BACK TO NEWSLETTER 2000 CONTENTS
Nick. What
about the Chapel fire?......................
Roy. That
was very dramatic wasn't it. I
can't remember who it was now who came and shouted up to our window.
Someone came over and called up
Audrey ‘Headmaster.
“We are very sorry to wake you up sir, but the chapel is on fire”.
Nick. It
wasn't David Mann was it?
Roy. It
might have been - I just can't remember. I
think I have written about it somewhere.
Audrey. Who
was the Chaplain
Nick.
I
think it was Malcolm
Sowdon. I remember Robert was the
master in charge of fire.
Roy. Oh
yes.
Robert. It
must have been Sowdon because I was living in - the second year I was there - I
was living in Shroton
Roy. And
then we had the Clayesmore lecture the next night.
Nick. I had been to my sister's for dinner, near Shepton Mallet and had
come back quite late and had just got to bed and gone off to sleep when there
was this knock on the door.
Roy. And
you were told.
Nick. It
was David Mann and I thought it was some joke so I said 'Oh go away - go away.
'He said "It's important Sir." -,"Go away".
"But sir, it's the chapel on fire." Then when he said it is the
organ end, I jumped out of bed.
Roy. I remember you coming over. I
remember you there. I don't like
the roof now. Do you?
I am sorry they didn't restore the old design.
Robert. No
- its like being in a big blancmange isn't it ?
Roy. Yes,
that's right.
Nick. You
are talking about inside.
Roy. They
should have restored it.
Nick. Well
they did - they have since repainted it.
Roy. Oh
it's since? Oh yes of course they
did. They did it in my time.
Nick. George
Dobie did it.
Roy. That's
right. Of course they did.
It wasn't the result of the fire. No
it was done in my time and then when I went back once I was horrified to see it
so bland.
Robert. Well
it's sort of yellowy.
Nick. We
had a word with the new headmaster before coming over - just checking that
everything was still in order for September 16th.
And he said you won't be surprised to hear that we are planning an appeal
quite soon. So I said "What
are you appealing for?" He said there is so much to do.
He said all the right things to start with - the organ needs work on it -
the chapel is in a mess - the chemistry lab –
Robert. Gate
house - all that thing - the science needs to be shifted out and then the whole
thing redone.
Nick. I think it was you I remember being put very firmly in your place by
Seagrim once.
Roy. On
what was that
Nick. It
was probably even your first term when we had been getting at you a bit about
the lack of heat and I remember you mentioning it to Seagrim in front of a few
people in the staff common room that it would be nice to have the fire.
I remember him saying to you "Its all very well headmaster.
Put an advertisement in the paper for a headmaster and the GPO has to put
on extra post vans to deliver all the mail.
But put in an advertisement for a stoker. Nothing!
Roy. Very
good. One of the results of getting that heating going and
abandoning those awful coke stoves - they made such a dirty mess - was that
there was no manual - one of the main objects of the manual.
Nick. Shovelling
coke outside the library.
Roy. Beating
- I stopped that. Do you remember? Well some of it - not all of it.
Robert. Funnily
enough - talking about beating - when I went through the biology lab when I
arrived, I found a little catalogue for punishment canes - I found it a couple
of days ago - the traditional - whips - and all that sort of thing.
Roy. No.
I think what I stopped - I used it once or twice - but I did not enjoy it very
much as it always gave me tennis elbow.! What I did stop was boys beating boys.
Spinney let the Senior house do that and I was not very happy about that.
I think I stopped that fairly quickly.
Roy. Do
you remember - very early days - of course smoking was a problem - I don't think
we had drugs in those early days - we had a bit later but smoking always was a
problem - it seemed to be pretty bad at Clayesmore and I found Gregory had
smoked on the train going up to London with junior boys, so I pulled him down
from prefect -1 stopped him being a prefect - and everyone was amazed that I did
that.
Audrey. Horrified!
Nick. Mike
Gregory. He was a prefect with
Wallrock wasn't he?
Roy. Yes
that's right and that caused a lot of difficulty with the senior house and with
Watto because I think Gregory said well if he was not going to be a prefect -
his father said I think I'll take him away and of course he was a very good fast
or spin bowler. I was very
unpopular.
Audrey. Did
he take him away?
Roy. I am not so sure that he might not have left.
Nick. I don't think he left.
Roy. Probably
not . It was just suspension. It
caused a bit of an uproar, I rememberAudrey. We
used to pass a couple, We had no idea whom they were.
We were in the car going towards Shaftesbury and you'd say 'Oh dear,
there go two of my smokers - I think the exercise does more good than the
cigarette does harm."
Nick. Smoking
was a big problem.
Roy. It
was really. And of course Mike Foot
was the great man - the policeman.
Robert.
Well I
think he probably encouraged it in so far as it used to be a little sport -lure
him on with little lights and he would come along with his torch.
Roy. You
know the story of Colquhoun, don't you and the car?
You've heard that one. You
know that Colquhoun kept a car. I
tell you how we discovered it. I
mean I did not know at all but I think we mentioned Clare before and she had a
dog - Rex. One day Rex was barking furiously seeing a boy walk across
the foot path to Shillingston Lodge and I thought oh there is Colquhoun smoking
or something but something made me a little more suspicious so I wandered up
there and found he'd got a car parked there in the lodge drive.
Robert. Now
of course they may have cars and there's a list that goes up in the common room
- who has a car and who's allowed to drive.
Roy. Does
it work all right?
Robert. It
seems to.
Audrey. Where
do they keep them?
Robert. They
keep them in the car park next to the sports hall and they drive home.
These are day pupils or weekend boarders. It seems to be alright - nothing funny has happened.
Roy. The problem is if they give lifts to others, isn't it
Robert. So
they are not allowed to give lifts except to specified people.
Roy. Didn't
we collect some drunks on the way back from somewhere one day - coming back from
Shroton. And then someone had
discovered that shepherd's hut on Hod hill belonging to Campbell - no, what's
the man's name, I can't quite remember. There
was a land owner.
Robert. Well
Campbell owned Preston Hill - the local one as his daughter was at the prep.
Roy. There
was someone - one of the land owners - who had no time for Clayesmore boys.
Anyway I think some boys were smoking and he rang me up once and said
“they have far too much free time - there was never as much free time when I
was at Eton” or something like that. I
think it is time I put the kettle on !