21st REPLY

NAME: Chris Mungovan

DATE: 28 May 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

Well Wood P.N. (reply 17) I reckon you have a crib sheet hidden about your person.  If not you've just pinched my next question which would have been to list the names in our form back in 57.  I knew there were 29 because I found my first term report but I could only remember 21 names or 72% - is that a pass?  I was also reminded that we were taught Latin and French in the first term but not science subjects.  So try this : Can you remember the timetable?

22nd REPLY

NAME: Martyn Day   Then & Now

DATE: 01 June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Inmate 1956-1963

I remember Eric Dizdale!  [Reply 20].  We once had a long and erudite discussion about 'Twang' and which guitarist was the most 'twangy'.  I argued for Duane Eddy and the awesome echo of Peter Gunn, Eric voted for Hank B Marvin and his treble pick-up work on F.B.I.  If only there had been an A Level Exam on 'Twang' I might have made it to University!

23rd REPLY

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 1st June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

Sorry to learn about Geoff L-N [Reply 20]; he was great fun to have in the class - yes, 1B, 1957.  The 29 names have been rattling around in my head for fifty years, and occasionally I recite them as a sort of mantra.  Maybe I was inspired by EH Jenkins's ritual gabbling out of form lists from the platform at the beginning of the autumn term.  I wasn't the only one to break down laughing one year.  'Suffling Sugg' was the trigger.  The shameful thing is that, although I have some sort of mental picture of everyone on the 1B list, I can do fewer than half the first names.  This website has helped.  Although I can remember all the teachers, the 1B timetable has long gone, except for 'music' on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and perhaps French on Friday afternoons.  Oh, and gym on Saturday morning just before K W Carter's French lesson (for which I was usually delayed hunting for socks in the slurry on the changing-room floor).  As our form-master, he called in almost everyone on the Saturday afternoon of the Cup Final, for some breach of kit-labelling regulations.  The others all - it seemed - followed football keenly and were very angry at this below-the-belt punishment (though not, I think, to KWC's face).  It didn't matter much to me (the classic weed with ball-game dyslexia).  In any case, a neighbour had promised me an old wireless to dissect... [The words 'geek' and 'nerd' hadn't yet spread to the uk].

24th REPLY

NAME: Brian Seal  

DATE: 4th June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Class 1b of 1957

Blimey Nigel - you were one of the brightest boys in the class, so howcome you spelt some of the names incorrectly - eg. Richard Mantle, John Symons and me!!  I heard from John a couple of years ago - he has been teaching in Germany for many years.  Mike Cottrell came to my daughter's wedding 3 years ago.  Also, I heard Tony Tinson is no longer with us (hope I'm not speaking out of turn here).  Another Buster Cox [sic] story - he asked Julian Jones what is the major crop from Brazil?  I whispered 'tea', and JJ responded accordingly.  Buster was last seen exploding into many pieces!!

25th REPLY

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 15th June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Class 1b of 1957

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But at least I'm sure I spelt 'Crausaz' correctly. [Next thing: he'll appear on this thread to say I haven't.] Tony Tinson I remember as a sort of elder statesman figure, laid-back, and wise beyond his years. Do you remember his becoming an uncle some time in that first year?

An obscure question, but one that I know a particular person on this thread ought to be able to answer... Who, not content with spooning his prunes off his rice and into the bowl of the only prune enthusiast on the lunch/dinner table, asked the master at the top of the table if he could go and get some plain rice pudding from the serving ladies, as he didn't want his rice polluted with prune-juice? Notes: (1) 'polluted' was the exact word.  It was not nearly as commonly-used a word as it is now.  (2) R M C0cks used to call the dinner ladies 'servants', as in "Go and fetch a servant, boy."  (3) On one occasion in the dining hall a large boy hovered to ask R Wingfield permission for something or the other.  Wingfield spoke first: "No, I haven't got a puncture kit."  (4) Who used to shriek down the table, "One SMALL spoonful!" ?

26th REPLY

NAME: Stephen Giles  

DATE: 15th June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: inmate 1957-64

Hello Brian Seal [Reply 24], I'm sure that your name cropped up in a conversation I had with Mick Allen when I last saw him and Dave Ward in 1989 or so.  What puzzles me is although I started off in 1a, I ended up in the same class as some folks reported here as being in 1b or even 1c.  I vaguely remember a class called 'transition'.  Was this made up of a collection of boys whose exam results were less than useless?  I believe I fitted in to that category on more than one occasion.  Youngsters these days cannot believe that I failed all my A levels - of course they were much harder then!  I upgraded our BT Broadband deal today, I wonder what Buster C0cks would have made of all that?  Who would have thought it possible back then to connect with 100s of computers all over the world and download a TV programme or even a concert someone had recorded on a tiny mini disc recorder?  I'm moving off topic here, I have no recollection of any timetables at QE.

27th REPLY

NAME: Chris Mungovan

DATE: 15th June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64

Well its good to know that Siggy and Couf [reply 24] are still with us then..

28th REPLY

NAME: John Hamilton  

DATE: 20th June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1958-64

Thank heavens somebody mentioned that 'Transition' form [reply 26]; a one-off situation I believe.  I was starting to wonder why most of the names Mungo listed earlier were so familiar - it's not as though there was generally that much contact with boys in years above and below us.  Met Tony Crausaz for a 'cold one' at a bar in Auckland, NZ, about 5 years ago; keep in regular touch with Peter Lockerman.  Favourite memory of Richard Dilley is him rushing up the classroom aisle with gown flying, demonstrating something about wind!

29th REPLY

NAME: Stephen Giles  

DATE: 29th June 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Attended 1957-64

Who yelled "one small spoonful"?  [Reply 25].  I'm sure that was Dozy Dixon.  We were very unkind to that poor man for probably no other reason than that we could be.  He was just not fierce enough I suppose - he would have made a good Inspector of Taxes perhaps.  Do any of the 1957 intake (51 years ago!!) work for HM Revenue & Customs I wonder?  Probably far too intelligent, judging by the pea brains I speak to there!

30th REPLY

NAME: Brian Seal  

DATE: 2nd July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Class 1b of 1957

Hi guys - yes, I remember you all (do you still wear short trousers, though?).  There were 2 Transition forms - Transition X (X for 'excellent'), I think for the bright 66% who took their 4 obligatory O-levels early;  Transition S (S for 'stupid') for the rest of us who were miserable failures.  In our first year, Johnny Filer was school captain with John McLeod as vice.  The next year, B.Salter was head boy, and at some stage, Chris Martin.  Any others come to mind?

31st REPLY

NAME: Vic Coughtrey   Then & Now

DATE: 2nd July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1954-1959

As I remember it (no doubt all wrongly) Transition X was for those who were good enough for the 6th Form after only one term of preparation for it, so went up at Xmas, and Transition S was for those who needed a whole year of preparation for it, so didn't go up until the Summer.

Regarding school captains, I believe Filer was generally regarded as a bit of a swine.  If you're reading this, Filer, you're welcome to let us know you're a reformed character.  And wasn't Tribe, who was in a wheelchair due to the polio epidemic of the early 50s, school captain at one stage?  Unfortunately, there was the occasional sick joke about his lack of mobility.  And who was that school captain who fell into some disgrace or other and was 'defrocked'?

One other question for those who were in the 1st or 2nd forms in the mid-50s - does anyone remember Taylor, the boy who died in the big Asian 'flu epidemic of that time?  I remember that even the hardest cases were subdued by the news.

32nd REPLY

NAME: Mike (aka Couf) Cottrell  

DATE: 2nd July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

Well Chris [reply 27] it's good to know that you too are still alive and kicking.  Stephen [reply 29] I for one do not and have never worked for HM Revenue & Customs.  I have of course over the years made many donations to them.

33rd REPLY

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 2nd July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Class 1b of 1957

Oui, M'sieur Giles.  It was indeed 'Dozy' Dixon  [Reply 29].  I remember him as rather abrasive and not easy on the ear.  Perhaps he was trying to project a fierce image.  Our paths, Stephen, crossed in the fourth form.  I remember that D B Fry always insisted on pronouncing your surname as if you were French.  I suppose that's fair enough in French lessons.  He was, as I recall, my only French teacher who tried really hard to get us to pronounce the words correctly.  This was rather a low priority for most of the others, who seemed to regard French mainly as an intellectual exercise, like Latin.  Fry even gave us phrases which might come in useful in conversation with a French person.  [How subversive can you get!]  He wasn't always bang on target, though;  I remember dutifully copying down the French for a half-rotten pear.  He had a low corpsing threshold, and I managed to get sent out of the room three Tuesday (or was it Thursday?) afternoon sessions in succession for some silly remark or the other which, quite irrationally, made him dissolve into helpless laughter.

In case you're wondering: une poire au moitié pourrie.

34th REPLY

NAME: Chris Mungovan

DATE: 4th July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957 - 64

Steve, I don't recall anyone in 1b (1957) being dull enough to become a Tax Inspector [reply 29].  Maybe in 1a?  But what did people who studied classics eventually do for a living?  But more to the point why would anyone still be working at our age?  I've been retired for four years now and as it said on my coffee mug when I was working 'A bad day fishing beats a good day working'.  An infallible philosophy.

35th REPLY

NAME: Chris Mungovan

DATE: 4th July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957 - 64

Here's the timetable for the first term of 1b 1957, seven periods each day except Wednesday and Saturdays:

Monday: Latin, French, Art, Art, Maths, Games, Games.
Tuesday: Latin, Scripture, French, Maths, English, Geography, Music.
Wednesday: History, Gym, English, French.
Thursday: Music, Latin, Maths, English, French, Games, Games.
Friday: Scripture, Maths, English, Geography, Gym, French, Latin.
Saturday, History, Maths, Latin, English.

If it looks awful it was and very disappointing for budding scientists.

36th REPLY

NAME: Mike Cottrell  

DATE: 5th July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

Chris, apart from meeting Brian Seal, I have also seen Michael (formerly Mick) Bullett and Keith Record in the last three years.  Where are the others from the 1b intake of '57?  As for Buster C0cks can anyone remember which country and which produce (fruit or vegetable I think) he was talking about when he uttered the immortal words, "They eat what they can and they can what they can't" ?   I only wish that I had paid more attention in class the day he said it.

37th REPLY

NAME: Mike Cottrell  

DATE: 9th July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Class 1b of 1957

Nigel, you are to be congratulated in remembering the 29 surnames of the 1b class of '57 [reply 17].  Let me try to jog your memory on the first names [reply 23].  I think I can name 24 with certainty including initial(s)!  There are 4 queries and I cannot remember the final name.  I submit the following: -

Stuart D Anderson, Jonathan D Barrett, Michael L S Bullett, (John?) Clarke, Michael G Cottrell, Peter J Craggs, Anthony D Crausaz, Christopher J Daly, John W Dowding, Clive K Edrupt, Brian M Frost-Smith, (Jack?) Harkness, (Tony?) Herbert, (Ted?) Hungate, Christopher A Layson, Jeffrey D Lindsay- Neale (died 1988), Richard S Mantle, Christopher Mungovan, (???) Munro, John H Rainbird (died 1965), Keith A F Record, Derek T F Scudder, Brian C Seal, Brian J Steadman (died 1968), John R Symons, Anthony J Tinson (died 1979), Roger D Wearing and Philip Nigel Wood (the only class member to use his second name?).

Can anyone make any corrections or fill in the missing or qu [message truncated - possibly over 500 characters].

38th REPLY

NAME: John Hamilton  

DATE: 9th July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1958-64

Chris, do you have an eidectic memory [reply 35] or is your house full of boxes of memorabilia?  If the latter, have you still got your cap & tie? Doubtless you'll be keen to share with us some random comments from your school reports - and not just the good ones - if any!

39th REPLY

NAME: Ian Sadler  

DATE: 9th July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Former pupil 1951-58

The transition S/X business arose as follows.  The 'transition' years were the years at the end of which you took O-level.

At that time most schools took 5 years to cover the work for O - level. However EHJ thought some chaps could do it quicker.

So after 2 years and one term the entire year was divided - 1/3 continued at the normal rate and took O-level exams in the 3rd term of the fifth year (June) - last term in transition-S.  They then spent a year in the lower 6th and then a year in the upper sixth to do A-level.  The other 2/3 went ahead and did O-level in the first term (November) of the fifth year - last term in transition X.  They then joined the lower 6th (of the previous year's normal stream) for 2 terms and eventually took A-level a year early.  Sounds a bit complicated but it worked.  The scheme ran thus:

1A/1B/1C - one year 2A/2B/2C - one year 3A/3B/3C - one term

Normal route: 3 two terms, 4 one term, 5 two terms, trans-S one year.  Lower 6th one year, upper 6th one year. Faster route: 4A/B two terms, 5A/5B one term, trans-XA/XB one year, Lower 6th two terms, upper 6th one year.

This explains why there was one timetable for the Christmas term and one for the rest of the year.

Some years after I left 'Tiger' Timson told me the November exams were easier than the June exams as they were intended as resits for people who failed in June!

40th REPLY

NAME: Tony Crausaz

DATE: 9th July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Form 1b 1957 (?)

Nigel, just to let you know you did spell my name correctly [reply 25]  I still live in the UK (Hampshire) and have retired so that I can play more golf and travel.  Memory of B C0cks were his leg flips and the fact he had seen France from 3 countries but had never been there.