Woodlands School

Back row: 4th along Corian Lee? far right David Blenkinsopp to his right David Bewick, Middle row: 2nd from left Pete Gibson, all originally from Sir Henry Parkes School.

Hello all, I have just found this site. My name is Ken Dickson. I attended Stoke Heath Primary School and following my 11+ success I went to the Technical School, my first year being September 1953. The following year, as we all know, the Tech merged with Templars to form Woodlands School. I was in McLachlan house - housemaster Mr. Burdett. I left Woodlands in 1958 and almost immediately joined the Royal Navy in which I served for 24 years, following that I worked in the Oil Industry finally retiring in 2008. Some of the masters in my era included Headmaster Fred West, Ned Sparkes, Watkiss (English), Howe (German), Flitcroft (Art), Rudge (Geography), Rollason (RE), Bolland, Beard (Art), Twistleton, and Davies (PE). Not forgetting Mr. Gough (Woodwork), who, if not pleased with the work you were doing used to saw it up and throw it to one end of the workshop and utter ' go and get another piece of wood lad and start again. From the beginning Woodlands was strong at sports. I was in the under 15 soccer team and in my 5th. year the senior team. Members from my era may recall some of my teammates, Bob Bates (also McLachlan), Graham Heggie, Brian Lever, Colin Turnbull, Jones, Sant, Siddle, Dunn, Johnston, Brian Cockerton, Roger Miles, Pitchford, Jimmy Pigg, Oakley, Potter, and Cowburn. The cross-country team, at that time, was very strong, six of us being selected for the town team in the Warwickshire Schools championships. Bill Adcocks was in the team and he later represented Great Britain in the Marathon. I attended the 50th anniversary in 2004 and to be frank I was disappointed, not a lot on offer and a poor turn out. I will post some photos later when I work my way around the site. Hopefully there are still a few around who attended from day one. Different schoolmasters and boys for different eras etc. If anyone would like to make contact, please use the forum private contact option.

Sadly Peter Hill, a player with Coventry City died recently, does anybody remember him taking football coaching in the late fifties and early sixties? I never made the grade in any stretch of the imagination playing football, but I do remember in one of those games sessions with our class, actually taking him on and dribbling past him, my one and only glory I recall. Happy days. RIP Peter.

YesI do remember him taking football and didn't his brother take them too??? RIP

Hello everyone, does anyone remember the floating bog this side of the woods adjoining Tile Hill Wood School, it was great fun trying to cross it without falling or being pushed in (got to keep clean for lessons!).

Yes I remember the Hills who played for Coventry City and ran coaching classes. Also when I was in the Woodlands under 15's and the senior team 1957-58 we were coached a few times by Bill Patrick. He was a professional with City, played mostly at full back. He came from a mining community Lochgelly in Fife, Scotland. He started with the local team Lochgelly Albert.

God yes I remember the bog, near the first eleven soccer pitch parallel to Banner Lane. When the ball went in there someone had to go in and get it and finished up stinking to high heaven. Also on the route of annual school cross country, the legendary (notorious whatever) Finney who hid in hedge on first circuit and joined in the second, beating easily many of the established and talented athletes and he couldn't understand why no one believed him. Think I remember Bill Patrick, built like brick s***house, could hit a cricket ball for miles. As I wander through the formerly closed doors that these days is my memory, can also a remember the cinder running track and for a while weren't the first elevens colours red and green squares? Problem is that in those days taking pics was such a long winded faff, pity they left it so long to invent digital cameras, and the violence of the masters v boys games - didn't Harris referee them in a blazer??? Phew, need to lay down after all that effort.

Talking about the annual cross country, there was various smoking parties hiding in the bushes waiting to join in the second time round (not too close to the front but near enough for house points) also to get out of doing it I remember saying I' d forgot my pumps, but I was told to run in my football boots and another kid in our class said he had forgot his shorts and was told to run in his underpants!

Yes Keepa, Bill Patrick was built like a br.... sh........ When I was in the senior soccer team in season 1957-58 we beat the staff 2-1 and indeed Mr. Harris did referee the match like he did every year. The senior team did play in red and green quarters as did the under 15's. However the senior team also played in green shirts with red sleeves and collars (it may have been the other way round) the photo I have is black and white so it is difficult to tell. When I find out how to do it I will post several photos of the teams in my era. Following the Boys v. Staff soccer match both teams enjoyed an aftermatch dinner held in one of the houses. I have a report on the match written in the school magazine 'Contact' for that year.

Keepa, I forgot to pick up on your point about the violence in the Boys v. Staff soccer match. It did get a bit tasty, but it was our only opportunity to have a go...... pay back time, so to speak. The staff were no slouches and took the match very seriously and they kicked lumps out of us as well. Most of the staff were quite fit. But there was no rolling around the ground at the slightest touch like you see today. I gave a penalty away in that match. We won 2-1 though. We used to have a ding dong battle with Whitley Abbey. They had the Mason brothers playing for them and they were decent players, their father was George Mason who was a fine player for Coventry City at one time.

You are right. Johnny and Pete Mason were both good players. Coincidentally, met Geoff Davis whilst on a course as Manchester Uni. I played a lot of cricket with Brian Lever at the old Coventry Co-op ground on the Highway. Many complain about Woodlands as a school but it gave me a love of, and a grounding in, sport that has lasted throughout my life. I am still doing triathlons, a sport that didn't exist in "our day". Finally gave up goalkeeping in my mid fifties after a particularly hard game when me, the centre half and the striker, decided that with a combined age of 158 the time had come!!

My mind goes back to Mr. Flitcroft's Art lessons top floor of Kent block (I think?) He would play 'Over the wall' and Me and old Charlie' monologues by Bernard Miles while we painted (and like a lot of things I appreciate later in life and listen to them now and then even now). If he ever popped out for a fag, somebody in the class would remove a light bulb and start passing/throwing it around the classroom - heaven help you if you were butterfingers and he returned with the mess by you.

Yes I remember RR Panter, he brought out the best in our class, on leaving his lesson there was always a Bunsen burner tap or two left on (not lit), purely accidental!

Just a small memory coming back to me, on joining Woodlands you were known as a fuzzer in the first year,and in the first few days of starting I remember being fuzzerized a few times (which were knuckles of an older boy being rubbed into the back of your neck while holding you down). Needless to say this tradition was carried on by your year and others each year, another treatment was a few fuzzers faces being held down into various flushing toilets. Fuzzers: 1st Year, Scrubbers: 2nd Year, Angels: 3rd Year, 4th Year: Archangels, cannot remember 5th and 6th.

Slightly surreal day for me last Friday as I returned to Woodlands for the first time for 30 years as my eldest was playing Rugby for Bablake there in the Coventry Schools semi. Amazingly true that the place always seems so much smaller when you are older. I actually had to ask my way around part of it as there is now a new privately owned Sports Academy on part of the site. And then was subsequently suprised to see they were playing on a pitch on the old running track which has disappeared / been grassed over. Good to see what original buildings I could see were still there though several especially from the rear where the playing grounds are look a little shabby. Really strange to walk past the heads block recalling standing on more or less the same spot on my very first day there some 35 years ago and now with my own son. Needless to say Bablake won 5-43