King Henry VIII Grammar School

Returned from evacuation 1947 - previous school Ashby Grammar School Left 1951 for training at merchant navy "old wooden wall" HMS Conway -N.Wales meant to be a deck officer, but found on arrival to be deaf, so went to be a Purser. Educationally useless, probably as I learned many years later was probably because I misheard everything. OK at sport Rugby and Cricket Cricket "Jeff" Vent coach Rugby Bullcock Played for Colts at Rugby, but never picked for first team, although when I went to Conway went into first team straight away, so realised it was a question of whether your face fitted - obviously mine didn`t. No Gym building, we did it in one of the huts - imagine flying over the box horse, good job trampolines weren`t available in those days. Assembly in the School yard - Burton presiding -"Off Hats" he squashed his trilby under his arm. He went off to NZ - valedictory message - I will get all your Latin results there - and be reading them! Some body bust a bog - big hoo ha at assembly, whoever it was Burton informed the assembly he/they would be "severely beaten" Think my Maths master was an ex Navy Australian Beetham? -great chap Piggy Shore - "The Hig" to us. Fell foul of him, one of my friends from Warwick school who travelled on the same bus as me, furnished me with a copy of document "The New Typist", passed around the class, some twit caught with it, the Hig summoned, had to own up to ownership of such "dreadfull filth" as he had ever seen.-I would hear more - trembled for weeks, never heard another word - never got the poem back. Used to play for the Colts on a Saturday morning, Old Boys came round and roped us in to play for them Saturday afternoons at Binley. Anybody remember that ground - it was a farmers field, still fully undulating, had the cows on during the week - yes you can guess! Mud off at full time was by way of half a dozen galvanised tin baths, which had to do for both teams - we always made sure we got in before the visitors. Greek Master - "Pip" Complete with pince-nez, maybe 5ft tall Mr.J.B.Young Evans - great chap.Rumoured that the sixth form appeared through a trap door in the ceiling one lesson, after he had come into an empty room. "Maxy" Goldstein - Latin "you will wite out two Latin pwose for tomowwow" Playground game "Offy Offy All Off" - anybody remember it? Schoolboy Rugby Internationals when I was there Godfrey, John Phipps I think he became headmaster of the preparatory school - apparently their pupils and my Brother`s lot (junior school) had pitched battles on "Top Green" at lunch time. School Song "We are the dump at the top of the hump" Finally I will never forget " I have forgotten his nick name - you know the chap who taught RE", anyway the one who informed many of us, we were "products of the scum that came from the gutters of backstreets in Coventry" and kept on yelling at us about some god called "Yaaway" - that finally confirmed me in my lifelong aversion to the church. Got him now "Holy Joe" I put the above posting on last September, but having read this latest avalanche of memories, realised that I came from a different generation and probably a different school, in that KHS was still recovering from the war damage - No Gym,No Dining Hall, in fact no assembly area - just the playground. Don`t remember much "military" aspect, there was quite a lot of bullying some of it came my way from a chap called Naughton, although it ceased when I nearly strangled the "B" Had a chap in our class who could get away with everything - teacher christened him "a plausible rogue" Anybody out there from my era? Anybody play for the OC`s Rugby? Anybody buy their insurance from Charlie Loake? ( ex Stynes Knight)

Hello Mister D-Di, Thanks for your response. I did receive a crashing blow on the head from a large book held by Geoff Courtois once, for having the temerity to let my mind wander during his English lesson, but the torture I alluded to was primarily psychological (although I do now recall another physical incident, described below). Oh, the pain of trying to concentrate on information that held no interest and delivered in such a monotonous manner. Clearly, 'public speaking' was not a skill one needed to possess in order to practice as a teacher. Maybe I'm being harsh, but I've trawled my memory and have failed to think of a single teacher that engaged me with their subject. There was a temporary student teacher, who taught history for a few weeks, and he was good. For some reason, he once did a Sports Quiz during a lesson. I think that was the only time when I was eager to put my hand up so as to offer an answer! It was interesting that your questioning of religious matters was met with accusations of blasphemy. I could never figure out why Evolutionary Theory never got a mention in Biology and that would go some way to explaining it. Also, evolution makes sense, so that didn't count in its favour either. Having written that, I don't think I took Biology for more than a couple of years, so maybe it was mentioned after pond life and bacteria on scotch broth, which is about as far as I got. Yes, you would have been lined up as a lock forward with your height. Actually, I might have stood behind you on the Highfield Road terraces. Couldn't see a blooming thing most of the time and ended up having to get there by about half past twelve in order to grab a position by the front wall! As regards the tactic of being 'deliberately hopeless', I tried that when we were forced to sing in front of Barnes and Bob Weddle (was that his name?) for choir auditions in the first year. I couldn't believe it when I got selected. How was that possible? To this day, I don't know what I did right. I took a chance and skipped it after the first practice session and was, fortunately, not hunted down. (Hmm - come to think of it, maybe the school took their revenge by calling me up for the sports teams) Hello James Cooper, You actually LIKED some of the teachers? I was also taught by Foghorn. Whether he was aware of it or not, he developed his own catchphrase whilst teaching our form. He would complain about some basic error a pupil had made, then followed up by stating what should have been done and finally round it off by saying loudly and exasperatedly "It's not much to ask!" I, honestly, cannot recall that they held Parents Evenings. Maybe that began after I'd left. Or maybe my parents were too ashamed to ever go. But the inference from your anecdote was that you were there with your parents and that definitely did not happen with me. The only parental contact from the school was via the accursed end-of-term report. Oh dear, the dread of taking that thing home with me. Not a good time to ask for some extra pocket money! Of course, they insisted on including your position in class for each subject. Was that humiliation really necessary? I don't know if the intention was to motivate you to climb the league table. If so, it had the reverse effect upon me. I reasoned that someone had to finish bottom of the class, so I might as well take one for the team. I'm kidding. To me, my classmates were traitors. They must have been doing homework, the swines. Droob Norrish exemplified the military mentality, as I perceived it to be. I had a similar violent encounter with him. Coming out of the changing rooms one afternoon with another lad, we were passed by boys covered in mud after cross-country. I said to my colleague "You wouldn't catch me Droobing." And this observation, unfortunately, coincided with Norrish coming around the corner of the building. Without hesitation, or asking who was responsible for the utterance, he started attacking the other lad, knocking him around the head several times, before continuing on his way. Needless to say, I wasn't very popular with this chap. Maybe I should have owned up, but it all happened so quickly. Norrish didn't ask any questions, he just began laying into him. I concur with you, I think he had the look of a fanatic about him. But he had his disciples. Lucky fellows. You have surprised me with your account of a five-a-side football match in the gym. Soccer - at Henry's? Not in my day. Hell's teeth, they'll be having girls there next. Oh yes ----

Hello PhilipinCoventry, Thank you for your welcome. Yes, those ink wells did need monitoring. You performed admirably! Having consideration for the fact that it is nigh on 50 years ago when I first went to Henrys, I am surprised and a little bit alarmed by how much I can remember of the place. I have tried to recall names of fellow classmates, going round in alphabetical order, and pulled out more than I thought I would, with quite a few Christian names coming to mind, to accompany Surnames and faces. I might be kidding myself, but I still reckon I could recognise the smell of the room where Kings House had their assembly. I think it was called the Metalwork Room. I haven't got the name of the Housemaster. I see from Wikipedia that Kings House got dropped. Wish I hadn't set fire to my tie. It would now be a collectors item. Although I haven't read them all, I've yet to see any reference in postings to the blonde haired female lab assistant. Maybe she didn't actually exist and was a figment of my imagination to help me through Double Chem. Any other confirmed sightings would be gratefully received.

Now I'm feeling increasingly like Al Pacino's character, Michael Corleone, in The Godfather. "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" I walked away from the computer and then was struck by a teacher's face that I associated with 'Tomkins' and another that I associated with 'Tomlinson', or something like. This 'Tomlinson' was a history teacher who, I recollected, said "It's not much to ask!" repeatedly. Sadly, I can't remember any of the history he taught me, so that is looking dubious. I have a memory of a bloke called 'Tomkins' with a moustache. I'm laughing while I write this. Was Foghorn 'Tomlinson' or 'Tomkins'? Wasn't 'Tompkins' nicknamed 'Bert'? If not, who was 'Bert'? And if 'Foghorn' was 'Tompkins', what was 'Tomlinson''s nickname? Was he 'Bert'? And what school was it I went to again?

I'm between you and Mr Di-Di, Inker, started in senior school in 1965. Bert Tomkins and Fossil Scotford were the history teachers I recall. Surely Tomlinson was a creation of Michael Palin ? My year was described by Walker as being the worst year in the history of the school, probably he meant to shame us, but we wore the name with pride. Little rebellions, knotting your tie so the thin end was longer, wearing pins behind the lapels of your school jacket, wearing short socks instead of long, wearing a plain black tie instead of a house tie. Talking to people who came after us reveals very different school memories, they talk with pleasure of their time at KHVIII, maybe it was the advent of girls, but I think it was more to do with a change in attitude from the top.

Last of the Inkers. The parents day would have been held in late 1974 or early 1975 - it may have been the first? I think this was also about the time that they set up a careers master - was it Mr Harris and wasn't his 'office' a converted cleaners cupboard at the head of the corridor that led past the Library and down to the gym? I don't recall ever being invited in. As for the end of term reports. Always towards the bottom of the class, they were a regular nightmare for me about three years - until I was finally relegated.

Hello Disorganised, Well, as I have a copy of the "Ripping Yarns" dvd in front of me, I can state with 99.9% certainty (don't want to appear too confident) that his character was TomKinson, not TomLinson. "Tomkinson's Schooldays" is "Set in the frontier days of British education, when upper lips were stiff with cold and corporal punishment was an A-level." However, as I am now outnumbered by 2 to 1, I shall concede to the history teacher being Tomkins. I had no confusion with Fossil Scotford, thankfully. I'm not going to seek identification for the mystery teacher with a moustache. In my memory, he passed me in the corridor, which isn't much to go on. So, the intake of '65 had the honour of being the worst year in history did they? A hard act to follow, which is probably why a lad from '66 turned up one day in BROWN shoes and RED socks (of unknown length). I think the attempted revolution was quelled by a detention. Let me try this recollection on you. 'Spud' Murphy, as he was known. I picture him in a Hollands House tie and place him in your year. I remember that he once 'ran a book' on the winner of the cartoon series "Wacky Races" and went around during break time trying to persuade students to have a punt. I never took up the offer, but what made this stick out in my memory was that he was only offering 10 to 1 on Dick Dastardly to win. 10 to 1???? Ruddy hell, Grand National favourites have started on 10 to 1. This was Dick Dastardly. The whole premise of the cartoon was that he NEVER won. ( Cue Muttleyesque laugh at this point) I was pondering the name of the Kings Housemaster before I went to sleep and came up with 'Jenkins'. I know. "Wasn't Jenkins a Welsh fly half?" Yes. And a founder of the Social Democratic Party (UK). But, just think of the kudos if I'm right. The Tomkins/Tomlinson debacle will be forgotten. Then I awoke, with a start, at about 4am, convinced that I'd just nodded off during a Latin lesson. Not good. I think I posted on here as an act of catharsis (and to confirm the existence of the blonde haired female lab assistant). I have found it reassuring that others around that era were similarly unconvinced by the quality of the school experience at that time. Which is a nice way of putting it. We are in a difficult situation at that age because we know that we have to pass the exams but, at the same time, the process through which that outcome was to materialise seemed so stifling. To me, it was the inability to express myself at school that I found really challenging. I cannot think of one avenue offered at school through which my sense of 'self' could be given a chance to develop. It becomes a 'covert operation'. I know it can't be easy to run a school or teach in a school. But we were meant to be 'selected' through the 11 plus system. In theory, we were meant to be the 'smarter' ones of our age group. And to be transformed from 'successful' to 'failure', without the school system being willing to acknowledge any sense of responsibility just perplexed me. But then, I suppose, they can't, because that means that they are not doing their job properly. The school would then have to go through the transition from 'successful' to 'failure' and that wouldn't compute, if they were achieving the exam results by which they measured 'success'. If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself at the wrong end of the normal distribution curve then that is just hard luck. Which is why rock music was invented. As Bruce Springsteen put it: "We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school". Amen!

Hello Last of the Inkers, I attended KHVIII from 1967 to 1974. I knew 'Spud' Murphy well. He was in the year above me. I also recall him running a 'book' on the Wacky Races! I believe it was on TV on a Tuesday. What a memory for useless information!! I actually won a fair few bob one week after a fairly hefty punt on 'The Anthill Mob' at the tasty price of 6/1. I was also in Kings House and you are correct, 'Bart' Jenkins was the Housemaster. He taught English Literature. The only other two masters associated with Kings that I can remember are Ted Norrish and Alfie Crocker. Two laugh a minute guys!! There were obviously other masters in the House but I'm afraid I cannot recall them. One consolation, at least we never got mauled by the school leopard, which was the fate of pupils in 'Tompkinson's Schooldays!!'

Now we are in my territory! I knew Spud Murphy too, he lived in Barnack Avenue if I recall correctly, and he was always in some sort of scrape or other. However, he was not the one who ran the weekly book on Wacky Races. He was, somewhat recklessly, operating as a bookie's runner for the actual organiser, a rather shrewd lad called Simon Jones who was also a friend of mine. (Surely Beesman remembers him!) Simon was very into gambling at an early age and his operation was quite sophisticated, hence the runners taking the risks. On the day of Wacky Races, he would be found at the far end of the school library running his book. It made him considerable money. He was also a card player and we sometimes used to have a Saturday night card school at one or other of our houses during the winter, complete with bottles of cider. Simon Jones was the school's unofficial bookmaker and ran more than just the Wacky Races book. I believe he would take bets from boys and would lay them at his local bookmaker if he didn't want to stand a loss. One memorable event was a Derby Day, possibly 1970, when it was always run on a Wednesday. He had been taking bets all over the school and the race was scheduled for Bugsy Leachman's geography class. Bugsy was deaf as a post and totally oblivious to the radio commentary of the big race at the back of room 6. As far as I know he was never caught and used to make considerable money with his enterprise.

James Cooper, That one made me laugh - a converted cleaner's cupboard for the Careers Office. What kind of message is that sending out?! I couldn't mentally make the journey you were describing to locate said cupboard. Um, just as a point of interest - how the hell did you know it was a cleaner's cupboard? It could have been a 'lost items' cupboard, or a stationery cupboard. Is there something you want to tell us, to do with mops? Thanks for the clarity on Parent's Evening and for not scoring a point on Tomkins (I would have done!). It's a shame that finishing bottom, or near the bottom, didn't get some sort of recognition, like a wooden spoon, for example. We could then show people our collection of wooden spoons, in a display cabinet. That would have been nice. On a side note, Einstein actually wasn't acknowledged as being up to much at school. He said "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one learned in school." which constitutes a dig in my book. Then there is Winston Churchill, who stated "The only time my education was interrupted was when I was at school." I have these quotes posted up in my empty display cabinet - next to the mop.

Spud did indeed live in Barnack Avenue, and he was in Holland's house, as was I. Our house-master was Mona, but we also had Joe Soap, and Bert Tompkins. In fact our house room was 103. I recall one weekly house meeting, Spud and I were sat on the window ledge discussing some matter of interest to us. Unbeknownst to us a pathway had been cleared through all the standing boys, and we were in full sight of the assembled masters. we were jolted from our chat by the fruity tones of old Mona. "Murphy, Beamish, what are you two sinners discussing that is more important than what I'm saying ?" I look back and laugh now, but I wish I'd gone to school rather more often than I did. Spud and I remained friends for many years, he became a history teacher at Woodlands, where he still was when I last saw him last year. We also formed a football club together at The Earlsdon Cottage, and holidayed together many times. We are still vaguely in touch with each other through mutual friends.

Was 103 an art room? If so, it was King's house room in my day

I seem to recall that 105 was Joe Soap's art room, 103 was Holland's house room and also IIRC Foghorn's history room

Oh dear, the ravages of time! At the top of the stairs up from "the cage", the room at the end of the short passageway immediately on the left - that was King's house room and, I think, an art room Joe Soap's art room was on the right along the main first floor corridor, past Piggy Shore's office I'm ******ed if I can remember the room numbers

The art room you refer to was, I believe room 110. It was Piggy Shore's art room, although other art teachers did use it as Piggy spent most of his time in his office, fag in mouth, threatening his victims. The numbering on that floor started at Piggy's office, going clockwise down the corridor to 104, a small history room opposite the caretaker's flat. Then it continued to 105, Joe Soap's room, past the 6th form toilets and along to 108 where Taffy taught economics and Welshness! 109 was on the left of that short passage. Then back along the corridor, 111 to 113 which is where Dickie Dawson taught geography and general studies. Sad that I remember that, I know, and I may be corrected by someone with a better memory.