'High Trees'

'HIGH TREES'

(see also G. Martin '1962 ... High Jinks in High Trees' and Mike Merry’s article on High Trees in the main RLS Site Library)

High Trees was certainly out of bounds in my early years at the school. I remember as a first former being chased in a game during the lunchtime break and running in there without thinking. As I was strolling back I came face to face with a prefect, Brian Wren. The punishment- Write out 50 times “ Trespassers will be prosecuted if they persist in perambulating in unauthorised places” Not a line one easily forgets. (Roger Oxenham 54/61 RNG)

Gentlemen, During my sojourn at RLS, High Trees was a quiet space (with bridge, flint, pond, tadpoles etc.) off to the left as one faced the Hare Hall entrance to the school. Many among us took advantage of the secluded nature of the place to escape the scrutiny of others - all quite within the rules, of course. It was not out of bounds, to the best of my knowledge. The Bird Sanctuary was on the left, behind its high wire fence, as you came into the school from Upper Brentwood Road, stretching from the road up to the swimming pool. Rumour has it that the hide/hut was a place for luring birds of a non-feathered variety to as they came home from RCH. Like so many things about RLS, I never found out who authorised access to that area - perhaps the birds themselves! (Peter Nunn 51-56 NNG)

I had access to the bird sanctuary along with my friends in the bird-watching society, inbclding Ian Rolfe, Roy Hutchins, Mike Ridd and others. It was our private preserve. The old horse, Bob, was sometimes tethered there to eat grass. Hutchins once tickled his fancy with a long stick and we were able to view the ultimate penis. (Robert Priddy 49-53)

I notice that the feature article mentions that in 1768 John Wallinger began building Hare Hall, and also that he was a dealer in cork and stone. I don't recall reading that before, and just wondered if there was a connection with the giant cork oak tree on the playing field edge of Hightrees that blew down in a gale during my time at the school. It was reported in newspapers as one of only a few cork oaks in Britain. Many pupils took a small sample as a souvenir. (John Hawkins)

Cork Oak (Quercus suber) is a complex wood which has been much misaligned due to lack of knowledge of its properties. It's possible to use the wood for very high grade use such as panels and furniture and it was used extensively by the automakers RMM or Riley Motors Manufacturers. Riley used the wood to panel the Kestrel and Pathfinder but it was the RME that used most of the supply. In the early 1960's, Riley was having difficulties in obtaining the wood in the quantities it required for production. Most of it was imported from Portugal and often was spoiled by the wetness that impregnated the trunk. Also, as wine became more popular, any kind of cork tree was fair game for the industry. It's was estimated that a full grown Cork Oak could supply enough wood to panel about four dozen automobiles which meant that Riley needed over 3 thousand trees a year.
The day after the Romford Recorder published the story of the tree's uprooting, in November 1965, a Morris Motors executive phoned the Romford Town Hall and asked if they would agree to allow them to remove the tree which had fallen at RLS at no cost to the municipality whatsoever. The committee readily agreed. Moving a fallen tree of that size was not easy neither was it cheap. Charles Allen, the Romford Ford dealer had quoted two hundred and seventy pounds to do the job, using one of their car transporters. The Morris offer was replied too in writing and the following Monday afternoon an articulated lorry arrived from Cowley with a forklift on it and a crew of four. The lorry came along the drive through the Castellan Ave. gate "creating quite a stir among the spectators watching an inter-house cricket match being played on the 1st XI pitch".
The foreman met briefly with J P Coles and then workmen quickly trimmed the branches and with the forklift,loaded the trunk onto the lorry. That was not the last of it though, as the notes reveal.Some two weeks later a letter was received by Romford Borough Council and was passed on to the RLS. The letter, from Minister of Land and Natural Resources, wished to know the circumstances under which the RLS Cork Oak had been felled. From what I can gather this correspondence carried on over a two month period, during which it was determined that the commercial value of the tree was a little over five hundred pounds. The Ministry of Land and Natural Resources eventually accepted that high winds had felled the tree but encouraged JPC to contact BMC and ask for compensation. Again a series of letters were exchanged but eventually, RLS did receive a check for one hundred pounds from BMC. It is not recorded how this money was spent but at least the Cork Oak bought some financial gain to the school.So that's the full story of the tree. Not very exciting but yet something else we might never have known. (Mike Merry)

'High Trees' is the wooded area to the north-east of the School buildings (come out of the main door of Hare Hall and look 45 degrees to your right) running alongside Upper Brentwood Road. A dried up river bed and a broken down bridge ... all man-made in the 18th Century.
Out of bounds (serious risk of surreptitious cigarette smoking) unless accompanied by a Biology Master or in the company of one pr*f*ct G. Martin (see '1962 ... High Jinks in High Trees' in the Library). See also the essay by Hon. Member Merry, also in the Library. (Andy)

"High Trees" was also the name of the house behind the chain link fencing to the rear of the First XI pitch inhabited, at some time, by Wally Walters. I guess it was at the end of the Edward Close cul-de-sac. Of course its garden also bordered on to the RLS "High Trees" area. (DGM)

On the illegal side there were the trees which separated the Royal Liberty from the small church school on the western side of the grounds. Here one could climb up into the very leafy branches and relax. One day I was there with Scotty McGregor and George Delmonte and we were very well hidden. We found we could spit upwards and hit the children playing close to the trees. This was a splendid game until we were caught by three prefects who had responded to a call

from the Reverend Mother of the school to the RLS office. Two stroke for that!

High Trees of course was a wonderful place to pass a lunch hour. There were so many hidden dens there where lunch could be eaten and a cigarette consumed while watching prefects walk by fifteen feet away and them unaware of your presence. (DGM)

My recollection is that High Trees was, in fact, portion of an ancient local creek which had been filled in over the years. According to an old print - in the library - circa 1800-1820 (?) there was certainly a bloody great artificial lake or canal or some such, deep enough to float a boat. Possibly this was fed from the ancient local creek, but it seems to have extended over where the first and second XI pitches are rather than the 4th (?) XI pitch so I doubt if that would explain the waterlogging of that particular pitch. It was certainly the worst drained of all the pitches and always had standing water after any rain. It also collected that revolting overflow from the kitchen sink drain! Scummy, suddy, stinking vegetable-encrusted gunge that added enormously to the dubious pleasures of goal-keeping! (DGM)

A large tree fell at the edge of High Trees, near the Stevenson Screen, in the mid-1960s. It turned out to be a Cork Oak, one of only a handful in the UK. Perhaps a reflection of how well the grounds of Hare Hall were originally laid out. This was reported in the local press at the time. I, and many others, took a sample of the cork bark which was unbelievably light. (John Hawkins)

High Trees- I only remember that as a sanctuary that was out of bounds to all. However in the spring when the pond had a few feet of water we would build bridges across the pond. What small ventures satisfied our needs. No smoking. Bert Pead- We were just as afraid of him as we were of the teachers. He had the biggest house around in a beautiful surrounding in High Trees. There was also the CCF building and the rifle range in High Trees. There was also a small copse of trees at the main entrance. We visited this area in Biology class with Birdbrain until he said "Look there's a woodpeckers hole" and I started singing I put my finger in the woodpecker hole, and the woodpecker said god bless my soul, take it out etc. (Brian Coan)

During the nervous months (1959) of my approach to the School the rumour was that *every* first-former would have his head thrust down a flushing toilet, followed by a de-bagging. I don't recall such rite being executed - young imaginations fuelled by Bunter and Tom Brown's Schooldays no doubt. (Andy Lee)

This may be historical imagination, but I recall being told that the bridge/culvert at the far end of High Trees was filled in with rubble, sometime in the early '50's (certainly before '56), and this prevented water running into High Trees, where there had previously been a pond/lake. (Peter Cowling)

Indeed, the High Trees Pond was a winter phenomenon but I never knew of its association with young unpopulates. However, as young boy scouts, we used to erect an aerial runway over it between two trees (knot practice and stuff) and the odd bod fell off now and again to howls of demented laughter. It was cold in winter. (David Silverside)

The pond in high trees was strictly a winter and spring affair. In the summer it would usually dry up. In November it would produce the biggest newts ever seen in the United Kingdom or probably the world. As a small boy they seemed like Kyomo Dragons (or so I thought) and after school 1st and second formers would catch these and put them in glass jam jars to take home. They were really large so-and-so's. I recall that on the train people would move away from boys who were taking their jars home. They were black and yellow and ferocious looking. Although I can recall many boys "getting a bootfull" I can't say I ever saw anyone thrown in the pond. It did seem that it was all part of the "folly" the bridge over nothing at the end and the pond itself, not supplied with water from any source other than rain. (Mike Merry)

...the 1950s folklore about High Trees Pond: I seem to recall learning in my last year at primary school (1955-56) that RLS boys who were unpopular were thrown into High Trees Pond. This news alarmed my mother, although I do not think she assumed that I would a candidate. The tale interests me because it seems to represent one of those faint borrowings from Harry Wharton and Greyfriars School that formed such a large part of lower middle class popular literature (including black and white TV renderings of Mr Quelch making poor Bunter howl "Yaroo" which would presumably be banned by the EU nowadays as pornographic).
But I do not recall anyone ever being thrown into High Trees Pond. Indeed, there was no pond except for a few days after heavy rain. I do recall an episode c. 1958 or 1959 when the swimming pool turned green and George Newth announced that somebody had thrown paint into it and had better do the decent thing and own up. As a result, all games were banned, which suited me just fine. A lynch mob gathered down near the Cambridge Avenue gate one lunchtime intending to do for some 5th former (I think) who was alleged to be the culprit. Pr*f*cts (why this prejudice against pr*f*cts, ouch yaroo you chaps?) broke up the riot. A few days later, speaking even more obliquely from the side of his mouth than usual, GHRN announced that the green stain had been caused by something called algae. Since algae were too small or too slippery to be subjected to his normal forms of discipline (and presumably hadn't passed the 11+ anyway), the matter was allowed to rest and those of us of a delicate and artistic disposition forced to resume the ploy of claiming that we were really rather good at fielding on the boundary. (Ged Martin)

I don't recall High Trees being out of bounds for bird nesting. After all, the Bird Sanctuary was the hallowed ground for our feathered friends. High Trees was put out of bounds at various times due to someone doing something nasty or for sheer bloody mindedness. Either the Prefects or the Sixth form, or perhaps both, would still have access but the plebes were banned. Naturally enough this didn't discourage the wilder spirits and many's the chase that's been seen as the trespasser fled authority and made it to the bicycle sheds and round the cadet hut to the back door. (Mike Merry)

The High Trees Bridge: You could walk across the bridge in my time at the RLS. However I saw this year that it's no longer possible. The access road into the new group of houses has pushed the High Trees boundary inwards about 2 metres and the boundary now coincides with the bridge parapet. (John Phillips)

"I notice that the bridge is of modern bricks, and now recall that it was rebuilt during my time at the school. Was that around 1961? Was there no footpath on the west side before that time?" (John Hawkins)

North would have been towards the rear of the playing fields across the first XI pitch. This means south would be the Upper Brentwood Road. East would be down the drive and out heading towards the Ship and the London Road. This means west would be behind the bridge. I recall that entering high trees from where the Cadet Hut and sports storage hut stood there was a path all the way down the fence along side the lake down to the bridge. I seem to recall that a fence ran

across the top of the bridge but there was enough room to walk across the arch to the other side. (Mike Merry)

For some unknown reason, there were a number of us who congregated behind one of the brick huts (used for storing goal posts or something) So, every break, a group of boys wander across the field and disappear behind a hut......nothing suspicious there!!! Maybe it was because the only time I ever smoked in High Trees, I was caught by the deputy headmaster (Cant remember his name, just that we nicknamed him `Bullethead` Ah....memories!! (Tony Harrison)

I spent many enjoyable (and muddy) lunch times in high trees (when I was not in the playgroung kicking a tennis ball about). During my time there, it was obviously well past its peak. The lake had obviously dried up many years previously, although it still had a trickle after heavy rain. I am sure it was here that I got my habit of building dams at the seaside. I also remember 'the bigger boys' (1 year above) managing to get a number of tools

into the school - manual pumps and pick axes. One summer they set about demolishing the ornamental bridge at the far end of High Trees, and made a thorough job of it. (Chris Fribbins)

In about 1964/5 the "lakes" regularly flooded every winter. Somehow bathtubs appeared and attempts were made to cross the lake most lunchtimes (usually resulting in wet feet at the minimum). There was also the annual CCF assault course with an aerial ropeway from one of the larger trees across wet stuff. Health & Safety eat you heart out! (Chris Broadbridge)

High Trees:

From the balcony above Hare Hall, GHRN can see it all,

Boys walking past the hedge of holly, by CCF hut to the folly.

Slowly, and with care they make, to stagnant water, High Trees Lake,

Jars in hand, Wellington boots, they hunt evasive High Trees newts.

Youngsters seek with eagle eyes, this sluggish swimming schoolboy prize.

The frogspawn has produced its fruit, black and yellow ugly newt.

Into the jar, secure the top, walk carefully to the High Road stop.

Office workers on the bus, cringe at the sight of Triturus.

Hiding high amongst the leaves, the smoking third former believes

It can't be seen from down below, dog-ends smoke, reddish glow,

But while with friends he swaps the gab, from the window of the Physics Lab

A wiley Pr*f*cts seen enough, to take the smoker straight to Scruff!

Two fifth formers on a stroll, bump into the Pr*f*ct patrol,

Hidden `neath the shielding pines, ambushing and imposing lines.

But the fifth, to some extent, from silly lines are quite exempt,

They give the Pr*f*cts both their names, laughing at their stupid games.

Closed in August is the school, but not High Trees or swimming pool.

Accents from all over France are heard during an evening dance.

Delightful nymphs Parisian, play in the trees, catch as you can.

At last on beds of leaves they fall, exotic creatures straight from Gaul.

There was once a bridge that crossed the lake, but boys did picks and shovels take,

And knock this structure to the ground, this wonder of Calamity Brown.

On August evenings there's no breeze, but bushes move deep in High Trees,

Pr*f*cts checking caps and ties or Mademoiselles with tempting eyes? (Mike Merry)

a disused bridge in High Trees? It was supposed to be filled in underneath with rubble but we cleared a narrow entrance so that we could crawl in and have a smoke. I wish I could remember all the names of the smokers’ crew. Joe Levy and Tony Gason were two of them. I think Gray Walker and certainly myself. But there was at least a dozen. (Ian Macauley)

Sorry, Mike. There are threads about two different bridges running at once. My e-mail was about the U. Brentwood Rd. bridge over the railway, as featured in the Free Radio pic in Andy's new album. (John Hawkins)

Thanks John, mystery solved. The footpath from Upper Brentwood to Gidea Park Station must have been there for years. I can vouch for the fact it was there before 1951 anyway. This was the preferred way for RLS train riders to get to the station and faster than going round the back way taking Compton Rd.

I suppose it must have been almost a mile from the school to the Station. If you got out right at 4pm on the bell you could run, loaded down with raincoat and satchel etc. to get the 409PM. This was quite an achievement as it meant actually getting away from the school very quickly and risking getting caught running in the corridors etc. The next train was the 419PM, only ten minutes but a lifetime for a young boy! (Mike Merry)

During the late 60's and early 7's High Trees bore the brunt of many a secret test of various home made devices fashioned from ingredients that were pilfered from "Jet" Morgan's secret store in the Chemistry Lab. Amongst these was a mortar constructed from an old piece of drainpipe (which had "accidentally" become detached from the shed containing the "Rifle Range") and used a couple of cricket balls nicked from the pavilion as shells. The device was primed with a small amount of sugar/weedkiller mix as the gunpowder substitute and the fuse was a 6 inch piece of magnesium ribbon courtesy of Jet's cupboard. It was sunk into the ground for stability and was fired one evening after school with much anticipation, but sadly it blew itself apart as the barrel was desperately sub-standard. The cricket ball was never found. Undeterred, plans were drawn up for the next project - "Operation Dustbin into Orbit" but this unfortunately failed to get off the ground! A shame really as I believe the unfortunate Mr Cantle was one of several names put forward as nominee for the job of astronaut. (Steve Hyde)