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I
am on the left looking with wonder at the attractive lady photographer.
My
elder brother Roger was still at the school when we arrived and
I remember being very proud when I saw him in his Scout uniform.
As a Boy Scout he had a hat whereas Cub Scouts had caps. My mother
was heavily involved with the Cubs. She was a qualified teacher
and joined the staff in 1960 after Michael and I went off to boarding
school. While we were at Winbury she was Baloo in the Cubs to John
Spicer who, of course, was Akela. As such mum did much of the organising
of the cubs together with Robert May's mum as mentioned in Robert's
memories. (There is a picture of mum with the cubs in the gallery
on this site).
John
Spicer was a wonderful headmaster and great at looking after his
boys but my mum sometimes got exasperated with him, particularly
in relation to Cubs. A classic example was when we were at one of
the many great cub camps and, for some reason, were not in tents
but in a wooden hut spread with straw - all highly inflammable.
My Spicer had allowed the boys to light candles by their sleeping
bags and, when mum saw this, she got really wild with him. Great
fun ! The other thing I remember about this camp was that several
of the boys sleeping along the wall started complaining that their
sleeping bags were wet although it was not raining. The reason was
that several of us had been peeing against the outside wall of the
hut and it had seeped through. They just had to put up with it of
course.
Cub
camps really were a highlight. I remember that as soon as the "grown-ups"
were in their tents we used to take it in turns to rush out and
put more wood on the camp fire to stop it going out. I don't think
we ever slept during the nights at camp and were tired out the next
day. Initially camps were held at various venues but, after the
school bought the fields at Braywick, the camps were held there.
I
remember games in Grenfell Park, walking to Stafferton Lodge, and
finally games at Braywick. Stafferton Lodge was best. One of my
lasting memories is of lying under the large oak tree one afternoon
in the summer with John Spicer reading King Solomon's Mines to the
whole class. He might have been pleased to know that this sparked
an interest and, over the next few years, I read ever Rider Haggard
book published. I also have a vivid memory of reading Animal Farm
as a school reader in the southern classroom of the new block.
There
must have been less pleasant memories but not many - Saturday morning
school, being beaten with a plimsoll by My Spicer for spitting on
those below from the top of a tree, being force fed cold slimy cod
with green bits (probably parsley) by the cook wielding a large
spoon when I did not finish my plate at lunch !
After
Winbury Michael and I went to Highgate and then Borlase in Marlow
for A levels, and then both of us went to University College London
to read Electronic Engineering. After graduation I worked for GEC,
then emigrated to South Africa to work for Plessey in Cape Town.
While there I met up with an old Winbury friend, Paul Cowan and
his wife Carol. (I note there is a picture of Paul in a bicycle
basket on the Winbury site).
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