King Henry VIII Grammar School

There's at least two forum members on this photo of Transition Class, Junior School, July 1955 Or so I found out this morning ! (Sorry about quality of scan but it's a matt print original) PS There's an estate agent on the back row and a Tax Inspector on the front row

Thank you for the pic. I am third from left on front with the nhs specs.

Yes, I know I'm third from right, back row I think I can name all but one

Your memory is so good. I think that it is David Spanton next to me. My time at school was punctuated most years with long spells in 'Paybody Orthopaedic hospital'. I am fortunate that I am able to walk, as the post mortem of my mother who died at my birth stated that I would never walk. Dr Watson, who signed the post mortem had obviously not met my adopted mother. A master Mr Brotherwood came at least twice a week to the hospital to give me lessons. He was dedicated with a passion for young people. I played at his funeral. He had years of dialysis treatment which eventually took his life.

I wouldn't be sure it was David but Spanton, yes, and the other side of you is Michael Christensen

I might be wrong on the 'David'. We were discouraged from using first names in the prep school. I think that I remember Chignell too. I mentioned school dinners. As far as school dinners went in the fifties & early sixties, with the exception of cheese or fish pie on Fridays, I honestly thought the dinners were excellent. In our days there, the dinning hall was also the main hall not as now where there is a new dinning hall built next to it. I saw it on the day that the now late Mr. Vent, showed me the new school classic electronic organ. I have been a church organist for forty years, but an eyesight problem forced my retirement from that in 2004. In my late teens, I won a competition to play at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, but my parents were so hostile to such an idea as a living. On balance I am sure they were right. My great claim to fame at school was to be inkwell monitor, that really was something. At the end of term wearing a sack, going around with a bucket collecting the ink wells from the desks. WOW! I received a prize on this day. I am second from left on front row. The master in view was Mr. Marshall.

I was in 'Transition' in 1969, almost fifteen years later than the photo at the top, but I would hazard a guess that the teacher standing at the rear was still in charge of 'Transition' in my day, Miss Gates. She told us that she had grown up in India, and she taught the basics of mathematics, comprehension etc. She also taught music and played the melodica. The Headmaster at that time was PW Foster. One progressed from 'Transition' into 'Lower Prep A' or 'Lower Prep Alpha', then to 'Upper Prep A / Alpha' and finally to '1A / 1Alpha'. Though this sounds odd, it was in order to dovetail into the senior school, the lowest class of which was '2A / 2Alpha / 2B / 2Beta'. I am reasonably sure that I have a photo of the student body, which I shall look out and attempt to scan, if possible.

Hello. It was Mrs. Gates. I was told that she was a widow and that she had indeed grown up in India. In the fifties, Mr. Gains (Gus) was head of the prep school, whilst Mr. H. Walker was the school headmaster. I am pleased to meet you, Vtopian.

From the senior school, a classmate of mine was on TV this morning - Paul Connew, former editor of the Sunday Mirror and deputy editor of the Daily Mirror and the News of the World He was married to TV presenter Lowri Turner, and is Director of Communications for the charity Sparks Local boy (Tile Hill) done well !

I was at KHVIII between 1959 and 1965, and Paul was a year older than me. I hope he's survived the recent phone hacking scandals in the Murdoch papers! Several students from that era made their way to Australia over the years - Howard Smith lives in Tasmania, and Neil Morgan (whose father taught history at the school) was in Perth the last time I met him.

I remember Neil Morgan. More because of his dad teaching. Mr. Leachman (teacher) also had a son at the school.

I recall the name Howard Smith I also remember "Bugsy" Leachman - and the tales about the lamp standard outside his house, it made rivetting reading in the CET

Who was the teacher that owned the 'BlueBird' motor bike & sidecar?

Anyone care to reminisce about Ernst Kolisch?

I guess I can start the ball rolling.......... Mr Kolisch was known to the boys as simply "the Wog" (often pronounced "Vog"), on account of his appearance and strong accent, but there was no malice in the name, and no apparent offence taken. In fact, his son Tom was probably one of the most popular of the prefects in my days, and rejoiced in the nick-name "Tom Wog". They were nice people, and we kids were mostly blissfully unaware of the terrible times Mr Kolisch had experienced in WWII. It was a time when crew cut haircuts became fashionable amongst teenage boys, sometimes enhanced with gel to make them spiky. Mr Kolisch was on playground duty when a rather rebellious boy, whose name I don't remember, turned up sporting a particularly flamboyant spiky crewcut. A confrontation seemed certain, and everyone crowded round expecting at least a detention for the miscreant, but Mr Kolisch, with a beaming smile, defused the situation with "How on earth do you get it to stick up like that?". I think the teacher with the motorbike taught chemistry - I can see his face - he wore glasses - but I don't remember his name. In fact, I never did remember anything about chemistry except the spectacular effects of setting fire to magnesium. Who was the very old Latin teacher, who was incredibly knowledgeable about his subject but had no class control skills? I remember some kids in my class cooked toast and baked beans on a campstove hidden in a desk during one of his lessons. He noticed the smell, but I remember suggesting it was the fresh tarmac from the roadworks in Spencer Road. Also, who was the 6ft plus art teacher who wore bright shirts and "kipper" ties? He drove a bubble car, which we picked up and manouevered through a hole in the wire fence into the tennis courts one day, repairing the fence after us. I guess that they were the good old days - at least some of them! I heard that Jeff Vent died recently and that Ted Norrish is very poorly.