Recollections of an Old (but young at heart) Oswestrian, circa 1952 - EPISODE 28, SORTIES BEYOND THE CAMP PERIMETER

Park Hall Army Camp in the 1950's

Back in the 1950's School House could very easily have been described as a prison camp without perimeter guards or watchtowers to contain the occupants and, surprisingly, the vast majority of boarders did not stray beyond the imaginary retaining walls. Perhaps the repercussions for being found out were too much for most people to contemplate, and the deterrent worked well.

Inside the barracks

The above scene looks all too familiar and it makes me wonder if the 'old man' acquired our beds in a job lot from army surplus just after The Great War!

In theory, all excursions from the confines of the school boundaries were supervised outings, but in practice this was far from the case, and there was a certain amount of unscheduled movement in and out of the 'bubble' in pursuit of extra-curricular activities.

This elicit action included, amongst other things, paying a visit to Joe's Coffee Bar which was situated almost opposite The Coach and Dogs tea room at the bottom of Upper Brook Street. In my day it was a popular gathering point for teenagers, and in particular it was a magnet for those boarders who were prepared to risk retribution from the Headmaster if caught seeking the company of High School girls who frequented Joe's establishment to drink coffee and listen to his jukebox.

Postcard of The Coach & Dogs Temperance Hotel

There was, in fact, just one sanctioned visit to Joe's, which came in the Summer of 1960 just after my brother had scored 100 in a House match; Stoker Lewis asked Bernard if he would like to have a coffee down at Joe's. He had been umpiring the match, and was suitably impressed, quite rightly, by this splendid effort, and it was a small gesture of appreciation on his part.

My brother told me that Stoker looked wistfully across at The Welsh Harp as they made their way down to Joe's, and he half expected him to do a swift left turn and whisk him into the pub for a quick pint. As they neared Joe's, Bernard wondered whether they would bump into any absconders from School House, and he was relieved to find none inside.

The following day, Don Berry (who had been in detention along with Tony Burton the day previous), told me that they had spotted the incongruous sight of the ex-Stoker in Joe's as they went past on their way back to Holbache House, and what's more, he was drinking a milkshake through a straw! Don said he thought he was hallucinating and wished he had been able to snap this somewhat anomalous activity for posterity, as it would surely become a collector's item. They had not noticed Bernard's presence in the bar.

Tony Burton (left) and Don Berry (right) - School Trip to Bavaria in 1958

To tell you the truth, I was a little miffed at not having been invited out along with Bernard as without my contribution in occupying the crease at the other end of the pitch before getting myself run out when Bernard was in the nineties, it is possible he might not have done it.

Fire escape equipment on the wall

Back in School House there was a small bunch of thrill seekers in the Senior dorm who regularly took part in unscheduled dawn sorties beyond the school boundaries. Rumour has it these sometimes included shooting game in the nearby woods, although where they would have kept the firearms is not made clear. It is true, however, that they chose the more exciting and unorthodox method of escaping from the dormitory window using the fire escape equipment you can see on the wall at the far end of the room and, incidentally, I do not ever recall doing a fire drill. Those of us less daring, chose the simpler, risk free means of exiting the building via the ground floor window adjacent to the bike shed, which only entailed unscrewing a couple of bars.

From time to time the whole of School House decamped and paid a visit to the Regal cinema in Oswestry, and I remember going to see The Conquest of Everest, which of course had coincided with Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. Jack Greves and I sneaked out of school via the dingle one Sunday afternoon to visit the Regal with a couple of girls, and on our return Bernard was waiting for me by the open air pool to let me know that Frankland had been searching for me, and to make sure I had a good alibi to explain my untimely disappearance.

The Regal cinema in the 1950's

Jack was studying A level sciences at the Girls' High School as we did not have a Master qualified to teach at this level. We were all highly envious of him, the only boy, surrounded by all those girls, and he was like a dog with two tails when he found a girlfriend. I had become romantically involved with one of Ma Tudor's kitchen maids who had made known her feelings for me through Mrs Roberts who came into school every day to clean the classrooms and, like in the Film The Go Between, and the BBC series of the same name, she obligingly passed billets-doux between us and even offered to let us use her house for clandestine assignations!

The arrival at School House of Miss Hodnut in the late 1950's set the hearts of all the boarders in a flutter, as this very attractive young woman took up her post of Assistant Matron, but it was not long before one of the Masters who roomed on the same floor began dating her. 'Mitch' Mitchell, seen in the picture below alongside my brother on the school trip to Merano, Italy in 1959, suddenly smartened himself up and looks very trim in this holiday photo.

(Left to right) ?, Richard Jeremy, Bernard Pickup, T D Mitchell

One school outing I really enjoyed, although I was never a good swimmer, was the trip to the town baths for our annual Swimming Gala, and the only race I ever won was the Prep Width, Freestyle.

Victoria Road swimming baths, Oswestry

At that point my interest in diving had not surfaced, but when it did I somehow attracted the attention of Mr Hughes, the baths superintendent and coach, who told me he thought I had potential as a diver and that he had spoken to Mr Williamson to see whether he was willing to release me from school for early morning diving tuition.

Apparently the Headmaster had agreed I could do so if I wished, but I have never been a morning person, and when Mr Hughes said we would begin at 7am, I thought about it for a nanosecond before declining gracefully.

David Pickup preparing to dive

Obviously, this was at a time before Speedo budgie smugglers became readily available, and to be perfectly honest with you, I did have activities of a much more interesting nature in mind which did not entail getting up at some ungodly hour of the morning!

Excerpt from The Oswestrian