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< Thread 85   Thread 86 (8 replies so far)    Thread 87 >

ORIGINAL MESSAGE

NAME: Gerry Hunt

22 March 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1954-61

Discovering this site via Derek White has brought back so many memories - some of them even happy. Here are just a few. 1955: Taken ill during choir practice, while singing The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. In Hospital for 6 weeks with osteomyelitis. 1956: Skipping out of a Latin lesson to have a haircut. 1957: Forced to start the route for doing Classics by making the mistake of being good at Latin. I wanted to do languages, as did my parente - but to no avail with Ernie Jenkins! 1957 - 1959: Behaviour went down hill a bit. Remember getting into trouble quite a bit with Nelson Murray. Especially remember playing up Turvey, Strickland, Gabby Hayes. Suffered the pulling sideburns treatment from Frosty Winter. Enjoyed athletics with Sid Clark. Ran 220 yards and relay a couple of times for team (they must have been short!) Remember learning several poems by heart for use when writing lines on blue paper, of which I was given several. 1960: Pulled my socks up after failing A levels first time. Performed the Latin Declamation at Founders Day for brownie points. Returned in 1962 for School/OEs Dinner Debate and gave a well-received (and dare I say it myself) humorous speech. Attempted a repeat the following year, but misjudged things and was publicly denounced by Sam C0cks for "blasphemy and indecency". Chided gently by Jack Covington and apologised. I've not been back since! I occasionally meet Derek at family occasions as he's a friend of my brother (who went to East Barnet) and meet regularly with Chris Martin, who I've known since we were 4! Have kept all copies of The Elizabethan from my time at the school. About 15 years ago my other brother met Alan Morris at a cricket match, and when Alan heard that I was by now a headteacher he said it ws the biggest example of poacher turned gamekeeper he'd ever heard !

1st REPLY

NAME: Vic Coughtrey  Vic CoughtreyThen & Now

DATE: 22 March 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1954-59

I and others would really love to hear from Chris Martin on this site. I've wondered from time to time over the years what became of him.

2nd REPLY

NAME: Mike Cottrell  Richard Dilley & Mike Cottrell

DATE: 25 March 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1957-64

Chris Martin, if I am not mistaken, was Tim Edwards' first school captain. I believe has was a Totteridge lad, nothing wrong in that !

3rd REPLY

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen  James & Ayleen Cowen James Cowen galleryThen & Now

DATE: 29 July 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956-63

Well yes Gerry [see original message], if you still access this site, I do remember you making a joke at that Dinner Debate about Anglican vicars and fires and agreed with Sam C0cks that it was blasphemous and indecent, and certainly not appropriate for the occasion. You did rightly apologize. The rest of your speeches were amusing and appropriate to the occasion. As regards copies of the Elizabethans I am envious that you have managed to retain them. My oldest daughter ditched mine when we moved as a family from Welwgn Garden City to Ludgershall in Wiltshire. She thought it old sentimental rubbish and not worth retaining and she was in charge of all the packing. With all the many changes at the school is The Elizabethan still published? I still remember a poem of Poupard's on Autumn and quote it on occasions. 'Season of mist more likely fog as through the woods we gently jog'.

4th REPLY

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen  James & Ayleen Cowen James Cowen galleryThen & Now

DATE: 21 August 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956-63

In relation to my reply 3 above, I see from the OE section of the QE website that the Elizabethan is printed bi-annually for the OE Association and is presumably posted to all members or by request for a fee. Is there a separate publication for the school and if so when did the magazine stop being pulished for and distributed to pupils? Recently I have looked at the QE website with all its news, which is very intersting including alumni achievements, proposed visits, guest speakers, A-level results, subject analysis and Houses news. Is there an internal magazine in addition?

5th REPLY

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen  James & Ayleen Cowen James Cowen galleryThen & Now

DATE: 21 August 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956-63

I have seen the obit of Mr Latimer, Headmaster 1906-29, on site from the Elizabethan of 1960 contributed by Roger Nolan. I notice that this also has Births, Marriages and Deaths (other than Obit ones ). I cannot remember after 50 years and without still having my copies whether this was included in the school pupils' copies of the Elizabrethan or was in amended versions for OEs. I expect several will be able to reply and inform. I do regret lately not keeping in touch with the OE Association and hope to remedy this shortly. At one time I thought it was just for those who wanted to carry on sport at their pavilion in Mays Lane as old boys in cricket or rugby, though the Dinner Debates conntinued - 1 of which I attended since school without being an OE Association member. When at school DBF used to confirm this opinion and say he wouldn't touch the OEs with a barge pole, spoken very authoritatively but perhaps surprisingly for an ex-prefect OE and master at the school.

6th REPLY

NAME: Roger Nolan  Roger Nolan

DATE: 23 August 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1960-67

Concerning reply 5, I still have 3 different copies of The Elizabethan including the 1960 copy containing Mr Latimer's obituary. These were all given out to us as pupils and each had 2 to 3 pages at the end which were the OE's section. I had always assumed there was only one edition of the Elizabethan printed each term. Indeed I can't imagine that the school would have incurred the additional cost of typesetting and minimal print runs to produce a number of different editions.

7th REPLY

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen  James & Ayleen Cowen James Cowen galleryThen & Now

DATE: 29 August 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956-63

Yes, Roger, of course you are right [Reply 6, above]. I do now recall that there was an OE section in the back of our Elizabethans presumably also sent to OEs in the OE Association. Apparently (from the OE part of the QE website, it is now sent out biennially but my memory says that it was every term in my day. I suppose it is also distributed still to current pupils at the same time, assuming that there is an editor at the school for it. I recall sending in reports for the societies I was secretary for. In our day we did have reports from Oxbridge briefly about what the alumni were doing up there. (Letters from Our Oxford Correspondent and Our Cambridge Correspondent). Do these still continue? I know that these were part of what encouraged me to go up to Cambridge to Sidney Sussex College, besides the fact that my cousin Richard was already at Cambridge. I say this, as I noted on my last visit to the school that whilst the boards in the hall area are updated for headmasters and school captains, they have no recent update for scholarships to Oxbridge etc., which I think are still awarded. Those from our days are still there such as MC Coleman to Cambridge and JR Symonds to Oxford.

8th REPLY

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen  James & Ayleen Cowen James Cowen galleryThen & Now

DATE: 05 December 2012

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956-63

In regard to the 1960 Elizabethan I was reminded nostalgically, Gerry, about the Philatelic Society (President Mr Carter) for which you and Chris Martin (a friend from childhood you say in your original message of this thread) were joint secretaries. Along with my love of steam railways including my cycling with schoolfriends to various sheds and stations I used to enjoy collecting stamps. I used to spend most of any cash I had on stamp selections from Woolworths and used to collect swaps from the club. Do others remember those days? I remember submitting entries for the Hobbies Exhibition competition. Does stamp collecting and swapping still continue at the school? I do not spend money on stamps these days apart from the ones for postage but collect up any different ones I receive. My youngest daughter also gave me an updated Stanley Gibbons catalogue book so I can enjoy photocopies of them if not the actual stamps.

In regard to my stamp albums of schooldays I still do have them unlike my old copies of the Elizabethan that my oldest daughter threw out before the move from Welwyn Garden City to Wiltshire (which I did complain about at the time but was too busy with work in London to supervise properly). It is remarkable looking at so many of them now how the world geography map has changed in regard to country names. Some of the stamps for Aden I received from Tim Fawdry from his vocations there
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