Clayesmore
A School History
David Spinney
A
135 page very readable and illustrated history of Clayesmore written in 1987 by
the former history master and housemaster well-known to countless Old Clayesmorians
and whose association with the School spanned 40 years. It is the
story of Clayesmore from its early beginnings to recent times and the Author
describes the moment that a suitable property was found by Alex Devine (Lex) at
Enfield in Hertfordshire-
There was a solid, square house of three storeys standing in 160 acres of
parkland on London's outer fringe. It was called Claysmore and we may imagine
Lex beside himself with pride at the exhilarating future now before him. Here he
would set up his flag as one of the leaders in the reformation of public school
education. "Abbotsholme, Bedales and Claysmore - the ABC of
education". As a battlecry it could hardly be bettered. Or could it? A
canny friend pointed out
that the prospective parents might be scared off by the
implication of the name - a house
always damp from its heavy clay foundation and
all the coughs and colds resulting therefrom. "Insert an 'e' after the
'y'" he suggested, "and your school will have a name of its own".
Lex
took the point and Clayesmore it became.
This book will delight all Clayesmorians both past and present who share the
Author's regard for the School.
Price £12.00 inclusive of postage within the U.K. (£12.75 overseas). Please
contact
John Grant
by email, or apply to Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster, Blandford,
Dorset, DT11 8LL. Cheques
to be made payable to "Clayesmore School".