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Each day started early by collecting the morning papers from
Cripps the Newsagents for about 30 houses mainly in North Street, Monks Hill to
the farm and then across the common to Commonside. The correct numbers for each
newspaper were held in a sack and from memory were delivered to the right
addresses. Then duly dressed in a white shirt, school tie, green blazer with
school badge and grey trousers it was off to school. It was a short walk to the
Cricketers Pub to catch the bus to Emsworth Station to catch the train to
Chichester. Another walk past the gas works on our left, the canal on our right
and then a left turn into Kingsham Road. A journey repeated for 5 years that
seemed at the time like a life time.
My education was not a great
success as my end-of-term reports were poor in most subjects. And so was my
behaviour. Detention, writing pointless lines and the occasional visit to the
headmaster for a talking to and sometimes the cane. On one occasion it was not
really deserved. One morning when doing my paper round it was raining hard so
took off my school jacket for a raincoat. For whatever reason I forgot to put
it on again and my form master reported it to the head. On one occasion I
played truant much to the disappointment of my father. So it was not a surprise
that I was often near the bottom of class M (misfits?). In my favour though I
did come top on a couple of occasions and received a prize for making progress.
My favourite subjects were art, science and practical woodwork. Some lessons
are remembered when teachers could be unkind. During a lesson on the skeleton
the teacher picked on a lad who was skinny. He was made to stand on the desk
with his shirt off while the various bones of his upper body were clearly
visible for explanation. In a science class the topic was why a bell rings when
the switch is turned. I asked the question why does the bell only ring once
when the button was pushed on a bus. I was told not to ask silly questions.
Similarly in English the homework was to write sentences using particular
words. I wrote several paragraphs and was humilitated in front of the class
rather than giving me some credit, but saying that I had not read the question
properly. It was a lesson well learned in my life, passed onto my children and
grandchildren. Of course there was sport that I did enjoy; playing football,
cricket and rugby, sometimes representing the school. On sports day my choice
was the shot, discus and the mile. At home I practiced the shot with a large,
heavy stone in competition with John Whittington who lived in Long Copse
Lane.
The exams at the end of the lower school had all to be passed to
gain a National School Certificate. With my educational record it was judged
that it would be a waste of public money. So instead of revising for these
exams the time was spent in the woodwork shop helping the teacher. There I used
my skills in repairing items. In particular, hurdles that had got broken on
Sports Day.
To be helpful it was suggested that a future in the Royal
Navy as an artificer would be suitable. My father supported that as he had been
an engineering petty officer in the First World War. I was given some coaching
by the school in maths, English and mechanics and the exams were somehow
passed. A letter from the Admiralty was received with a train warrant to
Fareham station and said I would be met and taken to HMS Collingwood in
Gosport. So about 20 lads were shown their sleeping quarters with double bunks,
showers and told the routine. That night we had a good meal, a film and went to
bed wondering about the next two days. These were spent in interviews and
practical tests. One in particular was a straight piece of wire that had to be
bent into a particular pattern. A symmetrical rectangular shape was joined to a
symmetrical heart shape by one portion of straight wire around which was coiled
another portion. The tip of the heart was where both ends of the wire met. It
was an interesting problem solving exercise that could take several tries
without success. As said before, read the question, on this occasion, it was
read the problem before attempting an answer. A letter later said that I had
not been successful. Little could have known then that 30 years later I would
return as Head of the Basic Training School responsible for the career
development of 1000+ naval specialists.
The major change in my education
and training came about when working in Portsmouth Royal dockyard as a
shipwright apprentice and attending the Royal Dockyard School.
Wire problem solution: Start at the tip of the heart. The cheats
way is to start with the rectangle and clip off any surplus wire at the tip.
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