( Remember to check the top of the home-page to see if there have been any recent additions to this section.) 

A number of changes took place at the school during this period and together with the threat of closure and the death of King George VI, made this a  fairly traumatic time in the school's history.

1950 was to be Pete Lee's first full school year, he had joined the school the previous September and was the resident, boarding master responsible for the boy boarders and games.

Pete always took a keen interest in sport but taught Maths and Statistics later on in his career ( he tried to teach me Additional Maths in the early '70's but even a teacher of his prowess couldn't make it 'work' for me!- MJ). He also enjoyed his musicals and played major roles in many of the school's performances over the decades.

Pete went on to marry Isabel Hole, who had been a one time pupil at Sexey's.

Hubert Fisher joined the school in 1950, as a pupil, and went on to become the school's caretaker for many years. He tells me that the uniform was basically the same in that period as it was in the mid 70's, when the Grammar school finished.

He seems to think, though, that the sports 'colours', (these were awarded for representing the school at that time - at senior? level), were in the form of a tie and that this tie may have had a thin red stripe added to it.  (Can anyone confirm this? - MJ)  Confirmation!!- Colin Mitchell has just (26/6/08) emailed me the following - 'the school 'colours' tie was yellow and black stripes with a thin red line through the black stripe.' - Thank you, Colin. 

Hubert also remembers the day King George died - he was in an English lesson with Miss Padfield at the time. Mr Amesbury, the school caretaker, came into the room to see to the heating stove and told Miss Padfield, who then passed on the sad news to the rest of the class.(According to Hubert's classmate, Colin Mitchell, Bunt Amesbury 'stuck his head through the door of Room 1 and said 'King's dead!')    Hubert remembers that everyone was pretty devastated at the time.

In 1951 the school put on a production of 'The Pirates of Penzance' and went on to do 'HMS Pinafore' two years later. Here's the programme that went with 'Pirates'( loaned by Jennifer Thorne) and as can be seen from the cover it was put on over four evenings in February.

Hubert tells me that the stage in the early fifties was a makeshift one and that it was positioned at the hostel end of the old hall/dining room.

Colin Mitchell can remember that makeshift stage in more detail. He says that it was made out of cheese boards about a yard wide and was laid on top of trestles a yard high. (It sounds lethal! - MJ) Colin also remembers that Les Pavey set it up and that Ron Langdon (Erica Padfield's brother-in-law) did all the lighting.

Here is the cast of 'The Pirates of Penzance' (supplied by Colin Banwell).

 

 Colin, also a cast member himself, can remember a few of the names.
Back Row, L-R the first policeman is Timothy George; Mr Peter Lee is in the centre, wearing the pirate's hat; to his right is Colin Banwell;Peter Duckett; Roger Norris (in front of the policemen); Jimmy Phillips; extreme right is Mr Swallow (next to Mr Swallow is George Curtin who played Frederick). Front Row, L-R third from left is Pat James and the policeman in the middle is David How (David was in his first year at school and was chosen because of his lack of height to contrast with the others.)

Colin Mitchell has sent in a photo of the policemen.

L-R  ?, ?, David How(in front), Chris Podger?, ?, Timothy George, Colin Banwell?

In 1952, Liz Ricketts (Pearce) joined the school. In 1956 this shot was taken of her with some of her 4th form classmates.

Names L-R Heather Binning, Wendy Skellon, Delia Pavey, Rosemary Long, Eilleen Ham, Liz Ricketts. 

In July 1957, Liz took this shot of the 'new' hall under construction - it's the only one I've come across. It looks like Liz took this shot from the front of the hostel - the basic frame is up and the sub-floor would have been built but little else.

Liz supplied this shot of a number of the boarder girls ('56/'57). This would have been outside of the hostel.

Front L-R Liz Jones, Veronica Gibson, Angela Wiltshire.
Second Row L-R Liz Burchill, Maureen Harding, Margaret Davis, Brenda Jackson
Two in Doorway L-R Anne Wilson, Mary Durrant. With glasses, Angela Cryer.

Liz has submitted a large number of other photographs taken in the mid to late 1950's, many of which will appear in one of the forthcoming 'Gallery' sections. 

The programme for the 'Pinafore' production, which took place in 1953, was quite a lavish affair with a very colourful front, as can be seen from the photo ( thanks to Hubert for the copy) - the whole thing being no less then 16 pages in length!

All the inside text was written in 'shocking pink' script and contained a large number of adverts (17) for local companies - someone must have worked  long and hard to generate money from these. 

The programme also shows a synopsis of the production as well as a list of the cast members in the centre pages. (Unfortunately, this hasn't reproduced too well - MJ) With regards to staff involvement, the first two characters in the list (Rt.Hon.Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. and Captain Corcoran) were played by Mr Swallow and Pete Lee respectively -  Mr Curtin played the Boatswain's Mate  and Mr Packer was in the chorus of sailors.

At the bottom right it states ' Musical Production and Direction : Mr A Tonkin. The show had been produced by Erica Padfield. 

Colin Banwell has also sent me this action shot of himself and Mr Pete Lee.

 

Roy Mapstone and Shirley Jacobs also posed for the camera.

Colin Adams arrived at the school, as a pupil, in the mid '50's and he tells me that the headmaster, Mr Tomlinson, was a keen bee-keeper. Unfortunately, the bees would often form huge swarms and Colin can remember at least 3 cricket matches that had to be cancelled because of the danger they posed! In fact, he remembers that one boy, Clive ?, was badly stung around the head.

He remembers Les Pavey, the woodwork teacher, well, and thinks he was 'an absolute genius with wood'. On one occasion he can remember Les 'blowing his top' with a lad who dared to suggest, that he could put right some very poor joints he had made, with plastic wood!

Colin says that everyone had a deep respect for Mr Tomlinson and on an occasion when he got put out of the classroom, Mr T happened to walk by. He can still hear Mr Tomlinson's sermon, 'To listen is to learn, Adams, to listen is to learn!'

With regards to his fellow pupils, Colin tells me that there was one group of rather devious boys (Ray,Stan and Collin), who made a fine art of deliberately missing the bus to school in the mornings. They would saunter in just before lunch, tired looks on their faces and all sorts of  plausible excuses, only to have their praises sung by the staff for making a big effort to get in!

It was around this period that the initiation  of 'Hedging' started - this was when new pupils (or was it just the boys ?- MJ) were flung into the privet hedge that bordered the Head's orchard/gardens from the school field.

Colin remembers that prior to 'Hedging', new pupils had their heads dunked into a water-butt at the back of the woodwork room. The state of this water must have been pretty awful as some parents complained about this and the practice was eventually banned - (Wimps!- MJ).

Apparently, Colin got the blame for this at the time, but he would now like to say categorically that it wasn't his mum that complained!!

Colin can remember one bit of scandal from those days. Apparently, in 1960 (he thinks), one of the day pupils made one of the girl boarders pregnant and was expelled (details are known but will not be printed here!).

This must have caused a quite an uproar at the time, to say the least. Let's hope it all had a happy ending for those involved.

With regards to school uniform, caps had to be worn in the lower years, and Colin can remember that it became a ritual on one of the buses (Cheddar?), that on the last day of the 3rd? year, the children would get the bus driver to open up the roof vents, and they would all throw their hats into one of the rivers, as they passed over it .

In March and early April of 1954 the school presented a double bill of 'Toad of Toad Hall' and 'Trial by Jury' (programme loaned by Liz Pearce).

Colin Mitchell, another sexonian of the '50's, has sent me in a picture of the 1955 Cricket team complete with names -

'My name is Chris Marquis and I attended Sexey's School between 1955 and the end of 1961.  People who may remember me may recall that may surname was pronounced 'Markey'; but over the years, the pronunciation has become 'Mah-kwiss' (as in 'of Bath') - not that I have any delusions of greatness, it's just the logical way to pronounce it.'

 

'Where does one start with such a life-style discourse?  The years spent at Sexey's School were extremely formative - and, probably, some of the most enjoyable - years of my life.  However, this load of ramblings will probably seem to dart about all over the place; but, I hope some sort of form will become apparent.  Many names have been forgotten, and many will be omitted, but the memories are still fairly strong nearly 50 years after the occasion.'

 

'My family moved to Somerset (Cheddar - later moving to Shipham) just slightly too late (two days) to join in the first days of the new school year in 1955.  I remember we arrived in Cheddar on the Friday and settled in with my Grandmother for a temporary period.  The Saturday we had to go across to Wedmore to get all my school uniform.  There seemed to be so much of it!  We did know that I was going to be in Somerville house and we got the appropriate white games shirt.  I confess that I was not much of a sportsman and my games kit never got too dirty.'

 

'On the Sunday afternoon, we went across to the school where we were met by Mr Tomlinson (who was later known to me as 'Wick' - but I never found out why).  He gave us a quick tour of the school and we ended up in the Science lab.  I well recall Mr Tomlinson demonstrating, on the blackboard, how numbers got their 'shape'.  From the outset, he made an impression on me as a very caring and nice person.  That impression never changed all the time I was at the school; I revered him and his abilities.  It was always possible to recognise his footsteps along the corridor; he had a distinctive heel strike followed by a sole strike - nobody else sounded quite like him - even when they tried.'

 

'Monday morning came - and so did the bus.  One of a selection provided by Walls' coaches (who later went insolvent and WEMS, West of England Motor Services, took over the contract).  There was never enough room on the buses and there were, quite often, three or four pupils sitting in one double seat. I was, temporarily, mentored by another new boy (but not as new as me!) and I think I remember his name as Basil Carter.  One of his claims to fame was that in later years he played the piano for the hymns in assembly.  Some staff used to catch the school bus - which, I believe, was a special concession.  Miss Odell (Wick's secretary) used to be picked up and dropped off somewhere round Axbridge.  Ray Packer got picked up and dropped off at Cocklake (why did we nickname it as 'The Dungeon'?) and Erica Padfield used the bus to and from her house in Wedmore.'

 

'Arriving at the school, I was immediately struck by the fact that all the teaching staff wore gowns!  I'd never seen that before.  Some gowns looked quite old, though, and seemed well-impregnated with years of chalk dust.  It seems that the intake of 1955 was the first year where the size of the class was so large that it was split into two groups.  And as it was not possible to 'stream' anyone by ability, it was split into Form 1A and Form 1α (alpha).  After year 1, we were streamed into 2A and 2B (with the usual Shakespearean quote from staff of, "To be or not to be.").  I am pleased to say that I managed to keep sufficiently out of trouble and of enough academic ability to follow the 'A' stream through the school.'

 

'I have thought long and hard on how to recount my life and stories of life at Sexey's; and perhaps I can start with a 'tour' of the school to prompt my (diminishing) grey cells.  And, for convenience, I will start in the Science lab - which was where I got my first real impressions of the school.  The first thing that I realised was that the Bunsen burners looked nothing like ones I had ever seen, in books, before.  This was because there was no natural gas - it was all from a big gas bottle outside the lab.'

 'The Science lab was the domain of Mr (Arthur) Swallow. Perhaps my memory plays a few tricks here; but didn't he have a nickname of 'Joe'?  Arthur Swallow did moan about the Headmaster leaving his theory on the origin of numbers on the blackboard without wiping it off. Arthur Swallow was always very proud of the fact that he was the co-author of the first year science text book.  I always remember him as an extremely patient person who took his responsibilities as deputy head very seriously.  (Strong thoughts here of more than one boy being told that he could do with a haircut?)  And what a science master.  Many was the time that he allowed some of us to use the lab during the lunch break if we wanted to do an extra-curricula science experiment; and he would be there to mentor and guide us through.  To me, he was always a very 'dignified' man for whom I always had great respect.'

 

'And, so across the yard, through the girls' entrance and along to Room 1 - The domain of Miss (Erica) Padfield, English Mistress. 

I always liked Room 1, it always seemed bright and airy, and it had the small school library along one side of the room.  I used to love looking at some of the books in there.  Memories of English lessons are a bit vague after all these years.  Things I do remember, was Erica Padfield's technique (mentioned elsewhere on the website) of hoisting her 'upper chest' over the top of folded arms when she was in 'disapproval mode' and her love of the English language.  So often, we used to sit there and do simple tests of the meanings of words derived from a quiz page in "Readers Digest".'

 

'However, Erica must have done some good because now, later in life, I have done quite a bit of free-lance writing and I do like using the language as correctly as I can as I plod along on the keyboard.  At the end of each day, Erica Padfield used to catch the Cheddar bus to be dropped off at her lovely home.  Needless to say, there was no misbehaviour on the bus while she was there.'

 

'Along the corridor and into Room 2 for History.  Recollections here are very vague.  I was not into history.  Miss Barnes ruled the roost here and that is as far as it goes for me.  Though reading the other recollections in the website shows just how important a member of staff she actually was.'

 

'Through the small lobby and into Room 3 for French.  Having said that, I remember we did quite a lot of Mathematics in there (more anon).  Mr (Ray) Packer was the French Master in those days; though I see that he did have some French assistants later in life.  I enjoyed my French lessons and progressed reasonably - to the extent where my French step-mother used to say, on my occasional visits, that I had a better accent than my father who had been speaking it for years.  At one point, Ray Packer was off for quite a long period of illness (I think it was nervous troubles) and I'm blowed if I can truly remember who stood in.  The other thing I remember about Ray Packer was his favourite punishment… a 3-page essay (the topic left to the writer).  I only incurred that wrath once and I wrote an essay about boxing - a sport I have never really understood or approved.

 

Out of the other end of Room 3 and out through the boys' entrance.  Outside, to the left was the 'boot room' used by the boy boarders, and then a lean-to shed where a couple of boys who were fortunate enough to have a motor-cycle could park them.  A certain Tom Biss (?) had a little BSA Bantam and the machine was subject to occasional sabotage to try to stop it running.  Of course, because we had gone home on the bus, it was not possible to see how he had got on getting the thing running again.  One other boy (?Thompson) from Cheddar had a Matchless 350.  He didn't have it long before he had a crash which resulted in the loss of kidney.  Quite a serious thing in those days.'

 

'Then came the Woodwork Room.  I can still smell the sawdust and glue!  I loved it in there - even if I was never that good at it - and loved trying.  Mr (Les) Pavey sticks in my mind for his patience with people who had two left hands formed of five thumbs each and his well known adage of, "Measure twice and cut once".  Les also used to say that, "If you cut too much off, you can easily stick another piece on; but if you don't cut enough off, you're stuck!" '

'Les told us the story of how, one day, the school inspector visited the Woodwork room, looked around and said he couldn't see any radiators.  Les informed him that the room was centrally heated to which the inspector reckoned that the radiators must be very well hidden.  Les's reply, "We have got central heating.  I put the paraffin stove here, in the middle of the room."  I only remember Les getting uppity once in all the time I was there.  At the tool check at the end of a session there was a pencil missing.  And he refused to let us out until it re-appeared.  I can't remember how it was resolved, but it was.'

' I never did really work out the purpose of the water tank behind the Woodwork Room - apart from opportunities for mischief.  I seem to remember that there was a stirrup pump there, for a while, for fire-fighting purposes and a favourite trick was to get a new boy to do the pumping while the older boy would do the aiming.  Then… the jet was turned on the 'pumper' to see how quickly he would think of stopping pumping.  Cruel, weren't we?  Perhaps that is why the stirrup pump didn't stay there too long.'

 

'The Armoury… or at least that's what it's called on the floor plan.  I remember that as the store for the lawn mowers that dear old 'Jarge' (George) used to cut the grass with.  Mind you, that was back before all the fields were extended to give us much more playing field space and the grass cutting was 'sub-contracted' to a grounds man (with a tractor) from another school.  Les Pavey used to park his car (an old Ford Popular) in front of Jarge's store so he could keep an eye on it.'

 

'Back in through the boy's entrance.  Behind the wall on the right were the 6^th Form cloakroom, the stairs up to 6^th Form Common Room and the door into the boarders' boot room.  
The 6^th Form Common Room - A somewhat 'remote' room where those of us in the 6^th form could do our studies.  There was quite an assortment of desks and tables there and, at times, not a lot of studying.  From the windows it was possible to see, in the distance, the erection of Hinckley Point power station.' 

'Back down the stairs and into the corridor.  On the left, the entrance to the Room 5, Geography Room, home of Miss (?) Irons ('Tinny').  I did enjoy geography.  Tinny had such a way of making it interesting through personal stories.  I well recollect some of her stories of her youth touring around on an old belt-driven motor-cycle and all her personal experiences made geography 'real' for us.'

'Other memories… the old blackboard globe hanging from the ceiling, endless copies of "National Geographic" to browse and read.  And one naughty recollection within that room… Before the school was rewired and fluorescent lighting was installed, we had the old white plastic lampshades with light bulbs; and one pupil (not me, I hasten to add) used to delight in turning off the lights, taking out a bulb and using it to hold a sixpenny bit in the socket while he turned on the lights again.  The consequence was a fuse blowing that covered that corner of the school.  Then out came the sixpence again so the cause couldn't be found.  I do hope that constant fuse blowing wasn't the reason for the school being rewired.  As I recall, Tinny used to live with Miss Merriman, the Domestic Science Mistress.'

 

'Along the corridor towards Room 4 with a view on the right over the quadrangle.  This area was used as the assembly point for the occasional fire drills.  Even to this day, I cannot understand why the fire assembly point was slap bang in the middle of the school and completely surrounded by buildings.'

 

'And into Room 4, the Mathematics Room.  What a gloomy room this was.  It was always so dark in there.  What I do recollect about this room is it was the room in which we did Latin - under the guidance of Mr White ('Chalky').  Sufficient to say that Latin and I did not get on together.  As soon as the opportunity came (3^rd Form?), I dropped the subject.  Chalky's favourite punishment?  Getting hold of the short hair above the (non-existent) sideburns, twisting it and lifting the miscreant up and down by that hair.  Ooh, that used to bring tears to the eyes.  Much else of that portion of my academic life has gone into the mental Recycle Bin and been emptied.  For a while, I remember Chalky's brother (nicknamed 'Persil' to avoid confusion) came to the school.  Perhaps he was the temporary replacement for Ray Packer while he was off sick?  I seem to think that Persil helped out a little with sports.  The upside of Persil was that he used to confuse me with another boy in the class (Robert Fear), so any reports of misdemeanours probably got attributed to Robert rather than me.'

 

'Room 4 was supposed to be for Mathematics - but as I said earlier, I remember doing a lot of maths in Room 3.  Mathematics did become a love for me; even if I wasn't particularly good at it.  Mr (Pete) Lee had such a love of the subject as well.  When things were well on schedule in that part of the curriculum, it was easy to persuade Pete to be side-tracked into proving Pythagoras's Theorem or, with deviant mathematics, that 1=0!  I had a tremendous respect and admiration for Pete.  Some years after I left Sexey's, I saw him and his family on the television programme "Ask the Family" with Robert Robinson.  Things were neck and neck up until the last question - which happened to be an arithmetic question.  Pete buzzed in, answered it, got it wrong (!!!) and the Lee family lost the quiz (but I still didn't lose my respect for him). Pete Lee was also a mean shot with a piece of chalk!  He would wedge it between a couple of fingers, clap his hands and deliver a stinging shot right on the ear of a miscreant.  Ouch! - so I've been told; I was never zapped.  Pete Lee was also the (excellent) Sports Master, but I'll come back to that.'

 

'Down the corridor towards the school hall.  This was past the boys' cloakroom and toilets and then past the art store (did this become the exit to the new gym when it was built?).  The school hall was always 90% divided by a concertina screen.  This was the early days home of assembly, school dinners and music lessons.  I also remember watching the final dress rehearsal for a Gilbert and Sullivan presentation in there on the temporary cheese board stage.  Here was also Music lesson territory.  Poor Mr Tonkin.  We used to make his life hell as we attempted to render classic English folk songs.  Mr Tonkin did have one disconcerting habit…  Unfortunately, his eyes looked in two slightly different directions - rather like Marty Feldman - and he would be talking to (telling off) one person whilst looking at another, all to the comment of, "I'm talking to you!"  I never did work out which one.'

 

'School dinners? Well, we all now about those, don't we?  As the school roll increased with the post-war population increase, it ended up as two sittings - instead of one.  I was always lucky and seemed to have first sitting all the time; which meant I had a chance to let some of the dinner hit the bottom of my stomach before going back to lessons.'

 

'Backtracking from the hall slightly, there was the new school gym which they built while I was there (with a stage added later whilst I was still there).  What a luxury this gym was.  A properly sprung floor and proper gym equipment, changing rooms and showers.  It also made a much more preferable place for assembly time when the stage was built.  I used to like trying to do some of the gym work, but was totally incompetent, skinny, weak and, subsequently, useless.'

 

'The gym equipment was always a challenge (usually insurmountable) to me. Pete Lee bet me 2/6, in old money, that he could get me doing a proper vault over the horse within three weeks.  The following week, I fell off someone's back playing leapfrog and broke my arm.  Pete did not accept that that made him still liable to pay me my 2/6, though!  I think the most frightening part of that broken arm experience was that Wick took me home in his car.  As other people have mentioned, he used to love zooming up to an inordinately fast speed, switching off the engine and then coasting to an inordinately slow speed et seq. By the 6^th Form, I did learn to play badminton in the gym and managed to keep that up, on and off, afterwards.' 

 

'Across the corridor from the school hall was Room 6, a tiny room occasionally used for such things as visits by the school dentist or nurse.  To me, it was the room for 'serious' Mathematics.  By the 6^th form level, mathematics was either 'pure' or 'applied' with the pure maths being taught in Room 6.  I certainly remember Wick covering the 'pure' side, but my memory fails me as to who taught 'applied'.  To this day, I can still remember the sound of Wick coming down the corridor to the room.  Despite all of my respect for him, I turned out to be a bit of a dunderhead when it came to pure maths.  I couldn't get my head round it.  And as things developed, applied maths became difficult without the 'pure' understanding.  But Wick didn't give up.  He kept trying; but I was just a hopeless case.'

 

'Back into the corridor ("Keep left and don't run!") past the 'Canteen' where the school dinners were warmed up (again) before being distributed and round the corner past the front door (not to be used by pupils) and Wick's territory.  There down the step in the dark corner was the entrance to his study (into which I was never called) and further along the corridor past what I thought of as the 'back door' to his house (was it Norah, the mischievous one, that I used to see there?). Eventually back out through the girls' entrance towards the Science Lab.  To the left of that was the Domestic Science Room, territory of Miss Merriman.  I had seen inside it on the introductory tour, but never needed to go in there; I was a boy and did woodwork.'

 

'Next along, to the keft, was what is labelled on the map as 'Boarders Recreation Room'.  For a while, I remember having RE in there with Miss (Isabel) Rendell (a subject which I 'dropped' later on).  With all the windows it had, it was flipping cold in winter with just one stove in the corner for heating.  Isabel Rendell used to do quite a bit of her teaching from that corner during the colder weather.'

 

'With a slightly iffy hop, we can go over the privet hedge and onto the sports field.  When I first started at Sexey's, I was impressed by the size of the sports field.  To me, there was so much room.  But boys playing football had to go up the road, towards Wedmore, to a field on the right.  Shall we just say that it was an 'interesting' football pitch with a substantial diagonal slope across it?'

 

'Then, and I think I've got the sequencing right, the tarmac tennis courts were built.  I suppose that this was a blessing for a lot of mothers in that school uniform used to stay a lot cleaner when the weather was wet - break times had to be taken on the tennis courts when the field was muddy.  Somehow (the exact timing detail escapes me) the sports field became a lot, lot bigger.  I recall there used to be some sort of orchard over the far side and some grounds 'behind' the hard tennis courts.  Then suddenly, all that ground became part of the school fields.  What a boon with loads more space for everything.  Also, there was enough space to be well out of the sight of staff for the occasional sly, crafty cigarette.'

 

'Although Sexey's was a football/cricket (for boys) and hockey/netball/tennis (for girls) school, I was useless at, and hated doing, sports.  A small group of us hatched a plot and persuade Pete Lee to let us go cross-country running during the games period.  Reluctantly (I think) he allowed it.  Off we'd trot in our gym kit beyond the sight of Pete and then stop, chat, smoke and generally skive.  After an appropriate period of time, we would muddy ourselves up a little and run back.  Because we were so unfit, the puffing and wheezing when we got back was genuine and Pete was convinced we had been running.  But, like all skivers, we were found out.  On the day of the genuine cross-country run, we came in last!  We were rumbled.'

 

' Now here is where Pete Lee really showed me how excellent a Master he was.  Yes, we got a bollocking and banned from cross-country running - and that's where it finished.  I expected dire punishment and all sorts of terrible retribution; but no, there was where it stopped and my admiration of Pete Lee really, really grew.  Between Pete and me, we recognised that I was useless (and somewhat unwilling) at sports and that I was remorseful for my behaviour.  So, I did what I could to repay in other ways, and Pete and I had an 'understanding' that I would do whatever I could capably manage to do to help 'behind the scenes' with sports.  I learned a lot about the background and running of sport and a heck of a lot about life and what being a good schoolmaster was about.  I don't think I will, or be able to, repay some of those lessons that Pete Lee gave me.  Having said that, (a lot) later, I used to do a lot of (non-competitive) long-distance running.  I even tried entering the London Marathon; but was an unsuccessful applicant who formed part of the huge pile of "not enough places for all applicants".  I quite often used to think of Pete as I was running - so he did make an impression!'

 

'And now the end of the day for a day pupil.  The Cheddar bus used to pick up on Wells Way - which meant a trip through Wick's orchard (now the car park area).  During the season, some of the day pupils had a slight misinterpretation on the rules here.  We were well aware that "boarders are allowed to pick up windfalls", so we left those for the boarders and scrumped apples off the trees instead.  I don't really recollect any serious problems with the bees for us, though.  Perhaps they realised that some of us were not to be antagonised or messed with.  Tuesday and Thursday bus runs were less than equable.  Girls, from what was then the secondary modern in Wedmore, needed to come on the bus with us as far as Wedmore.  That made the coach really crowded and uncomfortable - both physically and mentally.'

 

 

Some slightly more 'personal' reminiscences

 

'Unfortunately, I have no written or pictorial memories of my days at Sexey's.  Even my school report (that dreaded book - covered in the obligatory brown paper) went astray many years ago; probably in one of the various moves my late mother and step-father made around Somerset. I do know, however, that it followed a predictable and cyclic manner.  One term would show good and/or improved progress followed by a poorer term.  Perhaps I used to rest on my laurels slightly following a good term.  All my recollections are in the library of my brain where there are plenty of videos, pictures and memories.  However, the years have displaced, lost or scrambled some of them,  The good ones remain, though.'

 

'I was never brilliant academically; and I'm sure I used to do the barest minimum to stay out of trouble - both academically for the school and to keep my parents off my back.  But many aspects of my education were very formative and enjoyable; with some of it not realised until later on life.'

 

'I think I learned most about being a person from three very guiding lights:

 

Henry Tomlinson, as headmaster, about self-responsibility and being a good leader.

 

Arthur Swallow, generally rather than specifically, about maturity and understanding.

 

Peter Lee, as a person, about life, its ups and downs and how to deal and cope with them.  Most of all, from him, I learned and understood what respect meant - and that it could be a two-way thing.  That has stayed with me through my life.'

 

'That is not to say that others were insignificant.  I couldn't have wished to have better mentors.  Even those I (careful here, Chris) had less positive emotions about showed me a way forward in life.  But the three named above, though, did have the most significant and lasting impact on me (psychological, not physical).  Unfortunately, there is now no real way to thank them for that apart from living the tenets that they taught me.'

 

'So, some personal recollections; not necessarily in order of importance or impact.

 

The school name.  I loved it in the sweet innocence of youth.  But later on in life, when I've had to complete CVs and the similar, it has come in for, at best, raised eyebrows to, at worst, ribald comments.  I don't care, I was proud of my school.'

 

'The school uniform.  I had come to Sexey's from a primary school in London where there was a uniform code; so uniform was not alien to me.  I have seen mentioned, elsewhere on the site, comments about the (dreaded) school cap.  In my time, I don't think the Cheddar bus was the one where caps went flying out of the window.  What I can't remember was when we were allowed to discard them.  Also, wasn't there a stage at which boys were expected to discard grey short trousers (mandatory until then) and start wearing long grey trousers (at all times after that)?  I used to find it amusing the variances there were to dress code for the girls - dependent on maturity.  There was always a mixture of grey long socks, short white socks or (rather thick and heavy) stockings.'

 

'I have seen mention of school colours being reflected by the award of a special tie - and yes I'm also positive it was a (better quality) tie and with a thin red stripe going through the black stripe.  Is my memory deceiving me on the next point?  Wasn't there also a special tie for prefects (not that I reached those dizzy heights)?'

 

'Friendships.    I made many friendships at Sexey's and most of them stayed all through my days there.  The unfortunate aspect is that because my life after school became so very much different, those relationships disappeared.  But, while I had them, they were great and enjoyable - and I can still remember some of the names.  However, I will not embarrass people by revealing their names at this stage.'

 

''Special' friendships. Here I did mess up.  There was a friend (in a different form) who became very special to me; but me being the immature and insignificant twerp that I was, I never found a way of letting these true feelings show.  Even after I left Sexey's, I maintained some contact and friendship with her for a while; but never found a way (through stupidity?) of progressing the relationship.  Seeing her photo on the website has brought many memories of her flooding back; and makes me think that if there was any anything I my life I regret doing, not showing my true feelings there comes top of the league!'

 

'6^th Form.     Another screw up by me in messing up what I did.  I had done reasonably well in my 'O' levels and progressed onto the 6^th Form to study at 'A' level with the aim of getting passes in Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Physics.  I wasted my opportunities.  Pure maths was alien to me, applied maths was difficult and physics?  Let's just say that I was probably lazy.  I spent too much time in the freedom of the 6^th Form Common Room wasting time and effort instead of trying to get to grips with it.'

 

'A couple of times, a few of us sneaked down the road to Blackford Farm where we could get some free scrumpy. (Was it ever powerful?  One other 6^th former had too much one day and a) was sick before we left the farm and b) was quite obviously drunk on the coach home to Cheddar.)  To summarise the 6^th form experience, I wasted my time and, more importantly, the school's time.  At the end of the first year in 6^th form, there were some discrete conversations between Wick and my parents and, eventually, me; and it was mutually agreed that my talents should be better utilised elsewhere.  The Royal Air Force beckoned.'

 

'Wick was very generous and allowed me to come back for one extra term.  This allowed me to study and sit 'O' level physics - and achieve the age of 17½ (the minimum age for adult entry into the RAF).  Where I had regrets of messing up as detailed above, with hindsight (isn't it a wonderful thing), the stupidity of not taking such an opportunity as I was offered seriously comes fairly high up in my disasters in life.'

 

'Other staff.     I have noticed, on the web site, references to the Bartletts.  I remember them joining the staff - but had little memorable contact with them (did Mr Bartlett do my 6^th Form applied maths?).  But I did admire their Rover car (and, like a lot of the other boys in the school) Mrs Bartlett's outstanding attributes!.  There was also another 'new' teacher who arrived that I did have some lessons with - but I cannot remember them. What I do remember, though, was that she had a lovely Scottish lilt to her voice.  And, was Mr Churchyard a new staff member while I was there?  Was it him that took music appreciation lessons (in the girl boarders' hostel) for more senior pupils?'

 

Life since Sexey's

 

'As mentioned, I joined the RAF where I got a very thorough grounding in electronics.  A lot of my service career (12½ years) was spent on top of a very cold, bleak and wind-swept hill in Lincolnshire (yes, there are some hills there).  I was always aware that, from that hill, the next high ground to the east was the Russian Steppes.  While I was there, I got married (more in desperation that hope; after all, I was 24 and all my mates had got married).'

 

'On leaving the RAF, I stayed in electronics and computing - and training, in one form or another for most of my working life.  Eventually, about 10-11 years ago, I became a driving instructor - a job where I can utilise my two best skills and likes of driving and training.  Now, after a failed marriage, I have had the opportunity, for various reasons, to come back west and live in Bristol and very close to the area of the country that is still engraved on my heart… the Mendips.  And, when the time comes (not far away - but being self-employed, I can retire when I want and not when the government says) that is the area I want to retire to.'

 

'Since I left Sexey's, I have had two chances to revisit the school.  The first was about 15 years ago in a very quick and brief 'flyby' when I wasn't driving (yes, it's still there) and about four years ago when my ex-wife and me came over to Somerset for a weekend so that I could wander around my 'roots'.  On the Saturday afternoon (a nice sunny one) we drove across to the school and I parked in the car park at the side.  We must have spent the best part of an hour wandering around with me just looking and reminiscing.  So many sights and memories came flooding back - and there was not a single bad one among them.  It didn't stop a few unseen tears though.'

 

'I can never forget Sexey's.  It has a very, very special place in my heart that it can never leave that place.'

 

Chris Marquis

 

Chris has changed his email address to christheancient@hotmail.co.uk 

 

(It never ceases to amaze me the details that some people are still able to remember about Sexey's - perhaps it's an indicator of the profound effect  that Sexey's had on us all. Many thanks for your enjoyable article, Chris. I really enjoyed the tour around the rooms - sorry you had to wait so long for it to appear - MJ) 

During Henry Tomlinson's time, the Deputy Head, Arthur Swallow, produced the school's very first 'history', in 1957 to be precise. (The history has been kindly loaned to me from the Sexey's Archives - MJ)

The cover layout can be seen in the photo. Its size and construction being identical to the 'Old Sexonians' magazine and consists of 20 semi-gloss pages.

At the front of the booklet there is a very early photo of the school (lent to the school by GW Duckett and his sisters) one of whom actually appears in the photo.  

The wooden datum posts along with the unused piles of gravel and the bare earthen banks, reaffirm that this picture was taken very shortly after the school had been built. The official opening of the school was on September 25, 1899 so I think it's safe to assume this photo was taken before the beginning of the twentieth century- a really early shot!

For those of us who attended Sexey's after the building of the school hall, it's a bit of a novelty to see the original wall to the West of the school, in its entirety. To the right of the photographer would have been the hostel, as it had originally been a workers house on the estate. 

Shortly after the early school photo, appeared the Coat of Arms of Hugh Sexey. The creatures are two-headed eagles.

Their description in heraldic parlance can be seen below the picture.

In the 'Acknowledgments' section, near the beginning of the booklet, Mr Swallow acknowledges five main sources for his information as well as 'private conversations with many Old Sexonians'. Other sources of interest include 'The Private Records of EH Smith'(the school's first headmaster) and the school's magazine from 1932 - 37 'by courtesy of F. Curtin. Esq' 

Mr Swallow went on to talk about Hugh Sexey himself and a little bit about his life and times. He tells us that the Trustees of the Sexey's estate were called 'the Visitors'. (I believe this name is still used today. - MJ)

He writes - 'A new secondary school for boys and girls to be called Sexey's School, Blackford was established on the Visitors' property, with an endowment of £100 per annum and the site and buildings.' 

He goes on to mention the initial school site at Stoughton 'which with the help of a local craftsman called Strickland, was adapted for a schoolroom.'

In June of 1897 the interviews for the post of Headmaster were held, there were five candidates. Mr Swallow writes - ' They were conveyed to Wedmore and there interviewed by the Committee with Rt. Hon Henry Hobhouse in the Chair. The candidates were told, in effect, 'There is no school, there are no pupils, there are no guarantees, but there is an excellent opportunity for the right man to create a school'. Mr and Mrs EH Smith, after some hesitation and careful thought, accepted the post thus offered, and lucky indeed for our school was that day'. 

The centre pages of the 'history' contained a ground floor plan of the school as a double paged spread. 

This shows the school as it was in 1957. I'm assuming that the map was an 'in house' affair, possibly drawn up by some capable sixth formers.( Does anyone recognise the names of the map's creators, L. Wilson or R. Preece? - MJ)   Colin Mitchell informs me that these would probably have been Les Wilson and Roy Preece - Les was the son of the Mr Wilson who ran the store in Wedmore where the school uniforms were sold. (Were 'Deane's' not the only suppliers of the school uniforms, then? - MJ) 

Looking closely at the map, a few interesting points emerge. The entrance in the West wall, which can be clearly seen on the early photograph, appears to have been blocked off (simply by bolting the outside door , probably) to create extra space inside the school, for an Art store.

Secondly, what was the Art Room in the 1960's was termed the 'Old Prep Room' on the '57 map where, presumably, the boarders had carried out their homework and out of hours studies.

Of further interest is that the school possessed an Armoury. 

When I arrived in 1964 the boarders Rec/Common room was just beyond the outer entrance by Room 4 - it's interesting to see that an earlier one had existed in the Southern corner of the site.

Mr Swallow divided up the rest of the 'history' into 'periods', according to the 'reigns' of the school's headmasters, ending with Mr Tomlinson. It actually finishes with a small but interesting article on the School's prizes and trophies.

In the EH Smith section, Mr Swallow tells us that Smith had come to Sexey's from a school in Warminster, Wiltshire. Mr Smith and his wife began their 'Sexey's' duties in a temporary building in nearby Stoughton.

Mr S writes - 'On August 27^th,1897, the School was opened at Stoughton with twelve pupils, of whom seven were boys and five girls. One boy was a boarder.'

It appears that the Smith's created a very happy and caring environment in those early years - 'For the next quarter of a century, the care and welfare of the school was the constant occupation of these two and from the records it is clear that it was also their joy and delight. Many of the first pupils are still resident in the district and all speak affectionately of those early days and of 'E.H.' It is clear that he, and the assistant, Mrs MacKenzie, began a happy school; the tradition of happiness in the school survives and endures to this day.'

Mr Swallow went on to mention the great financial responsibilities placed on Mr Smith's shoulders - 'He had to employ the domestic help and the gardener and pay their wages. He had to buy the food… if there was a loss he had to bear it. Parents had to pay fees to send their children to the school.'

Mr S went on to talk about an arboretum in front of the school (planted in Smith's time and obviously still there in 1957) 'It contains some fine specimens of Conifers, as well as the rare Box Elder and Bird Cherry. 'More care should be taken of this collection of trees, but one fears that the new building programme will mean some destruction here.' (Does anyone know if any of the offspring of these old, rare trees still exist somewhere on the school grounds? I've a feeling that Mr Swallow's concerns were well founded! - MJ)

Mr Swallow described the Farm School as 'the most interesting development of the school' in Mr Smith's time. The Farm School was housed in the farm buildings on the opposite side of Wells Way. In 1912 Mr Smith's son, Edward, took charge along with T.Reith. During the first year of the Farm school they made an amazing profit from selling cheese (around £200) - which in those days was an incredible amount. 

In 1906, Mr S tells us, 'a Kindergarten department was begun in the charge of a Froebel-trained mistress.(The Froebel teaching method allowed the children to be creative and was based on the children learning by doing rather than following instructions. - MJ) This was housed in a small building which is now used as a wood store for the woodwork department. Children were admitted from the age of 5, and it was purely a private venture of the Headmaster.'(This was 'the Old Prep Room' mentioned on the '57 map. - MJ) 

Mr Swallow adds a small chart to his article, which shows that the number of pupils between 1897 and1921 rose from 12 to 145. The number of boarders rose from 1 to 45 over the same period. 

He ends the EH Smith section by telling us that Mr Smith was ordained as a priest, before his retirement in 1923. He became Rector of Enmore, Bridgwater until his death in 1952. He finally ends the section by saying - 'The work of the school and particularly of the Farm School was heartily commended by many inspectors, and indeed the school was used as a model for overseas visitors of what a rural school can do.' 

In 'Period 2', the Lawrence Abram section, Mr Swallow tells us that before he took over the reins of office, Mr Abram had been a Science master at Sexey's. Mr S described him as 'a gifted and popular man.'

Unfortunately, during his time in office, Mr Abram lost his wife. Mrs Abram had carried on the kindergarten department in the 'Old Prep Room'- when she died the kindergarten ceased to exist.

Arthur Swallow goes on to say- 'At the time of writing (1957) Mr Abram lives in Weston Super Mare. He is very interested in the doings of the school, is married to a former teacher of domestic subjects here, and is still a teacher of private pupils.' 

Following the section covering Mr Abram's time at Sexey's there was a photo (donated to the school by Miss Margaret Barnes) of one of the original school 'Brakes'.

Mr Swallow's final section of the history of the school, 'Period 3', tells us of Mr Tomlinson's days as headmaster. He pays tribute to Mr Tomlinson for the struggle he had had through the war years. 'The head of a day school had a strenuous time during the war years, but here there were many added problems. There were both boy and girl boarders and there was a good deal of garden to be kept going. It is a tribute to the stubborn character of Mr Tomlinson that he kept the school alive.' 

He goes on to write that -'In 1947 the school was taken over by the Somerset County Council as a Voluntary Controlled School This meant, in effect, that the S.C.C. as the Local Education Authority, assumed responsibility for the school's maintenance under the Education Act of 1944.' 

In the early 50's the school came under serious threat of closure but many local people spoke up in favour of the school, which must have had some influence on the decision to keep it going. Mr S writes -'Space forbids the naming of all of them, but one name shall be mentioned: the local stalwart, EJ Banwell, MBE, member of the Somerset County Council, a firm believer in the life of the English countryside and a constant supporter of every local cause.'  

Mr Swallow went on to mention the enlargement of the school field and the success that the school had in sports. Apparently the girls brought home the County Hockey shield in 1926, 1935, 1948, 1955 and 1956. 

Mr S tells us that the school was totally rewired and an oil-fired heating system was installed in 1956. He mentions that the boarder boys were provided with 'a most comfortable recreation room next to the laboratory block'(This means that the Rec room in the '57 map had only been there a year at most. Was there a boarders' Rec prior to this? -MJ) and that the hard courts were laid for tennis/netball. 

He goes on to mention the high quality Gilbert and Sullivan Operas of the '50's and mentions the hard work of Mr Tonkin.

Towards the end of this section he writes - 'Two State Scholarships were earned, one in Maths, by Lewis and the other in Science by Mapstone in the year 1953. These were the first such awards to come to the school and mark a milestone in its progress.' 

The last but one page of the history, lists the 'Special School Prizes' and their background. He tells us -  

The JC Smith Prize was awarded to the boy who, in the opinion of his fellows, is the best sportsman in the school.

The Hobhouse Prize value one guinea, for special merit in Year 6'

The Headmaster's Prize For the boy or girl who has made the most academic progress.

Evans Memorial Prize (awarded by the widow of the late senior French master) for the most proficient pupil in French.

Tiarks Prize - for the best essay on the British Empire. 

He goes on to list the school trophies - 

The Bishop's Cup - for football competitions between local Grammar schools.

The Burrough Cup - for Senior Boys' Athletics.

The Wilkinson Cup - for Intermediate Boys' Athletics.

The Victor Bracey Cup - for the team which wins the Boys' Relay on Sports day.

The George Ham Cup - for the winner of the 1 mile race.

The Hemens Cup - for Boy's House Athletics.

The Mrs JC Smith Cup - for Senior Girls' Athletics.

The Headmaster's Cup - for Intermediate Girl's Athletics.

The Comer Cup - for Junior Girls' Athletics.

The Hickman Cup - for the Girls' Relay Race

The Mrs Abram Cup - for Girls' House Athletics. 

Mr S goes on to write - 'There is also a House Shield for competition between boys and girls, an Abram Cup for the tug of war, which was given up for some years as likely to produce overstrain in growing boys, and boys, and girls' House match trophies. There seems somewhat a plethora of trophies for athletics and a remarkable lack of encouragement of other activities.' 

Of the very first (12) pupils in 1897, Mr Swallow was able to give some of their names. The surnames of two of the seven boys were Champeney and Gibb . Of the five girls there was 'Dolly' Clapp, ? Duckett, ? Owen and Laura Porter. 

The very last article in Mr Swallow's history is a list of the 'Winners of State and County Awards'. These were -

1953 - W. Lewis and R. Mapstone. (Both State Scholarships).

1954 - Jennifer Thorne.

1955 - Brian Lewis.

1956 - Pamela Redman and Michael Chew. 

A belated 'thanks' to Mr Swallow for all his hard work in compiling and providing us with this information of past generations.

Fifties pupil, Colin Mitchell, tells me that County Major scholarships were won in 1957 by Michael Chew, Peter Tippetts, and Colin himself. He also thinks that Christine Lane and some others of his form may have won them. 

Richard Abraham arrived at Sexey's in 1958 - here are his memories of the place, in his own words -

'Having just been notified of the 2008 Reunion - I attended last year for the first time - I was delighted to see reference to the oldsexonians website, the more so when I then trawled its pages. Goodness me, that brought back memories and then some!' 

'I 'fluked' my way through the 11+ in 1958 at Draycott V A Primary School. Explained thus because in those days - as you may well remember - there were two levels of pass, A & B if memory serves.'

'Those who passed the second rate way then attended a day at the grammar school of one's choice (living in Draycott, that was either Sexeys or Wells Blue School) and in my case was introduced to Henry Tomlinson. He spent the day instructing us in English and Maths; at the end of which there was a test. More I'm sure by good luck than sound judgement I got through and commenced in the First Form in September of that year.' 

'There are many stories I recall of staff and pupils - I was in Blake House - involving boxed ears, games of pitch and toss, the building of both the stage and swimming pool, skiving from sport (often watching the girls play tennis from a low level!), the woodpile at the bottom of the playing field (both my first and last ever cigarettes  - a 'Kensitas' corked-tip - being smoked behind there), my appalling end of term exam results, being sent by Pete Lee to wash my feet, the arrival of Fred Roberts (my Maths saviour), a few fights, following Veronica Gibson around longingly……….the list I think is endless.' (Please feel free to add more as and when you think of them, Richard - MJ) 

Buried somewhere deep in the loft is my old school cap, tie and blazer badge and - rather more accessible - is a copy of the Old Sexonians Magazine for the summer of 1963 which is when I left with a few meagre 'O' Levels.'

'Worse than that is my brown paper covered (by my mother who drew the school badge on it) School Report book. (My report book still has brown paper covering it, too! - MJ) This is such an uninspiring read that my five children aged between thirty-six and ten have never been permitted to see it lest any of the adverse teacher comments should impinge on their own scholastic efforts!' (Isn't it amazing, my own school report was very average at best and I still feel embarrassed by some of the comments - yet it all happened 40 or so years ago! - MJ)  

'When I left - initially spending five years in the Army - I corresponded with Isabel Rendall (who amazingly remembered me when I met her last year (t'was she who was the first who boxed my ears in an RE class!) for a while, and also wrote to Henry Tomlinson more or less apologising for being a lazy student at his fine school! I still have his charming - and very undeserved - gracious reply.'  ( Thanks again for your contribution, Richard. - MJ)

The final year of this decade saw John Roberts arrive at Sexey's in September, 1959.  Some aspects of his time there have stuck in his mind -

'When I first went to Sexeys in 1959 it was the custom for older boys to either throw the first years into the high privet hedge that bordered the field, or duck them in an old metal tank. I got the hedge treatment and I remember Chris Gordon getting a ducking. By the time we reached higher up the school the tank had been removed.'

'The discus throwing area used to be at the back of the tennis courts. Discus types could practice there without harming anyone...unless like me you were left-handed.'

'On two occasions I let go of the discus too late to find the thing flying into the tennis courts. One was a rubber discus which bounced right over the net, to the consternation of the players. The other, a steel rimmed wooden one, buried itself upright in the tarmac. Luckily I wasn't any good at javelin.....'
'I remember Stan Morrissey was very good at discus also - better than me. He didn't trouble the tennis players either!'

'Does anyone remember the woodpile? It was right on the far side of the field, a pile of old logs with a brick wall in front. It provided shelter for those who wanted a quick smoke, or apparently, couples who needed a quick spot of privacy.'  (Thanks for your contribution, John. - MJ)

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 If you have any memories/anecdotes/pictures from this era, whether they're 1st, 2nd or 3rd hand, please send them in to

  oldsexonians@hotmail.co.uk