Gordon John Pearson - Raleigh House - 1971-1975
WHEN I WAS A SCHOOL BOY
SCHOOLBOY MEMORIES AT SHOREHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL - 1971 – 1975.
INTRODUCTION TO SHOREHAM COLLEGE
MOTTO: Deus horam dat
Established 1852
Type: Independent day school
Religion: Church of England
Location: St Julians Lane, Shoreham-By-Sea, West Sussex. BN43 6YW. ENGLAND.
Shoreham College is an independent day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 16, which is located in Shoreham–By–Sea on the Sussex coast between Brighton and Worthing. The school is a charitable trust whose trustees form the College Council. The current headmaster Mr Taylor West.
HISTORY
Shoreham College was founded in 1852 as New Protestant Shoreham Grammar School by some ‘leading gentlemen of that town’ and later renamed Shoreham Grammar School. It was founded with the intention of educating local boys in classics and ‘other branches of a Liberal education’ with a central focus on the Bible. The foundation was backed by the townspeople and local clergymen against puseyism and the revival of Catholic traditions in the Church of England, in particular ‘High Church’. On the 27th November 1852, an advertisement for pupils was raised which was published in the Brighton Herald.
HOUSES
The school operates a house system; Grenville, Nelson, Rodney and Raleigh, to which a pupil upon joining remains attached throughout their school career.
NOTABLE FORMER PUPILS
# Marcos Butler, vlogger
# Peter Cushing, actor
# Harold Davis, actor and television presenter
# Chris Eubank Jr, professional boxer
# Steve Nardelli, musician and song writer
#David Ryall, actor
# Christopher Stoner, barrister
# Matthew Waterhouse, actor
# Geoffrey Munn, author and managing director of London jewellers Wartski. BBC Antiques Road Show jewellery expert
MY DAYS AT SHOREHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL - 1971 TO 1975
GENERAL BACKGROUND
I was a sixties child born and bred in the swinging sixties in Hanover in West Germany in 1958 to a British family. My father, Mr Ralph Pearson, worked for the NAFFI (Navy Army Air Force Institutes) as a Senior District Manager, having previously been in the RAF in WW11. My mother worked alongside my father as a School Teacher in Germany. We moved back to Claygate in Surrey, England in 1960 prior to the Pearson family emigrating to Australia in late 1962 on the Ten Pound Pommy Ticket known as ‘The Assisted Package Migration Scheme’. Regretfully my mother became home sick. One way or another, we returned back to England in 1963 to Beatlemania, missing the coldest winter on record. As my father got his old job back in the NAFFI in Hanover in West Germany, between the years of 1964 – 1970 I resided and grew up living in Germany in Hanover & the spa town of Bad Salzulflen.
In 1970, my father was given a new three year posting to Singapore in the Far East. A dream package as his wife, my mother, was able to be with him for at least 18 months. However, the childrens’ education had to be sorted out prior to this posting. By then, my elder brother was attending The Berkhamsted Boys School as a live in border, close to his Grandparents, so that was fine. My elder sister was sent to a catering college in Surrey. Up till then then, I had been attending my local state comprehensive school, known as Ashlyns School in the town of Berkhamsted. Thus in the summer of August 1971, I was given my marching orders to attend The Shoreham Grammar School as a live in border.
Early Memories at Shoreham Grammar School
Arriving at Shoreham was a big cultural shock to the system. My mother & father were living in Singapore and the days of the hippies, the swinging sixties, Woodstock, The Summer of Love, Flower Power, had come to its end. Much rebellion was in the air. The senior boys seemed to rule the roost so to speak, the loud music in the distant background was a reminder of the latter years of Jimmy Hendrix, The Doors, Cream, The Stones, Carlos Santana, The Who. In the far distance was the sweet smell of pot, or the smell of tobacco in the distant woods. Joe Wright, the Headmaster had no real authority, no control, in such matters.
Needless to say it was no real surprise when the stories broke out about a break-in at the Headmasters study, keys to the safe to steal O' Level Examination Papers in advance of the examination, a wise examiner discovering all the boys answering all the same questions, thus the exam results were declared null & void. Not forgetting the endless food strikes, the constant bullying.
School Conditions: putting it mildly, very basic. The dormitory 4, 3, 2, I, consisted a basic rather crude bed, two blankets, one pillow, 5 basic sinks to wash about 20 boys, one locker. The classrooms left much to be desired - each boy had a basic wooden table & chair. In the winter months, so long as it was in working order, a little electric heater tried to keep us warm. The master had his chalk and his blackboard as his only tools, other that his silly books. The daily breakfast at 8am was a bowl of cereal and a piece of cold toast with a cup of horrible sweet tea. Lunch was the usual fatty meat stew and mash, followed by custard and sponge. Afternoon tea was a yet another cup of horrible sweet tea as a piece of cake. The evening dinner was chicken supreme and rice.
After completion of homework, much time was spent either in the Tuck Shop, The Television Room, boys having a fag in the school toilets, listening to some pop records. Alas at 9.00pm, it was Lights Out, thus boys linked into Radio One to The John Peel Show on MW, or chatted about anything they were interested in.
Needless to say there was an urgent need of investment at this school. The school facilities were indeed very poor; the classrooms needed urgent need of improvement, the run down dormitories were cold and damp in the winter months, the washing facilities were truly dreadful by modern day standards, the bath tubs were dirty and filthy and the least I say about the toilets the better!
My Memories
Come the September term in 1971, the old guard (the elder boys) had gone. It was at that time the stories began to break out as to the activities of these old boys. Mr Wright was replaced by Mr Bruder at the school to bring in some much needed discipline. Indeed, I used to watch his daily waddle onto the stage each morning for the daily assembly, thus it was noted he looked like a penguin, thus he was known as ‘The Penguin’. As times moved on at the school, we moved onto the next upper classes. Nothing was getting better so to speak; pupil numbers were down, evidently the school was in some form of financial crisis, hence it was no surprise when the news broke that Shoreham Grammar had appointed a new headmaster by the name of Canon D.H. Booth MBE.
CANON BOOTH SAVES THE DAY
Canon Booth was very much the old guard who was a Navy Chaplain in The Battle Of The Atlantic that supplied the vital supply lines (the merchant navy fleets) from America to Britain in WW11. Thus he was responsible for passing on the last rights for those poor souls whose remains were buried at sea.
Canon Booth had very close family links to the Queen. His war experiences may I suggest brought him into the Church of England. Down the line, he was awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth for his services to his country. In 1965, he was the Archdeacon of Lewes and had been in contact with Dick Kennedy at his home in Haywards Heath about the Shoreham problem. As the school was indeed in a financial crisis, further to an appeal by the Old Shorehamers’ Association in the Autumn of 1970, finance and acquisition was arranged for the freehold of the land of the school at St Julians Lane, thus finally further to communications with the likes of the Rev. Dick Kennedy, E.A. Bruder, Mr W.R. Kirkman, the school chairman, they got their man, namely D. H. Canon Booth MBE.
LIFE WITH ARCHIE
Life was never dull when Archie arrived at Shoreham. Needless to say there were many improvements in the classrooms, the food was better, more emphasis on study and education, the laid back ways were a thing of the past. The use of the cane was put to good use if you disobeyed the school rules. Yes, any freedoms tended to be the daily walk to the Southwick Village to buy some sweets on 75p per week - coca–cola was far too expensive. Thanks to his love of cricket, Archie persuaded the likes of Mike Smith and Richard Language to join the team, as both had playing careers in football and cricket - Mike played for QPR & Richard played county cricket for Sussex, thus sport became a very important big issue at the school.
Weekends at Shoreham
Depending on the individual, the boys spent their free time taking a walk along the Shoreham Harbour or a trip to Brighton or Worthing. There was an informal dress code. Boys like me spent the weekends watching the school football or cricket team and transportation was provided for the away matches in areas such as Lancing, Seaford, Worthing & Brighton. After lunch, the boys drifted in and out of the school as they do. Come the late afternoon at 5pm, the boys gathered in the TV room to hear the football results. After the evening dinner was served, the now Booth Hall became a Cinema as a film was laid on for the boys every Saturday evening. Other boys congregated in the tuck shop that had a juke box and table football. Other boys watched The Colditz Story in the TV room.
Sundays at Shoreham was a quiet affair. It was mandatory that all boys attended the St Julians
Church Service at 10am sharp. The likes of Mr Curtis, Canon Booth and Rev Kennedy did the service, school caps were a must. To be honest, in your free time you were left to your own devices as what to do in this respect. Boys like me went to the excellent Worthing indoor swimming pool in the afternoons, sometime visiting the homes of other day boys as their mothers filled us with lots of cakes and tea.
Memories to Savour
Like a lot of boys at the school, sport became a very big thing for me - useless at football and cricket, but running was my skill as I was a damn good runner dare I say it. I was about to win the school cross country race in 1972, alas a mile from home, a stupid master waved me into a wrong path or direction, so I ended up 5th in the race. Archie felt rather sorry for me so he authorized me a free can of coca–cola from the Tuck shop. Needless to say, I was not amused. Then finally, I won the school mile in 1973. Miss Peck the Art teacher nearly wet herself in her excitement. ‘Breath Taking’, her exact words. So at last, Gordon (Ronnie The Duck) had made some impression at his beloved Shoreham. As academically I was a hopeless case especially in Maths and English as I even remember getting a mere 3% at my mock O' Level in Maths. Never the less, Archie clearly recognised I had some qualities. So in my final year at Shoreham in 1975, I received a letter informing me as to my promotion to a house prefect for Raleigh. Needless to say my late parents were truly thrilled about this news
My O' Level & CSE'S results had arrived in 1974; 3 O' level passes in Geography, Biology and Environmental Science, and a Grade 9 fail in English Language. But my CSE in English was a Grade One (O' level Pass) thus on my return to Shoreham in September, Archie gave me the title ‘AN EDUCATIONAL FREAK’
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF DAILY LIFE AT SHOREHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Fellow ragamuffins can indeed by a naughty bunch of boys at the best of times. The boy who hid a microphone under his deck under the inkwell recording the um's, um's, in Richard Languages talks about matters of geography, this river is, um, um, um. The three boys who stole the matron’s car keys joy riding late at night somewhere in West Sussex, the food strikes, the fights between the boys from the Kings Manor school, boys meeting the girls in the churchyard late at night, much to the annoyance of the Headmaster, the endless drinking and smoking at the weekends, normally in the wooded areas, boys entering the St Julians church trying to find an entrance to a supposed smuggler tunnel that went directly to the Shoreham Beach.
The most memorable sporting event in my time at Shoreham was when we played a friendly match against our arch rivals the Kings Manor School in 1973 – 1974. Not a boy in the school failed to turn up to watch the match on the touch line, putting it mildly, the language led much to be desired. About 50 boys from Kings Manor turned up to support their team. It ended in a 3 – 3 score draw, so everybody was reasonably happy other than poor old Archie , thus a return match was a no no.
The other most memorable football match I recall at Shoreham was a notable 3 – 3 score draw with the Brighton & Hove Albion Juniors. As they arrived with their scouts, fitness trainers, medical teams, quite an achievement for the likes of Shoreham, from what I can gather. A number of our boys caught the eye, or the interest, in the scouts from the Albion as it was known at that time.
On a more sadder note, Simon Parsons & Howard Coulson were involved in a tragic car accident in Hove in, I believe, 1974, in which Simon lost his life. Needless to say, Archie was deeply moved by this as he made an emotional speech on Founders Day. Simon Parson had a lot to look forward to as he was an aspiring cricketer who was on the books of Sussex County Cricket Club as he was a fine, tall, fast bowler in the Jeff Thompson or John Snow mould of bowlers at that time in the 1970's. His friendship with Howard Coulson at Shoreham was based on their love of cricket as Howard was a fine cricketer in his own right.
Finally, on a lighter note, Archie was mystified when he gave six of the best (the cane) to a naughty boy for smoking in the classroom, when he walked out of his study with a big grin on his face. Well the simple reason was the boy had in advance of his six of the best, had put on several pairs of pants so he did not feel anything….
Summary
I have a lot to be grateful for thanks to the likes of Shoreham Grammar School as it converted me from a shy young boy into a real man, gave me the tools I needed to go into the workplace and my mentor, my inspiration, came from the Canon Booth MBE.
Gordon John Pearson
January 2016
Special Thanks: Stewart Mitchell, Howard Howes, Richard Simmonds.
