Letter from Richard Johnson
2006-05-27
Dear John,
It was a great pleasure to discover your brilliant web-site and to savour memories of happy schooldays spent in Surrey. You may be interested to know this discovery came about subsequent to a remarkable chance meeting with a fellow founder pupil. It was at a friends party in March of this year that I met Doug Tamplin, also of Fairlop House. We had not seen each other since leaving Elmbridge 62 years ago. Anyone remembering Doug will most likely associate him with a ukulele. With ukulele in hand it is easy to identify Doug in some of the early Elmbridge photographs.
A few weeks later Doug and I met up again for a nostalgic chat and viewed our old Elmbridge photographs. I mentioned to him that for some years I had tried, half -heartedly, to obtain a copy of M.Hunte' s book on Elmbridge and he volunteered to enquire about it at the Barkingside Library. It transpired the book was unknown to them but they were aware of a web-site although not its title. This was eventually located and I viewed the sites for the first time, by co-incidence, on the evening of the 2006 School Re-union.
Awhile back I was persuaded by my son-in-law to get my memoirs recorded and by January this year had completed up to and including my Elmbridge days. Little did I realise then that the schooldays portion might be shared with a wider audience than my immediate family.
Since studying the web-sites I am reminded of so much that has lain just below the threshold of my memory. Teachers' names such as Styles, Heppell, Gledhill, Gilbert and Cotton came flooding back. The name, The Young Farmers Club, I had overlooked and also that when the School opened the grounds were unfinished and no proper paths had been laid.
Congratulations to you John on your excellent web-site which provides nostalgia by the screenful for old boys and especially the older ones. As you continue to remind us 'Elmbridge lives on in our memories for ever'
Yours, ever,
Dick
Memories of Elmbridge
Richard Johnson
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Elmbridge the founding years
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Memories of the Schools attended by Richard (Dick) Johnson - 1st January 2006
Prior to Cranleigh
My earlier reminiscences record going to Golfe Road Infants School in Ilford and to complete the record of schools, I next attended Cleveland Road Junior School. The teachers I remember are Mr.Edwards (Headmaster), Messrs. Brookes, Heppell, Hill/ Hills and Miss Strachen. There was an occasion when I was given one stroke of the cane although I cannot recall what I did to deserve punishment. On the credit side, in my last year, I played in the school football X1 as goalkeeper. The team coach was Mr.Hill and in that season the Cleveland team came top of the league and each player received a medal. Unfortunately the medal was lost when our house in Green Lane was demolished by a land mine. My Cleveland education was interrupted for three months while I attended a convalescent home at Birchington as a result of having an attack of sun-stroke. Whilst at Birchington I would occasionally attend a local school when the staff thought I was well enough to cope.
On or about 1stSeptember 1939 I was evacuated to Ipswich and remember hearing on 3rd the declaration that we were at war with Germany. Together with a friend from Ilford I was billeted with a family at a house near the heath. I do not remember anything about the school I was placed at and this, I expect, is due to my stay at Ipswich being a short one of under three months. On returning home my schooling was intermittent, due to wartime conditions. Some lessons were arranged in temporary accommodation at Fellowship House in Green Lane and later there were morning only classes in the homes of local people.
At Cranleigh
Then early in 1940, when I was 11 years old, Loxford School in Ilford, was evacuated to a boarding school at Cranleigh, Surrey and I was fortunate to be amongst the founder pupils. It was called Loxford Modern and was generally referred to as Elmbridge Camp School. The school site covered many acres with single storey buildings, constructed from cedar wood, which is said to have a long life. The main buildings were a large dining hall with kitchens behind, assembly hall, classrooms, lavatory/shower blocks and dormitories. The school was approached by a long, narrow drive and on the right hand side was a copse of tall trees which housed a rookery. At the head of the drive was a large car parking area whose main use was for coaches to park on parent visiting days. Within the grounds were two large fields separated by a hedge and ditch. The ditch had been enlarged to provide a trench where boys and staff could take cover during daylight air raids. A canal formed the boundary on one side and led to an old stone or brick bridge at the far end. There were generous sized fields where football and cricket pitches were created and further open spaces for various sporting activities.
The dormitories were given house names representing notable Essex landmarks and I was in Fairlop (after the Fairlop Oak) - others were Abbey (after Barking Abbey), Roding (after the river) and Forest (after Hainault). The dormitories were equipped with iron frame beds, one up and one down and accommodated approximately 60 boys. Each boy had a locker for personal belongings and was allocated a pigeonhole for shoes in the boot room near the dormitory entrance. There was a Master's room at each end of the dormitory and a large covered verandah at the far end. The dormitories and all the school buildings were served by a central heating system. Apart from the wooden floors, which us boys had to keep clean and polished using heavy long handled buffer brushes, I don't remember having any other cleaning jobs to do.
Every weekday started with Assembly when a hymn was sung which more often than not was 'New every morning is the love..' As the war progressed Mr.Clarke gave a daily update on the progress of the war showing geographical details on a blackboard. The Assembly Hall had many other uses including occasional Saturday film shows and even more occasional concerts. The first play that I remember was about 'Merry England' and covered a period from medieval times up to the present day. My small contribution was behind the scenes providing music via a wind-up gramophone. The play is well recorded in a number of photographs. At the far end of the hall, behind the stage, Mr. Jackson, had an office accessed by an outside staircase.
At either end of the school site was a building comprising lavatories, communal shower rooms and a drying room. There were no baths and it was the first time that many boys, including myself, were confronted with showers. It was compulsory to take showers and it was not unusual to find only cold water! The drying room was most useful for drying wet outer clothes and shoes. Each boy was issued with a laundry bag for dirty clothes and these were collected weekly. I think the laundering was done on site by the staff but I'm not absolutely sure.
All meals, that is breakfast, hot dinner at mid-day and evening high tea were served in the Dining Hall. Boys would collect their food from a servery, dispensed by the catering staff. However, it was the custom for dessert at dinner to be dispensed by the prefect who sat at the head of each table. No drinks were allowed at the dinner table because the headmaster maintained that water diluted the digestive juices. It is strange how these things stick in the memory! I also remember my first encounter with swedes and tapioca, both of which were frequently on the menu. I didn't like them then and my tastes have not changed since. A popular dessert was plum duff with hot custard and was universally known, affectionately, as 'elephant's plonk'. As a general comment on the standard of catering, I cannot remember boys complaining unduly, so presume it was adequate in quality and quantity. I'm sure this was so because the Headmaster was a pedantic individual and would have been heavy handed with the catering staff had it been otherwise. At the far end of the Dining Hall, separately housed, was a tuck shop but I don't have recollections of using it too frequently and that may have been due to the limitations of sweet coupons.
Due to the lapse of time I cannot recall all the teachers but they were, without exception, caring and considerate and created a happy school atmosphere. The teachers I can remember are;
Mr.A.E.Clarke was a stern but capable Headmaster and well suited to setting up and developing this new school in the country. He was very firm, determined and a disciplinarian but, with the benefit of hindsight, I'm sure he always had the boys best interests at heart.
Mrs.Clarke , the Headmaster's wife, was a kind, helpful and gentle woman who taught various subjects. For some unknown reason I remember a period during her English lessons when we read 'The Black Arrow'. Mrs.Clarke always took great care with handwriting and hers was well nigh to copper- plate standard.
Mr.J.R.Wiskar was very much an outdoor person and, unusually for a teacher, he wore shorts for most of the year round. I can still visualize his tall, stout build in knee length brown corduroy shorts and knee length socks. He was always successful in coaching boys at football and this continued during my stay at Cranleigh.
Mr.N.H.Anderson was tall, slim and had a warm and kindly disposition and was the Housemaster for Fairlop. Amongst other subjects he taught art and it was through his enthusiasm that I developed a serious interest in art. There was a boy in our class with an exceptional talent. I think his name was John Wicks and he specialised in painting warships in action and the quality of his work was so high that I am sure he would have followed a career involving art. I imagine his talent was brought out and encouraged by Mr. Anderson. Mr.Anderson's wife was tall, attractive and a friendly person but I cannot recall that she taught at the School.
Mr W.N.Jackson was a short dapper man with the nickname 'Nipper'. He wore glasses, was well dressed and always wore a tie under a highly starched white collar. In addition to his teaching duties I believe he was responsible for preparing and distributing notices and information throughout the School.
Mr.Hall was excitable, temperamental, and bordered on the eccentric. He earned his nickname of 'Vocher Hall' through his habit of punishing boys by swiping his open hand smartly up the back of their heads. I can vouch that the friction caused by this treatment was unpleasant. It was also common for him to throw chalk and the heavy blackboard duster at anyone not paying attention.
Mr.Jones was, for a short time, the Housemaster of Fairlop and I think it was during 1940 that he was called up for service in the Royal Navy. Just before leaving he gave me a pair of tan coloured shoes which he said he would not be needing in the Navy. He was a popular , likeable and charismatic master. Mr.Templeman wore glasses, squinted and was probably in his early forties. My only recollection of him is that he taught science.
Other Personnel included Matron, the Camp Manager Mr.Hollingshead and various catering and camp employees.
I soon became accustomed to being away from home and having made friends, life at Cranleigh settled into a comfortable and enjoyable existence and I readily adapted to boarding school life. However, homesickness was a problem for some boys and a few attempted to find their way home. I do not think they generally got further than Cranleigh Railway Station. Apart from taking cover in the trenches during daylight air raids we were not really much affected by the war or wartime conditions. During the Battle of Britain, we were frequently given exciting overhead aerial battles to watch from the safety of our trenches and a cheer would go up whenever an aeroplane was shot down - even though we could not always identify it as friend or foe.
During dark winter days the arrangement of lessons was changed to having morning lessons as usual and then early evening classes and leaving afternoons free for our personal pursuits. In addition to the usual school lessons there were many activities in which to get involved and I do not recall ever having time on my hands or becoming bored. Boys interested in gardening were allowed to have their own small plot of ground and encouraged to grow useful salad type crops such as carrots, lettuce, radishes and onions. I enjoyed looking after a plot and learnt the rudiments of crop rotation. A piggery was established under the management of Mr Wiskar and boys were encouraged to help with all aspects of pig keeping. Pig food was cooked on site to supplement scraps from the dining room. This activity did not appeal to me and I did not get involved. When a Scout troop was started I joined but I think it was short lived and we were not kitted out with the Scouts uniform. During my time at Elmbridge, Mr Clarke developed an initiation ceremony for new entrants who, upon being initiated, received a certificate. However, I cannot recall any details of this ceremony.
The canal bordering the camp site was a constant attraction. Large trees grew along the bank and thick ropes were attached to overhanging branches to make exciting swings and it was fairly common for boys to get a ducking. Sports were encouraged and I was lucky to play in goal for the school soccer X1 and behind the wicket for the cricket XI. Mr Wiskar was unique in his ability to coach us in football and the school team joined the Guildford Boys League. All our matches were played away from home and us London lads, as our opponents called us, always succeeded in coming top of the league table.
Throughout the whole year we had church parades every Sunday and it was compulsory to take part. We formed up in twos and walked into Cranleigh village to, what I think was, St Andrew's Church. I had been used to attending Sunday School so the church services were no hardship and I enjoyed taking part in them. I would also occasionally walk to Cranleigh village on a Saturday - certainly prior to Christmas to buy presents for the family. It was on walks to the village that boys picked herbs at a particular grassy spot en route. The herbs were dried and used as tobacco for smoking in home made pipes. I did my share of gathering these tobacco-like herbs and this was my first introduction to smoking. I seem to remember there were two routes to get to Cranleigh and the popular one was a shortcut using a footpath over a railway crossing.
Letter writing to our parents became a part of the curriculum and a weekly letter home, however brief, was sent. Parent Visiting Days, once every month, were eagerly anticipated and resulted in most boys receiving tuck of one sort or another. In preparation for these popular days we would, in the Spring, pick wild flowers such as primroses, daffodils and bluebells to give to parents. Most of us, myself included, headed in the direction of Hascome Hill to gather flowers. Every Christmas the School closed and boys returned home for the holiday. I can remember thinking how small our rooms at home appeared when compared with the school buildings and open spaces of Cranleigh.
I was fortunate in having many friends and three particular boys come to mind. Derek Humphries, John Hollinghead who was the son of the camp manager and Ken Marshall. Ken was the Head Boy and we left at the same time and afterwards corresponded for a year or two. I often wonder how he and others have fared.
In April 1943 I left Elmbridge having thoroughly enjoyed my three years there. The school set its own leaving examination and I passed and came top of those sitting. At the time of leaving, I was the deputy head prefect and I left with a favourable testimonial from the Headmaster.
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Photo's and Certificates sent in by Richard Johnson
A founding Old Boy
Elmbridge 1st Eleven 1941-1942 Mr. Wiskar coaching
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Richard present day
OLD BOYS OF ELMBRIDGE SCHOOL
In the 63 years since leaving Elmbridge School there have been a few occasions when I happened to meet old boys and that is not counting the few who are close to home. You cannot get closer than family and my step-brothers, Peter and John Alexander, were both at Elmbridge. Peter started in 1945 when he was eleven and a half, was in Abbey House and left School at fifteen in 1948. Some of the photographs which appear under my Memories on the web-site were kindly supplied by Peter. John followed him and was, I think, in Forest House.
Before introducing another family connection I must briefly digress on to the subject of business. When I left Elmbridge in 1943 my first job was with H.M.Inspector of Taxes. I stayed there for a little over a year and then had an introduction to a large firm of Chartered Accountants in the City. I was accepted as a junior audit clerk and who should I meet there, and in the same department, but Norman Barkway. Norman was a founder pupil, in Abbey House, and due to a health problem he had to leave after approximately one year. Norman and I were still living in Ilford, travelled together daily to Liverpool Street Station and occasionally worked together on the same audit. These were happy days, not least because of Norman' s tremendous sense of fun and good humour. In due course I started courting a beautiful young lady who also worked at the same Company, we became engaged and later married. At some point Norman met my wife' s sister and eventually wedding bells rang for them and Norman became my brother-in-law. In recent years Normane' s health has been indifferent but fortunately his sense of humour is unaffected.
On leaving Elmbridge, boys were encouraged by Mr.Wiskar to join the Ad Astra Youth Club. It had been formed for the benefit of old Loxford School pupils and in 1943 was a flourishing club. It met at Loxford School on Mondays and Wednesdays and was open to boys and girls with Mr.Derek Burnand as Supervisor. Teams were fielded for table tennis, football, cricket and a wide range of social activities were held. These included a keen group who met every Sunday, winter and summer, for all day cycle rides and rambles on alternate weeks. I took Mr.Wiskar' s advice, joined the Club, and met a number of Elmbridge old boys. The ones I remember are Derek Palmer, Derek Emery, Derek Robbins, Kenny Howell and Colin Allen. I am sure there were others but their names escape me.
Derek Palmer and Derek Emery, both founder pupils, together with myself and a group of Ad Astra members, became a good friends and in our youth spent a lot of time together cycling, on country rambles and various social activities. In later years Derek Palmer and I kept in touch, until in September 2005, he sadly passed away. Derek Emery moved to South Africa where he spent the major part of his business life making his mark in the field of insurance. Derek married a South African girl and every few years he, and sometimes both, would return to the U.K. as part of extended holidays. We would meet up and talk over old times and hear about the good life they enjoyed in South Africa. Derek was a capable player of all ball games and a particularly fine cricketer. He passed away approximately eight years ago. Derek Robbins and I have kept in touch since the Ad Astra days and although he lives in outer Essex we still manage to see each other every year or so. Derek was a founder pupil and a member of Fairlop House. For keen sports people who outgrew the Youth Club, Ad Astra fielded a senior cricket and football team. After completing National Service I played in the soccer X1 alongside Kenny Howell and Colin Allen. For many years the team competed at a respectable level in the South Essex Premier League. It is many years since seeing either Kenny or Colin.
In 2003, through a mutual friend, I briefly made contact with David Cobb. David was a founder pupil, of Forest House, and our first contact was by telephone when we shared recollections of our schooldays, how we had fared since and arranged to exchange the few photographs in our possession. In this conversation David mentioned he was suffering from prostate cancer but was, nevertheless, extremely cheerful and eager to maintain contact. David, like myself, played in the School soccer team and I sent him a photograph of the team in the 1941/42 season. For anyone interested, this picture is on the web-site and David is sitting in the front row, centre, behind the shield. Between us we later managed to put names to most of those team members. Sadly our contact was short lived as David passed away in 2004. This contact with David was uplifting for me yet poignant in view of the outcome. I like to think that David enjoyed our brief contact as much as I had and in the only letter from him the opening sentence included the words “.. we did not perhaps realise at that time, but they were indeed halcyon days”. How right he was.
Isal Marcus was a founder pupil, of Fairlop House, and I met him some forty years ago at Ilford Broadway. Isal and I had been friends prior to Cranleigh but somehow lost touch. Isal came from a family of entrepreneurs so it was no surprise to hear that he was doing well with his own property company. Another name that comes to mind is that of Russell Pulfer. I am almost certain that Russell was at Elmbridge and we kept in touch, meeting now and then during the early post war years. We lost touch when he moved away from the Ilford area some twenty-five years ago.
This brings me to my last and recent contact; Doug Tamplin. Quite by chance, Doug and I met at a friends party at Chigwell in March this year and it was a tremendous surprise to us both to discover our common link. It was through this fortunate meeting that we subsequently became aware of the School web-sites and were able to catch up with Elmbridge progress during the intervening years. Chance meetings occur when you least expect them. Here's hoping for further surprises. 8 July 2006