Master Anecdotes 2
Schofield, Kerr, Reeki, Reisner, Sach, Saville
Subject: Physical
Training
Nicknames: 'Brig', 'Daddy'
So called because of his (apparently to us at the time) advanced age. [A.H. Lee]
I am going to produce a fairly detailed outline of the "Daddy Schofield"
saga for the Old Libs Newsletter based on my experiences I might add with
absolutely no guarantee on what is true and what is apocryphal. Remember I had
seven years as his pupil and then another five learning how to do things "his
way".
He was born Maurice Chester of a quite well to do family and only changed his
name to Victor Walter Schofield when he enlisted as a drummer boy in the first
World War as he was under age. He became a Bombadier in the Artillery and a PTI.
I believe there were some family ties with the Circus and he became very active
in the circus world under his own name, first as a booth fighter, then a strong
man and finally as an animal trainer specialising in performing dogs. By this
time he was at the Lib and many somersaulting dogs were trained in his office.
When I returned as a member of staff in 1958 he insisted that I taught boxing as
he did, learning the required orders “ advance 1,2, retire 1,2, move to the
left go, 1,2, move to the right go, 1,2." No-one ever got to hit anyone else so
the lessons were very static. He did allow me to add a minute of 'free for all' after a while so, if you didn't like that, it was my fault.
Re swimming; before the pool was heated you swam from may 1st until the end of
the summer term. The lowest I can remember it ever being was 47 degrees F when I
was in the fourth form I think. In my view nothing could possibly be achieved at
these temperatures so I introduced a minimum of 60 degrees F before anyone went
into the water when I took over so all you wimps who complain about the
temperature when I was Head of PE don' know how lucky you were!!!!
Daddy Scho retired in 1963 well over retirement age. In those days it was
quite difficult to work after the age of 65. He did, indeed, return to the
School as admin assistant to the CCF for some years until his health started to
decline a bit and the CCF ceased to exist. We remained good friends for many
years and he lived to a good age in his caravan (more later) and I valued his
friendship. He was a remarkably learned man with a wealth of knowledge on all
subjects. He was certainly a character with some very strange ways but the world
needs more like him.
Peter Benson (pupil 1948-1954) and master 1958-2000 odd)
Terry Hawkins reminiscences prompted one or two of my own.
I am sure I remember Terry training to do back flips. Schofield had some
sort of harness that went around the boy's waist. A couple of ropes were
attached and with these Schofield assisted the somersault. No doubt Terry will
tell me if I've got it wrong.
There was also a Cinderella type coach, white and sparkly that was sometimes
kept at the back of the Gym. What was that for Terry? (
Bernard Coe 43-51)
Bernard Coe remembers the belt used for protecting us whilst learning back flips. If I remember rightly, this was called the lunge belt, it was also used when learning the trapeze, and practicing three highs etc. Mr.Schofield used the same belt for training his dog to do back flips, and the dog was far braver than me! The sparkling parts of the Cinderella Coach were mosaic cut mirrors stuck to the sides of the coach. It was mainly used for advertising the circus. I cannot remember it having any other use. ( Terry Hawkins 43-49)
It is correct that the gym team formed the Regal Troup of (Acrobatic) Clowns, with sequined onepiece suits, white caps, which covered our heads, with a bobble attached. We could choose and develop our own make up but the base had to be white, the red had to be carmine no.1.The World Stage magazine (I believe, stated that we were the largest troup of clowns in the world. David refers to the collapsing pyramid. This was effected by having four/five lads on all fours alongside each other, three on top of them then two and one, which was me. To cause the collapse, we threw our arms forward and our legs back, collapsing on top of each other. During the school holidays Mr.Schofield had a circus called Maurice Chester's Circus. We would be joined by Frensham School from Surrey. They provided the shetland ponies, other ponies and horse acts, and at one show in Dagenham they produced a llama, which, with one kick, killed a terrier which was worrying it. St. Albans was where we had our first show in Verulamium Park. The following year we were in Windsor Home Park recreation ground on VE day. The lights at the castle were turned on and the castle looked as if it was made of gold. It must be appreciated, that throughout the war we had a blackout and to see all of those lights was awe inspiring. The next year we were at Cetral Park Dagenham. To publicise the circus, I walked on my hands from the Civic Centre to the entrance to the park in Rainham Road North. Ken Catton was the strong man at the bottom centre of the upright pyramid and I stood on the shoulders of the man standing on him. Other members of the school gym team were Roy Parminter, Peter Smith (who was ordained later), Eric Bruce (son of the chemist at Gidea Park), ?Stapleton, regretfully I cannot remember the other six. Mr.Marshall (the woodwork master) was the ring master in the circus. (.Terry Hawkins 43-49)
BUT--Was Scholfield a sadist?
He used a slipper on me twice for not wearing black shorts (my mother could n't see the importance of colour in a PE lesson). When I came back from the optician and asked to be excused PE because of the enlarged pupils, he looked at my eyes and remarked what beautiful eyelashes I had. "Miss Bibby must be envious". At the end of our first summer term he made all the non-swinmmers jump in the deep end with -(was his name Saviile?)- Preedy's sidekick- holding a long handled broom to save us drowning. No one did.
Later, as a teacher, I was pressed ganged into teaching PE -and even being inspected at it - I was grateful for learning forward rolls, the crab etc and I even put the basic boxing he taught us to use: one kid I sparred with (he outclassed me completely) ended up Middlesex junior champion.
So : not all bad.
If some of our more ribald brethren were not around, I would say "keep your pecker up, Owen". (
Dave Sutcliffe)
I don't know whether members are interested in the war years at RLS. But I have been intrigued about the staff in those days.
I wager that pre-war there were no woman on the staff. In my time we had Miss Bibby etc. But what was Schofield doing there? I believe all those under 45 were conscripted unless they were invalids. Wally Waters must have been disabled healthwise.Jobling, that dear, dear man, who gave me a caning without giving me a caning, was obviously beyond retirement age. But that fit, fit man, Schofield.?
Schofield ran a circus. "Holiday at home " was a slogan then. And during the summer holidays he put this thing on. The poles for the big top wre stored in the bike sheds. He gave performances in the school,gorunds. Some of the acts were top class -two of them I saw later at the Srand Theatre pantomime.
Terry Hawkins who is a member of our group must remember something of this. The gymn team were the clowns in the circus..I remember Hawkins being the pinnacle of a pyramid that collapsed.
Wives came to the help. There was a Mrs Walters on the staff and the biology teacher, I think she was Mrs Russell, with whom I had a very special relationship, was standing in for her husband who returned from active service and gave us an extaordinary account of his survival from being sunk off the coast of South Africa.
( Dave ['Sutters'] Sutcliffe 43-46.)
I was one of the first members of that Gym Team . It all began in the first year of the war when there was no afternoon school and Jack Bruce and I sought permission from Mr Schofield to make use of the gymnasium for something to do when School was closed. Mr Schofield was about, training, so he agreed to let us come to the Gym while he was there. We had been trying our luck at some very elementary gymnastics and making a pretty fair mess of it I can tell you for about a couple of weeks, when Schofield came over and offered to train us . We were very pleased and so began an episode that was to have a great effect on my later life although I did not know it at the time. We were started straight away on real acrobatic training and I had never been so sore in all my life. We had agreed to stay at it for the rest of the term and we could not t hink of any excuse to stop, but things gradually improved ! The Circus began to develop during 1940 when I was in the 1st year 6th and its 1st performances were held on the ground behind the school next to the tennis court and swimming pool. I recall Parminter who became a very good hand balancer and once held a hand stand on the school parapet overlooking the gym. He had no imagination! I also remember Smith who was my top man in the three high mount . [Do you have any idea where he is now? I am also trying to find out what became of Jack Bruce after the war.]
Terry, you are correct,Schofield did have the name Maurice Chester which he used for his circus activities.
He was also a very good trainer of dogs and he had one called Tim I believe. He was teaching him to do
somersaults when he was training us ! One of the first shows that we gave was in the school hall and when
we did that collapsing pyramid trick ,Tim who up till then behaved beautifully,jumped off the table and began
worrying the heap then dashed out of the hall . We were frequently asked how we trained him to do that !
We only gave a few performances before I left school to join the army in the beginning of 1941. After
the war i taught at the school for a very short time before going off to Reading University. It is all a very
long time ago! (
Ian Kerr)
On the subject of V.W. Schofield, 'Maurice Chester's
Carnival Circus' gave three performances at the Duke
of York's Headquarters, Chelsea, in June 1933 on the
occasion of the 8th Childrens' Annual Garden Party,
and in a Circus at Crystal Palace in December the same
year, 'Maurice Chester's 16 sporting dogs that do
extraordinary tricks' were among the animals that
entertained in what was described in The Times as 'one
of the best [circus] held there since the War'. (
bev curtis 52-60)
THE STANCE brings back the hell of boxing lessons with 'Daddy Sco' who remembers, indeed if you were there who can forget, Daddy Sco bullying us to take up a correct boxing stance left foot forward..........toe slightly turned in right foot, heel lifted....toe slightly turned in fists raised like a bare knuckle brawler of the late 19th century and, as if rehearsing for Come Dancing, the whole class in unison would follow Daddy's example and...." Advance ONE TWO....Retire ONE TWO " is my memory accurate or was it all a horrible dream?? thank the lord, i only ever had to fight once those of the list who remember me, age 12, will confirm that before my many years of indulgence which have resulted in a considerable middle-age bulk,i was no schwarzeneger in fact i was a weed ! luckily i was paired with a lad, by the name of paul farrow, who had achieved even greater weedinesssometime during the first and only round, during which paul and i did our best to avoid each other despite Daddy's cries of 'Advance ONE TWO' i musthave done something wrong because i caught paul with a blow to the nose{Sorry bad pun} resulting in just enough blood to horrify the pair of us and end the fight thanks paul, wherever you are, thanks to you i remain with a 100% undefeated record {ONE TWO!!} (Graham Alexander Lee)
Swimming lessons too, similarly automated. I never knew of
any non-swimmers who learned to swim, me included.I had to go to lessons at
my local pool about 10 years ago, just to purge the memory. And, as David
has already reminded us, the stick on the wet backside for being the last
out (or in) of the pool - ouch!
How many times did I chant "Please Sir, I wish to be excused"? I
believe that there was some sort of scandal surrounding the man some time
after I had left school. I'm not sure of the content - and this may be libellous,
so I'd better be careful - but I think he'd 'not told the whole truth' about
his background as an army PT instructor and 'had to resign'. Anyone know anything
of this? (Andy)
Daddy wasn't old in the `tired' way. He was probably in his late 40's in 1951 and in very good physical condition. He always looked healthy and had a ruddy complexion. He could make the speed bag shimmer and shake when he used it, although this was a treat we rarely got to see. We would turn up for PT and hear the thumpety, thump, thumpety thump of the small, pear-shaped bag hitting the wooden overhang. A glance through the door would find Daddy backhanding the bag with a steady rhythm that takes a lot of practice to achieve. He would hear us and give the bag a last punch, which would send it spinning; turn around and head back to enlighten us on how to do arms-up-astrides.
In the changing room we would put on our black shorts and use our regular sleeveless vests as uniforms. We always used plimsolls; to walk in the gym in anything but plimsolls or socks was an invitation to have your backside warmed. In he winter it was very cold and we were glad to run a couple of laps round the gym to warm up. Then, on `regular' gym days we would be subject to the repetitive jumping up and down, swinging arms, all together now, routine which was mind numbing. Today in the 90's exercise has been bought to a fine art, back when we were younger however, physical fitness was not considered very important and therefore, it was not at all interesting.
The jumping up and down bits we had to endure were really boring. However, not all PT classes were that way. Once a year we would arrive to find all the various bars and beams set up in the obstacle course and this would mean having some fun both attempting the course and watching the less athletic members of the class bash their shins on the bars and skin their hands on the long ropes which hung from the ceiling.
Some of our classmates had no coordination whatsoever. In fact, today these boys would probably be attending remedial sessions for acute physical dysfunction. Back in the `50's however it was do or die! We had one young friend Heath, who was quite brilliant at Geometry and Algebra but who couldn't put one foot in front of the other in the Gym. Poor Heath, it was funny the first couple of times you watched him trying to leap over a horse but you can only laugh so many times at a pratfall. In the end a merciful Daddy banished him to the upper bars to sit on one of the slot-in seats for the duration and Heath went gladly.
Daddy would put up with no nonsense during PT classes. The slightest hint of a problem and the culprit was given a couple of whacks with a size 12 white (or rather off white) gym plimsoll. When one is wearing only gym shorts, this hurts! Daddy rarely smiled. His face always seemed set into a grimace, lips pressed tightly together and jaw set firmly. He wasn't the sort of teacher you messed about with but the interesting items that packed the gym were to tempting to leave completely alone. Any time Daddy would leave the floor for any reason, there would be one clown who would shinny up a rope or swing upside down from a beam. Should you be unlucky enough to be caught when he returned, it was the plimsoll treatment.
I think it was the Royal Liberty that made me hate formal exercise. Later in life when asked what I did to keep in shape I would repeat the following formula:
"From a sitting position, get on your feet in one smooth movement. Walk firmly towards the bar. With the right hand, securely grasp a bottle of Vodka. With the left hand, remove a glass from the rack. Placing the bottle of Vodka carefully besides the bottle, remove the lid from the ice bucket and place six ice cubes into the glass. Life the bottle quickly and tilt it over the glass. Pour until almost full. Place the bottle on the table. Take a cocktail spoon and stir the drink powerfully. Carry the drink back to where you were sitting. Repeat as often as necessary. With practice you will be able to do this twelve or thirteen times in one session".
In the `summer' months PT was in the pool. For the swimmers this was the opportunity to goof off for half an hour or so. For the non-swimmers, it was purgatory. Summer started after the Easter holidays and this meant April. The water was icy cold and if you couldn't swim and keep warm it must have been horrible. I don't remember anyone actually passing away during a class but when Daddy finally let the non-swimmers out to change there were more blue balls than would ever be seen hanging on a Christmas tree!
To his credit, Daddy would sometimes go into the pool. He word a maroon pair of woollen bathing trunks and swam a very old-fashioned breaststroke by preference. We did not have the pleasure of seeing this event very often. He would show pupils how to use the equipment in the gym, leaping over the horse and swinging on the ropes and bars in a manner that not many men of his age would attempt. When the boxing season came around he was smart enough not to spa with the pupils, he obviously didn't want to chance a sucker punch from an irate 14 year old!
Daddy was partial to Romans, lifeguards and boxers. If you could be placed in one of these categories your life was in all likelihood going to be easier than the other boys in your class when at the gym. I was a lifeguard and I boxed, consequently I felt the plimsoll on only a couple of early occasions in my years at the school. He wasn't a great conversationalist but he did lead by example and would always show you what should be done before asking you to attempt it. Let's face it though, Daddy's classes were a bore and not looked forward to most of the time.
Later, Don Jennings came to the school and assisted Daddy. Things improved then, PT classes were made more interesting and Don started the basketball and volleyball games that went on after school. He was young and enthusiastic and liked by most of the boys. I don't know how he got on with the staff but he seemed to fit in OK. He didn't encourage familiarity with the boys but had their respect. Unlike Daddy, I don't remember him using the plimsoll either. All in all, Don Jennings was a good thing for the Royal Liberty.
What was the real story behind Daddy (Victor) Schofield? Some said he had originally lived in a caravan near the school gates. Others said he was a circus strongman. He told me that to tear a telephone directory in half it had to be baked for three or four hours first of all to dry it out and make it easy to rip apart. He didn't tell me just why I might need this information, and indeed, I've never used it! He had some photographs in his office but for the life of me I can't remember what they depicted after so many years. He was definitely a mystery man and I don't think he mingled closely with the staff. Unlike most masters he did not wear a gown and probably didn't have a teaching degree, although I couldn't be absolutely sure of this. He didn't offer up any clues and when I left he was still going strong. I wonder what the real story was and what happened when he eventually retired?
Physical training, the cold gymnasium, the dark showers at the back, the flick of a towel and a red mark on your backside. I myself didn't much care for PT, but the swimming was OK and I guess that at fourteen years, no harm was done, except to give me a very healthy dislike for organized exercise. [MJM]
The School Prospectus gave his qualifications as 'The Army School of Physical Training, Aldershot', so I suppose he had a military background, although I never heard him speak much about it. There was a photograph of him in his room where he was in a sparring pose, and I seem to remember it commemorated him being an army boxing champion. He was certainly keen on boxing - there was the annual school championship, where I always managed to be eliminated in the first round! I think he trained the schoolboy boxing champion, whose name I have forgotten, but it was certainly inscribed on the honours board at the back of the school hall.
He lived in a maisonette beside the old All Saints Church, Squirrels Heath - but it was destroyed when the church was bombed, and he and his wife lived in a caravan which was parked in a yard at the end of the school drive in Upper Brentwood Road. Towards the end of the war he moved to a house at Corringham - it was near the river Thames and was lit by oil lamps - I can¼t remember if it had running water.
He recruited about a dozen or so of us to a Gym club he ran, and I joined in 1940. He spotted likely lads in the first form, and gave them a personal invitation. We worked in the gym every day after school until about 5 or 5.30 p.m.; weekday mornings of every school holiday, and sometimes before school as well. It was, of course, during the war, and we began to give displays at various places where we wore cricket flannels and white pumps - I wore my cricket flannels much more for gym than I ever did for cricket!
Then he formed us into a circus - Maurice Chester¼s Circus. We had sequined satin costumes, and white make-up and performed all over the place. 'Scho' or 'Schoey' as we called him, had a terrier called Tim, who did back somersaults and a barrel walk. The circus grew - we had a Big Top, and the woodwork master, Mr Marshall, made a large entrance arch incorporating a ticket kiosk. Other boys were recruited to be assistants and move the apparatus - they wore black trousers with a red stripe, green roll-top pullovers with a red star on the chest. Mr Marshall also made wooden tiered seating for the Big Top.
Other acts were engaged for our show, including a liberty
horse act from Frensham School, Farnham. One day
a Brother Joseph from Frensham School came to visit.
Many years later I was to learn that Brother Joseph was Reginald Joseph Gardiner
- a rather exotic Anglo-Catholic who eventually went over to Rome. At some
time in the mid 30¼s he was head of a religious community at Frensham, and among the works which they did was running a
school for boys, and in 1936 he conceived the idea of training the lads for
a circus - they had a Big Top and everything. In Brother Joseph¼s biography
by Fr Brocard Sewell, there is a photograph of a
poster advertising the circus, and one of the acts is 'Chester¼s Famous Dogs'
- unfortunately I can see no date on the poster. So did 'Schoey'
get the idea from Brother Joseph? Was he in any way connected with Frensham School? Was the Big Top we had borrowed from Brother
Joseph? Brother Joseph died 8th August 1947 aged 39 years.
'Scho' wanted someone to be a bareback horse rider,
and he approached me. I went for training at Chessington Circus, where the Ringmaster was Frank Foster,
who had been equestrian director for Bertram Mills Circus. One school holiday,
I can¼t remember which, one of our acts - Chair Tricks, with Bob Parmenter and Geoff Smith - took part, and we all joined in
the Charivari. Later, I went for a few weekends to Scho's
house at Corringham to ride a horse he had purchased
- but I've never been an animal lover, and the project just fizzled out.
I don't know what happened to the circus - it seemed to fade out at the end
of the war, and I lost touch as soon as I left school and was called up. I
seem to remember my mother telling me that Schoey
had died, and was buried at Mountnessing or somewhere
like that. [Revd Peter F. C. Smith (RLS: 1939-1947, non-member- via JAS]
Because of his justness and thoroughness, Mr. Schofield held the respect of
boys and adults alike. He was popular with three Head-masters and the changing
staff. Sometimes his stories were plausible, sometimes outrageous, but they
always revealed the humour of the teller. Few, outside the Common Room, were
aware of his wide knowledge of nineteenth-century prose. He could describe
most of the events and characters in the novels of that period, especially
those of Charles Dickens. He was knowledgeable about the history of boxing,
well-informed about the theatre and interested in reading histories and biographies,
especially those relating to the last two hundred years.
The school was loyally served by Mr. Schofield and each boy should strive
to serve in the same way. We all hope that both he and Mrs. Schofield will
enjoy good health and many years of well-earned retirement. [AT]
My memory is that the entire class was formed up in two ranks
on the poolside at the deep end. On the instruction "swimmers fall out",
those of us fortunate enough to have learned to swim were required to line
up across the pool. It was often better not to test the water because that
could have traumatic effects in the early part of the summer.The next order
was "front rank, go", whereupon the first victims dived in and started
swimming, shortly to hear the command "second rank, go" and so on.
The benefit of this suffering was that having swum one length we could either
get dressed, numb fingers permitting, or stay in the pool for the remainder
of the lesson. I am certain that the low temperatures and the reward at the
end of one length had the effect of increasing our swim speeds significantly
!I always felt sorry for those boys who had to endure the torture of standing
in the cold water for a "lesson" and was forever grateful that my
mother had taken me to swimming and diving lessons whilst I was at Junior
school. (Derek Reader 53/60)
See also under the thread Swimming/Boxing
KERR (1950ish)
Assistant - Physcial
traingin
Nickname 'Jock'
Your recollections are super, Don. The sadistic sod of an assistant's name
was Kerr. I can't remember his first name either. He was an ex-service (Marines
I think) physical instructor and the only son of my Boys Brigade Captain,
Mr John Kerr. John Kerr was a very senior officer of HM Customs and Excise
and of a completely different character than his son "Jock". (Robin
Rogers 46/51)
Subjects: Geology, General Science
Nickname 'Dan'
And a good chap, too. Dan was a mild-mannered man, a good science teacher. He had a disfigurement, a deep hole somewhere near his forehead, due to a bullet that hit him in the head during the war, I heard. (RP)
An Obituary Notice regarding Mr. John ('Dan') Reekie (1899 - 1982; RLS 1944 - 1962) from 'The Proceedings of The Geologists Association, May 1983'. It seems that Mr. Reekie's disfigurement was due to surgical operations following a sinus inflammation rather than to war wounds, as was the popular misconception when I was at School. (Bill Broderick)
He made all of my lessons shine
This lovely old fellow
Had started to mellow
Just like a Chilean wine (Phil Kingham)
Dan Reekie was possibly the major influence in my life. Geography
was one of my favourite subjects and the idea of the school field trips to
Yorkshire and Dorset sparked my interest in geology. In 1952 I started taking
geology with Dan Reekie. He was an excellent instructor and started me off
on a satisfying career in geology, mainly in the mineral exploration business
which has taken me to many countries and slaked my globe trotting urges.
The RLS was unique in offering geology courses at 6th form grammar school
level. (I am sure there were other grammar schools with geology courses but
they were few and far between). The courses were about equivalent to first
year university geology courses.
Somewhere in my photographic archives I have photos of the 1953 field trip
to Austwick with participants such as Mick Ridd, Ian Rolfe, Peter Llewellyn,
Roy Lowe. More names will come to me when I find the photos.
Several years ago Mick Ridd was trying to organize a reunion of Dan Reekie's
geologists but for some reason it did not materialize. Maybe we should try
again. Don Phipps (46-54)
I was lucky enough to be on the very first RLS geolgy field trip run by Dan
Reekie and that also was in Austwick. It was 1949. I am sure we covered much
the same ground..literally.
Some advice from Newth before we left (to his beloved Yorkshire) included
" because of the height of Austwick you may initially suffer from nosebleeds"!!
Austwick is about 500 feet asl so either Newth was ignorant of physiology
or else ultra cautious!
On that trip one of us drew with pencil on a piece of slate a reasonable likeness
of a graptolite. Dan R. was shown it and was ecstatic. It alone had made the
whole trip worthwhile. It was some time before we plucked up the courage to
tell him the truth. Boys can be cruel! Happy days (Bernard Coe)
Who drew the Graptolite? Mea culpa! mea culpa! mea maxima culpa! I had hoped that the question would not be asked that is why I remained anonymous in my anecdote. I have a clear recollection that I drew while we were in the coach coming back from Ribblesdale (and the drumlins?) Much chortling and encouragement from cowardly chums at the time to spoof Dan. My shame is overwhelming...what is the punishment? (Bernard Coe)
The slate had probably come from the mine, which should have been a giveaway as I do not think graptolites existed in the Carboniferous. (Bernard Coe)
I think we can give Reg Newth the credit for introducing HSC level geology
to the RLS and getting Dan to take the subject. I was privileged to be in
the first batch of about 8 students from 6B. One of the second batch was Dave
Matthews (he is in the Dorset 1950 photo) and he emigrated to Calgary in Canada
after university. I stay in touch with him by snail mail (he refuses to buy
a computer so cannot join us) and he is a great admirer of Dan. Recently he
got in touch with his daughter in N. Ireland where Dan died in 1983 aged 83.
Via Dave I do have a copy of his obituary that appeared in the "Proceedings
of the Geologists Association" in May 1983. It mentions that in his days
at Cambridge he made a field trip to the Craven district of Yorkshire...from
that stemmed his affection for the place and the many return visits with the
RLS sixth form. (Bernard Coe)
I was introduced by Mr. Reekie to the world of geology. Mr. Reekie was a
remarkable man - in the way he spoke, in the way he looked, and in his breadth
of knowledge and his grasp of and enthusiasm for the earth sciences. His 6th
form geology classes were designed to study earth materials and processes,
both in the laboratory and in the field. He took us on field trips close to
home and further afield. He armed us with 1:50,000-scale geological maps of
our area and guided us on expeditions to locate particular rock formations,
minerals, and fossils. He stimulated us to radiate out on our own and discover
what really underlies the landscape. He taught us how to identify specimens
in the laboratory; he taught us how to use a petrological microscope; he taught
us how to cut our own thin sections of rocks; he taught us how to interpret
geological maps; and best of all he conducted us on tours of classic geological
localities. These lengthier geological trips occupied a week or two over the
Easter holidays and introduced us to a broad range of geology, such as the
Mesozoic stratigraphy and structure of Dorset which had a profound effect
on me both then and later.
Mr. Reekie - like Mr. Faithful - also encouraged us to read advanced texts
from his own personal library and in so doing stretched us to the limit. Our
core text was Holmes' “Principles of Physical Geology” - perhaps one of the
best introductory geology texts ever written - but this was supplemented by
additional reading. His recommendations included a wide variety of books,
many being classics : Read's “Granite Controversy”; Arkell's large tomes on
the Jurassic System; Harker's “Metamorphism”; Darwin's “Origin of Species”;
Dana's “Mineralogy”; Leversen's “Geology of Petroleum”; Hatch & Wells'
“Petrology of Igneous Rocks”; Moore, Lalicker & Fischer's “Invertebrate
Fossils”, and so on. All these were advanced texts or reference volumes, more
suited for the university level but which we tackled in the last year of high
school. I did not read every word and I did not understand everything I read,
but he encouraged us to do our best to expand our knowledge and our minds,
and I think we did. At this time in the mid-50s the theory of continental
drift was re-emerging from obscurity. He encouraged us to read Wegener's original
text (in translation) and also Du Toit's more recent compilation on the geology
of Africa and drift-related topics. He highlighted the puzzle of, on the one
hand, the almost indisputable arguments of geological “fit” between continents
with, on the other, the problem that geophysics had yet to come up with a
suitable drift mechanism. (It took another 15 years for Morley & LaRochelle
in Canada and Vine & Matthews in Britain to formulate the concept of sea-floor
spreading which effectively solved the problem. ) Mr. Reekie introduced us
to recent ideas on global climate and the onset of glaciations, and speculated
on the potential effects that increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide
(already apparent in the 50s) would have on the climate. He discussed economic
geology, ore deposits, petroleum geology, groundwater, industrial minerals,
earthquakes, the origin of life, lattice structure of crystals, volcanoes,
mountain building, isostasy, fluvial processes, metamorphism, salt domes,
and more. He seemed to have no limits to what he understood and the enthusiasm
with which he transmitted knowledge, elucidated arguments, and clarified our
thinking.
I was not alone in my susceptibility to Mr. Reekie's geological genius : a
partial list of the Royal Liberty School's geology alumni from the 50s includes
a Curator at the British Museum (Natural History), senior explorationists
in the international petroleum and mineral deposits industries, a Chief Paleontologist
of the Geological Survey of Canada, and a world expert on fossil arachnids.
His talents were underscored at his death in 1982 when an obituary was published
in a professional journal commemorating his achievements, a singular and fitting
tribute for a most talented and influential teacher. (See the Proceedings
of the Geologists Association, 1982, vol. 94, p. 196 for a fascinating account
of this remarkable man's life, a Cambridge graduate geologist who entered
high school science teaching only in late middle age, after a career first
in Africa as a mineralogist and then as a farmer in Britain.)
With a grounding in Mr. Reekie's class I had no trouble at all in my first
year at Cambridge University where I had won an open entrance scholarship
in geology at Gonville and Caius College. Much of what he taught took me part
way through my second year. (Geoffrey Norris from his writings, see http://snipurl.com/geoffnorris)
M. REISNER (1944-post-1953)
Subject: Spanish,
Religious Instruction
Nickname -
I felt sorry for him because, although nobody ever told us so, he was obviously a refugee form Nazi Germany. But I remember some boys being very cruel to him because of his thick German accent. I thought it odd that he taught Spanish, but I suppose nobody wanted to learn German at that time. [CO'H]
SACH (19??-19??)
Caretaker
Nickname 'Keyhole'
"Keyhole" got his nickname as he was always snooping
around on rubber soled shoes! He had the job that Bert Peade must have inherited and lived on site. His saving grace
was his very kind wife. (GS)
H. SAVILLE (pre-1941-post-1946)
Groundsman
Nickname: ''Harry'
Mr 'Harry' Saville Groundsman; (before 1946 - after 1941)
...would encourage beginners [swimmers] by having a large broom in the water just out of reach of their nose, and many a pupil grabbed onto that lifesaver halfway down the pool. "Try again", he would say - "better luck next time", or words to that effect. I also remember Harry Saville as the heat/race starter. He would always say - "I will say - Are You Ready? GO!" - and so that was how every event started when he repeated that injunction. Good old Harry - a nice salt-of-the-Earth type, quite unlike the touchy and bad-tempered Bert! (Geoffrey Styles)
Bert Peade was Harry Saville's assistant when I joined the school in 1940. ie Assistant groundsman. Mr Saich was caretaker. A real nasty piece of work who acted as Gus Hartley's chief whacker. The one who actually wielded the cane. I know from personal experience. They both used to feel your bum for any books down the trousers. You did not know whether you were being sexually abused or measured for a pair of knickers. (Eddie Pond)