King Henry VIII Grammar School

Greetings Midland Red, In terms of King Henry VIII School comedic material, that gymnasium photograph is the mother lode! Just insert some 'thought bubbles' above the pupils' heads and away we go. However, prudence suggests that one should leave well alone. So, it has no potential for humour. It is merely a pictorial record of a building that holds fond memories of physical exercise for me. Just a couple of questions. Considering that a significant investment had been made in the new facility, why did they then place, centre stage, a gymnasium box which looks like it was made in Queen Victoria's coronation year and appears to be peppered with shotgun pellets? And, secondly, how many boys are hiding inside it?

The 'thought bubbles' from the two boys on the ropes on the left of photo take little imagination to fill!

Oh dear, this topic is wide open for the comedians to have a go. but let it not be me to show any encouragement.

Oh thank you! You have found "my" Box Horse at last, well at least the one that must have survived the war, which we used to use in our "gym" - one of the huts. So dear to me, every notch, wound and blemish, I used to kiss it regularly - well there was a maniac called Bullcock that made us run and take dives at it, if you didn`t get your head well tucked under, you were likely to damage your lips. Those skeletons strategically decorating the gym have a lean and hungry look - was rationing still in in 1956?

PE or PT (can't remember) was not my favourite lesson, basically because I was useless at it, e.g. couldn't climb all the way up a rope. It's amazing that since leaving school, I can do most of the things I found difficult then; I can still take all my weight on both hands (on the knuckles on a heard floor), do press-ups; and recently easily climbed a rope to ceiling height to retrieve a wayward shuttlecock, which meant hanging on with one hand at the top. I guess it's because after leaving school, I really wanted to do certain things, of my own volition, not because some bloke was telling me to do it.

Most likely; it was certainly still in when I was born, and that was in nineteen canteen.

Was G. Mercer a PE master?

Doesn't ring a bell; might be before my time. Keith McGawley was head of games when I was in the juniors and the main school. PE teachers were Gerry Barrel, Kench, Geoff Courtois, and at least one other young chap whose name escapes me.

Ah! Must be Barrel I'm thinking of

Yes, a slightly built chap with an excess of nasal hair, most of which was external to his nose. I found him ok, despite the fact he took us for PE and geography, which are two reasons we weren't likely to get on! He had a funny accent (Wiltshire? reputedly), and was always impersonated with "Come here boy, give you a slap, boy, teach you a lesson boy...", (i.e. could never remember anyone's name), always in his weird accent.

Geoff Mercer - also taught geography around the 1960-65 era, if my few remaining grey cells serve me well. Fairly quiet guy - I got along very well with him, and his PE and after-school athletics sessions were enjoyable. I think he introduced us to basketball and was quite a skillful player himself.

Faith in memory restored - thanks, John

Similar era to me Slim.Two other PE teachers that I can recall are Bob Griffiths and Alan Cowman, both incidentally rugby players for Coventry at the time.

Yes, Beesman, never heard of Cowman, but Bob Griffiths is a bloke I couldn't say a word against. He taught me more maths in one term than a certain old-guard "teacher" did in 3 years! On the ball, fair, SOH, down to earth - he once said to one of our class "Look, you don't want to end up a yob like *******, do you?", ******* being in another class in our year, but with a reputation. I was never bored for one minute with Bob, everyone was alert and paying attention, and we learned a lot with the minimum amount of flowery language and unnecessary waffle; we felt we were conquering maths, rather than being befuddled by it all. The exam results were a testament to Bob. Bob would often zoom out of the car park just at 1600 hours in his old style Mini, a fag in his mouth. I saw this many times, because I hated school so much that very often, I was the first boy to leg it from the school premises, not just because I often caught a 1610 train, but because I did not want to spend one unnecessary minute of my precious life anywhere near the place. I knew he played rugby, but didn't know it was for Coventry. Nor did I associate him with PE. It seems odd that PE teachers, e.g. McGawley and Barrel to name just two, were/are often associated with geography.

I don't associate Bob Griffiths with P.E. either. Rugby on games afternoons certainly. Alan 'Dick' Cowman on the other hand was my P.E. teacher when it was in either the Upper Fifth or the Sixth Form. He played as flyhalf for England 5 times as well. I'm not sure if people will think this relates to KHVIII because at the time Cov Prep wasn't part of the school, but the famous England player Fran Cotton was a teacher there. I know a lot of people didn't have a lot of time for Keith McGawley but he was always sound with me. I only really knew him in my final two years and he always spoke to and treated me as a young adult as opposed to a kid. Different strokes for different folks I suppose since there is another master who is almost universally revered and worshipped that I can't see why.