King Henry VIII Grammar School

Hi again Slim, I am relying on you. Armed Forces, Church, Law, Tax, Spying. House Colours for each, please, explained in a logical manner.

King Henry's lads please indulge me. I attended Stoke Heath Primary School, Coventry Technical School and then Woodlands when it was formed in 1954. I have been following this thread with interest since I joined HCF. Indulge me more, around the time I sat the 11+ in 1952/53 my parents were sent a form from, I believe, the Coventry Education Authority. The form listed the schools in Coventry that would take pupils who had passed their 11+. My father being staunch Labour and a union man at Morris Engines, would not entertain the idea that I should attend King Henry VIII or Bablake should I have reached the level required for those schools. So he ticked the boxes for 1. The Coventry Technical School and 2. John Gulson Grammar school. I was delighted to have passed the 11+ and get a place at the Tech. When I got to Woodlands I was happy, mainly because of my love of sports. Now a bit nearer to my point. Many of you have for want of a better word, slagged the regime of your school and the ability of your teachers to give you an 'appropriate' education. That your teachers were locked in a paradigm of an ancient education system and that they just sat on their laurels because they had reached the heights of being a master at King Henry VIII School in Coventry. In a way I can see that. However, reading the posts on this thread I think your teachers did OK. For me the majority of posts are very interesting with plenty of imagination, and excellent grammar (something I envy). Just for interest, I left Woodlands in 1958 and joined the Royal Navy, serving for 24 years, from being a Junior Radio Mechanic on entry and leaving in 1982 as a Warrant Officer. I then had a second enjoyable career in the Oil Industry, finally retiring in 2008. The punch line is, that I always wanted to go to King Henry's. I hope I am not out of order with this post, as I am not ex King Henry's. Best wishes to you all.

Hello Ken, As far as I am concerned, you are not at all out of order. Thank you for your contribution and your comments. I don't know if my last offering to the Forum prompted you to post, but if that was the catalyst, here are some explanations. I was writing historical fiction about the origins of the Houses in the style of Dan Brown, who had enormous success with his novel "The Da Vinci Code". If you are not familiar with his stories, he invents a load of stuff for the purposes of a thriller, with a bit of historical background as reference. My post was also a nod in the direction of Monty Python humour. The idea of "guards guarding guards" is from their film "The Holy Grail". Dan Brown, along with other thriller writers, often makes use of 'secret societies' as a plot device and the idea of Headmasters handing down a Guide Book from one person to another for a few hundred years, in some sort of sacred ritual, was a play on that. As you probably know, a lot of historical fiction is written concerning the Tudor era and its power struggles. "Wolf Hall" is a more recent example. When I began my composition, I had one or two vague thoughts as to where it might go, but nothing concrete. As I write, ideas come to my mind and which I hope might amuse. I have to assess whether they will give rise to a chuckle, but not offend, and then go with it, if I think it passes the test. Please be assured that the school was not a "Tudor relic"! That was schoolboy humour. It was just behind the times. And the older I get, the more I can relate!

O` Sage of Windsor. Two accolades within one week First a Brill from Phill, and then an undeserved elevation to the height of historical recognition from an obvious master craftsman in the trade. I must reveal I am indeed only a mere dabbler in history, in fact but a wandering minstrel, covering my shreds and patches, by selecting trifles which fall from the master`s table embellishing them if possible with a veneer of authenticity, which by right, they should not have. I say this after I learn the perpetrator sets out merely to amuse the hoy polloi and I am, in fact, polishing worthless vessels even committing the cardinal sin of destroying what bit of patina they ever had. One issue arises however, it involves the usage and updating of the pronunciation of many words, for instance perhaps King Hal would have referred to some of his wife`s handmaidens present a "gay" appearance as he lovingly (adventurously) checked their apparel, a Scottish girl he might have referred to as "Gai or Gey" having led him a "gey" dance, but I am sure he would have been surprised to have discovered how modern usage differed from concepts of his day. I digress, The word that caught my eye was the usage of the word "cinq" in conjunction I believe with doors, I had also heard a modern usage with one of the offices held by one of our great statesmen, in fact some sort of Harbour Master - "warding" off the enemy perhaps.. I know however that this honour only applied to "sink" Ports. I have not yet consulted Wiki for final confirmation, but I believe there was a great naval calamity, we were told a great battleship Mary Rose "SANK" on her maiden voyage , before the king`s eyes. Apart from giving a whole new meaning tp the phrase "Spithead Revue" it also poses an alternative earlier usage. Could there have been five sinkings around that time?. Careless with wives - must mean careless with all sorts of other things - ships perhaps?

I have some tremendous news, Roger! I believe that I have discovered the whereabouts of the school's sacred text, "L'Idiot's Guide"! The clue did, indeed, reside within the reference to the Houses' "Cinque Portes". Reflect upon this, I urge you. What is the most famous 'Port' of all? Exactly. Portillo!! That blasted fellow Michael Portillo has it! He keeps it on his person at all times, cleverly using the pseudonym "Bradshaw's Guide". Damn, he is cunning. Bradshaw's 1913, indeed. Does he think we are all so gullible? (Don't answer that) He is so brazen, there is even a photograph of him holding the Codex on his Wikipedia page. I fear it may be impossible to relieve him of the book. He travels around the world's railways with it constantly in his hand, or tucked underneath his arm. On the positive side - wearing those blazers, he is clearly detectable from a mile away. They give a whole new meaning to the term "High Vis Jacket". This is going to be one for our Special Ops Team, under the codename "Operation Twigg". Stephen Twigg triumphed against him in the 1997 General Election and we shall succeed 20 years thereafter. Who knows what nuggets of information are to be contained within its hallowed pages? Henrys pupils have a right to discover the dastardly means of subjugation that were used against them. I suspect that school dinner recipes will feature strongly. And why did I keep falling asleep during Latin lessons? Of course. Hypnosis! We must get hold of that book. Operation Twigg has been launched. Wish me luck! (To find out more about the progess of Operation Twigg: Codex Reclamation, please tune in to BBC2 or BBC4, and watch Michael's Great Railway Journeys. The Special Ops Team will be travelling incognito and wearing black balaclavas, with a coloured stripe to denote House membership)

"He keeps it on his person at all times" Actually it appears not: "Presenting TV programmes about railways is child's play to Michael Portillo. The former cabinet minister tells Saga magazine that wherever he goes around the world to film a great railway journey he is accompanied by Thomas the Tank Engine. This is because of an accident when he filmed the show's pilot episode eight years ago. Portillo dropped his fragile 1864 edition of Bradshaw's railway guide, the Passepartout to Portillo's Fogg, and split the spine in two. Thomas the Tank Engine accompanies Michael Portillo on his great railway journeys "Since then I've never been trusted to hold it except when I'm in front of the camera," he says. "As soon as I've finished, it's grabbed by a 20-something and put into a child's lunchbox. For 11 years of my life, I was followed by a young soul carrying..." The Times 28th January 2017

I believe I have found another of the school's alumni in a book I am reading, although it would seem he was infamous rather than famous.

Excellent detective work, Bumblyari! Consider yourself a valuable member of the Special Ops Team on this one. We are in with a chance, but I do not feel at all comfortable stealing a child's lunchbox. Someone once did that to me at Henrys, so I was compelled to take someone else's, who then went on to - well, long story short - domino effect - Deputy Head's office - detentions all round. But, thinking about it, that is going to be a pretty large lunchbox for a child, isn't it? All I used to have was two white sliced with sandwich spread, two with cheese spread, a tomato and a Jacob's Club Biscuit. Total size: smaller than a paperback. You know, I think that this is a classic deception technique from Michael. Oh, he is clever, very clever. It could be on! A stealth manoeuvre under the cover of darkness, rather than, for example 'Approach. "Tickets please. I say, fascinating book! May I?" Scarper'.

According to the book on the subject by MacLeod and McLeod, Peter Manuel was awarded a place at KHVIII but "As things turned out his crimes ensured that he was unable to take it up". Bumblyari S.O.T.

Thanks for that, Agent Bumblyari! Looks like he embarked on his criminal career very early. I wonder what he was in Coventry Juvenile Court for. Perhaps he was caught in the school outfitters pinching a Hales House tie in preparation for his first day. It's a real shame he never made it 'up the hill'. Peter Manuel pitted against Piggy Shore could have been an interesting stand-off. I seem to remember one lad who became a solicitor who was sent down for some sort of fraud connected with his profession. And another lad I knew quite well at school was jailed for discrepancies at the bank where he worked. They were certainly not the ones I expected to end up behind bars. I don't recall ever being offered drugs at the school, although I was aware of a few lads who did use them. It doesn't surprise me though. There were all sorts of money-making activities going on there. I may have even been involved in a few myself, come to think of it, but nothing illegal. The lad that seemed to make most money was the one running a very well-organised bookmaker business based in the library.