Sam 1

NAME: Ian Sadler  

DATE: 02 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Former pupil 1951-58

... How that man got away with teaching geography simply by reading the text books to us with one eye whilst marking a pile of books with the other I shall never understand. He also had a way of making the word 'what' last about 10 seconds! ...

Taken from Thread 32, reply 1

Sam 2

NAME: Stephen Giles  

DATE: 09 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Attended 1957-1964

... I remember RM C0cks asking the name of the first steam engine to Geoff Lindsey-Neale (sadly no longer with us), Geoff replied "Thomas the Tank Engine" after which C0cks went completely ballistic charged across the room, picked Geoff up and threw him out of the room - couldn't do that today of course!  I always remember his Geography lessons when he read from the book whilst marking homework. One of his sayings was - "has anyone NOT done his homework?" On more than one occasion I retrieved my Geography exercise book after handing it in, completed the homework and replaced the book in the pile ... I also have a vague recollection that Hugh Dent upset RM C0cks on one occasion ...

Taken from Thread 32, reply 3

Sam 3

NAME: Vic Coughtrey (webmaster)  

DATE: 09 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1954-1959

...I've been doing C0cks impressions ever since, when trying to be funny, much as people used to do Goon impressions all the time. One of the C0cks sayings I've kept alive in that way is: "What are you playing with boy?  Put it aw-a-a-a-a-y, will you?" Of course, as you all know, the C0cks sayings are nothing without the distinctive voice they were intoned in.

On one occasion, he decided to catch me out when he realised my mind was a long way from his class. "You, boy!  What's the name of the river that runs through the centre of London?" Vaguely aware that he'd just asked me some question about rivers and that we'd been somewhere in South America the last time I was paying any attention, I replied "the Amazon, sir". He literally threw the book at me. It hurt.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 4

Sam 4

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 12 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-1964

...Do you remember C0cks's gown which hung in shreds around him? During one lesson - I do not lie - he ripped off a shred, wetted it at the sink in the corner of his room, and cleaned the globe with it (no doubt while still reading from the book). On another occasion he asked us to raise our hands if The Times was the family newspaper. No doubt us non-Times-people were regarded with condescension or contempt.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 5

Sam 5

NAME: Paul Buckland

DATE: 16 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Former pupil

By the time I joined QE in 1962 the gown had been replaced and was quite smart. However I do remember on one occasion during a geography lesson he referred to Capt Wanklyn VC. Naturally in boys of 14 this produced a giggle and I remember him hauling me over the desks and throwing me bodily out of the room. Surprisingly that was the end of the matter. No Lines or further punishment. He died very soon after retirement and I went to his memorial service in the Baptist Church in Holborn.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 6

Sam 6

NAME: Martyn Day  

DATE: 19 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Inmate 1956-63

Does anyone else remember this story/rumour going round in the late 50's? Apparently Mr C0cks had once been slim and athletic but during the war his metabolism had become radically altered by his work testing new types of dehydrated and concentrated foods. It was this top secret research that had caused him to put on so much weight!

Taken from Thread 32, reply 8

Sam 7

NAME: Vic Coughtrey (webmaster)  

DATE: 19 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1954-1959

The variant of that story that I heard was that he had been the victim of medical experiments in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp.  Despicable specimens that we were, we received this (no doubt false) intelligence with a mixture of amusement and distaste, rather than sympathy.  By the way, I have C0cks to thank to this day for the irritation I experience when I hear newsreaders or politicians refer to the majority of a single object: "The book's wrong, boy - you can't say 'the majority of Argentina!' "  However, the jury's still out on whether the British Isles can be a singular entity, as in "The British Isles is rich in Coal."  This mellifluous line from The Book may have annoyed the big man, but it got us singing, calypso style (after the lesson, of course) "De British Isles is rich in coal" - or was that just me?

Taken from Thread 32, reply 9

Sam 8

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 22 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

How absolutely amazing that you too are haunted by C0cks's strictures on when not to use 'majority'. It's one of two bits of deliberately imparted information I can recall from his 'lessons'. The other is his comment on the remark in the textbook that the author knew a woman of 21 who'd lived all her life in Cornwall and had never seen snow: "Must have been blind."

Taken from Thread 32, reply 14

Sam 9

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 19 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64

...How could an intelligent and cultured man have chosen so cynically to waste his time and our time? I think it must have been some sort of protest - against Jenkins, perhaps, or against being made to 'teach' school geography - totally without intellectual satisfaction in those days. I remember one spat between him and Jenkins, at a practice taken by C0cks for a Summer concert. At one point Jenkins (present as rank-and-file tenor) shouted: Come on trebles, it's easy!". C0cks, riled by Jenkins' interruption, retorted, "Oh no it's not .... [short pause] .... if I may say so, Headmaster. If it were easy they'd be able to do it." I liked the logic - and the cheek. You've got to hear it in the C0cks whine/drawl, of course.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 10

Sam 10

NAME: Nigel Palmer

DATE: 19 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1954-1962

...Sitting in the gallery before assembly C0cks tells me to step over the parapet onto a narrow window sill to close a window. Terrified by the drop and the narrow sill, I refuse. C0cks says "you will do it, boy, now". Even more afraid of him than death I do it. When I climb back shaking convulsively he gives me a look of disgusted contempt.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 11

Sam 11

NAME: Martyn Day  

DATE: 22 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: There 1956-63

In the name of completism, my memory of Sam Cock's now famous "The book is wrong" utterance has it as - "The book is wrong. I know. I've been there!" This of course is a multi-role statement and Sam applied it to virtually everything, from the Gross Annual Yam Production of Nigeria to the Gigawatt/Hour output of the Hoover Dam. Reading these memories makes me wish that I could go back and shake these men by the hand. How little we really knew them. How poorly we appreciated the way that they put up with us!

Taken from Thread 32, reply 12

Sam 12

NAME: Chris Mungovan

DATE: 24 March 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

... 'compare and contrast' the teaching of a young and earnest Rastas Dilley with the disillusioned Sam C0cks. I remember Hugh Dent saying that he passed Geography O level in spite of C0cks not because of his teaching. I too passed similarly because I borrowed the excercise books and revision notes of Keith Record who had been taught in an efficient and systematic manner in preparation for O levels by Rastas ...

Taken from Thread 32, reply 15

Sam 13

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 21st September 2009

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

An example of C0cks's pedantry has just come to mind. "What are you doing, boy?". "I'm just lending Smith a compass." "I don't believe you, boy." "But Sir, here it is!". "I knew you were lying: that's not a compass you're showing me; it's a pair of compasses." A compass is for navigation, a pair of compasses is for drawing circles - a linguistic distinction which I'd guess fell out of common usage in the early years of the 20th century.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 121

Sam 14

NAME: S J Hersom

DATE: 15th December 2011

CONNECTION WITH QE: Escaped 1971

I had the misfortune to have Sam as form master both in the 4th and 5th form. Obviously we got him for Geography and it's a mystery that anyone passed their 'O' level. I recall one lesson being devoted to reading out the railway timetable from one side of Canada to the other. His rendition of 'Kamloops' stays with me. He also taught us Religious Knowledge at 'O' Level for what I believe was the last year it was done. The pass rate was execrable - maybe 2 or 3 got through - mainly because none of the questions related to the parts of the Bible that Sam had covered. ...Sam's devotion to the Empire edition of the Phillips School Atlas and his refusal to accept that 'his' countries were vanishing from the map was appalling. His attitude to his charges was contemptuous yet when he retired there was genuine emotion in the packed hall. He said he would be buying a carpet with the money so that every time he walked on it he would think of the boys.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 139

Sam 15

NAME: Paul Wright

DATE: 11th January 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Taught Latin 1963-69

When I taught at QE in the '60s they used to serve afternoon tea for the masters in the refectory. Only a few of us ever attended. One afternoon I found myself sitting opposite C0cks. He asked me what university I had attended. I answered "Swansea".

He stared at me, sniffed, and said "Uhhh! They're building universities on every street corner nowadays", as he scraped some jam off his tie and put it into his mouth with his knife.

Another young teacher (John Curry, I think) asked him what college HE had attended. "Magdalen", he replied.

"That's a very good college", John noted.

"Well, it used to be", came the reply, "but it's getting very lower middle class nowadays, I'm afraid".

When C0cks did his reports, he only ever wrote on six from each class. He used to say, "Praise the top three; kick the bottom three". From memory, his top three were 'Excellent', 'Very good' and 'Good'. His bottom three were ' Poor', 'Very poor' and 'Unsatisfactory'.

The use on this site of the term 'former staff' reminds me of the time Sam C0cks overheard me asking a student to take some books to the staff room. He drew me aside and said, "We are the MASTERS. The staff CLEAN the school. It is called the Masters' Common Room"!

The problem with all these old teachers was that they had never received any training - a degree was enough to get you a teaching job in those days - and they taught as they had been taught.

Taken from Thread 32, reply 142

Sam 16

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen  

DATE: 25 July 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956-1963

... I would like to comment favourably on some aspects of Sam C0cks' geography classes and homework ... I remember the frequently set homework of describing what was in a picture in the geography textbook. This is a good habit to encourage, i.e. the art of close observation, so that it may not always be said that women are the only great observers. Whether it has much to do with geography is another question, of course. ;The other thing was the going round the class asking a question to see if any knew the answer. This I have found a good way to keep most in the class awake and have benefited from it in law lecturing in later life.

Of course with Sam the memories of his withering looks to some answers was memorable as well as his tone when he said "Next" followed by further "Next ... Next" until he might get a satisfactory answer. This will be remembered by all of my generation but is part of the picture of the man for new pupils. ;Then of course was the habit of chalking round the legs of desks on the floor to make sure they stayed straight. Is this a case of early OCD? Perhaps we should all strive to have such order in our lives and surroundings and it is an example to us all. I also remember the examples mentioned elsewhere on the theme: "The book says ..." "The book is wrong." "Manchester is often called Cottonopolis. I've never heard it called that." Forward to a TV programme seen by me saying the exact opposite.

Taken from Thread 94, original message

Sam 17

NAME: Simon Hersom

DATE: 27 July 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Left in '72

I had Sam as form master both in the 4th and 5th form and he taught me both geography and RE. I say taught but it was really my mother who got me through Geography O level by coaching me in reading OS maps. Sam declined to replace his copies of the Phillips school atlas which showed large parts of the world in pink. He covered those parts of the syllabus which interested him, and modern developments didn't interest him. One whole period was devoted to Sam reading aloud the railway timetable from somewhere to Vancouver: he found Kamloops to be very amusing.

Taken from Thread 94, reply 2

Sam 18

NAME: Stephen Giles  

DATE: 11 August 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Could do better 1957-64

I remember when Sam C0cks asked for the name of the first steam engine, going round the class as usual. When Geoff Lindsay-Neale (RIP) was asked, he replied "Thomas the Tank Engine Sir" at which Sam burst into a rage picking poor Geoff up and forcibly ejected him from the room. Oh for a time machine.

Taken from Thread 94, reply 8

Sam 19

NAME: Ian Sadler  

DATE: 20 August 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1951-1958

... There was often short recital-type concert mid-term in which one of the items was usally C0cks singing "Rail no more ye learned asses" ...

Taken from Thread 99, reply 7

Sam 20

NAME: Nick Dean  

DATE: 29th October 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-71

Another example of C0cks' "physical" side came the morning after the first moon landing (and can thus be dated precisely to Monday, 21 July 1969 !). A boy (now no longer with us) sitting across the aisle from me was relieving the tedium by tapping on his desk a popular tune from the hit parade. All of a sudden RMC rounded on him angrily; denounced his rendition of "your jazz songs" and quite literally emptied him out of his chair and onto the floor. All the more alarming because most of us had been up half the night and were thus more asleep than usual ...

Taken from Thread 32, reply 160

Sam 21

NAME: Nick Dean  

DATE: 16 December 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-71

I agree that Sam had an amiable side, but too often this was overshadowed by his teaching methods and tendency to excessive anger. However, on the positive side, my best personal memory of him was in about the 3rd or 4th form when he was supervising a game of cricket and I was keeping wicket. A batsman attempted a shot to fine leg, but miscued and hit the ball directly at where my box would have been had I been wearing one. It then lodged itself between my lower right thigh and the top of my pad. C0cks came bounding over (I suppose he could bound) in a massive fit of glee: "Uh! Well done! Well caught!" - and to the hapless batsman: "You're out!" Then to me, almost as an afterthought: "Are you alright?" (Yes, I was actually).

Taken from Thread 104, reply 15

Sam 22

NAME: Nick Dean  

DATE: 24 February 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-71

The recent publicity about Richard III reminded me of Sam C0cks' quip about the end of the Wars of the Roses: "So, they all went home from the Battle of Bosworth saying, 'Uh! Jolly good! We're in modern times now!' " I imagine he repeated this year after year and it's about the only thing I can remember from a history lesson of his - except that one Christmas he acquired a book of British battles from which, from time to time, he drew on the board plans of the various engagements. All sorts of things went on behind his back while he was doing these ...

Taken from Thread 75, reply 6

Sam 23

NAME: Alan Pyle  

DATE: 20 May 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1948-1953

Sam C0cks was my first form master 1b and therefore led my introduction to QE's day to day Looking back he gave me a life long enjoyment of maps and geology. Those deft coloured chalk marks drawn to make rock layers and the 'erosion' by swift erasure with the blackboard rubber. He could be withering. I achieved 1 out of 10 for a late homework as I had got my name right on the paper. So many stories in lessons which we got to know were repeat performances for each year. One I recall was of a passage about the impact of the railway on East Anglia. It suggested to Sam that... (voice) ... "The citizens of Norwich stood on the platform as the first train rolled in and said; The Olden Days are Over".

Taken from Thread 125, reply 6

Sam 24

NAME: Nick Dean  

DATE: 08 June 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-71

... At the beginning of one term he told us almost mischievously that, during the holiday, he had been introduced to "Mr Cliff Richard" (presumably in connection with the church).

Taken from Thread 128, reply 4

Sam 25

NAME: David Stevenson

DATE: 15 June 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1967-1974

... Sam C0cks singing Feed me til I want no more in morning assembley and a suggestion that he gave lines to two boys who opened two doors for him. Taught me all I know about yam exports in 1936 ...

Taken from Thread 28, reply 14