Web Page  No 2146

5^th April 2015                                   

Top Picture: Concentration!!!

Middle Picture: Teachers Info Book

Bottom Picture: Remember these terrible questions?

The Eleven Plus

From way back in your memory can you drag forward some of the knowledge that you were expected to have back in the 1950’s when you took the 11 plus exam. Their very name still deeply divides opinion. For some, the Eleven-Plus exams, which determined whether a child would go to a grammar school or the secondary modern, set the educational benchmark. For others, they were hated symbols of a segregated, two-tier schooling system.  So, sharpen your pencil, open your notebook and try the test courtesy of the Daily Mail.

The answers are in the You Write section

GENERAL ENGLISH

1. Make adjectives from these nouns: beauty, slope, glass, friend, doubt, expense, delight, sleep, danger, sport. 

2. Write these lines of poetry in the usual way, putting in capital letters and the correct punctuation: the evening is coming the sun sinks to rest the rooks are all flying straight home to the nest caw says the rook, as he flies overhead it's time little people were going to bed. 

3. Choose the correct word from those in brackets: 

a) She gave the (fare, fair) to the conductor. 

b) I am (confidant, confident) of success. 

c) Why does she (die, dye) her hair? 

d) His sister has (wrote, written) him a letter. 

e) The screw fell off because it was (lose, loose). 

4. Fill in the relative pronoun in the following sentences: 

a) That is the coat .......... my brother took away. 

b) The man to .......... I spoke was very disagreeable. 

c) The boy .......... ball I kicked was offended. 

d) The man .......... does his duty is always brave. 

e) He asked me .......... I intended to do. 

5. Each of the following sentences contains one error. Re-write the sentences correctly: 

a) This is not an Infant's School. 

b) I am told that Tom Jones's brother have won a scholarship. 

c) The bishop and another fellow then entered the hall. 

d) When the dog recognised me it wagged it's tail. 

e) The matter does not concern you or I. 

f) Talking to my friend, the bus passed me. 

COMPREHENSION

Read the following:

'You are old, Father William,' the young man said, 'And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your head  -  Do you think, at your age, it is right?' 'In my youth,' Father William replied to his son, 'I feared it might injure the brain; 'But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, 'Why, I do it again and again.' 

'You are old,' said the youth, 'as I mentioned before, 'And have grown most uncommonly fat;  'Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door  -  'Pray, what is the reason of that?' 'In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, 'I kept all my limbs very supple. 'By the use of this ointment  -  one shilling the box  -  'Allow me to send you a couple?'

Now answer these questions:

a) Father William was certainly a queer man. Mention two queer things that he did.

b) When he was young, Father William thought that one of his pranks might do him harm. When he was old, he changed his mind. Why?

c) What does 'incessantly' mean? What is a back-somersault?

d) What does the word 'supple' mean? How did Father William keep supple? Do you keep supple in the same way?

e) What signs of old age did Father William show?

ARITHMETIC

Read the following:

1. 3,755 is multiplied by 25 and the result is divided by 125. Write down the answer.

2. A motorist leaves home at 10.15am and drives at 32 miles per hour. He stops for lunch from noon to 1.45pm and then continues his journey at 30 miles per hour. How many miles has he travelled by 5pm?

3. An aeroplane uses 100 gallons of petrol for a flight of 150 miles. How far could it fly using 40 gallons?

4. Write in figures: twelve thousand and twelve.

5. A race started at 23 minutes past three and finished at 23 minutes to four. How long did it take?

6. Simplify:

a) 1,000 - 10

b) 25 x 12

c) 615 divided by 3

d) 0.5 + 0.75

e) The fractions 4/5 - 7/10

7. Of 800 people living in a village, half are men and half women. A quarter of the men leave the village to join the army. How many more women then men now remain?

8. Multiply 7,296 by 479.

9. Which of these numbers is divisible by 4 without any remainder: 214, 230, 226, 224, 218?

10. Add all the odd numbers between 12 and 20.

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE/KNOWLEDGE

Read the following:

1. The letters ERBDA are just the letters of the word BREAD mixed up. Now, straighten up the following:

a) AAANNB is a fruit which comes from abroad.

b) ROHES is a large animal.

c) GRATEAMR is a girl's name.

d) DWEBORRA is an article of furniture.

e) SAIRINS are used in Christmas puddings.

2. Select and write down one of the answers below which makes the best answer to the following: 

A woman who had fallen into the water was dragged out in a drowning condition by a man, but she did not thank him because:

a) She never felt thankful for small things.

b) She did not know the man well enough.

c) She was feeling better.

d) She was still unconscious.

3. Complete the following by giving words expressing sound and ending in 'ing'.
e.g. the humming of telephone wires.

a) the ................. of leaves

b) the ................. of anvils.

c) the ................. of brakes.

d) the ................. of stairs.

4. In each of the sets of words given below there is one word meaning something rather different from the other three. Find the different word in each line and write it down:

a) alike, same, similar, somewhat.

b) pigeon, duck, goose, swan.

c) bus, conductor, passenger, driver.

d) this, that, the, those.

e) firm, rough, solid, hard.

f) desk, book, cupboard, drawer.

g) spade, earth, sand, gravel.

h) pretty, nice, charm, lovely.

i) justice, merciful, pitying, forgiving.

j) tumbler, cup, mug, jug.

k) fishing, rowing, climbing, swimming.

l) scarlet, blue, red, pink.

m) sewing, cotton, needle, calico.

5. Each of the following sentences here can be made into better sense by interchanging two words. 

Re-write the sentences correctly: E.g. Milk like cats  -  Cats like milk.

a) Our black cat had a retriever with the fight next door.

b) The sea went to the family for a swim.

c) The shepherd whistled by the gate and stood to his dog.

d) A was stung by Joan bee. 

e) Sailors have to climb able to be. 

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

ANSWERS

You are getting off easily as in addition to the above, students were asked to write essays on subjects as varied as: 'The bravest deed that I know', Eggs, Everest, The Gothic, Queen Salote, The Maoris, and 'What life must be like as a cat'. 

GENERAL ENGLISH

1. beautiful, sloping, glassy, friendly, doubting, expensive, delightful, sleeping, dangerous, sporting/sporty

2. The evening is coming, The sun sinks to rest, The rooks are all flying Straight home to the nest. 'Caw', says the rook, As he flies overhead, 'It's time little people Were going to bed.'

3. a) fare; b) confident; c) dye; d) written; e) loose

4. a) which; b) whom; c) whose; 

5. a) This is not an Infants' School.

b) I am told that Tom Jones's brother has won a scholarship.

c) The bishop and another gentleman then entered the hall.

d) When the dog recognised me it wagged its tail.

e) The matter does not concern you or me.

f) While talking to my friend, the bus passed me.

COMPREHENSION

a) Two queer things that Father William did were to stand on his head and turn a back-somersault at the door. 

b) Father William changed his mind because he is sure he doesn't have a brain to injure. 

c) 'Incessantly' means repeatedly, without relief. A back-somersault is when someone jumps over backwards. 

d) The word 'supple' means flexible. Father William kept supple by using an ointment. 

e) The signs of old age that Father William showed were white hair and growing fat. 

ARITHMETIC

1. 751

2. 153.5 miles

3. 60 miles

4. 12,012

5. 14 minutes

6. a) 990 b) 300 c) 205 d) 1.25 e) 1/10

7. 100 more women

8. 3,494,784

9.224 

10. 64

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE/ KNOWLEDGE

1. a) banana; b) horse; c) Margaret d) wardrobe; e) raisins 

2. The best answer would be d) 

3. a) rustling; b) banging; c) screeching; d) creaking 

4. a) somewhat; b) pigeon; c) bus; d) the; e) rough; f) book; g) spade;  h) charm; i) justice; j) jug; k) climbing; l) blue; m) sewing 

5. a) Our black cat had a fight with the retriever next door. 

b) The family went to the sea for a swim. 

c) The shepherd stood by the gate and whistled to his dog. 

d) Joan was stung by a bee. 

e) Sailors have to be able to climb. 

You Write:

Anida Writes:-

Your piece on South Parade pier certainly stirred the old memory    cells!


The Laughing Policeman is one of my earliest memories and was   guaranteed to make me laugh along with it just as the song did on    'Uncle Mac'.  As for the metal tape machine the one on Ryde pier   has  gone down in family history.  These machines caused an early form of whiteboard blindness rendering an inability to spell, a         friend who shall remain nameless but she knows who she is! earned herself a lifelong nickname from her attempt at her name whilst    waiting for the ferry to take us home after a long hot day on the      beach at Whitecliff Bay.
If you were in the sea near the pier when the ferry arrived the wash was excellent for making the rubber tyre bob up and down!

Much later
we would spend Sunday evenings on the pier listening to the trad    jazz bands, I say listening as we were not allowed to dance and I    was told off on many occasions by the heavies.  It was nowhere      near as good as the 'Rendevous' on the Saturday but as you say, all  the big names were to be seen there.


Sadly I understand the pier, although still standing, is not what it     used to be.

News and Views:

On this day 5^th April 1960-1965

On 10/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 10/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 10/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Film director Michael Curtiz and ex Beatle Stu Sutcliffe died.

On 10/04/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Atomic US submarine sinks killing 129.

On 10/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Beatles have 13 records in US chart.

On 10/04/1965 the number one single was Concrete & Clay - Unit 4 Plus 2 and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page  No 2144

29^th March 2015

Top Picture: The Laughing Policeman Machine

 Middle Picture: Metal name tape machine

 Lower Picture:  Steamer timetable from South Parade Pier

  Bottom Picture: The Pier Theatre

A Trip to the Pier

Back in the late 1950’s a trip to South Parade Pier was a real adventure for the young teenager, there was so much to see and do and so much you could do with your pocket money. The fairground games and attractions in the Arcade at the landward end of the pier was always popular, we always thought that we could beat the stall holders at their own game, but actually we never could. The ‘Roll a Penny’ boards being a prime example and the shout of ‘Hey Mr I have just won 1/-‘ was soon deflated when he always said ‘ No mate there is a tiny bit of the penny on the black line, you loose’. You just could not win on that stall. The ‘Hook a Duck’ stall was just as bad because if you did win, the prize was always something cheap that you did not want or could not use. Skill was required at some stalls but you had to be a real expert to throw those bent darts on the darts Stall or to completely cover the plinth on the Hoop-la stall. The air rifle all had their sights filed down so you could not aim and the arrows on the Bow and Arrow stall certainly suffered with a very bad attack of falling feathers.

Of course these games of chance you were never meant to win on but you could put a penny in the slot of a cabinet and enjoy the Laughing Policeman (voice by curtesy of Mr Charles Penrose). There were Haunted House Machines, Hangman Machines and Executioner Machines all of which would give you and those looking over your shoulder a minute’s entertainment. But there was no doubt that the trickiest machine, and the most difficult to win on was the ‘Mechanical Grab’. For the expenditure of a shilling you could attempt to manoeuver the grab arm to try to win yourself a portable radio, a doll or teddy bear but most likely you would either miss completely or win a packet of Refreshers.

One of the machines that you could not loose on was the nameplate machine. There it stood solidly in the corner of the Arcade painted red with letters and figures picked out in white and a pointing arm in some form of shiny metal. There can be very few people of our age who did not, at one time or other, feed the machine and with the dexterous use of the shiny pointer and the press handle on the side of the machine manufacture their own personalised metal name tape complete with holes at each end to attach it to a case or box or whatever.

Then there was Candy Floss and Toffee Apples to keep the hunger at bay.

The only thing that I really remember about walking along the deck of South Parade Pier is the lines of fishermen who only ever seemed to catch tiny crabs. These crabs were discarded onto the decking making an area underfoot of crushed crab.

Beauty Contests and Band Concerts were the mainstay of the open air theatre on the pier head. These upbeat shows had to take a five minute break because of the noise and the embarking and disembarking crowds every time an Isle of Wight Paddle steamer called in.

I only remember ever being taken to a Summer Show in the Pier Theatre once (I know that at least two of our number were there as extra’s when Ken Russell filmed ‘Tommy’) but that is another story. I have no idea why my parents took me to a show in the theatre; it must have been a matinee as I cannot remember coming home in the dark on the bus. I do remember the three stars that appeared that day were the perpetual Wide Boy Arthur English and the double act Mike and Bernie Winters. All I can remember of the show was the very large kipper tie that Arthur English wore and his catch phrase ‘Open the Cage’. Whereas the two Winters act did stick in my mind as Bernie was submerged into a very large glass tank of water and tried to sing, I don’t know why, my memory does not go that far back.

With the advance of the years I remember going, with friends, back to the theatre once to see Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band and another time to see the Clyde Valley Stompers. But if a night out in this area was to be had it was across the road and up the stairs to the Savoy Ballroom that was the place. Here you could hear and see all the top names from Ted Heath to The Animals, a really great venue, but it did mean missing the last number and any encores, because if I stayed I missed the last bus home and sleeping under South Parade Pier in the Winter is no fun at all even, if you have some with you to spend the night cuddled up to.

Ahhhh fond memories.

    Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Mary Writes:-

Todays blog brought back a few memories of aertex vests and leather satchels. My father never wore those sock suspenders but plenty of men did. 12 yrs ago my son left St Johns College and he had to wear a blazer, shirt and tie. Woe betide any boy who removed his tie on the way home. Even worse was to leave the shirt hanging out. People actually phoned the school and said they`d seen a pupil improperly dressed. The next day an announcement would be made in assembly! You had to have a proper school bag too. I loved my satchel and wonder where it is as I never threw it out and certainly my parents didn`t. 

News and Views:

On this day 29^th  March 1960-1965

On 29/03/1960 the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/03/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/03/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was French Algerian War ends

On 29/03/1964 the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was 10 found guilty of Great Train Robbery.

On 29/03/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music.

A pound of today's money 

Web Page  No 2142

22^nd March 2015

Top Picture: A traditional School uniform cap, shorts, jacket and socks.

Middle Picture: A traditional School satchel

Lower Picture:  Sock Garters, I never wore these!!!

School

I can only speak from the male point of view but as I remember it there is now a wealth of things which to us were essential requirements when we were at school that are no longer around today.

Let’s start off with our obligatory school uniforms. When was the last time you saw a school boy wearing a cap with a school badge on it or a school girl wearing a beret or any other style of school hat for that matter? School head gear, except for very few exceptions, seem to be a thing of the past, the nearest one gets to it these days are baseball caps and beanie hats!

Blazers with school badges on the pocket and white shirts or blouses with a school tie all seem to have gone out the window, it is now polo shirts with the school logo on them and fleeces and not a scarf in sight! (you also never seem to see college scarves any more either, I still have mine it is a little to worse for wear but I still have it !) Did you, like me, have to wear those thick heavy gabardine coats in the winter? It was a relief when the duffle coat became popular.

For the boys uniform meant short grey trousers and long grey socks and here was hidden those long forgotten pieces of equipment, the garters. I remember my mother sitting with a length of elastic and sewing it into hoops to keep my socks up. Now whose father’s wore sock suspenders? I know mine did and Pam tells me her Dad did as well. Or course this vital piece of equipment was not needed by the girls as they wore short white ankle socks. All this and we wore Aertex underwear and Start-Rite shoes as well.

Taking things to school, especially when we started senior school, we were sent off each day with our things packed into a leather satchel, or later a duffle bag never anything bigger. Sometimes these days, when I look out of the window, I wonder at the school children going off to school in the mornings with a rucksack full of books etc. I wonder how they manage.  I understand that this is now the norm as the pupils no longer have desks or lockers to keep their books in within the classroom as we did. Mind you I understand that satchels have recently made a comeback as a fashion accessory.

Some months back I spoke about plimsolls being replaced by trainers but I think I omitted to mention the all-important homemade shoe bag that we all had to carry our PE kit in.     

Fountain pens were an essential as ball point pens were not allowed for schoolwork and this then opened up another collection of essential items to carry to school. The Gosport made Osmiroid or Parker pen, a bottle of Stephens, Watermans or Quink ink, some sheets of blotting paper were all packed into the satchel as was the Geometry set, a rules, pencils, sharpeners and erasers. In fact we always seemed to carry a portable stationary store with us wherever we went.

Ah well! Just a few more thoughts about our childhood days, no tablet or computer, no calculator or mobile phone, but it stood us in good stead. Mind you my hand writing is still terrible but I can still recite my times tables!  

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Mary Writes more about Dr. Cheyne

Like Maureen I had every reason to be grateful to Dr Cheyne. My mother was taken very ill with virus pneumonia and Dr Cheyne stayed all night at our house until she showed signs of improvement. I remember how distressed my father was. She even asked to see me late at night so must have realised how ill she was. I wasn`t 8yrs old. He was a wonderful doctor, who was much missed when we moved out into the countryside

News and Views:

On this day 22^nd  March 1960-1965

On 22/03/1960 the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Larkins (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 22/03/1961 the number one single was Walk Right Back/Ebony Eyes - Everly Brothers and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions

On 22/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions

On 22/03/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 22/03/1964 the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 22/03/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page  No 2140

15^th March 2015

The two pictures that appeared in the Portsmouth Evening News I6th September 1960.

The top picture with Bert Ray.

L to R: Bert Ray the rest unknown

L to R:Keith Conlon,Unknown, ?, Norma Plumb, Lorraine Durrow, Melvyn Griffiths, Nelson Trowbridge

The Bottom Picture with Nelson Trowbridge.

Court Lane/ Manor Court Schools

After some enquiries at the Portsmouth History Centre about the history of the school, they told me that they had very little but have sent me the following about Court Lane and the construction of Manor Court.

Court Lane opened as a council school in 1937. Because of limited space in the late 1950’s, premises at Cosham Park House and Cosham Baptist Church Hall were used. It was decided to build new premises on the 12 acre site sited  off  Grove Road, an area which had been used by the Civil Defence during the war.

It was going to be called Court Manor, but later it was decided to reverse the name. There is confusion over the date of the opening of Manor Court School  is because the first new wing of the building was opened and in use in September 1960 and only half the 600 pupils were using it, half still at Court Lane.

The second phase of the building was completed later, but there is no records of an official opening. There is very little in council minutes other than costings for the building materials, etc.

However an article appeared in the Evening News on 16th September 1960 and describes the new block ,but states as this is the first part of the new school, there will be no official opening.

The only records that in the Portsmouth History Centre are school log books for Court Lane School, which are mainly teachers notes and are closed for 95

years. Records of Manor Court School have not been deposited there either

the Centre staff speculate that they are either still with the school or they may have been disposed of them.

As you know I can get no response from the school so below I reproduce the article from the Evening News of 16^th September 1960

A bridge over the railway linking Grove Road to the eastern end of the Highbury Estate would save time and money for pupils attending Cosham Court Lane Secondary School’s new building which ajoins Central Road and Grove Roads says the Headmaster Mr R R Davies.

The new block of what will eventually become the ‘home’ of the entire school came into use this week.

Although staff, parents and pupils are delighted with its facilities the railway barrier and the cost of bus fares are already causing concern.

“ I have no intension of setting off with a grumble” Mr Davies told the Evening News, “ We are termendously lucky to have this lovely well equiped building but many of the children have a great deal of travelling between home and school. It is unfortunate that the railway forms this barrier between Highbury homes and the new school. Children living at the eastern end of Highbury have to got to Cosham and almost retrace their steps.”

“A few parents have approaced me about these difficulties” said Mr Davies, “Whether another bridge can be built in the future I do not know. Certainly the qusetion of bus fares is no inconsiderable matter for some”.

Mr Davies said that it was Ministry policy for fare to be paid for children living three miles from the school. But the parents of a 14 year old living two and three quarter miles away had to pay full adult fare for her.

“ I am strongly of the opinion that children should travel at half fare however long they remain at school, especially that parents are now rightly allowing their children to stay at school longer”, he said.

No date has yet been fixed for the completion of phase two and the present school of 600 children are divided almost equally between the old and new buildings.

“As some of the practical rooms, such as domestic science and handycrafts are at Hiliary Avenue it is necessary to treat the accommodation as a whole which means a considerable amount of travelling between the building” said Mr Davies.

The new building has a spacious library with tables for private study and six airey classrooms with huge windows. The hall, fitted with ropes and wall bars, will also be used as a gynasium until phase two is completed. It can seat 500, has a dais, which is also used as a dinig annex seating 150. This has removable safety barriers and will be used also for musical events, drama and social occassions.

Soon octagonal dining tables will be installed so that the 215 midday meals can be served in a ‘family atmosphere’. Hatches connect the dais with the beautifully equipped kitchen. These hatches and their blue and black tiled surround will be curtained off when not in use to give proper dignity to the dais on other occassions.

This term, for the first time, the school has a sixth form, with thirteen boys and girls. Part of the large staff room is being partitioned for their use, and those pupils also have another small room.

A grrenhouse and a fish pond are to be installed in connection with biology study and there is a fine biology laboratory with a micro-projector and screen.

Salt and fresh water tanks will be provided and a tidal tank is planned in which sea anemones will be grown. Preliminary experiments withthis were done last term and most of the difficulties surmounted. The two science laboratories have a wealth of equipment and the benches are fitted with low voltage circuits.

In the music room the children will use special chairs with swivels on which to rest their note books. Special lighting and ten sewing machines are features of the new needlework room.

When the grounds have been laid out there will be a play area, five tennis courts, netball, football and hockey pitches, provision for athletics and a cricket square.

Already there are changing rooms and thermatically controlled showers for use after gym and games.

There will be no official opening as the block is only part of the new school but there will be an ‘At Home’ shortly for official guests and some parents evenings.  

    You Write:

Maureen Writes:

Yet again you have brought my childhood flooding back to me.

I remember Dr Cheyne well - in fact my family owed him a great debt. I was born in St Mary's in 1947, my mother staying with my grandparents who were living in Central Road Drayton, whilst my Chief Petty Officer dad was based at Rothesay, in Scotland. Two months later mum and I went up to Scotland to join Dad and a few weeks afterwards my mother began to get pains in her leg. The local doctor was treating her for muscle pain, but after 5 weeks it was still no better and the doctor did not seem to take her agonising pain seriously, just telling her to rest and take aspirin. Finding it very difficult to manage a small baby in a rented flat with Dad away on duty Mum decided to return home to my grandparents house. She went to see Dr Cheyne who realised that she was very ill with what he diagnosed as Osteomyelitis - an infection in the bone. He immediately put her in his car and drove her to see a consultant in Portsmouth who confirmed the diagnosis, took her straight to hospital and called in a specialist surgeon from London. This man performed only the second operation of it's kind where her bone was opened and cleared of all the infection and he later took bone grafts from her hip to build the tibia up again to full strength. If Dr Cheyne had not acted as he did, or if Mum had remained in Scotland, she would most probably have had her leg amputated.

Mr Stuart, the chemist, also has a place in my family history, when he removed a pearl from my ear by syringing it. My grandmother's string of pearls had broken and although she thought she had found them all, I had obviously found one and stuffed it in my ear. That syringing is one of my earliest memories.

When did the visit of Queen Mary take place do you know? Grandma worked in Smith and Vospers for a while in the 1950's but I don't remember her ever mentioning that story, but it may have been well before then.

Keep writing the diary, I always enjoy reading it.

News and Views:

On this day 15^th March 1960-1965

On 15/03/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was The Explosive Freddy Cannon - Freddy Cannon. The top rated TV show was The Larkins (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Plans for Thames Barrier.

On 15/03/1961 the number one single was Walk Right Back / Ebony Eyes - Everly Brothers and the top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR). On 14/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 15/03/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 15/03/1964 the number one single was Anyone Who Had a Heart -Cilla Black and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 15/03/1965 the number one single was It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.