WE ARE OFFICIAL OUT FITTERS TO MANY VERSITIES, COLLEGES AND
. SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT
THE COUNTRY AND WE ARE
PARTICULARLY PLEASED
TO INCLUDE AMONG THEM
KING'S SCHOOL, WORCESTER
Durham University
Shenstone Training College
City of Leeds Training College
Carnegie College' of Physical . Education, etc.
ALL SUPPLIED BY
FOR WALKING FOR RUNNING FOR CRICKET FOR RUGGER FOR LEISURE FOR PUPILS, FOR MASTERS, FOR PARENTS
If you have not already decided on your future career, it might interest you to know something of the prospects available to young men entering the Bank..
r Opportunities. Of the young men now being recruited by Lloyds Bank one in every two will be required to hold managerial or other positions of responsibility and many will achieve this rank at 30 to 35 years of age.
Prospeets. A salary of'£4,oOO or more is attainable if you possess good personal qualities, together with the character and powers of leadership necessary for eventual promotion to executive rank.
Training. A comprehensive trammg scheme, which ineludes courses at Residential Training Establishments, is in operation and it is the Bank's policy to and to promote, through special salary scales,· those young men who show promise.
Applications for appointments to the Permanent Staff, or for further information, may be made in person or by letter to the Staff Manager, Lloyds Bank Limited, Head Office, 71 Lombard Street, London, E.C.3.
editors:
Nicholas Havely
Alan Webb
I G o R N I '-.
A. '···' ,. "
N
If you want work that is interesting; if you like meeting people; if you are interested in business and public affairs then you will have many opportunities to satisfy your inclinations in the Midland Bank. The Bank provides a great variety of banking services through an organisation which comprises more than 2,250 branches in the cities, towns and villages of England and Wales and the Channel Islands. It has, too, offices at the leading airports, at the Ocean Terminal, Southampton, and in several of the Cunard liners. There is no lack of variety in service with the Midland!
SALARIES ARE GOOD. The basic salary scale compares favourably with that in any similar field. Examples are:
But these figures are only basic. _ Every young man of promise is, encouraged and helped to. develop his talents, and those who move into the Special Grade will enjoy salaries at least £160 above those quoted.
THE PROSPECTS ARE EXCELLENT. Promotion is based solely on merit, and every assistance is given to those who show that they have the necessary character and capacity so that they may qualify for early responsibility. A high proportion of present-day entrants will achieve managerial status, many of them in their 30's, and for these the minimum salary will be £1,600 a year, with the certainty of rising to higher figures. The highest posts are filled from within the Bank, and those who get to the top will enjoy a range of remuneration which would satisfy even the most ambitious.
THE STATUS IS ATTRACTIVE. The Midland Bank enjoys worldwide prestige and, to be associated with it in any capacity is to share something of its great reputation; to occupy a managerial position is to become a person of consequence and standing within the community.
AND THE PENSION IS FREE. The Bank's Pension Scheme is en tirely non-contributory and full service brings a pension equal to two-thirds offina,l salary.
WIlAT DO WE REQUIRE OF YOU? A sound educational background, of course, including a good G.C.B. Those with passes at "A" level (or who have a degree) will be entitled to exemptions in certain subjects in the examinations of the Institute of Bankers and may also qualify for study leave.
For those who are interested, interviews can be arranged at centres throughout the country. Write in the first instance to
THE STAFF MANAGERS
You who, so often, have walked along the High Street on a Saturday, jostling in the crowd, walk along it again now, near midnight .. Walk along the nerve centres of a city - asleep. The High Street. Quiet and practically deserted. Shops with back lights on" displaying goods for the approval of the very occasional You notice a policeman testing the locks of these shops. Then a. police car passes and you realise that the law is really the only· entity awake and alive. Everything else is dead or asleep. You are just an observing wraith.
Go down Broad Street. Why is it that there is always a drunk here whatever the titne?He moves, mumbling and swaying, to· nowhere in particular. He annoys you for he cracks the silence open with his stumblings. Down the tow-path a few hundred yards, and look at the bridge and . river. Somehow both appear /. more beautiful, a silent curve of lights surmounting a flow of black turpid evil; for the river looks very deep and evil - late at night. . Up Deansway; up by the Cathedral, a gigantic building made more gigantic by the silence and darkness, all the intricacies of its architecture lost in a blur of black.
Back along the High Street. Here and there you pass the occasional man, always hurrying. What is it in darkness that makes men yOU hurry, just move slowly. Maybe you are wearing steel tips and the echoes make you stop to reassure yourself that you are not being followed. But no. Slience engulfs you.
Sometraflic will pass. )Most often heavy lorries driven by lonely ·men. Once the quiet is smashed by the super-charged sound of a sports-car going fast - too fast - in the front seat two figures closely huddled. You walk and you wonder. On up to Gheluvelt Park, past a postman hurrying. They sort the letters this late?' You ·look at your watch. Twenty past twelve.
Turn round and go .back down the street. You notice the houses with lights still shining· forth from their curtained windows. Silence except for the clicking of your heels .. broken by .another lorry. You pass a policeman, one you have passed. before. He recognises you.
" What are you doing?"
Just walking."
" Walking where?"
" Just walking -I like the silence." He looks "Where do you live then?"
" Over there." You point. ,A He grunts and looks doubtful but walks off. So do you By the light of a street lamp you look at your watch. TwentY"fivec to one. Go back home - to· bed.
And tomorrow? Tomorrow it Will be impossible to walk and find silence .. silence in which tothink and wonder. Man is a noisy being•
Alone in despair, strange and distasteful, a man sits / Shunned by society. An alien animal
Frightening the herd in their infallible state. "'Society is not safe, and failure unforgivable
Bells are tolling . . . mist is swirling . . . leaves are, falling . . .
It's cold outside and damp within; 'Candles gutter in the draught. 'Then suddenly a yellow shaft ·Of sunlight pierces through the mist .
.A door slatns ... the bells have stopped .. the organ plays ... With faded black velvet and ancient lace ' , 'The procession moves from the sacristY door, Moves through the light and the dust on tlle floor; 'They reach the altar of God . . .
Eternal rest . . . perpetual light . . . clicking of beads . . .
'They pray for their dead lying outside In the neat .little graves, Lulled by the sound of the waves 'Breaking below on the shore.
"The clock strikes eight .... they leave the church ... candles go out. 'They walk past the marbles and fading flowers, Back to their homes, to tea" cornflakes and toast, , ]Jack to their sinks and their stoves and bills in the post; :Back to their thoughts . . . and their dreams.
Christopher Allen
Pimpled face and black-rimmed nails Rotting teeth and .rheumy eyes, Making patterns on his blotting-paper He sits, and yet is bankrupting In thought a thousand debtors. His flesh hangs limply from his chair His body flabby - spirit hard As malachite.
Outside, a hundred tapping clerks, Unwitting, type their souls away And, laughing, send their lives to join them; Wishing that the clock's slow ha,nd May turn its eight times quicker Today.
And tomorrow quicker ... And quicker i Until life is swallowed up I To stay the tide of boredom.
11. I / Blue and green and rainbow-red Are shifting, dazzling on the pews.
In the shade of a squat round pillar
Stands the preacher, His voice resounding through the .empty church. He prays, he thumps, he quotes, he chants, ij:is collar is the symbol Of God-chosen superiority. . Alas 'his fury will not· bring him Aught but a curious visitor, come to see " The early sixteenth-century font."
But there faint in the shadows, remains One family.
A father, staring listless at the pew in front; A mother, staring rapt
At the pigeon-chested preacher; TWQ children, staring wondering At the patterns of his shadow on the benches.
Yes, these are the English free Who fight the globe for toleration, And yet have only given Man his freedom From his one, true Master.
Nicholas Boy/eo
I saw him standing there, motionless, bathed in all the reflected glory of the setting· sun and I wept; I wept without restraint, knowing that I was but a clod of earth, knowing that this was .flawless beauty.· He had still the slender perfection of youth, almost feminine in form, devoid of that sharp and craggy outline which denotes the brute of sweat and toil - his hair flowed softly over supple shoulders, his features were those of innocence, unharmed by the merciless ravages of shame, free from the glowering lines of responsibility. Unfortunate Michelangelo, you never saw the . ·likeness 'of this, you never knew that nature could overcome the sacrilege of Man and bring forth perfection. The light of the . immortal glistened in his eyes - he had not known the shackles of the mind, the torment of the soul.
My heart tore within me and I screamed aloud in mental anguish - why could I not also be free of human bonds, free from lust and despair, released from the rack of life? Can I not drink from the fountain of the gods, am I yet doomed to hate, to eke out this sordid existence in misery and in vain? Is there no escape . from the stench of human corruption, from the claws of avarice and ambition? If perfection exists, let me know it and grant that I may scourge away this foul stain of mortality. "I sought not to be born, nor love the state to which that birth has brought me . . . "
One of the few joys which our benighted climate allows us is that of walking through the early hours of a summer morning, when the air is fresh and cool, when the noise of blustering humanity is momentarily stilled, when even Titania might be caught unawares; you yourself may have taken advantage of this rare opportunity to enjoy the perfect solitude of Nature at its most accessible, to listen to the song of a thrush, to chase after an elusive butterfly, you may even have thought yourself free of the prejudices and inhibitions of tile mortal. Stranger, be not disillusioned, you are merely conforming to type. Man has always listened to that lark singing of freedom and wished that it was in a cage, has always chased that butterfly which is called Liberty, only to shut it up until its colours fade and it dies an agonising death. , ..
And was Blake just another lepidopterist? Why is it that he, the author of some of the most difficult and seemingly absurd works in the history of the English language, should have achieved such a prominence in our time when in his own he was accounted a madman? We are living in the age of Freud, when knowledge of the subconscious has assumed terrifying proportions and even
/
the inner depths of the mind are yielding their hitherto closely guarded secrets - and yet a century ago Blake attempted to banish. the doubt and feelings of guilt with which we are affiicted and which the science of psycho-analysis has only aggravated for a modem generation.
For vision of human life in its most perfect state: rejects absolutely the rigid chastity stemming from the fear and jealousy which seem to form an inherent part of Man, which. indeed are the dominating factor in Man when he shuns the emotions. for the cold welcome of stark Reason. It is the aim of the eternal human to subdue the Spectre of doubt engendered by his inbred puritanism and it is only when his soul has been freed from the guilt which accompanies natural love that he can join in a perfect union of the senses; this is the message of the prophetic books, as we see amidst the flashes of lightning and the rumbling of thunder the titanic struggle of Albion to crush forever that doubt in oneself which is the root of all evil.
It is the solution which Blake worked out from his own experience that he hoped to apply as a universal remedy to· a universal malady; unlike the modem Bohemians, who attempt to escape from Mammon by building up an imaginary world of their own, he was eminently realistic and approached the problems of the human race as questions to be solved, not ignored. He believed in Man as a Seeker motivated by the striving for ideals which inevitably clashed with bureaucracy and the Prussian " Ordnung" which has come to overawe our time; perhaps he saw the innate nobility and unrealised energy of his fellow mortals as one of those pure Alpine streams which sweep aside every obstacle in the first flush of youthful only to languish in some turgid the swamp of Authority which Blake was determined to drain. The swamp remains.
But if the outcome has resulted in the victory of Man as an the battle continues as the forces of rebellion embodied in Christ are pitted against a vindictive the God of the Old the God who gave up Man to be murdered on Golgotha. The poetry and paintings of Blake surge with the swelling theme of this immortal struggle and the very words seem to shake with the violence of as if Prometheus himself were making a last desperate attempt to free himself of his chains. Is it· significant that it is in our age that the works of Blake have. at last come into their own? Is it for crushed beneath the .twin burdens of internal inhibition and external that his words re-echo through the centuries, is it our generation that he is describing? .. " . . . . . Our faces pale and yellow Heads voices eyes hands
Feet bleeding on the sultry sands and the furrows of the whip
Descend to that in future times forget."
David Phi/lips
Relief No more cares for one. At last life is happy, gentle, kind - for ever - or not? Does it matter? Does work, school, food matter, anything but this one huge loving thing? Yet so many things. So many days,. months, years - always. Happiness attained.
Yet it begin,s to escape. It fails. Perhaps it was just that day, perhaps it is over. Yet withol!l this there is nothing, so it must come again. Some day and then for always.
He longed to love as he crossed Trafalgar Square. His mind was a mixture of hoped-for peace and remembered miseries. The roaring rush of life seemed to leave him desperately alone, and all was unreal. The sight of the pigeons being fed excited in him a kind of joy at something ordinary and happy and nice - yet he longed to detach himself from himself and to become one of the children or one of the old men who fed the birds - to be full of forgetfulness. He entered the National Gallery and once again its solidity was symbolic of nothing so much' as unreality. He turned left, wandered through and sat. His mind was empty and life held him still. What could he do to be saved from the hard pulsating of life, grim and real, unreal and hopeless. Yet even so these thoughts :seemed to fade as he looked up at the unbelievable serenity of Venus and the thrown-back head of Mars, overburdened with the beauties of life, of purely existing as those who feed the pigeons were, are and always will be existing. Cherubs blew love into the ,ears of Mars - and the pleasure of the Gods was complete. Here in a moment was divinity, here in a second of time was serenity beside which all the aeons of ages are irrelevant. No matter if (firty "children passed by unthinking and uncaught-up, even so could they be loved in the light of beautiful understanding. No matter if this were 'but a moment and life was to be betrayed afterwards just as much as before - no matter if people were brutal and loud, unthinking and petty, and if he himself was feeble and hopeless .; for here was deified that joy that could transcend all.
He wandered out into the roaring again and knew the reality ·of cliches and of illusions to which all men bow. He wandered unthinking and unthought-of through the streets to the river. There were gardens by the tube-station by the river and he settled in a deck-chair worried by the returning memories of everyday life that would soon pervade him. 'He had hoped to search for truth and sureness when young, and he knew now that this search would never be begun. Only occasionally did he succeed-in feeding the pigeons and there find comfort. How could he return to life without the sovereign power of hope?
Yet as, he paid for his ticket and the moving stairs carried him down, he remembered Venus and remembered Mars, and tears filled his eyes as he returned to life. )
Mark Dun/0E.
Here I am amid the tombs and pillars; here, in a vast calm, inside a huge curtain muffiing the dim rumbling of another world.
Free to soar the fluted columns, up, ever up .among the rich tracery and brilliant glass. Is this the expression ofa vain orvital Hope?
Is ita road for little men
100 small to bear the callous load of Reason, 100 frall to trust the seas of Disbelief?
Is this a refuge for peasants broken on the brutal soil?
Speak pillars! Shout effigies!
Have millions been deceived?
Stop that great booming, majestic organ, -which is crushing reason out of my poor little head 1
" Take this hammer and carry it to the captain" Take this hammer and carry it to the captain, Take this 01' hammer and carry it to the captain, Tell him I'm gone, boy, you can tell him I'm gone."
Dawn was just beginning to turn into day as lames walked up the road to the bus-stop. The thin, cheerless sunlight brought the first fumbling responses to the new day that was not new but just like yesterday and tomorrow. He heard the rattle and crash of curtains being drawn back. Someone coughed over the first cigarette of the day. Door knobs rattled as dogs snuffled forth like bloodhounds on the track of the fugitive dark. A black cat hurried down the road with pre-occupied urgency, stopped, looked at lames then flowed through a hedge.
The bus contained the usual collection of gossiping charladies and petty clerks erecting frail bulwarks of newspaper in the hope that reality would not recognise them and would pass them by.
The bus lurched to a stop and lames roused himself with interest. Another assortment of chars and artisans then the two girls got on. They were aged about eighteen, cheaply dressed and over made-up but the only appetite in James that was not jaded at this time in the morning twisted the blade and he was glad because he knew that these girls would be the only girls he would see before evening and in contrast with the overworked middle-aged chars their feminine frailty accentuated by obvious tiredness. was doubly attractive. The bus rattled on into the middle of the town and stopped at the central bus station. lames picked up.-his. dufHe bag containing his sandwiches and swung himself onto pavement. He walked briskly for it was still cold and he was to be on the move. A street-sweeping lorry progressed methodically \ along the edge of the pavement, brushes whirling, like a foraging. porcupine shaking its quills. Soon he reached the post-office which formed a rendezvous for the firm's buses. Men were hanging about in small groups or standing in shop doorways reading the Daily Mirror. The little shop was bustling with activity as men bought papers and the cigarettes that they would need during the day. lames stopped, put down his bag and gazed about him. The young men were dressed in cheap, flashy clothes bought six months. ago but so shoddy that once the newness had worn they were fit only for working in. These soiled peacocks talked and joked<'!' amongst themselves, laughter interspersed with yawns· for they kept late hours ever seeking new roads to intoxication with the exotic liquors' their comparative wealth brought within their grasp, and they gossiped noisily of the last carouse, the newest barmaid, the latest dark back-street fumblings. .
The old men stood silent and apart, conscious of the years and experiences that clove them irreparably from the raucous youngsters. Most of these men were Irish and they were constantly aware that they were alien from the rest of the society and· that, unlike the young men, they could never hope to be more than mere animals, employed for their bodily strength, untouchables in any community except their own loose-knit fraternity of the doss house and bar-" room. They had better clothes than the youngsters, sober threepieces with unmatching jackets and trousers that showed that they had graced other more prosperous frames before finding their way on to the dealer's barrows. These were men old not with feebleness but with the terrible tirelessness of those for whom fatigue is for ever present and therefore to be ignored. Their chins were unshaven and the white stubble showed in the wrinkles like frost on a granite pavement.
The bus arrived and the men got in. After twenty minutes they arrived at the site, a great trench like a red wound slashed across the surface of the countryside by a giant scalpel. The sides of the trench had dried out and the bright clay was covered in a delicate tracery of cracks and fissures. The men made their way to the" elephant," a green canvas shelter, and threw down their haversacks and lunch boxes before taking their tools from the great coffin-like box which stood nearby. They gradually dispersed; a pump-engine coughed and exploded into a shattering roar. The air rang with the slow, rythmic staccato of an axe. The sun climbed slowly and the day grew hotter and yet hotter.
The intense heat of the afternoon had started to cool into the mellow warmth of the evening when the final whistle blew. The men put away their tools, put on the shirts and jackets which had been discarded during the day and trudged slowly back to the waiting bus. The pump-engine was silent. The wood fire on which the men brewed tea sent up a thin trickle of smoke and crimson flAme danced over the white wood ash, then disappeared: Here and there was· a freshly dropped cigarette packet, the sombre brown and green Woodbine packets of the old men blended with the muddied turf while the garish packets thrown aside by the young men lay bright and defiantly incongruous until pulped and dissolved by the rains and the green-growing grass.
On his way through the busy city streets lames felt a 'tightness on the skin of his cheek and glancing into a shop window he saw that he had a splash of mud under his eye. He licked his lips and felt the grittiness qn his tongue and smelled the sweet soil smell. He smiled as he saw the self-consciously smart young men hurrying home from their offices. Beside his muscular young workmates these pallid creatures seemed only half-men al}d lames felt a
contempt for them and gloried inwardly in the satisfying tiredness of his shoulders and biceps.
In the evening Roger called for him and they drove to a nearby . hostelry where they drank, talking and playing darts. The bitter brown beer seemed to contain the essence of the fertile soil James worked, and the toil had given him an appreciative thirst.· Life was warm and pulsing, like the hot, thick blood which flowed through his veins.
As they drove home, J ames lay back, tipped his hat forward and lazily watched the bright cat's-eyes hurtling towards them. He did not recognise the old man walking slowly along the road, muzzy with rough cider, and the old man did not look up as the car swished past. He had no interest in the world around him. All the warmth in his life ended when he and his friends parted outside the pub after closing time, each to trudge back to his cold, silent, lonely room.
A/an Webb
It was dark. and beautiful in the Cathedral. The windows threw down pools of coloured light. A voice filled the holy gloom seemed to pierce the souls of myriad worshippers as .they gazed up at the Virgin and the Child. It was a voice of pure joy, a woman's voice, and the Cathedral could not contain it. It seemed to want to burst out through the chink in the stained glass where the sunlight came in and join with the sun in loving. And yet the Cathedral did contain it and yet its beauty was bounded, for it was brittle. ,
I walked out into'the comfortable sun, and leaned against parapet and gazed down over the town and watched the train that :moved opposite. And a man came up to me and he was weeping. And I asked, with the brittleness of that voice within my heart
Why do you cry?" And he turned round and kissed me with his look. .
"What is this world?" he said. "I get up in the morning, I eat, I kiss my wife, Igo to work, I come home, I go to sleep, yet there is no reality in this, and there are no chinks in its hollowness through which beauty can seep in. I lie in my bed,' and cry fOf,-, shame, for I am not the god which every human is. Yet there are ' moments when my crying can seem god-like. And so I, go into ..,.. the Cathedral every day and my soul. lies down and worships." And so I wandered back into the Cathedral and heard the 'organ blowing full and the people sin'ging in their souls. And I was naked in the memory of his love.
Mark Dunlop
The peoples have dreamt that a God is with them, .. that the joys of everlasting life will'override the earthly death, but a shadow has fallen over my soul, and the groping figures of uncertainty bring gloom upon me.
I feel doubt, and disintegrate.
The hopes and faiths fan from me, I cry for hope, but see only final death.
Floating in a void, and clawing at emptiness, crying in the wilderness of hopelessness for a God; but I can trust no faith.
I can see no thing ,as trath.
There is darkness .andchaQsand hopelessnes$. I'm afraid of the dark, but cannot find. a ]jglJ.t.
Clive Williams
He longed to throw himself in front of the altar
To crave
He longed to sit on steps and taste
The happy rays of sun
Reflected in the water with a. yelloWness Of infinite tenderness, The of all te.ar:s of love.
He longed to see a mother Take a child on knee . To. rejoice in everyday ·acts. To hims.elf
And look in ·on life with intense joy. He longed to forget: no" longer To sense the bitter void within his heart
Which was all that ·signified·his presence 'In a w9rld that 'found no time for .dreaming.
Mark l)unlop l
Vast, pristine" white above the grey waves stands the torch-bearing ,statue. Bold she stands, immovable. Up there, in that little turret room sits a little old grey man. (Yes, that room behiJid the nose).
A little old eternal priest with candles in his beard, i.n satin robes on thick voluptuous carpets he treads silently; Here, lay down here your burdens," and he smiles his enigmatic smile,
Beyond the swelling seas, far, far away the purple-blotched sky armleS are mOVIng.
Relentless, united, green-grey and grim ,through the falling snow. While yellow, sweating multitudes work on the half-sunk plains. , Power camps and vast portraits rise amid the, arid steppes. Multitudes are massing in their inevitable march. One faith, 0Ile church, one leader. 'Tread with ,us brethren, tread The road of Destiny.
The thunder rolls over ,the deep. Psalms stream from towers, Red banners billow in the wind. 'Join now the eternal or the inevitab\e! "No. I want to continue my lonely search over the lonely sea alone. '
But the waves are breaking my little boat, and I'm sinking fast. It's cold here, horribly grey and cold., But I'll die alone:"
There were two long tables in the room. One of them, set far back from the window, stood in a dusty half-light that was only faintly disturbed by the tired glow of the Sunday evening sun. In the refuge of this confidential shadow sat a Schoolboy, writing a letter. You could tell what sort of a letter it was from the crumpled balls of notepaper that littered the table round his writing case and by the embarrassed speed with which his hand slid over the pad whenever the door opened or whenever there was any sign of life from the other two in the room. These sat at the table alongside the window. Around lay the wreckage of a Sunday evening prep .. represented by an open book with a tennis racquet press top of it.
The occupants of the table themselves were engaged in the usual Sunday evening activities -one was reading a fat war book with an exclamatory title, the other was somewhere between starting an essay - not knowing what he would write .. and turning on the wireless .. not knowing what he would hear. In consequence whilst. one hand toyed with.a pen and the other with a radio switch, his eyes stared out across the Green to where the bells staggered and rambled through a tasteless accompaniment to that tasteless Sunday evening.
The war book landed on the table with a glossy flop.
, God,' said its reader with something between a yawn and a sigh. Yanks! Anyone'd think they'd won the war single.. handed.' ., .
Several approving grunts signified that the others in the room were in agreement - also that the subject was too well worn to warrant an effort at conversation. The patriot, however, unwilling 'to give in and go back to the book he had just condemned, struck out on another tack:
, Wonder if there'll be a third world war;' '
, Rate they're going now, I shouldn't be surprised,' pronounced the prophet of doom at the other end of the table, with the air of . exactly who .' they" were and precisely where they were gOIng.
'Oh, but surely it's not as bad as an that,' the other protested almost coaxingly.
'Well, when you think of all the trouble spots world, I'm surprised it hasn't broken out already,'camethe,i retort.
'Oh, I don't know so much. See if we can count thgm up. Anyone got a piece of paper?' "1l
'Oh, for God's sake don't let's depress ourselves,' protested the world..weary fatalist, and with a blase gesture he addressed himself to his essay. .'
The letter-writer, however, abandoned his labour of love .. • having zipped up the writing case and concea)ed it under a book, a4
came over to the table by the window and sat down by the patriot to decide the fate of the world with a scrap of paper and a chewed pencil. Between them they found fourteen possible focal points, for World War Three.
Once again there was silence in the room, only this \time it was the s.i1ence of uneasiness, of uncertainty and insecurity. The letter-writer got up impulsively and awkwardly, strode across the room to his former seat, opened his writing case and began to' doodle on the blotting paper at the top of the pad. The reader took up his book, flipped it open, and stared at the shape of the paragraphs. The armchair politician of a moment ago now stared out across the Green to where the Cathedral rose, a massive grey' bulwark and watchtower, against the darkening sky. A single bell now tolled, like a gloomy afterthought.
Then from the other end of the room, out of the gathering: shadows: .
. 'Actually - to get on in the world you've got to be able to play tennis.'
NicholasRavely·
s o C I E T I E S /
It is probably very difficult to create the right atmosphere in the two hours every three weeks - the right atmosphere for people to think and feel and speak naturally 'without any sense of being got at, or of having to get at someone or something else. Yet , -without this atmosphere anything potentially stimulating is bound to result in boredom, perhaps well hidden, and not in enjoyment. Obviously an intimate group round a fire-side can -more easily break down inhibiting relationships and attitudes -but unfortunately there are no fire-sides. Only by bringing spontaneity into a necessarily formal frame-work, into whatever one happens to be ,doing, reading new writing, reading plays, discussing generally, -can the fear of being pseudo be removed and a feeling of warmth not coldness pervade. r
The Spring term, the last of Mr. Wynne-Jones's tenure of the Secretaryship, witnessed a series of gusty attacks on the Aristocracy, Apartheid, and the new Vigornian. This last was spintedly led by 'Gough, who seemed to add weight to his words by stolidly chewing gum during his speech. He indicted it on the grounds that it was frivolous and insincere. In defence, Havely was platitudinous and Holland incoherent, but Mr. Butler redeemed the situation with a weU·argued speech, reminding the House of the difficulties of editors handicapped by apathy. Nevertheless, the House supported Mr. Gough.
This term we have had an interesting and well-attended series (If debates, although the motions suffered from ambiguity and the number of speakers was rather limited. Interesting debates arose from the discussion of school problems (the fiction library was pilloried for its attitude to Sex).
The most important Debate of the Term was against the Boys' Grammar School. The motion "This House considers the best Autocracy preferable to the worst self-government" was carried by 33 votes to 21. Afterwards, over coffee, greater measures of inter-school co-operation were discussed. At a debate at the Girls' 'Grammar School it was decided that the hand that rocks the cradle rocks the W orId.
Although Chambers, Ashmore, Culyer, Jerram, Williams and Houlbrooke tended unduly to dominate the nine debates held, -they produced some good speeches. Webb's 011 .the tower of Human 'Pr0gress and the prominence of Sex in, the modern novel stand. out' as succintly memorable examples. Webb took up a :Z9
strongly realist position, although the House emphasised its idealism by defending Western Civilisation and Dreamers against Draughtsmen in two other debates.
" The term ended with a masters' debate. Messrs. Shayer and Butler bitterly regretted the English Gentleman on grounds of class and exclusiveness. Mr. Ferrat upheld the Gentleman's Code in a speech serious in purport but largely frivolous in detail. Mr. Knight placed a somewhat unwelcome emphasis on Public Schools, but later denied that gentlemanly qualities were dependent on either code or class. The situation was further obscured by the Delphic utterances of Mr. Cash, whom both sides used in their support. This classic example of an ambiguous motion was defeated; thus ended this year of the Debating Society's activities. .
A. By the way, I hear the King's School Won the Open Age Division I of the Schools' League.
B. Yes, that's right. It was partly luck mind you. The Blind College defeated them, but the Grammar School beat the Blind College, and drew with the King's School. A bit but what it boils down to is that King's won by a short head on goal average, if I may mix a metaphor.
A. Do you know how they did in the other divisions?;
B. Mmm . . . The second only just missed the bottom of their division, due no doubt to the sad decline of that well-established pair, Jerram and Eames, to the fifth and sixth boards. The U. 15's did rather dismally in both first and second divisions. as well.
A. The firsts have made a flying this season, I know. They beat the Blind College in a match that counted for the league and the Sunday Times Knockout Competition. No reason why,they shouldn't go on to win both now. .. Well, anyway it's a good start.
B. Look how they did against the staff though; only beat them 5i - 4t. If they can't do better than that against - (censored)- what canyon hope for. Still, I wish them all the best . . .
. On the first Musical evening of 1960, Mr. Knight entertained us with a programme of Mozart, Ha-ndel, Tschaikovsky and songs by Robeson on his tape recorder. We were fully appreciative of the difficulties involved (for the Hostel was not, he fancied, an ideal recording studio) and an enjoyable evening was had by all.
3°
At the second meeting, on an exceptionally cold evening in February, Mr. Barnett presented a selection of gramophone
varying from a Hay-dn quartet to Britten's highly original Serenade for Tenor and Horn. We were not surprised when Mozart's Horn.
Concerto entered the programme when we remembered what
Mr. Barnett's preferences are, but neither may we hasten to add"
were we d.isappointed.
The old team Rawicz Knight and Landauer Sutcliffe gave usa very entertaining evening at the piano, when many new items
were included as well as several' old favourites.
The Members' Concert, which formed the best gathering of the Music Society of the season, proved to be as varied as ever. . Included were items for' Trombone, Comet, Trumpet, Solo Voice, Vocal Trio as well as Choral Pieces, piano Solos (including Thorne's· pieces printed in the Ja&t Vigornian). and a Piano Duet; it was only two unfortunate incidents at the last moment which prevented the '. Recorder and 'Cello from being added to this list; Mr. Vivian was· taken ill unexpectedly and one of broke. With .the addition of a Horn and Oboe to the school Orchestra we hopesoon to be items from these instruments.
The Film Society, which is now in its eighth year of existence is. at the moment trying to change the general pattern of the pro .grammes. Up to this term, every meeting has consisted of a feature film, a cartoon and then the main film. We are now able to present double feature programmes twice a term as well as more colour films. This is possible thanks to a slightly increased subscription.
During August, the amplification equipment went away to . be modified. This resulted in a slight improvement in sound. However the clarity still left much to be desired. As a result two', of the speakers, normally used with the new gramophone amplifier have been adapted and are now being used with the projector. This seems to have had a slightly beneficial effect on the sound.
The film libraries have now made it possjble for us to' have a film as little as six months after it has been released on the general circuit. This facilitates a current ap.d a better known selection of films, which are always more acceptable to a school audience.
Of the films ·seen so far this term, 'The One That Got Away' and 'The Wrong Man' were felt to be extremely good and 'Doctor at Sea' enjoyable.
Members of the Society have been to Shrawley Wood, PirtonPool, ,and Trench Woods during the last two terms. A butterfly collection .has been bought and already several additions have been made to it. Some members are rearing caterpillars while others are making a detailed study of pond life. In the biology laboratory the skeletons o{)f a rabbit and a cat are being assembled with difficulty due to the lack of spare parts. Members of the Society are grateful to all those who have provided transport for the outings.
At last it seems that we have started the machinery of reform moving. It moves exceedingly slowly, however, and the more impatient among us must be content with what appears to be a very piecemeal series of
At the time of going to press we have made the following 'progress: The entire History Library, with the exceptions of 'medieval histories and large-scale standard works, has been removed to the History Room. This will, so we all hope at any rate, stop ,once and for all, any petty pilfering. It also enables the removal -of the central blocks of book shelves, thus giving us much more -working space and making the library lighter. This has :acomplete recataloguing of the entire circulation stock. This vast job is not yet completed,in spite of valiant efforts on the part -of our librarians. One librarian, Dunlop, has been appomted Librarian of the History Room, which will be his sole responsibility.
Library organisation has also been improved. Ev((ry book in. :the Library has a place now, and to keep place-order, borrowers have been requested not to replace books which they have borrowed ,on the shelves as this will in' future be done by the Librarians. In addition, the reserve stock in the office has been sorted,catalogued and made available on request to general borrowers. . This stock ,consists largely of local histories, valuable books, duplicates, pamphlets, magazines, etc. A selected list has been posted on the ·-office door beside the explanation of the classification system.
There are a number of plans for the future9f the Library. There are already some 200 accessions waiting to go into circulation.
A new subject, title and cross-reference file has been begun. The
:fioor is to be polished and the walls and ceiling repaired and ,decorated. Small tables will also be introduced later.
The aim of all these is to make the Ljbrary lnore easy and pleasant to use and work in. ' .
, During the last two terms, the Fiction Library has changed from ·a drab, old-fashioned" institution" to a bright, up-to-date library which has become part of the life of the school. The librClrians, who a few months ago had only two jobs - greeting the occasional member and blowing the dust off the monotonous rows of monotonous books - are now busy serving about six times as many as ever before. The number of members has risen from twenty-two to one hundred and. fifty in only one term - and we haven't dragged them in. We have thrown out all the tomes that had never been out of College Hall during the whole of their very long lives, and bought a large number of modern and exciting new books. All books have been numbered and classified and the overhauling of the, filing system has been completed.
By the time yo:u read this, the library will probably have been moved to the Reading Room, and our number of members will be in excess of 150. If you come and look around, you will see what we mean when we claim that it is better and more modem now than it has ever been. It quite rightly belongs to 1961.
The Librarians
Since the last notes were written the Society has moved from College Hall to the Demonstration Theatre for its film shows. This has involved the dividing of members into two groups to view the perforniances on successive nights. Attendances have been very high and mainly for the scientific content of the films, although Schopl came to miss House Exercise and Slater and Howell just to see the cartoons. The highlight of last term was the screening of the feature film" This is the B.B.C.'" This had only just been completed and was shown a week later on television.
Notable events included a talk by Mr. Neill on " Relativity" to a packed house, and two visits; one to Heenan and Froudes in Worcester and the other, a joint venture with the "amateur" - radio society, visited Gloucester to view radio equipment, hi-fi and " pubs. There was a great demand for-places on both of these parties and one member actually missed a G.C.E. examination for the latter. On the economic front the subscription over the past year has been halved and the number of meetings doubled. There is not the slightest doubt that the school is becoming more and more minded." Even those who do not " do" the Sciences should make a point of furthering their general education and the society's funds by attending meetings.
M.W.T.
, Attendance. at the Societies' meetings was very much lower durmg the Summer term than it had been in the previous term. This was, put down, to the large amount of sport coincident, with the meetings., it was possible to arrange an exhibition for Speechpay, wlllch was extremely well attended. The exhibits, ranged from innumerable receivers to an electronic variable speed drive" kindly loaned to us by Heenan & Proude Ltd. This last device had one inherent disadvantage, it was more efficient than any
Russian jammercould ever hope to be in as much as it stopped all reception w1Ule it was operating..
The climax of the Summer Term was a' day trip to Gloucester, in the morning to the works of Daystrom Ltd. and in the aftemoQl1
to two Civil Aviation At' Daystrom we were shown h.QW the Heathkit is assembled, packeted and tested, we also had a demonstration. of their Stereo and Hi-Pi equipment and Amateur, transmitting e'J.u1pment. party t";o one to the C1vil AVIatu:>u. Recelvl?-g station at BI£dlip
the other ,&<>lng to the nearby transIDlttmg StatIon. At these places
we saw intercontinental communications coming in and being sent €Jut; and als'G ground to air messages being transferred.
During the Summer Holidays the long awaited Radio Amateur's
Examination results came out and I am happy to be able to say
that the School had a 100% pass, ie. the three people who took it,
R. G.Home, M. Mano and myself, all passed. , This term has started with a large number of new members,
for whom a new construction course has begun. This term's proj:ect IS a transmitter for use when amateur licences have been obtained.
T.G:
1960 was the Centenary Year of the and to mark the' occasion a parade was held at Buckingham Palace in the presence of Her, Majesty the Queen (Captain-General of the C.C.F.) and the Duke of Edinburgh (Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Cadet force). ,King's School C.C.F. was represented by C.S.M. Smith., :1>.0. Web:Q and Corporal Garden. The 'cadets inWoolwich Barracks. In spite of the grim surroundings tlie fQo,d was excellent. On the first day there were two rehearsals, at ..,. Woolwich supervised, through loudspeakers, by Colonel Hogge, " the Parade Commander, who was most ably assisted by the R.S.M., of the Irish Guards.
On the actual day of the panide the Cadets, in twelve totalJing some fifteen hundred, were :ferried London iD. a 34
convoy of coaches to Wellington Barracks. Here the Parade formed up and marched. to Buckingham Palace with the Bands of the Irish Guards - and the Junior Wing, Royal Marines. The usual difficulties of marching with two bands were encountered, the combined rhythm. appearing to vary between a cha-cha and a fox-trot. The Parade was drawn up behind the Palace and was inspected by the Queen the the Duke. The Queen was then presented with a book containing a history of the C.C.F. The Parade then marched past, the Bannprs being carried by a Colour Party from Hurstpierpoint College. / .
Mter lunch the Cadets attended a Celebration Service in Westminster Abbey. As well as fittingly marking the centenary the parade was a very memorable occasion for all those who took part.
On Friday, 7th October, Captain Stacey led eight bold men (in somewhat Plazatoro fashion) across the Black Mountains. Although the clouds hovered low, and we actually entered them on top of Pen Allt Mawr, we were very lucky with the weather. We stopped first at an old hill-fort on Table Mountain. Beyond Pen Allt Mawr we crossed a bleak, peaty plateau where the ruins of anCient houses could be seen, and then made a somewhat hazardous descent to our camp site. Here a fire was at last lit after enormous expenditure of government property by that renowned pyromaniac, Vaile. In the night, however, we were rained out, and, abandoning further objectives, retreated to Llanbedi where transport and welcome refreshments awaited us.
We want to draw attention to these trips as forming one of the most enjoyable activities of the Corps and hope that they will continue and expand.
For the army section's holiday at BourleY,Aldershot, the Durham Light Infantry acted as hosts. As usual demonstrations and practice of attack and defence were the order of the day - demonstrations included those of the R.A.M.C., R.E.M.E., and a platoon attack by the Guards.
Sunday parade as usual - salute taken by Field Marshal Montgomery. Among the extras provided - such as films -a tattoo was presented which included in its programme a demon..; stration of a Corporal guided missile, the bancfs of the Parachute 3.5
and Ghurka regiments, Cl:. display' of army physical jerks, and the" Royal Mounted Police demonstrating on Motor Cycles and The Contingent Tent Competition was won by Sgt. tent with CpL Howeij's tent second.
(We apologise to the author of this exhaustive and conscientioWJ document .whiqh has had to be drastically edited for lack of space).
A somewhat chaotic Field Day was held in the Malvern m the Spring ,term. The Easter camp was held in Borrowdale. A lot of interesting walks were covered by the troop, which walked rightround Derwentwater and reached the top of Scafell Pike, which was covered in snow. The last activity of term was a very successful Barbecue in the Malverns. . .
.' . Field Day had been spent learning to canoe· and early in September nine senior scouts and three masters assembled at Glasbury for a hundred miles canoeing down the Wye. Sixdays later after passing through some very interesting water, the party arrived at Tintern's local Dance Hall withollt quite knowing how. The first day resulted in a few spills through lack of practice and the' fast water. Later on the water became deeper and easier to navigate although the most beautiful scenery of the trip was the deep gorge .of Symond's Yat. The weather on the last day deteriorated considerably, but this did not destroy an excellent holiday.
When the Christian Union changed its name to the Chi-Rho Society, it hoped to go further in its realm of operation than before. Mter the initial propaganda during which comments like "What's all this PX business about?" were heard by the school notice boards; we had our first meeting. This was a talk by Mr. Knight on .',' What 'can a mathematician believe?" with a discussion during and after it. A large crowd came along, and we had got off, we thought, to..a good start. We had two more of the talk-discussion meetings, one with Dr. Brian Gowanlock from Birmingham University, and another ,entitled·" You, God, and the M.I.". We had three films,
each shown in the. Lecture Theatre, for which large gatherings
turned out on two occasions.
G A M 'E S
'. The season has been a good one. There have been several good: i. matches punctuated by some extremely able individual performances, ;.usually with the bat. But although the cricket has been more -, '. mteresting and even there has been no marked increase of' , enthusiasm 'bom the school judging by the meagre attendance at . the home matches.
The eleven has been fortunate in that it has had three batsmen" : who, throughout the season have given the team a sound foundation in every innings. Senter and Pickup, the opening pair, had several: good stands, giving their finest performance against Magdalen College School in which match they put on a magnificent reeord-· ; breaking stand of 198. Pickup's century. (109 n.o.) is the first for o the school since before the war. Woolley, too, had some fine "innings 'which were' several times instrumental in giving the team ·a. ,strong position. These three,who completed the season with .' averages of over 30, together with some' rather spasmodic help from the rest of the team, gave the eleven some very respectable totals ..
In the field the team was markedly improved over last year. '., The general attitude was much keener and fewer runs were wasted through misfielding.Pickup and Woolley were especially proininerit. ,and took many fine catches. .
The team's bowling was not so good. It seemed to lack penetrating power. The opening attack of Woolley and Troup seldom made substantial inroads on the opposition. A spinner .of good class, especially' a leg-break bowler was wanted, but no' . one of sufficient ability. materialised. Both Brown and Senter bowled fairly steadily but did not take a great number of . Several matches· potentially a win to us resulted in a draw through. the inability to attack the opponents effectively enough.
'Morris 30
,Old Vigornians (H) Lost 66 67-2
Worcester (A) Draw 183-8 115-9 SenterS6 Regiment Randle 48 Morris 36 (W oolley
Mter a lapse of a year in the fixture, we the Grammar School for our third-::match of the The School batted first, eager to avenge the :defeat of two years earlier. Pickup .and Senter opened with a stand of 38 which was followed by' a
,good first wicket stand between Senter and Woolley. Butwhen the score stood at 122 for 2, four wickets fell for the addition of .only one run. The position looked much less happy now. But Brown, who had started cautiously enough, began to open his
shoulders and after one ot two preliminary boundaries and a six, proceeded to delight the crowd with three glorious sixes jnto tlie County Ground off consecutive balls. He was eventually caught in the deep field for an exhilarating 46. The innings closed at 173, 'much better than had at one time seemed possible. The credit for the dismissal of the opposition must go to Randle (7 for 46, 6 caught, 1 stumped) who was a more or less experimental ,. break bowler. He bowled well but was unable to repeat this fonn. .in later matches. The fall of wickets was fairly regular and only Taylor (31) and Price (3"3 not out) looked like foiling us. Woolley (3-21) also bowled consistently../' . Magdalen College School elected to bat on .a fairly plUl1llb wicket on the New .Road Ground. Before lunch the run rate was . down and three wickets were obtained but after the interval _Magdalen scored ·more freely: and began to accumulate a large total. Smith scored a very fine century for them. They declared .at 228 for 7 three-quarters of an hOllf before' tea. Senter and ,Pickup began to play the pace attack strongly and had accumulated .a good, score before tea after which they !;)eemed to resume with added confidence. Both were playing gOOd, well-placed strokes and running welL They resisted aU devioJlS attempts to dig them :out and gave very few Theyroamtained a ·good SC(l);ring 'rate untilwitl1 the possibility of victory the Magdal<m place
pinned' them down. Pickup completed a fine century with a scorching' boundary· th.rough· the covers. At 70' clock, with the score at 198 for 0 Senter attempted to attain the 200 partnerShip' a. full drive to leg off the final bal but was ,mrid-Wloket. ,.
". '" This was an outstandingly fine bit of cricket for which the ""partners were awarded extre:mely well-earned colours.
1st XI Colours
The following were re-awarded 1st XI colours for the season 1960: M. C-Wooney, T. R. Senter, A. M. Brown, G.Robinson. The' f\foIlowing were awarded 1st XI colours for the season 1960: .J. M. Pickup, J. F. Moss-Norbury, C. E. Randle, D. H .. Morris, C. A. Crow. Cups.
, M. Woolley retained the bowling cup. The batting cup w·as awarded to T. R. Senter. Castle House, defending the cricket , trophy were defeated by Creighton House in the final of the house . matches.
Under 15 Cricket S"eaSOIl, 1960
\ Played g, Won 5 Lost 3
Although 1960 was not a particularly successful season for the team., cricket thronghout "the summer was played with a cheerful spirit and a lack of res:pect fO'f averages.
'Of the batsmen, Woodbridge was the most consistent, with a fine innings of 60'against Hereford. Nunney, too, batted well and showed that he was not afraid to play shots at the start of an innings, .and Gething, lower down the order, played sensibly at times. The "bOwling would have fared better with more support from the· field and was on the whole accurate, Sly, Goodyear and Gethingall bowling steadily. The fielding, however, was sh·oddY,and "lacked the bite" needed fora good all-ro·und team.
The team was generally unlucky, the toss being 'won twice and the defeats by the Grammar School, Warwic}{ and Nunnery Wood were ve"ry narrow.
This season marked the beginning of a new era in the Club,'s history with the opening of the New Boat House by Mrs. W. R'. ".Scurfield in May. The new Eight was publicly launched .for the '. first time and the "First Eight gave a rather shaky demonstration mainly to prove it would float.
Themnch improved" fa.eilities of 'the new boat enabled crews to be trained which were a credit to the school.. The First 'Eight won the Junior Eights at Marlow Re:gatta only two years after having carried off the Public Schools Fours Trophy. The Colts 'B' VIII finished the season unbeaten by .,any other school.
The first fixture was the annual one with Montnouth. This resUlted in wins for the Colts VIII and the 'A' and 'B' Fours, the : First VIII lost by 11 lengths to a mud1fittercrew. '. T'ne outcome .was' a general slnIBing' of the First VIIL
:,';:AtReading Clinker Regatta the 'Colts'lost'in the first found: but the 1st VIII reached the second to be beaten bya.Reading: University Crew.'
", " On· the 'Saturday. of the three all scored wins against · Cheltenham .' and Hereford Eights ... , The' descent on Hereford on ',Monday' was less successful. The 'A' and 'B' Fours lost: in rounds of their events, while the 'A' VIII '. were .narrowly' beaten also in their first round. The First VIII redeemed the school by winning the Junior .Eights. .. Two days. later the Colts VIIIs carried the, honours, meeting in the' fina.ls. from opposite sides of the draw. In the Open VIIIs' event the ,', first. VIII were beaten convincingly 1Jy a heavier Shrewslmry '·second'·VIII. The 'A' Four was beaten in the final of the .Open. Fours by Hereford High School. .'
. ' On Saturday, June 11th, the 'A'and 'B' Fours combined into the Second VIII to be beaten by Gloucester First VIII. The Co1.ts, '·A' and 'B' VIII's both gained wins. At. the same time the VIII reached the semi-final of the Juniors Class at the Reading Fine Boat Regatta losing to the eventual winner QY only two . .. : ;'At MArlow the following Saturday the crew were on top =form. In the first round we beat Monkton Coombe and Exeter faidycomfortably. In thesemi-finalsouf r old rivals, · Monmouthand Reading were both beaten;l\1onmouth by only three: ;f:eet .. , In tPe finals we beat University,- Belfast, by a canvas;:;, The Thursday .before Marlow the Colts 'A' VIII had raced. at: .: J>angbOll,rne Regatta, losing ,badly in their first round but putting up a good tiine in the I.;osers Race. ."
< ,: The Jastfixture of the season was at home ·against Wycliffe. 'The Golts ' B'VIII won their race against their 'A' VIII then the: First VIII gained a 11 lengths .win over ten furlongs. The 'A' and 'B' IVs also raced, winning and los,ing by two-thirds ofa length, and one length respectively.
A generally successful season closed with, an efficiently run School Regatta. As always it was very exciting and for the' first timpthe Senior IVs competed for the D. H. Cotton Cup, which ·WaS .wpn by a very powerful Chappel House crew.
,',Captain of Boats: A. R. Stevens. Secretary of Boats: D. A.
The First VIII was: , Bow: D. A. Sheffer. . Awarded 1st VIII Colours. , 2.'· R. Stevens. " " "" , . M. E. R. Hook. " " " "
4. A. P. F. Jackson. " " " " 5." B: A. Nicholls. ; : : " " "
6. G. J. 'Mulcahy. " "" ."
7.' R. A.Bailey. Re-awarded4stVIIIColours.:·· '. :.·'L,(, ,Stroke .·P.N. Martin.· Awarded 1st VIII Colours. Cox M. J. 'Awarded IstVlILCoxing Colours'.
The results of this season compared most unfavourably with last ;'season's. Only two of last year's successful team returned and this :.m.eant producing' a team lacking experienced leadership. This ·,·does not wholly explain the season's failure; the reasons were more fundamental. .
.From the start it was quite apparent that those entering Group I ·.lacked knowledge of the basic elements .of the game, 'so most ·of the season was taken up in teaching 1st and 2nd XV members : such basic techniques as passing, tackling, scrummaging and :·elementary lineout work. It is quite clear from this that time is spent throughout the school on learning and practising .such .techniques. This is perpetuated in the. attitude of members.of the --top group who seem to consider practising fundamentals as "a waste of time. In' a school of this size it is ridiculous to have a .year when except for one' or two boys, those who appareritly -have been playing in the three-quarters for most of their school life r.are quite incapable of giving or receiving 'a pass, .and· worse still' ·,are unaware why they are performing these actions; Similarly ·there have 'been forwards quite ,oblivious. of their function and of the m.ost -elementary techniques of forward play.. This 'was shown throughout the season whe.n the number of times the .:forwards gained the ball from the loose could be counted on one
Apart from a firm grounding in passing, tackling, scrummaging ..and line 0 ut work it. is necessary to realise that rugby is a tealll \ _game. This demands that each mem.ber of the team. has a sound "knowledge of positional play. The player with the ball must always '-be given support and this' must be done at speed. But in to 'be successful a team must gain possession ball an4 this should be uppermost in the minds of all when they take the field.
Apart from these defects it is not without coincidence that "Jast season's sucGess occurred .in a term 'when the facilities for playing rugby were the best experienced for some years.' This year· once again, the floods and rain put the school ground out of use for the whole season. The ground at Battenhall was unplayable because of bad drainage for most of the term. This has meant that less time could be spent practising, particularly in the junior middle parts of the school. .It is certainly excusable if a certain ,amount of interest is lost b.ecause of such a lack of adequate facilities for playing football, and it is possibly time that some very serious attempt was tnade to improve m.atters if the school .is to continue to play rugby football of a high standard.
Worcester Training College
Christ College, Brecon
Bromsgrove
Hereford C.S.
Dean Close
Warwick
Worcs. Regt.
W.R.G.S.
Bishop Vesey's'
Magdalen CoIL S.
Old Vigornians
Captain: L. G. Wadley.
This season we were very fortunate in obtaining the use of a new field - on loan from the Meco Works - which was much more: than the School Field or Battenhall. Even this asset, however, was unable to prevent the first match against Hanley Castle from being cancelled because of bad weather. I am sorry that every year these notes seem to begin with remarks about the state of the pitches, but the fact remains that, more than most games, hockey to be played really well needs a firm, true surface" especially in the initial, stages of learning. This, of course, the junior players do not get and it is bound to affect playing standardsthroughout the school. The season has not been a bad one, but it has at times been disappointing simply because the eleven was never able to realise its full potential. No XI will while its early training has to be done on a liquid or lumpy surface.
Besides this general reason the 1st XI was unfortunate to
some extent in the matter of injuries. The left wing position, for instance, was filled ,at different times by no less than five different players: this because Robinson,as a result of ipjury, played in only one match. As he played extremely well against Solihull and no onedse was able to fill the position adequately, this was misfortune indeed. Again, against Solihull, Jackson had to leave the field with a cut head after only ten minutes of the first half, and this without doubt robbed us of victory. In the extraordinary game against Hartlebury, when we drew 5-5 after being four goals up in twenty minutes, the defence was not in any way helped by a hand injury to Connolly.
This is not an attempt to excuse everything on grounds of .injury. Against Solihull the team earned an honourable draw with goals by Wadley and Davenport and played with a dash and cohesion which they lost in the middle part of the season. The inability to play always as a team and the lack of combination between attack and defence accounted in some measure for the mediocre results. It was pleasant, however, to find the school at the end recapturing the form it had found in the Solihull match. Against a strong P. G. L. Curie's XI the team did exceptionally well and then finished the season by crushing a not inconsiderable o.v. side. The highlight of the season came in this game with a goal by Woolley, the quality of which, as an individual effort, I never expect to see equalled in a school match. For' him it must indeed have been a memorable finish to his school hockey career.
1st XI v. Solihull (A) Drawn 2-2 v. Worcester' A' (A) Won 4-2 v. Hartlebury G.S. (A) Drawn 5-5
v. P.H.G.S.Evesham (A) Lost 0-2
v. Bromsgrove 2nd XI (A) Won 1-0
v. P.G. L. CurIe's XI '(H) Lost 1-2
v. Old Vigornians (H) Won 4-1
1st XI Colours were re-awarded to:
M. Woolley; A. C. Jackson; B. J. Smith; B.H. M. Davenport.
1st XI Colours were awarded to:
M.M. Challoner; C. A. A. Crow; T. L. Pinder; C. M. Easttnead'.
2nd XI: Won 1, Drawn 2 L,ost, 0 Cancelled 2 ,Colts 'A' XI: Won 2 Drawn 0 Lost 3 'Colts 'B' XI: ! Won 3 Drawn.O Lost 0
House Matches
There was a surprise result here- outsiders School House
beat both the fancied teams, Castle and Choir, to win the competition. They 'performance. are to be congratulated on a most spirited