Forum 1.3

1. The Environment and Mr. Rhodes

 		 Mr. Rhodes (Jack?) was always there - marking out pitches, caring for the cricket square, developing the environment &c. Does anyone have biographical details of him?
He was another unsung hero like Mr. Leary. The sportsmen and sportswomen in our audience must have memories and thoughts about Mr. Rhodes - hero!
Dave McK.

Mr Rhodes was the head of the Grounds Staff but there were others whose names I do not remember. Mr Cliffe was the head janitor and his wife was the head cook. They lived in a house on the grounds just to the north and east of the dining hall (this is, I believe, now a staff common room) on the way to the first team rugby pitch.
Terry O'Marr (1945-52)

Jack Rhodes lived on Holly Bank across the public playing fields from North Walk. He was groundsman in 1951. He retired to Guernsey in about 1964. After leaving school I often climbed the wall from our farm to enjoy a cuppa in his shed next to the 5's court. He was a marvellous man, hard working, dedicated, knowledgeable, interesting and very good with young people. Sorry I can't help any more but have made some enquiries so may turn more up.
David Chappell

2. The best time for HGS? A discussion point.

 		 Was there a best time for HGS? We all know the worst time, if only from articles on this site. Comments please.
Dave

. 1960 Mock Election

 

 I remember the above mock election taking place in School, and the "buzz" of excitement at something new going on in and around our classrooms. I have to admit I had no idea it was connected to the Historical Society.
My friends and I spent a few dinnertimes in a classroom making rosettes for the candidates from crepe paper, and I have a vague memory of selling some of them for the Save the Children Fund? Can this be so? I was there when each candidate gave a formal address from the stage in the Hall, setting out their policies to the assembled school, and earning applause or derision for their efforts.There was a great deal of heckling and fun, and then we all cast our votes. Which of the pupils had the franchise I can't recall, and perhaps someone with a better memory than mine may tell us where the polling booths were!
Sheila Kelsall

4. The Blue (Grey) Lady

 

 Does anyone remember the story of the Blue Lady? We did a play about it in English, and put it on in the evening for the parents to see. Unfortunately my memories of it are rather blurred - but I seem to think she was murdered by her husband (in our play anyway!). Perhaps there is a copy in the school library somewhere.
Christine Slater
 

5. Transfers to HGS

 

 "Just out of interest, you might remember that in our (my, at least) day, the "transfers" arrived at HGS about November, having spent a year and a bit at secondary modern school, and invariably went into 1C. They then continued as normal, but of course were one year older than the rest of the year group."
Frank Morley
Can anyone add to this point?

Transfer Scholarships
I believe these began in the 1943-1944 year as I went up into Form 2B. I remember that to us the transfer pupils looked a lot older than us - people like Jack Greenhough, Jim Foster and Pete Thorpe. We did not merge until Year 4 when we had to choose between Art or Science and I went from 3B to 4C. I remember my next door neighbour's boy - Bob Atkinson - transferring from Doncaster Technical School to HGS in order to do School Certificate. He was a fine cricketer and sprinter but never took to Rugby Union - being a soccer player on the books of Bolton Wanderers as a teenager. Jim Foster, another transferee, had a fine career at HGS culminating in being Head Boy in 1948-1949 year.
Eric Jones
6. The Dell

 

 This is an area of the grounds of which I know very little. Can anyone contribute material on this topic?
Dave,
Reading G. Holdsworth's book "Hemsworth High Hall", it seems that the Dell is the remains of a quarry from which the stone for the original house was extracted, and probably worked on at the site. It is smaller than originally, as it was partly filled in with rubble etc. after the stone had been dressed. It was later landscaped and planted with many rare and expensive plants. At the time of the publication of the book (1987) "rare specimens still survive there today, some of them helping to conceal an overgrown iron grating set in concrete. This is the remains of an old well which was once a source of drinking water for the house". (What about in 2002?)
On hot summer days we were allowed out from lessons in the science labs to lay in the Dell to "revise" (!!) for our exams, but I can't say I recall the well.
Frank Morley
7. The Lost Property Office

 

 Does anyone remember 'The Lost Property Office?' Was it also called The Pound?
During the time I was at School, if anything was lost or mislaid, it eventually ended up in a cardboard box, to be delved into by an Assistant Prefect during morning break, and returned to its owner after questions were answered establishing ownership.
The wooden hut attached to the metalwork/woodwork rooms and near the Dining Hall was the site of the lost property office, and usually a desk was placed across the doorway with a person seated on the inside, (usually with a friend or two in the background keeping out of the cold) acting as 'shopkeeper'. The milk crates were stacked against the side of the wooden hut, so the area was well populated at break-times, and I recall that one of the duties of the head of the Assistant Prefects was to prepare a rota (pinned up inside the hut) of those who would be on hand during each day to distribute lost scarves, hats, caps, sacs, pumps, pens, books, P.T. kit, or anything else which had been found and handed in. The value of the name-tapes lovingly sewn on by generations of mothers came into play here, putting ownership claims beyond argument.
Sheila

Talking to Bert James who went to HGS (1950 ish), we got to discussing the Lost Property place. I seem to remember it was called The Pound and consisted of a wooden hut near to milk crate table. I am sure I can remember we could buy unrecovered property in there too but Bert cannot remember any of this. Am I dreaming or not!
Bryan Thomas

8. General Science 1955-59

 

 None of the 11yr olds who came as First - Formers to HGS had ever taken "Science" as a separate subject, much less had a special room with equipment in it for the lessons! In 1955 the Science Room was situated next to the Domestic Science room, and overlooking the Dell. It contained long benches with Bunsen Burners spaced along them. There were charts on the walls - one of a huge eyeball, and another with the table of elements written out. Mr. Farrar was our teacher for the 1st and 2nd years, and he stood behind a desk or bench on a raised plinth in front of a blackboard.
Mr. W. Farrar is shown on the left.
If you can picture yourself seated at a bench, you would have had the windows overlooking the Dell to your left, and the glass windows forming the side of the corridor to your right. Underneath these interior windows were the cupboards which contained the "apparatus". For the mischievous, there was so much to fiddle with! Taps and tubes, tripods and thermometers! Everything was new to us, and fuelled conversations which must have tested the patience of the teacher.

The term "General" exactly describes the syllabus for the first two years of Science. As you can see from the Exam papers, elements of chemistry, physics and biology were intermingled with opportunities to display common sense and observational skills.Tests of the memory came when we were asked as homework to reproduce diagrams from the experiments we did in class. I remember the care which had to be taken in the way one chose to describe the procedures of the experiments. Labels and conclusions drawn had to be precise and complete. Valuable life skills were being transmitted here.

Litmus paper, crucibles, iron filings and prisms were new factors in our search for knowledge, and by the time we had reached the Third Form we had, one hoped, received the grounding which equipped us to cope with the separate subjects of Biology, Physics and Chemistry during that year.

If we entered 4A, 4T or 4G one year later, we were back to General Science lessons, leaving the specialists to continue with the three separate subjects in 4S in the "new" Science Block. They dropped Latin (and maybe other subjects?) to leave room in their timetable for this. Our General Science fourth year contained the joys of photosynthesis, the production of Carbon Dioxide and the identification of elements, mixtures and compounds. The Nitrogen Cycle was there also,
as was a thorough investigation of reflections, convex and concave mirrors, and that wonderful item - The Living Cell - with its nucleus, cell walls and - wait for it - cell vacuole!

By the time 1960 had arrived, the Fifth Year were still in their Arts or Sciences streams. The 2 and a half-hour 'Gensci' Test Exam paper of that year gives an indication of the ground covered by the syllabus. It contains questions on light reflection/refraction; study of electric bells; specific gravity; conversion of energy; laboratory preparation of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide (again), and ammonia; and those elements, mixtures and compounds once more. Muscles, breathing and blood, together with bile, saliva and gastric juices were explained to us along with those famous lessons in the Lecture Theatre given by Mr. Knox on sexual reproduction and the creation of blushes! Which of us from that year does not remember the Amoeba and its pseudopodia, and the Spirogyra? What about Mr. Sale's dissection of the frog?

A question on the 1960 paper reads as follows: "When we live in a room, some means of ventilation is essential, but if space travel becomes possible, travellers will need some means of making the air fit for re-use by them. Describe how you think this could be done, giving the names of chemical substances and details of reactions involved". - Here's Science reflecting 1960's life at the turn of that decade forty - two years ago!

Science at HGS for me....
1955 and 1956 1st and 2nd yr (1B, 2B) - General Science - Mr Farrar
1957 3rd yr (3A) - Biology - Mr Sale Chemistry - Mr. Taylor Physics - Mr.Woodcock
1958 4th yr - (4A, 4T, 4G) - General Science - Mr Knox
1959 5th yr - (5A, 5T, 5G) - General Science - Mr Sale, Mr Knox
Sheila Kelsall

9. Assistant Prefects Pledge

 

 Dave
My mind seems to think the pledge was something like this.

"I promise to be a faithful servant of the school and loyally to assist the prefects in the performance of their duty. I will endeavour to prove myself worthy of the confidence placed in me."


I think that was it, but no doubt someone will have a copy of it some where. What strange things we carry in the brain all these years.
Terry McCroakam
If this is not the correct version of the Pledge, can someone give us the actual pledge?

Hi, Dave
Looking at what Terry has written re: the Assistant Prefects Pledge, I remember they were always keen on giving out lines in multiples of 25 (the number of lines on a page in your rough book). The most popular was:
"Any offence against common sense is an offence against School rules."
We all used to write pages of this out in advance (just in case) and also pay people to write them for use. You'd be surprised what one cig. could barter for in those days!
This was the first school rules of the Old HGS. Unfortunately, I can't remember any of the others. I think there were 12. Perhaps someone has the full set?
Glenn Riley

Dear Dave,
I was looking at the article on Prefects on the web site yesterday, and I wondered if, in your days at HGS, did you have Prefects and Assistant Prefects throughout the year? In my days we only had Assistant Prefects when the Prefects in the Sixth Form were taking their Higher School Certificate exams. I think this was only for a fortnight or maybe three weeks span.
Irene Wright, HGS 1944-51

Dear Irene,
During my years at HGS we had both Prefects and Assistant Prefects. The latter were appointed for the whole of the school year and had specific duties to perform. I am not too clear about what these duties were but I do remember they had something to do with keeping an eye on the New Block. I also remember being based around 1A's classroom for my duties when I was an Assistant Prefect. Perhaps someone can elaborate upon the duties they had to do in the Assistant Prefect's role.
Dave, HGS 1955-62

10. For the High Jump

 

 In the first few sports lessons, we went round all the equipment and were shown what was expected of us. Of course, 3 Weetabix McKenzie managed to out run, out throw and out long jump every one else. (We would have had him drugs tested if the facility had been available.) We then came to the high jump! We were shown how to do the Western Roll, and had to clear about three feet. Dave Law (probably fed up with Mac being able to do everything right first time) said "This is how I do it, Sir."
He ran up and took off head first, like a leaping salmon, and landed like a new born giraffe. As he lay there groaning, Mr Tate took his time to gather everyone around to demonstrate that this was just what could happen if we mis-used sports equipment. He then told two of us to " Take this boy out of my sandpit to the first aid room". Dave Law had broken his arm!
Frank Poskett
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