MY PERSONAL ROYAL LIBERTY SCHOOL ALUMNI, Boys & Masters.
Plus 12th Romford Scout Troop

(See also my account of life at RLS 49-53)


The School Ship Group visiting the Shell tanker 'STS Velutina' at Canvey Island. Photo on right shows O'Brien (glasses), Webb or Wilson or?, & Priddy
(1948-1953)

The names are followed by a intake year & a letter in brackets, which indicate L = Latin class, S = Spanish class. G = German class, F = French class
I, Robert Priddy, was in the 1947 intake Latin class (for 3 years) and then the 1948 Latin class (for 2 years).


1947 entry Latin Class - in 1950
Standing l. to r.- Wren, O'Brien, Robinson, Wallace, Deeley, Muckle, Cooper, Watson
Seated l.to.r. Eaton, Gorman, Beck, Patrick, Stuart, Lesslie, Gower, Bradbrook, Bartram
In left window at rear: Foster (?) Priddy (?) - right window: Benson, Arthur
Photo taken in break before Latin class with Mr. Morley

Some of my masters at assembly: Fox on right, Bell 3rd from right, Pezey next.

 

    


Robert Priddy in school uniform
ca. 1950 (No tie when in cricket togs)

Prize that was should have gone to Robin Harris, but which he agreed with Newth could go to me (he had so many)

THE 12TH ROMFORD SCOUT TROOP

was attached to RLS and met at one of two concrete bunker like buildings along the edge of the tree-lined sports area. Another was sued by the 7'th Romford troop.
The leader of 12'th Romford Scouts was the classics master John Morley. Assistant Scout leader: 'Bunny' Warren. Queen Scout: Ian Crowther

12th Romford Scout camps

The annual summer holiday scout camps were a good way for me of relieving the boredom of being mainly with my elderly aunts and uncles.

The first I went to - in 1950 - was at Coombeinteignhead (last part pron.'tinhead'), a village near the mouth of the River Teign near to Newton Abbot. There was a largish troop of four patrols with 4 or 5 members in each. The leader was a young man called 'Bunny' Warren. The informal atmosphere and freedoms were a welcome change from school. We went down in a lift to a very deep limestone 'pothole' cave somewhere near Torquay where neolithic man had lived and where a fossilised skull of a huge cave bear was to be seen stuck in the rock where it had died. I have since discovered that this was Kent's cavern (1 mile from Torquay), and the cave was used by early Stone Age hunters, implements and remains of both human and animals had been discovered there, including those of extinct animals including the mammoth, the sabre-toothed tiger and the wooly rhinocerous!
There was also catamaran paddling on the sea at Torquay, a zoo, visits to cafés and a bus trip to Widdicombe (but no fair, no Uncle Tom - only exhorbitant tourist bric-a-brac). An accident occured to Malcolm Beck: while out on wood fag, he sank his hatchet into a dead treetrunk and hit a wasps' nest. The wasps attacked him en masse and he had to run into the river to get them off. He had over 30 stings and was in a serious condition for several days.
There was singing and fooling around the camp-fire in the evenings, inititiation ceremonies. I had to eat a sandwich comprised of mustard, cocoa, sausage, jam and so on. Mick Halpin and Bixby (?) had to black up, then sing and dance around the fire in grass skirts. There were also long, painful treks with heavy rucksacks and staves.

In 1951, the annual summer camp was in North Wales, in a wooded dale by a riverlet on a very isolated farm in Denbighshire - Cyffylliog or thereabouts in the Clocaenog forest near the Brenig reservoir. There was a good deal of climbing, or rather heavy going up steep hills. Milk had to be fetched very early each morning from the farm about a mile off. The chief attraction was the bus tour around the castles, the smallest house in Britain (at Conway Castle) and bathing on the beach at Rhyl.

In 1952, the camp was at Boar's Hill, close to Oxford, in a large wood in which was also a big, untiled swimming pool. There were other scout troops there and the camp fire meetings were very large. Apart from all the mainstream songbook songs, we learned there the fascinating American ditty 'Cocaine Bill and Morphine Sue, were walkin' down Fifth Avenue, singin' Honey have a (sniff), have a (sniff) on me, C'mon, have a (sniff) on me... etc." Apart from the usual tests and trials concocted by 'Bunny' Warren, the outings were to Oxford colleges and to the Thames for canoeing. Bixby and Dodds managed to capsize a canoe while getting into it (both stepping on the side) and fell into the drink. The boatman saved them with his hook.

Woodwork went as much against my grain as I was against its. The many hours we must have spent in that class are a complete blank. However, I recall the boy who was top of our woodwork class - Mick Halpin. Mick Halpin was hoping to become a London bus designer and he was ever making beautiful and complex scale drawings of modified double-deckers with increased numbers of seats etc.
Alan Jagger from Dagenham, whose aim it was to design Ford cars, was known as the start of woodwork. During some knock-together discussion class we somehow happened to share one day, I remember Jagger and a friend of his (who claimed to be a yob) in altercation with Mr. Pilling ('Errn'). One of them said that he favoured 14 as school-leaving age so he could earn some money at last instead of wasting his time learning English (daring talk!). 'Errn' was scathing, asking who would employ him to do what - being a useless unskilled layabout. But Jagger stuck to his daggers and claimed he could get a job any day at some factory where his brother worked, painting gramophone turntables. 'Errn' enlarged on the future benefits of taking GCE etc. Perhaps he won the day, as Jagger did stay on and scored highly in woodwork, at least.

 

Bailey........................(1947 L)
Beck, Malcolm ........(1947 L) Leader of Beaver Patrol in 12'th Romford Scouts. Died in car crash.
Bellamy, Ray.............(1947 L)
Benson, Peter..........(1947 L) Acted Ariel in 'The Tempest' most animatedly
...........................(now a retired RLd gym teacher, having taken up wood carving)
Bixby.......................(1948) Also in Beavers, 12th Romford Scouts
Bloggs....................(1947 L)
Blunden.................(1947 L)
Boad, Tom.............(1947 F) Air Signaller with me in R.A.F. Lived in Cheam
Bolton, Trevor........(1948 S) Guitarist - Les Paulite
Bond, Graham........(1948) Started jazz-rock movement. Died 1960s
Bourne, (Eric ?).........(1949)Water polo player, excellent swimmer
Bradbrooke, Dave......(1947 L)
Brown, Colin..............(1948 L)
Burgess, Tyrell (Head boy)....(1949 L) Went to London Univ. Was on TV debates in 50s.
Burridge, Dave ..........(1947 L) footballer & cricketer
Caldicott, Geoffrey......(1948) Bird-watching Society
Carrington, Colin.......(1948 L) most popular boy - class leader. Attained high rank in the British Army
Coates, Bill................(4)Bird-watching Society
Cooper ...................(1947 L)
Collard, Del ('Col')..(1948 L) artistic & humourous
Deeley, Colin........(1947 L) Air signaller with me in RAF, went to Malaya. Later became civil airline pilot.
Denton....................(1947)
Dodds, Brian........... ..(1948 F) Also in 12th Romford Scouts
Eaton.....................(1947 L)
Glover...................(1947 L)
Gorman.................(1947 L)
Gower.................(1947 L)
Halpin, Mick.........(1947 L) in 12th Romford Scouts
Hare......................(1948 F)
Harris......................(1948 L) The brains of the year!!
Hinchcliffe...........(1946) The table tennis expert
Holmes, Ralph......(1947 L) Brilliant violinist - Son of master, F. Holmes. Died in Germany.
Holt........................(1947 L)
Hutchins, J.K. ..........(1948 F) Birdwatcher & stage manager
Jackman, G.M. ........(1948 L) Cricket & football eleven. Ever near to top of the class.
Jagger...................(1947 F)
Jones, Mervyn...... (1947 L) science buff - zoology. Became vetinary surgeon.
King, Brian ...........(1949 F) Shakespeare actor (Portia in M. of V) & guitarist
Lambert .................(1947 L)
Laughlan...........(1947 L)
Leslie ('Les')..........(1947 L)
Lutkins ..................(1947 L)
Marsden, John ('Mars')...(1947 L)
May (Brian?)..........(1948 L)
Mercer, Terry...........(1948))
McGrath..................(1947 L)
Morris .....................(1947 L)
Muckle .....................(1947 L)
Norris, Geoffrey......(1948) Music aficianado
Nye, Robert ..........(1947 L) went to California
O'Brien, E.J. .........(1947 L) always top of class, became head boy
Osbourne................(1947 L)
Pattrick, Malcolm.....(1947 L)
Peavey....................(1948) 12th Romford scouts
Pedlar.....................(1947 L)
Pettit ......................(1948 L) school organist & pianist
Randall.................(1947 F)
Reed, Douglas .....(1947 L) v. popular boy - class leader, footballer. Attained high rank in British Army
Ridd, Michael..........(1948) Bird Watching Society. Became geologist in oil exploration.
Robinson...............(1947 L) Cricket eleven
Rolfe, Ian................(1947 L) choirboy at Hornchurch. Bird-watching Society. Became museum curator in Scotland, now retired.
Shaw.....................(1949)
Smith ('Doggie')....(1947) So-nicknamed because he once sang, 'How Much is that Doggie in the Window' and he became a hit. He actually used it as his official name, until Mr. Pilling took him in hand.
Stuart......................(1947 L) another brain
Wallace.................(1947 L)
Watson, Alan.............(1947 L) brainy - went into R.A.F. research
White.....................(1947 L)
Wood, Cedric.......(1947 L)
Wren, Brian.............(1947 L) School librarian. Started as assistant to Brian King?

Mick Halpin (1948 - Latin class) I recall as using class time to produce amazingly accurate designs of London Transport double-deckers, with plan, elevation the lot and clever seating improvements and people-packing tricks. His father may have been a bus designer.

Leslie (48 Latin) took to drawing flying saucers when the reports of sightings flooded in from the USA around the start of the Korean War. He progressed gradually to flying cups, spoons, teapots and other space junk.

Del Collard - 'Col' (49 Latin) drew vivid, weird characters representing Bluebottle, Eccles, Seagoon and other grotesques - this was during the very first Goon period when they were misprinted in the Radio Times as the 'Go On Show'. Colette also did a hilarious crazy walk... long before Monty Python.

Incipient Teddyboys: Around 1953, two boys in the fourth form who hung around Romford in Edwardian-type jacketsand creepers - self-proclaimed 'yobs' - were told to run the 100 yds. in practice training for Sports Day. They refused flatly and, when pressed hard, answered back at the master in charge with rude words. It was 'Dinger' Bell, who forced them to run on pain of being sent to the head. They eventually did run it, but both put on an absurd show of idiotic struggling effort & reached the finishing line exactly together arm in arm roaring with laughter. It was brave, I thought. They were sent to Newth and got expelled on the spot. I forget the name of one on the left, but the other was Steff Turner.