What was life at the school like in those early decades?
( Remember to check the top of the home-page to see if there have been any recent additions to this section.)
Although a fair amount has been written about the actual setting up of the school and the changes that were made in that early period, up to the end of the 1930's, we can only make intelligent guesses as to what it was like to have actually been a pupil in the school, at that time.
Needless to say, the curriculum wasn't just academic and the school fielded a number of sports teams. (These two photos are part of the display of picture on the 'History Wall' of Sexey's Middle school and appear with their permission.)
As can be seen from the details on the ball, this was the school's 2nd team in 1907-8. The boys are accompanied by Mr Smith. (Can anyone put names to any members of the team? - MJ)
This picture of the school's Hockey team (1907/8) was also taken in the same photo session.
Not a crooked tie to be seen anywhere- well done, girls! One assumes that the ties were black and amber stripes - was this their actual playing kit (things were a lot more formal then) - or was this the school uniform?
(It's a sobering thought, that at the time of writing, these photos are exactly 100 years old. Once again, can anyone help with any of the names? - MJ)
The snippets of information here, have been gleaned from a number of sources and can give us a tiny insight into what life was like at Sexey's from its beginnings up to the start of World War 2.
The 1965 Old Sexonian magazine mentions a character called William (Spider) Tinney who came back to visit the school and had spent most of his life, after the age of 18, in Canada.
He was born in 1896 and was 'one of our earliest Old Sexonians'. He was only 3 years old when Sexey's, Blackford first started and therefore, could not have been one of those very early pupils who used the Stoughton site.
The article goes on to say ' His comment on Blackford and Stoughton was 'No change' '. Quite what William meant by this is unclear as, obviously, huge changes had taken place. Is there anyone out there who can remember this visit in 1965 who can bring to mind any more comments that William Tinney made? Old Sexonian, Joy Morse, has written in to say that 'Spider' was her uncle and that he was a pupil at Sexey's around 1908/9. She says he got expelled for playing football for Blackford when he should have been playing for the school! Joy also tells me that when 'Spider' visited the school in 1965 he found an old wooden desk there with his initials still on it. He also visited again in 1975 with his daughter from Canada. In 1998 there was a Tinney reunion and several of Spider's grandchildren visited the school then. Apparently, whilst out in Canada he taught Eskimos in the Yukon for a number of years and completed his BA at Vancouver University at the ripe old age of 80! Joy Morse attended Sexey's from 1944-48 and still keeps in touch with schoolmate, Maureen Wootton (Slavin) - (Many thanks for the extra information, Joy -MJ)
One of the other pupils in the early years of the twentieth century was Rhoda Tripp Day. Rhoda was actually the grandmother of Christine Hoskins (Derrick) who started her schooling at Sexey's in 1966. Christine can remember a few details about her -
'Rhoda was born in 1900 in Cheddar and her parents ran the Gardeners Arms pub in Silver Street, Cheddar. She would have attended Sexey's School somewhere between 1910/1911 and onwards.'
'I don't know how long she was a pupil there, but I think we could estimate a span of 1911 to 1916. I believe that she used to travel to school by horse and cart, which is probably the transport as described already on your website (the Sexey's brake - MJ). I don't know who else would have attended the school at the same time as her. She was generally a good scholar and did particularly well at French.'
On the reverse of this team picture of the 1920/21 first X1 were the names and some additional information-
Back Row L-R Bowditch, Mr Passimore, Mr Smith, Mr Bullen, Lloyd, Lynham
Middle Row L-R R Curtin, ?, J Smith, ?, A Curtin
Front Row L-R ?, Gibbs, Joe Comer, Lloyd Minor
'The two Lloyds left for Australia under a government scheme for training young farmers.'
At some point during his headship, Lawrence Abram decided to have a school prospectus written, in the drive to attract more pupils to the school (loaned by Joyce Huett). This example is the only one I've come across and is something of a rarity. This particular example most probably comes from the late '30's.
Inside the grey, front cover is a page which lists the names of the governors. The school's title used on the inside pages is also interesting, the school being called 'Sexey's School and Sexey's Farm School , Blackford.'
Page three shows a list of staff - Lawrence Abram (Headmaster), Miss Thrower (Senior Assistantant Mistress and Art), Mr Evans (English and French), Mr Sims (Science, Book-Keeping and Agricultural Science), Miss Collins(History, Geography, English and Latin), Mr Quarterman (Manual Instruction, Geometry and Physical Exercises), Miss Williams (Domestic Subjects, Hygiene and Physical Exercises), Miss Bruford (Music Mistress), Mr Carter (Violin and Singing) and Miss Paull (Preparatory Mistress).
In the 'General Information' section as well as the usual classrooms being mentioned it also states - 'There is a miniature Rifle Range which is used in conjunction with the School Cadet Corps.' It also mentioned the Farm School where - 'pupils over the age of 14 years wishing to take up an agricultural career can have excellent training under fully qualified teachers.'
Page six shows a photo of the dining hall next the 'Boarding Arrangements' page. Here it states - 'The district is bracing, and the boarders get more freedom and 'out-of-door' life than would be possible in any town school.'
Over the page is a photo of the Hostel. Next to this it states the tuition fees and Boarding fees. For tuition, all Somerset children had to pay £12 per annum. For boarding it would cost £40 per annum, you could board 'week days only' for £34 pa.
Page ten shows a picture of the girls' sitting room in the hostel. This and some of the other photos mentioned are included here -
On 'this' side of the hedge can be seen rows of vegetables which were probably tended by the 'farm pupils' presumably used to feed the boarders. Hubert Fisher tells me that his father used to till this ground at the time and that his mother and aunty (Amy and Florry Stevens) used to work in the kitchens.
Probably a 'House' cricket match. the building to the left is the Armoury.
The Boarders' Dining Room - it never looked like this in the 1960's! This must be at the 'new' hall end - tablecloths and wallpaper, very posh!
Does that wonderful old fireplace still exist today, I wonder?
Some children at the Farm School went on to the Farm Institute at Cannington, near Bridgwater.
The Farm School certainly had the equipment but I expect it was chilly in the middle of Winter!
The prospectus went into detail about he various courses at the school and farm school. It finishes with a section on the Preparatory school - 'The inclusive fees are £12 per annum. As the number of pupils admitted is limited, the children receive individual attention from a specially qualified mistress.'
In 1930 (it may have been 1931!), Sybil Starks joined the school as a day pupil. Sybil recognises herself and a number of her friends in the 1933 whole school picture which can be seen a little further on on this page. (Sybil is actually standing directly behind Miss Thrower who is the 4th teacher from the left). The friends that Sybil has named will later appear in sections of the 1933 photo which will appear in the 3rd of the General picture galleries.
Sybil joined the school via a scholarship,obtained at the local Council school (later to become Blackford Primary School), her sister having been through the Farm School some five years earlier.
She remembers her time at the Council school particularly well and she recalls a Mr Phillips who used to teach there. She was convinced he had suffered 'shell-shock' during World War 1 as he would occasionally be very cruel with the use of the cane, particularly with the boys. In later years he could remember nothing about it and was astonished to hear of the cruel punishments he'd meted out. Mr Phillips ran a 'night' school for woodwork and his wife helped with dress making and leather work.
Whilst at Sexey's Sybil cannot remember having to change rooms for a single lesson, the children had their own desk and the staff came to them. She remembers disliking the French teacher, Mr Evans. Apparently, he was very strict and would always expect pupils to say 'Good day, Mr Evans' if ever they saw him out and about - you were in trouble if you didn't!
Sybil said she had very little contact with Mr Abram personally but that her brother Jim was occasionally sent to him for the stick! She remembers Mrs Abram as being 'a dreadful woman' who looked after the boarder girls. She also remembers the Abrams' daughter Elsie who was a 'clever girl'.
Interestingly, in the 1930's Sybil's father purchased the property in Stoughton which had been used some thirty years earlier as Sexey's school whilst the present building was being constructed. This was to become her family home and she can remember the house and barn as well as Cedar and Weeping Willow trees in the grounds.
Sybil tells me she left Sexey's at the age of 16 and took up tailoring at a shop in Wedmore.
(Thank you, Sybil for all those memories and many thanks to Ann Amesbury for arranging the interview).
It's always surprising what you can find on the Internet (not all of it wanted!). Recently, a casual Google search one Sunday morning (followed by a few pieces of detective work) led me to discover another Old Sexonian who had been a pupil way back in Mr Abram's time.
Having carried out a search using some key words, not really expecting to find anything, about ten Google pages down the line I discovered that - 'Mary Rose Baker was born in Somerset in 1921. She was educated at Sexey's School, Blackford, as a boarder.'
This happened to be the 'blurb' on the back cover of a book that Mary had written, one of three in fact. As the book related to living in the South-West I decided to order it ('Exmoor Interlude') to see if Mary had included some details of her time at Sexey's. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be as this turned out to be Mary's last book to date and included much of her later life.
Not to be put off I looked through the book (which is a really good read) and found a mention of 'Karen', one of Mary's friends who had set up the animal charity, 'Bristol League for Cats'. Fortunately, the charity has its own website (http://blfc.weebly.com) so I sent off a speculative email, not really with any high hopes but two days later I received a reply with a contact number for Karen. To cut a long story short, Karen very kindly set up a meeting with Mary (who only lived 25 miles away) which has led to this article being on the screen in front of you now.
Mary Baker joined the school as a young schoolgirl in the September of 1932, as Mary Dodge. With her family living in Bristol, Mary was to become a boarder at the school for the following five years, leaving in the summer of 1937.
Mary Dodge (Baker)
(Mary's boarder memories can be found in the 'Boarders' section of the website and give us a fascinating insight into boarding in the 30's.)
One of Mary's schoolroom memories relates to the arrival of a new, male member of staff at the time - ' A new teacher was introduced to us one day. He was youngish and very nervous and we didn't take to him, so we decided to play a trick. His desk was on castors, so one day we brought in a roll of string and tied some to the two front legs. He came in, sat down and then stood up to write on the blackboard, with his back to us. We then pulled on the string to move the desk forward a little! He sat down but couldn't quite reach the desk so had to move his chair nearer. The second time this happened he turned very red and went out of the room. When he was gone we hastily removed the string expecting the headmaster to turn up but only the teacher returned. A week or two later he left the school. I feel really ashamed thinking of this now. Poor man!' (If he couldn't cope with an innocent trick like that, then teaching probably wasn't for him anyway - MJ)
'The five years I spent at Sexey's were the happiest in my life. The eventual leaving was almost unbearable but I was able to keep in touch with many special friends which certainly helped.'
Something that I still find amazing is that despite a difference of thirty-two years between our starting dates at Sexey's, Mary and I were both taught English by the same teacher - namely, Erica Padfield! Mary can remember Erica starting at the school in 1935 - 'she seemed very young and absolutely beautiful, the older boys were totally smitten with her.'
Interestingly, Erica's father was the headmaster of the Blackford Board School (the old Blackford Primary School building) at the time.
Erica died in 1971,which was my final year at the school. There can't be many people, in whatever profession, can say they spent 36 years at the same establishment - good on you, Erica!
Mary can remember a number of the pupils' names from those days. These were Madge and Sarah Alvis and their brothers, Myra, Christine and Reg Wilkins, Joyce and Gweneth Blake, May Trask, Betty Smewin, Monica Cox, Cicely Young, Janet Pierce, Marjorie Hutton, Dorothy Parr, Grace Chammings, Heather and Daisy Waite, Beryl Gunstone, G Curtin, Jimmy Clapp,? Heywood, ? Bailey, Donald Harris, Vivienne Gray, Alec and Donald Moore and Max Puddy. She also remembers the Jesty twins, Peggy and Betty. In Joe Foster's article, further on in this section, they were referred to as the 'Jolly twins', this must have been a play on words.
I would like to thank Mary, her husband John (particularly for the tea and chocolate biscuits!) and daughter, Maggie for providing me with the pictures and memories that have gone in to making this article - MJ. (Remember, Mary's boarder memories can be found in the 'Boarders' section).
This 'whole school' picture was taken in 1933 and shows all the school staff at the time, together with some of the pupils.
In the centre, between the two ladies, is the Headmaster, Lawrence Abram. Mr Abram was in his tenth year at the school when this picture was taken. Mary Baker, who was a pupil at the school at the time but unfortunately does not appear in this portion of the photo, tells me that the male member of staff on the extreme left is Mr Carter, next to him is the Kindergarten teacher and then Mr Evans (French) followed by Miss Thrower. To the right of Mr Abram is Miss Collins. Mary was able to identify the girl in the 2nd row standing, on the extreme left, to be Joyce Blake. (Fortunately, I was able to return to the school and re-photograph Mary's photo and make a selective enlargement showing her with some of her classmates) -
'Just to update that in the 1933 picture of the 'whole school' the rather glum looking boy on the back row second from the right with dark hair is my late father, Edward George Martin Nicholson - always known as George. He attended the school on a scholarship awarded to him and his widowed mother. I also attended the school during the 1960's - 1970's as did my brother.' (Thanks for the extra info, Michael - I remember you and your older brother, Pete, who was one class ahead of me - MJ) Another pupil of the 1930's was Joe Foster. His name first came to my attention as he is one of the names on the Sexey's 'Roll of Honour' board, written there as 'JGW Foster'. Whilst studying the 1966 'Sexonian' magazine for interesting snippets, I came across the 'Generations' section. In this section someone had compiled a list of names of pupils who were 2nd or 3rd generations of their families who'd attended Sexey's, complete with names and dates. Written next to 'Geoff and Patsy Thorne' (whom I know very well and attended Sexey's with me in the '60's and '70's) was the following - 'Uncle, JGW Foster,c 1935 (died in the 2nd World War).'
A quick phone call to Geoff verified that these details were correct and he set up a meeting between myself and Joe's sister, Pam. This meeting was to produce some really rare and interesting items for the website. One of these items was a 1934, 'Sexonian' magazine, the oldest on the site to date - needless to say the details of this mag can be found in the 'Old Sexonian Magazine' section. This issue had some very interesting features and it's definitely worth a read. One of the other items that Pam produced from Joe's belongings was a picture taken in the school grounds of Joe's classmates, featuring Mr Abram himself. The rarity of such a shot shouldn't be underestimated. It's one thing having an early team or class photo, for instance, taken by a visiting proffesional photographer who will eventually produce lots of copies, but it's quite another to come across a 'one off' informal shot taken by a pupil who happened to have a camera with them at the time. Pam tells me that Joe doesn't feature in the photo with the rest of his classmates so he must be the one actually taking it. It looks like the group are doing some amateur surveying or something similar - look closely in the grass at the front of the picture and you'll see a small datum post with a measuring tape attached, which runs towards the 'instrument' that the boy is using. On the right hand side appears to be a target or flag on the fence - did this feature in what the class were doing? (Answers on a postcard, please ....MJ) Just in case anyone has any information about this class of children, I've enlarged the female group besides Mr Abram, to try and make the girls more recogniseable, which will hopefully help to jog some memories. Apparently, Joe used to mention the 'Jolley twins', two of the girls at the school, but they may have been in another class. Another item that Joe's sister was able to show me was his school report. This showed him to be a pupil of above average ability - his 'general comment' was 'Very good:Has worked well'. This was signed by by HS Williams and Lawrence Abram. A closer look revealed that Joe was 'excellent' at French. Interestingly, subjects like 'Agricultural Science', 'Book Keeping' and 'Dairying' also appeared on the report. Joe was obviously very keen on flying as he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve on the day he was 18. He became fully qualified as a a pilot in 1941 and was posted to the Coastal Command Strike Squadron. Here's Joe in uniform. Tragically, Joe, by now a Flight Sergeant, was shot down and killed on May 1st, 1943, aged 21. Joe left a wife, Margaret. He was buried at Sola in Norway in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery. On Remembrance Day, 1952, families of past pupils who had died in wartime were invited to the school for the unveiling and dedication of a war memorial. The names of all the pupils commemorated were read out. Joe's sister, Pam, seems to think that the memorial was a lectern and not the large wall 'board' used presently. (It has been a real privilege to cover Joe's 'story' and I would like to extend my thanks to all members of his family who have made this article possible. It outlines the extreme bravery shown by many 'old sexonians' and the ultimate price that some of them paid. - MJ) In 1939 Richard Coombes joined the school as a day pupil, Richard lived with his family in West Huntspill. Richard's cousin, Donald Coombes, had started the school one year earlier. Richard remembers travelling to school by the school brake or 'charabang' and he remembers it having a removeable canvas soft -top. He was able to bring to mind a number of his classmates. These were Rosemary Riley, Eric Banwell, Ray Puddy, Leonard Lass, Bernard Haas, Ronald Coombes, Donald Tripp, Jimmy Hillier, Mervyn Payne and Rex Payne (Mervyn's brother), Marjorie Jupe,. Gerald Dean, ? Rawlings, Geoff Ham, Simon Vowles, Jack Major, Becky Morgan and Horace Dyer. Richard was particularly keen on Rosemary Riley and actually named his own daughter 'Rosemary' after her. With regards to staff, Richard could recall that the class used to play up Mr Bush (Science) because he was so easy going! He could also bring to mind Miss Padfield, Miss Thrower and Mr Tomlinson. He recalls, with great sadness, the times in school assembly when Mr Tomlinson used to read out the names of the boys who had been killed in the war. One piece of memorabilia that Richard kept was his school certificate which dates from July, 1943.
When Richard finished Sexey's he worked in the admin department for British Rail and he remains an ardent 'steam buff' to this very day. (Richard, many thanks for allowing my wife and I to come to your home to talk about your school days - MJ) If you have any memories/anecdotes/pictures from this era, whether they're 1st, 2nd or 3rd hand, please send them in to 
Mary is the child in the middle on the back row. 
Joe Foster
(Does anyone else have memories of that special day? - MJ)
Whilst at Sexey's Richard can recall being a member of the Boys' Brigade and remembers practising with a rifle and parading on the school field.