21st REPLY

NAME: Steve Lucas  

DATE: 07 February 2016

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-1971

With reference to Nigel Cole's comment [reply 20] in this thread, and to continue slightly off topic, there were a lot of folk from Underhill Junior School that started at QE in the Autumn of 1964. I think a pretty well complete list (but not always entirely sure now of the surname spelling!) is: Me, Chris Birch, John Ward, Trevor Attwood, Ian Duncan, Nigel Cole, Ian Jeffery, Mick Woods, Dave Leggatt, Richard Traub, Philip Daffern, Chris Soanes and Ian Buswell. Nick Dean's memory is pretty good and I'm sure he will remember most of those people, some of whom left before the 6th form!!

22nd REPLY

NAME: Paul Buckland

DATE: 08 February 2016

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1962 - 1969

Further to Steve Lucas's comment, I think that Underhill always had the largest number of former pupils at QE. Certainly when I started in 1962 there was a large body of ex Underhill Boys in my year, giving those pupils a ready made set of friends. Schools like my own, Furze hill in Boreham Wood, sent two or three on average to both the boys and girls schools. Now the school, which was mentioned in a report in The Sunday Times as the best state school, by A Level results in England, is twice the size. Do the majority of pupils still come from Barnet? The nephew of a colleague of mine who started at QE about 10 years ago lived in Hampstead and was one of many pupils from that area. They even had their own school bus. An idea unheard of at QE in the '60s when pupils from Brookmans Park came by train, and two boys came by bus from St. Albans.

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23rd REPLY

NAME: Nick Dean   

DATE: 09 February 2016

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1964-71

A contemporary of mine came by Green Line bus from Stevenage, but eventually moved to Cockfosters. Some time ago I quoted John Finnett referring to Brookmans Park as "the frozen north" when one of our number was late due to inclement weather (or maybe the wrong kind of snow) affecting the line to New Barnet. (I hadn't seen Paul's reply 22 when I submitted for another thread some thoughts on the latest piece in the "Sunday Times".)

24th REPLY

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen    Then & Now

DATE: 15 February 2016

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 56-63<

I am surprised, Paul, in your reply 22, that the Furzehill Road school in Borehamwood sent on average a mere two or three boys and girls to both QE boys and girls schools. I know that when I went up from Summerswood School in Furzehill Road there were in my 1b class five Borehamwood boys, of which four came from Summerswood and one from one of the other Borehamwood primaries. This is in addition to those in 1a and 1c, maybe a similar number. I still talked with some of these at school and on the bus, as there were fellow rail enthusiasts, whom I used to either cycle with or travel by bus to railway sheds or stations further afield such as Southall on the ex GWR line from Paddington. These were Godfrey Smith in 1a and John Bentley and Michael Coleman in 1c. I have lost touch with all of these now but would welcome seeing any or all again at one of the OE functions. I usually see Dick Newton ex Borehamwood at OE functions but he was not in 1b nor from Summerswood but from Cowley Hill. Other than the railway gang I used to be very friendly with David Summers (a 1c boy) at Summerswood but we went our separate ways at QEs. in a holiday job as a plumbers assistant pre Uni in my gap year the plumber and I did work at his parents' house and I caught up with his news. I made a new friend in Tim Fawdry in 1b. He was from South Mimms and I suppose he came in by bus. I have visited his old home on occasions but by bike from Borehamwood and recently his current home in Ilkley, Yorkshire. In regard to others from areas other than Borehamwood I do not know at all what schools they came from nor was at all inquisitive enough to learn. I expect some did come from Underhill. Today there is indeed a much wider school catchment area. Coaches come in from North Herts and some pupils travel in by train from West London boroughs and other distant places.

25th REPLY

NAME: Stephen Giles  

DATE: 17 February 2016

CONNECTION WITH QE: inmate 1957-64

Aha - Dick Newton, who lived a dozen or so doors from me in Lullington Garth for a while, was singer with the Con-men, a school band that included myself on guitar, Bruce Garvey on a very large sax, Ned Calvert on guitar and wonderful piano bashing from Pew Iller - probably repeating myself here!! I can't remember who played bass - was it Dave Ward? I remember Sam C0cks taking great exception to our rehearsing in the Art Room on Saturday afternoon!!

26th REPLY

NAME: Michael Hill

DATE: 20 June 2016

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1962-1967

I was also an ex-Underhill boy [see reply 20 & 21,22 above] and, yes, there were a few of us who joined QE in '62. Ken Baugh, Brian Hopkins, Alan Laws, Grant Bennet, Bernie Martin and Robert Walsh are names that I remember.