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< Thread 119 Thread 120 (29 replies so far) Thread 121 >
< Thread 119 Thread 120 (29 replies so far) Thread 121 >
Replies 21-29
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NAME: James (Jas) Cowen 
.jpg "James Cowen gallery")
Then & Now
DATE: 25 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
In regard to BP's expression of "when you get conkers, you get bonkers" my wife reminds me that I used always to proclaim it when our children gathered them to play the conkers bashing game. She always took it as meaning when you get conkers you always get kids bonking the conkers of others. Maybe she is right. In my opinion better it is to be for kids battling with conkers than fists or armed weapons (guns and knives). I wonder if kids and indeed adults do still play the game. There is possibly a national conker championship. I know there was an elf and safety fuss at some schools about the need to wear goggles to stop eye damage. I remember also in days at school there was many wrestling contests amongst contemporaries. I did not join in.
Then & NowDATE: 25 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
In regard to BP's expression of "when you get conkers, you get bonkers" my wife reminds me that I used always to proclaim it when our children gathered them to play the conkers bashing game. She always took it as meaning when you get conkers you always get kids bonking the conkers of others. Maybe she is right. In my opinion better it is to be for kids battling with conkers than fists or armed weapons (guns and knives). I wonder if kids and indeed adults do still play the game. There is possibly a national conker championship. I know there was an elf and safety fuss at some schools about the need to wear goggles to stop eye damage. I remember also in days at school there was many wrestling contests amongst contemporaries. I did not join in.
NAME: Mike Cottrell .jpg "Richard Dilley & Mike Cottrell")
DATE: 25 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64
The only strange name I remember Bernard Pinnock mentioning over and over again, especially during the summer, was Balaskas. I seem to recall he was a southern hemisphere cricketer and he clearly had made a great impression on the young Bernie during the 1930s. He was always talking about his googlies!
DATE: 25 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64
The only strange name I remember Bernard Pinnock mentioning over and over again, especially during the summer, was Balaskas. I seem to recall he was a southern hemisphere cricketer and he clearly had made a great impression on the young Bernie during the 1930s. He was always talking about his googlies!
NAME: James (Jas) Cowen Then & Now
DATE: 27 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
Yes, Nigel [reply 20], I will have to look up when the Ashampstead garden is open for us to pay a visit, if you recommend it. We have been to several yellow book gardens this year in the Salisbury/Wiltshire areas. We have also been to the National Trust house and garden at Coleton Fishacre in Devon, since we saw you in Devon and would also recommend a visit to others to there. We went on a garden tour. Other National Trust places visited this year are Sissinghurst and Polesden Lacey, both good at different times of the year and recommended. They are poular but there is good parking space at both. Maybe in future such messages may be directed to the Wider World Board. It would be fine I am sure for other OES to recommend sites. If some do not know, the treasures in Waddesdon Manor are wonderful. We enjoyed going there as much as to Buckingham Palace.
In regard to 'Bernie' Pinnock, there is a wall picture in a frame in tribute to him in the School museum. It is headed 'Bernie' and has a picture of him in front of a blackboard with algebraic equations on it and he is holding one of those hard red cricket balls that used to be bowled at us all. The inscription includes 'Remembered with gratitude and affection by generations of Old Elizabethans'. The school museum is well worth a visit from visiting OEs such as on Founders Day provided someone in authority will let you in by unlocking the door. Lots of other interesting items are in there including some old OE blazers and also a framed photo of Mr Fuller, who apparently started or helped to start the OE Forty club. Maybe some others of those remembering BP with affection have stories of our dear 'uncle'.
Then & NowDATE: 27 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
Yes, Nigel [reply 20], I will have to look up when the Ashampstead garden is open for us to pay a visit, if you recommend it. We have been to several yellow book gardens this year in the Salisbury/Wiltshire areas. We have also been to the National Trust house and garden at Coleton Fishacre in Devon, since we saw you in Devon and would also recommend a visit to others to there. We went on a garden tour. Other National Trust places visited this year are Sissinghurst and Polesden Lacey, both good at different times of the year and recommended. They are poular but there is good parking space at both. Maybe in future such messages may be directed to the Wider World Board. It would be fine I am sure for other OES to recommend sites. If some do not know, the treasures in Waddesdon Manor are wonderful. We enjoyed going there as much as to Buckingham Palace.
In regard to 'Bernie' Pinnock, there is a wall picture in a frame in tribute to him in the School museum. It is headed 'Bernie' and has a picture of him in front of a blackboard with algebraic equations on it and he is holding one of those hard red cricket balls that used to be bowled at us all. The inscription includes 'Remembered with gratitude and affection by generations of Old Elizabethans'. The school museum is well worth a visit from visiting OEs such as on Founders Day provided someone in authority will let you in by unlocking the door. Lots of other interesting items are in there including some old OE blazers and also a framed photo of Mr Fuller, who apparently started or helped to start the OE Forty club. Maybe some others of those remembering BP with affection have stories of our dear 'uncle'.
NAME: Nigel Wood .jpg "Nigel Wood")
DATE: 29 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64
Thank you, James, for supplying the picture of the picture (shades of Plato!) of Bernie Pinnock. The picture is very well done, and the words well-chosen. Rather moving, in fact. I remember him with mock earnestness urging us to think of him as our kindly uncle. That would probably be in the second form. In the sixth form he would chat with us for some of the lesson, mostly about cricket. As a ball-game dyslexic I can recall nothing that he said about it. But I do remember his telling us how, after cleaning his Morris Minor, he ran over one of the chrome hub-caps he'd taken off, squashing it irreparably. When I was in North London in the mid 1990s I dropped in on him in his small house in Mill Hill. He'd had coronary bypass surgery a few months before, and was taking dietary advice very seriously, abstaining from butter and anything likely to increase cholesterol. He seemed to spend a lot of his time giving other church members free lifts. I'm pleased he lived on for many years.
DATE: 29 July 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64
Thank you, James, for supplying the picture of the picture (shades of Plato!) of Bernie Pinnock. The picture is very well done, and the words well-chosen. Rather moving, in fact. I remember him with mock earnestness urging us to think of him as our kindly uncle. That would probably be in the second form. In the sixth form he would chat with us for some of the lesson, mostly about cricket. As a ball-game dyslexic I can recall nothing that he said about it. But I do remember his telling us how, after cleaning his Morris Minor, he ran over one of the chrome hub-caps he'd taken off, squashing it irreparably. When I was in North London in the mid 1990s I dropped in on him in his small house in Mill Hill. He'd had coronary bypass surgery a few months before, and was taking dietary advice very seriously, abstaining from butter and anything likely to increase cholesterol. He seemed to spend a lot of his time giving other church members free lifts. I'm pleased he lived on for many years.
NAME: James (Jas) Cowen Then & Now
DATE: 01 August 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
Talk of BP wanting to be regarded as a kindly uncle makes me wonder who else might be regarded as a kindly uncle or a father figure. In my case I suppose Messrs Crofts, Fry and Timson qualify in that regard to a fair degree. (Mr Crofts for inviting me in for a drink when I used to arrive early at school; Mr Fry for sending us the Christmas cards; Mr Timson for urging us not to give our money to William Hill). I wonder how difficult it was for boys who had a father as teacher in the school. I was a pupil in my mother's class at Furzehill Primary in Borehamwood and had to be moved for playing up so much. I have enjoyed watching Waterloo Road on TV and the issue was highlighted in several cases there. Of course uncles and aunts may be kindly for good or interfering for bad, as with PG Wodehouse's Jeeves's Aunt Dahlia and Aunt Agatha. I had eight aunts who could and did counsel me after my mother died and only 1 was comparable to Aunt Dahlia.
Then & NowDATE: 01 August 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
Talk of BP wanting to be regarded as a kindly uncle makes me wonder who else might be regarded as a kindly uncle or a father figure. In my case I suppose Messrs Crofts, Fry and Timson qualify in that regard to a fair degree. (Mr Crofts for inviting me in for a drink when I used to arrive early at school; Mr Fry for sending us the Christmas cards; Mr Timson for urging us not to give our money to William Hill). I wonder how difficult it was for boys who had a father as teacher in the school. I was a pupil in my mother's class at Furzehill Primary in Borehamwood and had to be moved for playing up so much. I have enjoyed watching Waterloo Road on TV and the issue was highlighted in several cases there. Of course uncles and aunts may be kindly for good or interfering for bad, as with PG Wodehouse's Jeeves's Aunt Dahlia and Aunt Agatha. I had eight aunts who could and did counsel me after my mother died and only 1 was comparable to Aunt Dahlia.
NAME: Tony Newman
DATE: 19 February 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: No direct links
Was Ma Bullas [replies 6 & 7] the mother of Jill Bullas? Jill (born about 1927) was a great hockey player in the 1950s. The surname is unusual.
DATE: 19 February 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: No direct links
Was Ma Bullas [replies 6 & 7] the mother of Jill Bullas? Jill (born about 1927) was a great hockey player in the 1950s. The surname is unusual.
NAME: James (Jas) Cowen Then & Now
DATE: 27 February 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
An interesting enquiry from Tony Newman. I hope someone accessing the site has the answer but it would be extraordinary if they did. Maybe someone who spoke to Ma Bullas a really great deal. I find from google that Bullas is also a town in the region of Murcia. Whether that will jog any memories I do not know but it is also interesting I think.
Then & NowDATE: 27 February 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
An interesting enquiry from Tony Newman. I hope someone accessing the site has the answer but it would be extraordinary if they did. Maybe someone who spoke to Ma Bullas a really great deal. I find from google that Bullas is also a town in the region of Murcia. Whether that will jog any memories I do not know but it is also interesting I think.
NAME: James (Jas) Cowen Then & Now
DATE: 22 March 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
Further to reply 26 of Tony Newman, on the Internet I was not able to find any info about Jill Bullas, the great hockey player of the 50s, though others may have better luck. There is however much news about Sam Bullas who plays ice hockey for Swindon Wildcats and GB and was at university (UWE) playing for GB. As you say Bullas is an unusual name and there may be a connection there. Does anyone know I wonder?
Then & NowDATE: 22 March 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63
Further to reply 26 of Tony Newman, on the Internet I was not able to find any info about Jill Bullas, the great hockey player of the 50s, though others may have better luck. There is however much news about Sam Bullas who plays ice hockey for Swindon Wildcats and GB and was at university (UWE) playing for GB. As you say Bullas is an unusual name and there may be a connection there. Does anyone know I wonder?
NAME: Nick Dean 
.JPG "Nick Dean gallery")
DATE: 23 March 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-71
I don't know the answer to the question at 26 above, but I do have a 'small world' anecdote. At lunch early one term Bernie Pinnock mentioned that a boy in one of his classes had been on a family holiday to Malta. Not finding the hotel's cuisine up to much, he described to his parents in some detail how it reminded him of the fare served up at school. A short while afterwards, he turned his head to the table behind, at which was seated none other than Mrs Bullas herself.
DATE: 23 March 2014
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-71
I don't know the answer to the question at 26 above, but I do have a 'small world' anecdote. At lunch early one term Bernie Pinnock mentioned that a boy in one of his classes had been on a family holiday to Malta. Not finding the hotel's cuisine up to much, he described to his parents in some detail how it reminded him of the fare served up at school. A short while afterwards, he turned his head to the table behind, at which was seated none other than Mrs Bullas herself.
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