I’ll Never Forget

My Days at Marlborough

The River Kennet

‘My other pursuits at the time were making wireless sets and experimenting with fireworks – that was until my father put his foot down and stopped it.’

It had not been intended that I should go to Marlborough and only did so because I had won a scholarship from my prep school. My first term at Upcot was not a happy one. We were supervised by two boys who had already spent a year there and, I’m sad to say, we were bullied. However, things improved in the Lent Term since these two boys had moved on. But, in other ways, it too was difficult. The weather was exceptionally cold, and it snowed a great deal. HOB (House Out of Bounds) was still in force. On a trip out one day, I caught my foot in the branch of a snowcovered tree and was sent to the San. It was just a twisted ankle, but while there I caught scarlet fever and returned for a three-week period of isolation and boredom along with five or six others. Unlike the recent pandemic, no beak thought to set us work to do; instead, we had great fun inventing our own games. The Summer Term saw a complete contrast. HOB was now a pleasure with cycle rides into the surrounding countryside. These included fishing trips on the River Kennet with Timothy Woods-Ballard (PR 1946-50). This was an activity that gave us much pleasure, although I do not recall whether we obtained the permission we should have done. My other pursuits at the time were making wireless sets and experimenting with fireworks – that was until my father put his foot down and stopped it. In 1947, I moved to Littlefield. My studies progressed well with emphasis on modern languages and for all my time in that House, I happily shared a study with Peter Glossop (LI 1946-50). I did not really enjoy sport, least of all rugby, and in that respect I wished I had gone to a school with football as the main sport. However, I learnt to play hockey, which I did enjoy and which I also helped to run in my National Service posting in the RAF, along with Ground Combat Training, a benefit of the CCF. In this year’s New Year Honours List, I was very surprised that I had been awarded an MBE for my service to the community of Shropshire. The main contribution was involvement in a campaign to save the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403) from industrial development. It is hard to see how my time at Marlborough College had played a part in this kind of activity. A person’s character is determined by a number of different factors. Perhaps the most important is his nature, combined with various experiences as he grew up. An affection for the beauty of the countryside around Loch Rannoch during the war and fishing for trout were factors that I brought with me to Marlborough. The College’s contribution was the freedom I enjoyed to indulge in them. I was free to cycle down the Kennet to fish for trout in one of the country’s most important chalk streams. In the close season, I cycled 10 miles each way on my own through the Savernake Forest to fish for pike in the Kennet and Avon Canal. If successful, I brought one back to Littlefield to fry up on the House’s primitive cooking stoves. One thing I can absolutely say is that my stay in the College was a happy one for almost all of my time. Selby Martin (LI 1946-50)