memory of Mr Chadwick’s bubble car is that it had the name of a WWII fighter aircraft and that it had 3 wheels. The #16 photo brings no recollection but I recall that he filled it well!!!"

Andrew Cameron-Tillett:
... Mr. Chadwick's car:
I am pretty sure Mr Chadwick had a beige coloured Messerschmitt.

... of hair cutting: Yes in the 60's it was always in the sports showers - up the steps behind the Kitchens."

... of JHM, "I have a recollection that on occasion, probably during his Tuesday afternoon Current Affairs class, he would refer to a factory he once had producing rubber heels for shoes. Does anyone remember this?"

I met Mr Mosey in Stroud in the late 60's/early 70's ... He told me of parts of his life and confirmed that at one point he ran a factory making rubber soles - and the reason he always quoted his ability for hard work and strength was that the moulds for x hundred soles (heels) he produced each day required him to move them for filling and then later to empty them and stack them up for the next day. (I think he used to say 14 tons a day - 7 tons each way - anyone remember?).

[I have put a fuller account in Andrew's Anecdotes page. Ed.]

After viewing Bob Marshall's pictures, Patrick Delaney was reminded of M. Wade who was also a keen cyclist and that his father was a vicar - does anyone else remember him?

Following on from references to JHM's rubber heel company and his chicken farm, can anyone remember the greengrocery shop in Cheltenham? And did he have any other things running during our school years - he was certainly a man of amazing enterprise.

Roger Fowler has sent a photograph of himself and Peter Nightingale in Merchant of Venice - I have added it to the page on site.

Patrick asks if anyone remembers Miss Hawkins? [See page for an anecdote. Ed.]

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4th February 2009 (UD09/04)
Oh I do love a bit of discussion. Patrick Delaney adds with apologies for it sounding a bit of a lecture:
"about the Isetta - it was built by BMW. It was an Italian design by Iso SpA, and licensed to BMW, among others. BMW re-engineered it in 1955/6. The front opening was in fact a very elegant space saving design, although it meant there was nothing between the passengers and oncoming traffic! One of its German nicknames was Sargwagen - 'Coffin Car'.

Messerschmitt's car was a three wheeled (two front, one rear), two-seater (one behind the other). The Isetta was not a three wheeler, but had two wheels very close together at the rear. The seat carried two side-by-side."

[It seems memories can become cloudy through the years - in an attempt clear up the confusion I have found a picture of both the Isetta and the Messerschmitt side by side on this site - just scroll down a rather long page to the 16th picture. Then maybe one of you can catagorically say which is the car Mr Chadwick had. Ed]

Thanks to Dave Wright I, who has typed out the Programmes for Twelfth Night (1959) and The Taming of The Shrew (1960); you can now easily search the cast list.

Nick Sweet in response to item 5, (UD09/03)below:
"The Welsh guy that Jimmy Younessi asked about was Parry not Perry and yes his father was a scrap dealer in Swansea. I have also heard that he is now a very wealthy man." [Apparently he may have left under a cloud... did he leave or was he pushed! I too believe him to be Parry from an entry in my Autograph book of 1957 where the address was Swansea. Ed.]

Mike Abbott adds a little more to the discussions:
... of hair cutting: "I also remember the barbers traveled to School on some very smart motorbikes. One of them I recall had a BSA Bonneville in a silver/blue finish."

... of Mr Chadwick: "During my time at School and Mr Chadwick's occasional single term attendance to breach a gap if a teacher had unexpectedly left or whatever, he didn't have any transport (at that time). JHM always referred to Mr.Chadwick as "a very old friend he could rely on".

... of JHM, "I have a recollection that on occasion, probably during his Tuesday afternoon Current Affairs class, he would refer to a factory he once had producing rubber heels for shoes. Does anyone remember this?"

30th January 2009 (UD09/03)
Clive Perkins responds to Bill StAubyn's enquiry about Mr Chadwick's bubble car:
"The car in question was a BMW Isetta bubble car which had a single forward door for driver access.

Yes, I remember a Henley whose parents were farmers. I also remember that he had an awkward gait but cannot recall him on the rugby field. Does anybody know the whereabouts of Simon Everett he a was also a member of our gang on occasion?"

Brian Bolton replies to Dave Wright on the subject of Haircuts:
"On the hair cutting issue - a team of 5 or 6 barbers (from Cheltenham I believe) came in every 3 weeks and cut every ones hair during the morning; as I recollect it was always a Tuesday. If you missed you were supposed to get your hair cut at the next weekend somewhere local. Not all of us liked the style that was used! One of the shower rooms was used - during my time."

Patrick Delaney refers to Haircuts back in his day:
Yes, the barber came to school towards the end of term and cut our hair in what was Form VA / the Library when I was a boy (typical Mosey speak - 'When I Was a Boy'), in 1949 - 51. Mrs K. Mosey used to threaten me by saying that if I didn't have my hair cut shorter she'd tie a bow in it. About 10 - 15 years ago that would have been rather fashionable. [Surely they cut your hair more often than once a term Patrick! Ed]

Patrick again, on Mr Chadwick, sans car:
I remember Mr Chadwick in my last two terms, but not his bubble car. He taught science (and maths?), but I was in the 6th form with 5 or 6 others. We didn't have lessons, as such: we hung out on the Quarter Deck and went to the Staff Room for a sort of tutorial with the Master we were assigned to and then went back to carry on with our work - or skive off for a walk! A practice I've always got enormous pleasure from. [Fuller versions of the above, as Items 18 and 19 on Patrick's page. Ed.]

Jimmy Younessi talks about Mr Chadwick, and wonders if anyone knows anything about him being a Scientist previously?

He has this to say about the haircuts:
"We had our hair cut done by at least 3 fellows, who used to come from Cheltenham. they were all from same outfit and had their own barber shop. I was very friendly with one of them, and even during a summer break, en route to holidays, while stopping in Cheltenham, I visited their shop, and had a free hair cut on their visits to the school!! I always managed to get a few fags from them. The school haircut was conducted in the shower room, and even a few of the masters used the service!!"

He also asks:
"Perry was Welsh. I was told that he is now a big shot in scrap metal business. Is there any body out there who knows him, and has a phone, address, or anyhing for him??" Full item on Jimmy's page.

John Coville adds:
"Hair was cut in the Shower room - one thing I remember well - just when I was trying to establish a perfect Ducks Arse they came along and ruined it.

Chadwick had a Messersmidt 500 - silver with pink wheels, the front door opened UP! What a joke!"

Nick Sweet adds on tthe subject of haircuts:
"I seem to recall that usually about three weeks into term about five/six barbers would arrive from Cheltenham and proceed to work through the school upwards form by form. The venue for this was the left shower room if you were facing eastward towards the village, probably as this was the lighter of the two. There was also an incident in the Spring or Summer term of 1960 when after having said grace at lunchtime JHM sent all boys that had sideburns back down to have them trimmed off before the barbers left."

Nick also asks about an Old Boy he met recently:
"Last October I had occasion to go to a Golden Wedding Anniversary at Winscombe, near Weston-Super-Mare. There I met a local farmer who knew my family of old and during our conversation he mentioned that he had gone to a boarding school in the Cotswolds. Suspecting the inevitable answer I asked where. His name is Graham Body, he is seventy-five years old, and he moved with the school from Weston. He could recall that the winter of 1947 was grim. He made a couple of attempts to run away, one occasion causing total confusion by walking backwards from the school in the snow. He also subsidised his pocket money by trapping rabbits and pheasants and selling them in the village. Quite a character! I wonder if Chris Marx or anyone else can remember him? I think he was there until 1950."

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28th January 2009 (UD09/02)
Bill StAubyn asks:
Does anybody remember Mr Chadwick and his Bubble Car? Think it was a 3 wheeler Heinkel.

For completeness I have added links to the KS Memorial Reunion of April 2004 from the Reunion pages. It can still be reached via its KS Memorial item on the main index.

If I have it right it was Chris Marx who drove his younger brother in the car referred to by Patrick Delaney in (UD09/01) item 4 below.

Roger Fowler has joined the Update membership (now 71 members). He has kindly sent me a copy of the 1961 schoool magazine, which in due course I will scan to the site and eventually provide a PDF of the same.

Dave Wright I, asks: Can you remember how we got our hair cut at school? I can't. Can anyone else? [As I remember it a Barber came to the school and set up in probably the Table Tennis room - the one with the stone floor and pillars on the back of the house; or a Shower room. Ed.]

Thursday 1st January 2009 (UD09/01)
On the subject of exams:
Jorma Kuntsi says: "About the exams on the national scale. I took GCE exam in Swedish language. I did the exam in Mr Guilford's study."

Clifford Jones expounds further on Dick Taylor and others:
Continuing on from the last Update (UD08/17) item 2. Yes it was Dick Taylor and they were twins, I thought they lived near Weston super Mare for a time because in my travelling days I got around a lot and looked him up along with Mike Watkin a few times down in Devon/Cornwall he was running a surfboard shop in Plymouth. Brian Saunders, we stood in his families sand and gravel company yard in Bristol. Gordon Sherring visited him up in Enfield somehere. Dave Pullen, we were good friends, he was the reason I bought a house in Farnham.

Does anybody remember Roy Henley, his leg was in braces, but could he run on the rugby pitch!!! He lived down near Brize Norton...

Patrick Delaney says:
My diary says that on Sunday, 7th May, 1950 'Marx came in a 2.5 litre Alfa Romeo with Farina drop-head 3-seater body, and reached 135 km/h speedo reading on top road.'

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