1902 Letter from headmaster Faulkner on the Report by the Inspectors of the school
Except in the case of Drawing, the Report is highly favourable. With regard to Drawing, I emphatically deny, in toto, the explanation mentioned by Mr Narraway as supplied by the art teacher “that the boys are unmanageable’. No other master finds or has found the same difficulty. Therefore, the fault cannot be in the boys.
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1908 Headmaster’s report:
A grave hindrance to the progress of the school is the awkward train service from and to Torrington which prevents our drawing boys from that neighbourhood, as we should with a more convenient service. At present we have 8 boys from Torrington and I am sure that, if the Governing body and the County Council whose duty it is I believe to provide facilities for Secondary Education for every part of the County, could co-operate with the parents of Torrington boys and obtain from the railway company a more convenient service, we should soon have 20 or more boys from that district. We also have 13 boys from Westward Ho!, Appledore and Northam, and the return train there is equally inconvenient.
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1912 Headmaster’s report
Our own school field is still the same disgrace that it has always been and I feel strongly that we should take the advice of His Majesty’s Inspector who remarks whenever he sees it, “Why don’t you set the boys to work at levelling it?” I have read that such a feat has been lately accomplished by the boys of a Secondary School in the Midlands and I see no reason why our boys could not show the same grit and enthusiasm. We mean shortly to make one or two excavations in order to ascertain the character of the subsoil.
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1914 Headmasters’ report
The numbers of teaching staff has also been increased to 6 and we have welcomed this term the services of two Mistresses, who have come to us with excellent credentials from their former teaching posts, who are doing well the work which in years of peace we had thought could only be done by Masters.
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1919 Headmasters’ report
One Master and 35 Old Boys in defence of freedom have given their lives in the late war. It has been my privilege, during the 14 years I have been Headmaster of this school, to count as friends no less than 28 of these gallant 35, and knowing them, I know how nobly they fell. I am proud that the Old Boys have resolved to “see to it that their names be not forgotten”.
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1922 Headmasters’ report
The school has received two very interesting gifts. Cock and Sons has donated a slate tablet recording the rebuilding the Old Grammar School in Allhalland St in 1686 which has been recovered and erected on an inner wall of the school. And Mr Duncan has added to his many gifts to the school by presenting us with a copy of a brief record of the Bideford Bridge, framed in oak which was found embedded in the structure.
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1933 Headmasters’ report
This was the third year of playing rugby and the Colts team had a phenomenal record of winning all matches with 227 points scored and only 15 against!
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1954 Headmasters’ report
The Colts teams had a very successful season, led by R H Perkins, who was chosen to captain the Devon County Under 15 teams in both cricket and football; his teams had the distinction of winning all their matches and he was selected as full back for the English Schools Under 15 team which played against the Welsh Schools at Twickenham, attended by Mr Norman, the Headmaster and his secretary, and about 50 boys.
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1957 Headmasters’ report
There was a very notable sporting success: B Smale was appointed Captain of the Devon Schools Under 15 rugby team and let them to victory in each of their 3 matches. He was appointed captain of the Combined Devon and Cornwall team and then of the South West. P Durrant was awarded his County Cap for cricket and R Talbot ran for Devon in the National Sports held at Southampton.
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1960 Headmasters’ report
Mr Norman was responsible for coaching the Colts teams in rugby and cricket and they both had excellent seasons without losing a match.
Also, R M Eastmond, R G Squires and D Whitfield were awarded Devon County Caps and R G Squires went on the play for England and captained the team at Cardiff and Twickenham, an honour not previously accorded a member of the School. Mr Chappell organised day trips to Cardiff and London.
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1963 Headmasters’ report
The previous year, as reported, Mr Reed died suddenly and the Head also suffered a private loss [his wife died]. Added to those, Mr Courtney was hospitalised and absent for half a term.
In May the school received Her Majesty’s Inspectors.
As if that were not enough disruption, for the past 15 months the school was being rewired, and it took 10 months simply for the clocks and bells to work. Even after 14 months it was far from complete. A new saw bench arrived for Mr Rice in the workshop but it had to wait for eight months until it could be wired in.
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1964 Headmasters’ report
The rugby XV had an outstanding season and did not lose to any of the school teams they played.
R M Eastmond and R H Green played for the Devon Public and Grammar Schools team. In the County Sports, R M Eastmond was first in the ‘Hop, Skip & Jump’ and R H F Green in the half mile. Then in the S Western Sports meeting in Chippenham, R M Eastmond again came first and R H F Green third in the half mile. A McKenzie ran for the Devon Cross Country teams at both the S Western Counties meeting and the National Meeting which was held at Leicester.
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1965 Headmasters’ report
Mr Ayers, Arts Master, left in July 1964 after finishing his training and is now in a leper colony in India!
Alan McKenzie was chosen to play for the Devon Under 15 team against Dorset, Somerset and Cornwall. A J Jewell ran for Devon in the National Cross Country Championships at Stoke-on-Trent, and R R Shute represented Devon in the Intermediate Steeplechase in the National Championships at Watford, having previously won that event at the Devon County meeting at Devonport.
Old Boys: Frank Badcock was awarded a doctorate from Bristol, Cyril Langham was awarded his from Hull, and took up a post doctorate scholarship at the Univ. of California in LA. John Stephenson was awarded his doctorate from King’s College, London. Never before have three Old Boys been awarded PhDs in one year.
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Governors’ Minutes October 1957
The Headmaster reported that the discipline exercised by Mr Courtney, Assistant Master, had been unsatisfactory and he had been compelled to re-organise the timetable in an effort to deal with the situation. He would submit a further report at the next meeting.
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Governors’ Minutes December 1959
D Whitfield were chosen to play for N and E Devon against Plymouth and mid Devon, and won by 10 points to 8.
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Governor’s minutes February 1960
C Pike left to go to an Approved School!
R B Polley reached the final of the ACF Boxing Competition but lost by one point due to the fact that someone accidentally dropped a chair on his head and knocked him out just before he was due to go into the ring.
R M Eastmond, R G Squires & D J Whitfield played for Devon against Cornwall on 19 December 1959 and won 6-nil. Eastmond and Squires were chosen to represent Devon and Cornwall against Bristol, Gloucester and Somerset, and after that, were chosen to represent the Southwest against the Southeast. R J Talbot, Captain of the School, and B Jeffery, Senior Prefect, played for the Devon Public and Grammar Schools Team against Somerset. The match was a draw, 3 points each.
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Governor’s minutes March 1960
R G Squires played for the South of England against the North of England and won 6 points to 3. As a result, he had been chosen to play for English under 15 schoolboys against Wales at Cardiff on 5 March and at Twickenham on 16 April.
The OBA would be holding a Whist Drive in the School Hall on 2 March to raise funds to reduce the cost to the boys of their visits to both venues.
In the N Devon inter-schools cross country race, the Junior Team came 1st out of 12 teams competing and A M W Harrison was the winner of the Intermediate Race.
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Governor’s minutes May 1960
R G Squires was chosen to captain the English Schoolboys Under 15 team against Wales in Cardiff, where the result was a draw with no score. He nearly won the match with a long-range penalty which hit the post but fell on the wrong side. Squires was again chosen to captain the side. The return match was lost 9 points to 3. D Baker ran for Devon’s Under 15 cross country team, which came first.
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Governor’s minutes September 1960
J R Carpenter was the first boy to achieve 10 passes at O level at the first attempt.
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From an Old Boy: “Beatle style haircuts in the 60’s.
Some of the boys were suspended from the school for their “Beatle mops” which were frowned upon by the headmaster Charles Stevenson. This was picked up by the media & I personally witnessed a newspaper reporter being manhandled by the headmaster out through an exterior door adjacent to his study. Must have been around 1963/64”.
This was an issue that was reported to the Governors on 5 February 1964:
“As you will have seen from the local papers, I had some difficulty in persuading two boys to conform to my regulations that they should wear their hair reasonably short. When these new hair styles became the vogue, I took no action assuming they would die a natural death, but after the public exhibition at Speech Day when some parents were upset by the undignified appearance of some of the boys, and the Vice Chairman expressed his strong disapproval, I notified the school that haircuts must in future be reasonable and conform to what is normally acceptable.
By the end of term only a few boys had not conformed and most of them were warned personally either by the form masters or by me and I gave a directive that when we returned in January, every boy must have his hair cut reasonably short, especially at the back.
When the new term commenced, I was informed that six boys had not complied with my request and I issued another directive that it must be complied with by Monday 13 January. Blackmore, whose mother complained, was warned by his form master on Tuesday 7th and Thursday 9th and then had my directive on Friday 10th, so that when he had not complied with my request on Monday 13th, I sent him home to have his hair cut before permitting him to attend school.
The other boy was David West, whose mother a widow, is having difficulty in bringing him up; she approved my action. Three of the boys had their hair cut, the other telephoned to say he had had toothache over the weekend but had had his hair cut and hoped to be back on Tuesday.”
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A lost cause? Governors’ Minutes 6 May 1964:
“Alan Mckenzie ran for Devon in the SW Competition at Warminster and was second in the Devon team and 16th in the whole field. He also ran for Devon in the National Competition at Leicester but seemed to have got lost in the multitude of runners.“
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Governors’ Minutes December 1965:
“The Head reported that L Griffin and P Ayres broke into the school on 14 October and stole the Masters’ Detention book, then on 21 October L Griffin and C Lee broke into the school and stole the new Detention book, smashed open the Tuck Shop cupboard and removed £8 & 9 shillings. The police were called and the matter is in their hands. As a result of so many petty thefts in the past two years, the Head had decided to close the Tuck Shop.”
The first follow up – Governors’ Minutes 2 February 1966:
“L Griffin and C Lee were brought before the Juvenile Court on 3 December but there was no other report. The parents have agreed to repay the loss to the school.”
Then the second follow up – Governors’ Minutes 4 May 1966:
“Regarding the boys who were in trouble, the Head had held a long discussion with the staff. L Griffin has been provisionally accepted into the Marines in August.
C J Lee is very unhappy, has a sour disposition and no one is able to get much from him. I have recommended to his parents that they should withdraw him at the end of the Spring term and I understand that they are in agreement with any decision made by the staff and myself.
P Ayers is very difficult, has obtained an unusually large number of detentions during this last term and is obviously desirous of leaving. I think it is better for the boys and the school if both Ayers and Lee leave and obtain suitable posts”.
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A losing game? Governors’ Minutes 12 October 1966
Because of the varying entry and difficulty of arranging for four teams fairly evenly matched, the staff and I have decided to reduce the number of Houses from 4 to 2, and they will be called Darracotts and Stucleys.
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And a winning game. Governors’ Minutes 3 May 1967
The School Colts record for the season was played 16, won 14 drawn 2; points for 305, against 46. This beats the previous record number of points set up by the 1933-4 team, and this total has been surpassed only once, by the First XV of 1963-4.
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Beatle style haircuts in the 60’s.
Some of the boys were suspended from the school for their “Beatle mops” which were frowned upon by the headmaster Charles Stephenson.
This was picked up by the media & I personally witnessed a newspaper reporter being manhandled by the headmaster out through an exterior door adjacent to his study. Must have been around 1963/64. From ????
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P E master Reg Whitter was said to fancy himself as a bit of a Stirling Moss in his pre-war Morris 8. On one occasion whilst following a team bus to Torrington he was able to demonstrate his skills. John Baglow’s cap flew out of a bus window and Reg was able to open his front facing door to reach down and pick it up as he drove along behind.
Jim Wood
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Keith Moses Article (January 2021)
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The Gentle Guardsman (James Grist)
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Last night I had a sudden recollection about the ACF and a movie that was made. “Rockets in the Dunes” that was produced in 1960. I remember the ACF were used as ‘free’ extras. All got in a bus from school and sent off in uniform with rifles. We had to ‘storm the beach’. I thought it was Woolacombe but may have been Croyde. Google it and see what it was about if anyone is interested. I would think John Blaney was involved in that. We all went off one day, then some of us went back a second day for some other work but that did not happen due to weather. I think some of the regulars from Fremington did it in the end. They were the people that actually used the DUKWs. Just a thought if anyone is interested.
Jim Granger, July 2021
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Malcolm Hinkly’s address at the OBA Dinner 24th Sep 2021
I hope your school days were as happy as mine. BGS was a very happy school and I think all of us would agree with this. It was a very safe environment to continue our learning after the 11+. We are now known as the class of 46. Some of my memories:
The first school trip was to France, led by Joe Courtney. We took a train to London, stayed somewhere overnight, then caught a Channel ferry the next day. In those days of course there were no stabilisers, so it was a very rough crossing with many losing their lunch.
We stayed in a Lyce dormitory, that was close to a girls’ school also on a day trip to Paris; we got quite pally with them.
Dear old Joe; when he was in France, he took on not just a fatherly attitude but a motherly one as well. One day, at the top of the Champs-Élysées looking up to the Arc de Triomphe, some ladies of the night came along!
There was one chap who thought the wine was rather good and consequently got rather drunk. He was in a bed between me and another chap and we had to try and keep him as quiet as possible because Joe and Reg were at the other end of the dormitory.
The second trip was very different, to Dovedale in the Peak District with Basher Bartlett, someone who we all remember. It was here that we met some girls from Leamington Spa, and we decided afterwards that the only way we could get to see them again was to cycle to Leamington. We were idiots sometimes. But at a good time of life to be idiots, before we all went off to get a career.
I always remember Mr Stephenson on my last day at the BGS, he asked me what exactly Chemical Engineering was? I told him that I had no idea, but I did not want to give up either chemistry or physics. And it was a good decision because Loughborough was really a continuation of the Grammar School, and a very paternal place in those days. There were four Colleges with about a thousand or so pupils, of whom about half came from overseas. It was a private College to start with, before the Govt. took it over and supported teacher training, art and librarianship, as well as technology. Now it is vast with over 18,000 students.
One day Reg Witter, a past BGS Maths Master, appeared at my door in Loughborough College of Technology, now the University, and I wondered what on earth he was doing there. He had been teaching maths at the school for a couple of years but had probably been asked to learn how he should be doing it! Probably some of you suffered from the Mark 2 version of Witter afterwards, but he was harmless enough.
My wife was a Loughborough girl who worked for the Head of Dept of Production Engineering. He had been appointed from industry, was very forward looking and responsible for the College expanding its campus by about 100 acres. Without this foresight it could not have become the success it is today.
We all have a lot to thank the Grammar School for. It has been the foundation of our lives after age 18, and everyone here has made something of their lives, and most have probably have had an enjoyable life afterwards too, albeit with highs and lows. Without the lows, one would never have appreciated the highs of course!
There are a lot of us in our 80s and this is the Old Boys’ Association 86th Dinner (since it was founded in 1927), so I propose a toast to the OBA and may it continue to its 100th event.
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