SOME
MEMORIES OF MUNDELLA SCHOOL 1931 - 1938
I joined the school in 1931 in the
second form, as I had already spent a year in the Long Eaton Secondary
School before the family moved to Nottingham early in 1931. As a new
boy I was something of a novelty to those who were just entering their
second year at Mundella. When asked my name it was immediately converted
to Dog-leash - a nickname that stuck from thereon.
My memories of my time in Lower
School are somewhat dim, but there is one event, which was really out
of school, that I shall never forget. The Deputy Headmaster, Mr Winfield,
proposed to run a School Holiday visit to North- Wales during Whit week.
The first time such a proposal had been made as far as I know.
The proposal was well supported, and a party of about 30 set off by
train, first to Chester, where we had a break and a walk round the walls,
then on to Conway. We were to stay at a Holiday Fellowship Camp on Morfa
beach, about a mile or so from the town. The buildings on the site were,
I believe, ex-army huts, where we slept on straw paliasses.
The weather was hot and sunny all
the time, and few people escaped sunburn, but it was ideal for bathing,
and it was there the extra buoyancy helped me to swim for the first
time.
On most days we were taken in old
Crossville open-top charabancs to visit famous places, including the
castles at Caernarvon, Harlech and Conway. One day was taken in climbing
to the summit of Snowdon. Return journeys were enlivened by singing
the popular songs of the day, like Red Sails in the Sunset, Wagon Wheels,
etc.
A brilliant holiday and the total
cost, believe it or not, £2.00!
The following year was to Abergavenny,
this time a house run by the HFA. A good holiday, but nothing would
ever match that at Conway.
Staff I remember.
Mr Wight or was it White? - Headmaster
Mr Winfield - Senior Master
Mr Thorpe - Maths and Applied Maths
Mr Stacey - French
Miss Morris - Geography
Mr Thomas- English
Miss Wallis - History
Miss Mosley - English
Mr Page - Physics
Mr Bird - Chemistry
Mr Jones - Physics
Mr Clarke - Music
Mr Cowdhall - French
Mr Thomas was a Welshman, and was
responsible for creating the house competition, the school Eisteddfod.
There was a very wide range of categories where work done in one's own
time could be entered. There were ribbons awarded as prizes and each
carried house points, a red one, 5, for a first, a blue one,3, for second,
and a yellow,1, for third. The climax was an open day, which began in
the lower school hall, where the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress presided.
One of the first items on the agenda for them to judge was an impromptu
speech competition. Those who entered had to give an impromptu speech
for three minutes. On the year I entered when we got on the stage we
were told to pick our own subject, rather than being allocated one.
I spoke about Hore-Belisha, I won and totted up another five points
for Hardwick House. I also won the Victor Ludorum prize for the one
who made the most points from all categories. The prize for this was
to have the Eisteddfod Crown to hold for one year. Somewhere there is
still a photo of me wearing the crown - what a sight! I wonder where
the crown is now?
In the fifth form I took over the
stage lighting in the Lower Hall. In those days it was a temporary set-up,
controlled from a large box of switches. There were two, permanent,
floodlights at the front above the stage, portable sidelights at each
side, and a similar set of portable footlights. By means of manipulating
the switches, if you knew how, it was possible to switch the footlights
or sidelights into a series or parallel condition, the former having
the effect of a one-step dimmer. It was somewhat of a Heath Robinson
affair, and what a present day Health and Safety inspector would have
had to say I shudder to think. After using it for a year I pointed the
dangerous situation out to the staff, with the eventual result that
a proper set of permanent switches, with a dimmer, were fitted at the
side of the stage. The portable footlights and sidelights were still
used, but with proper plugs instead of the dangerous barrel connectors
previously fitted.
Through this work I became involved
in doing stage work for the Old Scholar's Dramatic Society, of whom
Miss Mosley was the producer. There first production in my time was
Arms and the Man by GBS, where I only looked after the lighting. The
second I took on the added responsibilities of set designer, stage manger,
carpenter and general dog's body. This involved a lot of work after
school in the woodwork room to modify the four flats that were all the
available scenery.
The production was of Pygmalion,
also by GBS, but not as well known then as it became later. It happened
that this was the year I had to go to London for a practical Physics
exam, and I took the opportunity the night before, to visit Covent Garden
and the church portico where the first scene opens. I was able to see
that the church had four pillars, the outer ones square and the inner
round. The outer ones were easy to represent with a simple narrow tall
flat, but the inner much more of a problem, as Eliza had to sit on the
bottom plinth. This took a long time to solve, until my Father offered
to supply two old lorry tyres to form the base of the circular pillars.
These did a fine job, but were unpopular with the staff that presided
over the school lunches. Their table was on the stage, and I must admit
the tyres did smell a bit strong in an enclosed space.
I was never good at ball sports
or athletics, so I jumped at the chance of joining the small group under
Mr Page who did rowing. We used the facilities of the Union Rowing Club
on the nearby Trent. As well as learning to row there was a target of
winning the inter-schools Spencer Cup competition held annually. . There
were not many boys who took rowing and I was able to qualify as a member
of the school crew. During my matric year we were entered into the inter
schools race for the Spencer Cup, and we trained fairly hard in our
own time - such as we could spare! The school had competed unsuccessfully
for many years and no one expected us to win. The race took place one
hot summer evening, and we were as astonished as everyone else when
we won the first heat. We expected that the final would be held at another
time, as the other crew in the competition had not had to row in a race
and we felt rather shattered. However it was decided that the final
would be held that evening, so we had it all to do again! Although buoyed
by our earlier success, it was expecting a lot for us to put up a good
show in another race so soon, but we did and we won! I think it must
have been the elation that carried me the four miles back to home as
I was really very weary! Unfortunately the next year the rules of the
race were changed at a late stage, so we had insufficient time to upgrade
effectively to the junior class boats from the tub fours in which we
had been trained, so we lost the cup. We did however compete at
Stratford-upon-Avon in their regatta, which was an enjoyable experience.
There are probably other memories
not yet recalled, but the above have been put together after discovering
the Mundella site yesterday. |
The
culmination of the event was when the school was opened to the parents,
and all entries were on display. In the afternoon parents, and those scholars
who could find space, sat in the Lower Hall where the Lord Mayor and Lady
Mayoress of Nottingham presided over the awarding of the prizes. Before
this started the final competition took place. Those entering were given
five minutes to prepare themselves to walk onto the stage and give an
impromptu speech for three minutes on the subject they had been given.
The Lord Mayor decided on who had won.