King Henry VIII Grammar School

Was The Pagoda the Chinese Restaurant in Shelton Square? I remember the 'Businessmens' Lunches' good value and quite new to us then. Probably 1969ish.

The Pagoda was in the tower block above C&A, which in turn was next to Mr George. It may have been in Shelton Square at one point because we went there around '73-'74.

I think during my time at the school I was rather naive. I didn't get up to any of these things at lunchtime. Mind you, if I had and if I'd been discovered, my dad would have beaten 8 shades of the proverbial out of me.

It seems that there were plenty of people who officially went home for lunch, as Slim suggests. They obviously didn't check anything as it would have been impossible for me to have got to Binley and back in a lunchtime. Lots of the posher kids from close to the school did, of course, as their mothers were never required to work. I had also abandoned the sandwich room after they imposed a charge for eating your own food, a charge which outraged my mother. Lots of us had other ideas, rather similar to you, Bags. There were 2 or 3 of us who went to the Sunflower House in Station Square for the businessmen's lunch, which cost 6/- (30p) around 1968/9. We would be there most Fridays and sometimes on other days if we had the cash. I remember the food was excellent and was my first experience of Chinese food. On other days it could be the chip shop, the station buffet (Sausage & chips 1/6d) or a sandwich brought from home and eaten in the playground. Frankly, the school didn't give a damn where you were as long as you weren't ruining their reputation.

We used to stay away from the general area of the Station in my time, which was just a bit later than you '69-'75, because one of the masters, I think it was Droob, used to go down there to catch the lads who played cards in the station buffet.

That's right. So long as you were on the school premises during core hours, everything seemed to be in order. Which reminds me of a story I heard, the exception to prove the rule. I cannot remember if it was when I was there, or after I left, but a group of about 5 boys allegedly took an "early lunch", i.e. were caught in flagrante in Coventry city centre, mid-morning, in school uniform, smoking, by Herbie. Reportedly, Herbie did not see a funny side, called their parents to the school and read the riot act.

Hi Slim, I consider myself fortunate that I never got into the craze for motor cycles, even after having seen "Easy Rider". Or, to put it another way, I was left unmoved by motor bikes. Part of the reason for this could be that my father blamed his bladder problems on having ridden a motor cycle when he was young. He argued that the constant exposure to cold draughts caused him, later in life, to have to go more regularly than was normal. And he wasn't kidding. He and I once went on a week-long holiday together and when we returned my mother asked me what we'd visited. My first reply was "I reckon about one hundred and thirty two public conveniences in the Hampshire area."

Fifteen bob to use the sandwich room? Blooming heck. Never was there a truer saying - "Where there's muck, there's brass." But on the other hand, if it meant that you avoided eating school dinners, I call it a snip.

I seem to recall that the woman selling tea would be the caretaker's wife. In 1966 that would be Mrs Mitchell, a white haired woman whose husband seemed to spend his life stoking the boilers and permanently wore a mucky boiler suit. The Mitchells had the tuck shop franchise which presumably they ran as a small business to supplement their salaries. They lived in a flat opposite the history room, 104 at the top of the stairs. As an aside, I remember the blue hymn books too. I'm sure they were issued for the sole reason that there was rarely any paper in the toilets, and they were a good source of emergency 'bronco'. I suspect many lads had pages missing from their copies.

Hi all I still have my blue "Songs of Praise", with no pages missing, as I also have my Certificate maths from the fifth, A&B arithmetic from the prep, along with Beacon readers. Also, History Highway that I had long forgotten about. I remember the tuck-shop team well, tuck-shop being my next best subject after dinner hour & whilst they had on school accommodation, they also had living & business interests elsewhere. I still have my post school Business studies books, The Economics of every day life & Principles of accounts. It was fairly common for folk who ran a business, to have a finger in other pies. I was an employee of Courtaulds for over thirty eight years, as most of you may know, but I ran my own side-lines that few knew anything or much about. I even had a city centre office. For me, that stemmed from early days when before qualification, I played in bands & pubs to supplement my income, turning my young wife Pam into a "piano widow" as it was called.

When I was there, the caretaker was Mr Grimes (oddly, a Mr Grimes was the headmaster at my friend's school). We always thought (or maybe incorrectly assumed) that he and his wife ran the tuck shop. I don't remember any connection with the tea lady in the sandwich room. On the other hand, the lady in the tuck shop did look markedly younger than Mr Grimes, even to us young na

Yes, Slim. The toilets were indeed filthy, decrepit places and you were taking a risk if you used a cubicle. I do remember that they supplied that shiny Izal paper if there was ever any there. Hence the widespread use of pages from the hymn book in emergencies. I recall that mine was so lacking in pages in about the 4th form that I had to bin it and acquire another one, which I believe I did in the gymnasium changing room at some point. I do know that the Mitchells were replaced by the Grimes at some point, and they were still in charge of the tuck shop. Mrs Grimes (Audrey, I think) was a pleasant woman but George was a bit of a martinet, patrolling in his brown cow gown. He got the nickname 'Grimble' when I was there, and Beesman recalls that I was the one who gave him that name. I can't be sure. Was Audrey the tea lady? Not sure about that either. I do recall that the whole ethos of the school was about saving money. Reusing scraps of paper to do tests, wasting absolutely nothing, and extracting money from pupils at every opportunity. You were likely to be charged for a bit of minor wear in a text book or a lost rough book. Equipment you needed was sold at a price greater than that in the shops but you were expected to buy. No expense spent, as they say! One small point though. Miss French was the school secretary and was based in the main office which adjoined Herbie's office. Piggy had his own woman assistant. As you entered his little office, Piggy was at the far end with the window behind him. To your right sat this rather scary figure, Mrs Gardner, looking like a prison wardress. The whole scene was set in a haze of smoke. All a bit surreal and probably done for effect.

Fair enough, my memory is failing, it wasn't Ms French, but another lady in Piggy's office; you are correct. I rarely set foot in his office, but to be fair to the man, he took my side against a prefect who had apparently reported me for being late, but had not told me he had done so. He blamed the prefect fo not acting correctly and cleared me. He believed my story, and it was the truth. Remember that top quality lined and two-hole-punched file paper for the sixth form A level courses? One or two of us competed to see who could stockpile the most. Unbeknown to use, Froggy was keeping a note. One week, when my mate and I asked for yet another whole refill (40 sheets I believe), Froggy said "Messers Arbuthnot and Allen have used more paper this term than the rest of my tutor set put together!" My mate Allen protested "But, Sir, I need 40 sheets per week: 8 sheets for each A level, 5 for auxiliary O level, 3 for general studies, and 2 each for RI, music, games and PE. That's 40." Froggy was having none of it, and rationed us to 20 sheets each, visibly splitting a pad each week, for the rest of the term. Allen was good at thinking on his feet, but I think the games and PE did for him. The upshot is that my mate Allen swears he did his 3 year degree at university, using the file paper he'd amassed, and still had some left over at the end.

I am a bit paranoid about where I go to the loo, particularly for a number two. I used to go down to the gym and use the trap in there as it was always clean because it was hardly ever used and had bog roll in it. During my time in the Lower Fifth I also started using the Sixth Form loos which were on the first floor opposite Dickie Dawson's room in the main corridor. Sometimes I also used to use the loos off the foyer in the hall.

Hi Roger, Thank you for your comment. What I forgot to mention was that when the teacher asked me why there was a cigarette end in my jam jar, I answered "Well, Sir, it's because the bicycle frame wouldn't fit." (Okay, I admit it, this recollection is becoming increasingly fictionalised!!) I was then imagining what might have transpired if the teacher had actually been enthused by the human debris to be found in a typical 1960's urban pond. "Gather round, class, and come and have a look at this. What we have here is a wondrous example of "Civilitas Detritus". If you examine the jar's contents closely you will see a glorious sample of well-masticated bubble gum. Then, just above it, yes, it is wrapping paper from some sort of chocolate bar. A stunning specimen! And what's that, floating just beneath the surface? Made out of a thinnish material. Rubber, I suspect. Why, indeed, it is a latex glove! Lower your hand, Jennings. Now is not the occasion for Mr. Know-it-all. What? Oh, you've spotted a beer bottle cap. Correct! Does anyone recognise it? That's right, Winthrop. Mackeson. Excellent!" It is, of course, true that when you place youngsters alongside ponds and brooks, then there is a high probability of water, at some point, covering footwear, leading to shouts of amusement from onlookers and squelching sounds whilst trudging home. Followed by the disgruntled, exasperated cry from mother. "Those are new! Now you've ruined them. What's to be done with you?"