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

In 1960 a new school stage was completed, at the 'field end' of the gymnasium making large scale productions far easier to organise. It was officially opened in May of that year.

Also in 1960, the 'Old Sexonian' magazine brings the sad news of the death of Lawrence Abram, the school's second headmaster. Mr Abram had been headmaster at the school for sixteen years. 

The early 60's saw decisions being made regarding a swimming pool for the school and in the July of 1962 a fete was held which raised over £300 towards the school fund.

Bruce Purvis has very kindly sent in a number of pictures relating to  1962/63 and the fete in question. It actually took place on July 21st, 1962. 

 The army cadets were invited and put on a variety of displays - 

In this picture, the cadets line up for inspection after the ' battle '. 

Morris dancers also strutted their stuff - 

(This scene is behind the goal of the seniors football pitch.)

One of the many, money making stalls was the inevitable skittle alley. Here we can see James Ross having a go and I think that's Pete Lee in the background.

 (Does anyone recognise any of the other faces? - MJ)

The greasy pole was a popular stall, I'm sure!  Here, Bruce Purvis, (left), takes on Paul Lawton - I wonder who won ? 

A year later, almost to the day (24/7/63), the school held its annual Sports day on the field. This would have been a Blake v Somerville affair. The photos aren't of the sporting action, however, but of some of characters who were out on the field at the time.

Here we can see Peter 'Jim' Phillips in a far corner of the field, complete with cigarette, although the only actual smoking I can see going on is the old tree stump smouldering in the background! - some of Hubert Fisher's handiwork? 

Miss Janice Goode, the geography mistress, also attracted the attention of the camera that day. Her hood up, suggests that it wasn't the warmest of summer days, though. 

The following day, on Thursday the 25th of July, the inter- house cricket match took place.

(Does anyone know the result of the match, that year? - MJ)

Bruce certainly managed to get some good shots and here's another one! This is Deidre Studley posing by the newly opened pool.

Bruce tells me that this was taken on the last day of term, 26/7/1963.

Bruce was also able to supply me with photos of two of the school's stage productions of the early '60's. These were 'The Pirates of Penzance' and 'The Gondoliers'. 'Pirates' was to be the very first production on the new stage.

He also kindly gave me the names of all the cast members he could remember. The first picture is of 'The Pirates of Penzance'- 

According to the 1963 'Old Sexonian' magazine - ' On three successive evenings the cast played to a full audience, and was very well received. The orchestra provided excellent accompaniment and was conducted by Mr Tonkin. The general effect of the scenery (a modernistic interpretation) and costumes was complemented by the musical director. In short, the production was very successful and received good reports in the local newspapers.' 

( Do you have any particular memories of taking part in this production? - If so , send them in! - MJ)

 'The Gondoliers' was performed on three nights in 1963, March 12/14th.

Back Row - Roger Salway, Ian Wilder, Paul Lawton, ?, ?, John Sheldon, Mr Glyn Moore, Ian Hart, Terry Stirzacker, Colin Thorne, ?, Richard Overy, Michael Farley, Roy Tripp.  Next Row (standing) - Jennifer Chew (not in costume), Peter Baker, John Roberts, Bob Ford, Mr Gordon Churchyard, Susan Brookes, Sheila English?, Michael Hill, Mr Peter Lee, Bronwyn Hughes, Graham Badman, ?.  Next Row (kneeling) -  ?, ?, ?, ?, Myrtle Litton, Jennifer Carter, Hilary Freckingham?, Jennifer Streeter, ?, Pat Ham?.  Front Row - ?, ?, Mlle Colette Lousran(French Assistant), Rachel Salway?, Kerrigan Litten, ?, Angela Bradley?, ?, Yvonne Rawlinson?, ?, ?, Elaine Plimsoll, Helen Boswell, Jane Streeter?

Many, many thanks for all the info/pictures you've sent in, Bruce - MJ

(Once again, if anyone can help get rid of the dreaded ?s, please send the names to me - MJ) 

My own (Martyn James) school memories date from the Autumn term of 1964 and continue to be dominated by my memories as a boarder as so much went on!

Actually, my very first memory of the place was of my mother taking me to look at the school and meeting with Mr Tomlinson, sitting on  a bench on the front lawn - it must have been in the final weeks before his retirement.

Going through the school's archives, this photo was a totally unexpected find!  It's a very small colour shot of my class, which I don't believe was taken professionally - all of the other early, class shots in the archives are the usual, medium sized 'Black and Whites' taken by local professionals -although some time was obviously taken to set it up.

It's a very early picture of my class, it might even be a fine day in the Autumn term of 1964, our very first term.  (Can anyone else in my form remember the circumstances behind this photograph or have a larger black and white version? -  My best bet is that it was someone like Mr Ravenscroft who took a quick snap with their own camera as the professional was  taking theirs, but I've certainly never seen any larger black and white versions. MJ)

With regards to the school uniform, the boys wore the school blazer and tie at all times and a cap up until the end of the 2nd? year.

The picture shows a close up of the blazer badge (kindly loaned by Tony Cousins).

(It's interesting that Sexey's was a grammar school but no attempt was made to insert the apostrophe in 'Sexey's'!)

The badge itself shows a pair of  eagle type creatures. Eagles were commonly used in heraldry but I'm unable to find another example of the two headed version anywhere. (More information about the design can be found in Arthur Swallow's 'History' in the 1950's section.

Fellow boarder, Geoff Thorne still has his cap and scarf and here they are - only the scarf still fits, though! (Thanks for these, Geoff. - MJ).

This is the central section of the 1966, whole school picture and shows all of the school teaching staff and many of the children. At this point I was in my second year. 

The whole photo shows 209 pupils, so one can assume that the total number at the school in '66 would have been slightly more than this, accounting for absentees.

Like every other child, I had to get used to the huge changes from Primary school- moving between classrooms, different teachers, different classmates and very large 6th formers! I suppose 'us boarders' got used to the new layout more quickly than the day pupils as we were about in the school buildings until bedtime.

Throughout the '60's the classrooms were either in purpose-built rooms in  the old building or in wooden 'huts' on the outside, lining one edge of the school field. These wooden buildings were used for Maths, Cookery,  Biology, Chemistry and Woodwork.

There was also an outside Art Room - a new one was completed in January '65- my diary entry for 22/1/65 reads -  'Art in the new Art room- we were the 2nd lot to go in!' 

My diary also reminds me that,  in June '65,  the builders were - 'getting on well with the new library', which was a very large project carried out by the builders, Maunders. Hubert Fisher, the caretaker at the time, tells me that one day he got 'roped in' to help with the construction of the building. On one occasion the concrete mixer was kept waiting a bit too long and the mix started to harden. It was a case of 'all hands to the deck' and Hubert was hurriedly enlisted to help with the laying of the floor and foundations before the mix became impossible to work with!

I have few memories of specific lessons but I do remember that Basil Moore, (Latin), was really funny and often injected humour into his lessons. In one lesson I remember him breaking into a silly, high pitched voice when he pretended to be the mother of Plinny - everyone just roared!

Fred Roberts, (Maths), could also be very amusing. I remember he used the phrase ''Percy Harris Broke His Push Bike' to help us learn sines, cosines and tangents! (the initial letter in each word represented the necessary triangle side that was required for the calculation- perpendicular, base or hypotenuse).

Another memory I have of one of his lessons, was when he drew a large chalk circle on the board. Instead of getting on with the lesson he took a step back and after a few seconds he picked up the large blackboard compasses.

After taking a few seconds to find its centre and to adjust the radius he drew another circle on top using the compasses - it was a perfect fit. He had drawn an absolutely perfect circle freehand! He got a well deserved round of applause from the class for that.  ( I can't remember if he used his favourite phrase, 'bless my cotton socks!' but I think there was a pretty good chance!)

Somehow, Fred actually got me through my 'O' level Maths - I had failed every yearly  Maths exam prior to that so I 'came good' just at the right time!

I actually bumped into Fred many years later in a shop in Highbridge and thanked him for performing that minor miracle.

Bryan Breeze, as well as being the housemaster for the boarders, taught PE and was a really nice bloke - most of the boys admired his muscular footballers legs (his calves were huge!) and most of the girls fancied him!!  Unfortunately, he left Sexey's to teach abroad (possibly due to the boarders breaking up).

The one time he did tell me off was when I cheated on a cross country -  I had taken, along with some other boys,  a short cut through a few hedges and someone decided to 'tell'. I remember him sitting by the cricket pavilion next to the tennis courts and stopping me (and others) as I went past. I can't remember our punishment but he was not impressed!

I'm sure everyone that ever did them, remembers those dreaded, cross countries really well.  We went out of the school by the hostel, down the road heading towards Blackford, turned left just before the Primary school and then across some fields and then onto a road that took us past an old, dilapidated house and then back to the school on the road leading from Heath House. I'm not sure how far they were but I couldn't do it now (even if I cheated!)  

At the time all pupils were divided into two houses, Blake and Somerville. You had an amber sports top if you were Blake and a white one if you were in Somerville. I was in Blake but I think Somerville tended to have the upper hand in most of the years I was there.

Somehow, despite being a bit slow on the ball, I managed to get myself in the under 13's football team, playing right back.

My diary reminds me we were pretty hopeless (although some of the team went on to become really good players in later years) and we quite regularly lost by a 4,5 or even 6 goal margin!

For this photo, I remember having to stand at the back because I couldn't find my boots!

Robert was playing in goal at the time and he made a frantic effort to clear a ball off the goal line as the other team were attacking. Unfortunately, as well as clearing the ball, he managed to wrap his leg around the goalpost with the follow-through. 

The result was a massive dent in his shin and his leg bent the wrong way below the knee!  Needless to say he was carted off to hospital to have the break sorted. 

I can't remember if the match had to be abandoned but  we lost the match, an away fixture against Strode, 6-0! 

My only other sporting achievement was throwing the discus. I was able to practise quite regularly as a boarder which led to me being quite reasonable at it and I ended up throwing for Blake. (In my later years at the school I once represented the school at the 'area' games (but with no success!)

In 1965 many members of the school were lucky enough to go on the visit to Switzerland. Peter Roper was one of them and he has donated some pictures.In this first shot, Mike Newton looks towards Giswil.
 

Bev Lane, Lyn Thomas and Clive Ham on the slopes.

Gary Berryman, Bev Lane and Lyn Thomas snowballing!

Bill Jones, who was at the school throughout the early '60's, remembers the field trip to Corsica, which took place in the March/April of 1967- he tells me that this is his only photograph of his time at Sexey's. Bill takes up the story. 

'It was taken while waiting for a train at some godforsaken hole of a railway station, (a bit like Butch and Sundance arriving in Bolivia). The six girls on the right were upper sixth and the others lower sixth. Such is my memory for names and faces that the only one I can name is the blonde, second from the left of the upper sixth - I'm pretty sure this is Maggie James. I think the lad at the back is Paul Loveridge.' (It's actually Pete Roper, Bill - can you name the rest? - MJ)

'We had travelled down through France to Nice, then got a ferry over to Corsica. When we got there, the female teacher and one of the upper sixth girls, who I can't remember, disappeared off with two lads they'd met earlier. We didn't see them again until we got back on the ferry. That left Mr Breeze in charge of a predominantly female party on his own, which must have given him a headache or two! ' (I bet he loved it, really!- MJ)

'Anyway, we travelled around the island on public transport stopping at various camp sites. Corsica in those days was still a bit backward - we woke one morning to find the local women doing their washing on the rocks, in the river we were camping by!'

'On the way home we stopped in Paris for the night. I remember spending the evening in a local bar and all the students wanting to call it a night by 1am, ( Lightweights!! - MJ) but not the teachers. We were there for another hour and a half !'

( Virtually everyone would have had a camera on this trip, so I'll patiently wait for more pics to come in ...! MJ)

I need wait no longer, Peter Roper has given me a number of photos that he took at the time!                                                                                                        

   

 The first picture shows the station again and includes the male contingent. 

Being a lover of classic vehicles, I couldn't resist putting this one in - this is the coach that took them round - what a beauty! 

 

 No 5 star hotels on this trip! 

 A mountain stream acted as a handy bath - don't drop the soap, Pete! 

Getting on the coach or getting off, I wonder?

Christine Hoskins (Derrick) joined the school as a pupil, in 1966, following in her grandmother's footsteps some fifty five tears later. Christine's article is the very first article contributed for the second phase of the website - many thanks, Christine!

Here are Christine's memories in her own words - 
 
'My period of time was 1966 to 1973. My worst subject was domestic science (odd for a girl) and I encountered Mrs Valda Ryder and her predecessor, Mrs Coles; neither of whom were ever greatly impressed by my efforts (which isn't greatly surprising). I also struggled with Maths, but Fred Roberts would never write a bad word in my report, despite my getting very low marks.

'However, I got my O level, and many years later I bumped into him near Congresbury; at which point I was able to tell him that I had also gone on to do maths at HNC level; which he was clearly pleased about and said that it was always good to know that the struggles had paid off!'

'Mr Dunn taught biology to the lower years, and I think also physics. Many boys were called "look, sonny" when they were being told off.'

'In the later years, like many people, I detested dissection work and struggling to cope with the formalin stench from preserved dogfish. A treble Zoology period in the afternoons was sometimes worse than a jail sentence, compounded by the strain of trying to keep up with Mr Brooke's handwriting. He, however, was easily outdone by Mr Elvins (History) whose writing was so tiny you were forced to sit at the front of the class to copy it off the blackboard.'
 
'In Chemistry, many unofficial experiments were performed with aluminium powder, splints, bunsens and assorted biros on the back benches. These were often more interesting than the set project and Gordon Churchyard had his work cut out to ensure that no serious accidents happened.'

'Numerous holes were burned in jumpers, exercise books and even brief cases as the result of stray drops of nitric, sulphuric or other bench acids. Today's Health and Safety 'experts' would have quaked in their boots, well, not really, but it was a lot of fun!'

'French, in the first form, was taught by a Mrs Dykoff (and I'm afraid that's where my spelling fails me because I can't actually remember HOW it was spelt!). Later on, the class was with Mr Packer, and there was always another Monsieur or Madmoiselle on the staff, over from France, for most of the year.'

Mr Moore was my Latin teacher throughout, and I think immensely gifted to teach what could be a dry, dusty topic in such a way as to bring it alive with humour and stories.'

'Miss Rendell covered our English and RI lessons; I can recall only a few spells with Miss Padfield, she was never a "main" teacher for me.' 

Here, Christine can be seen with the rest of her classmates - the photo was taken in 1969.
Back Row (L-R) John Banwell, Angie Webber, Susan Line, Rachel Frost, Karen Bloodworth, Dierdre Thomas, Linda 'Lofty' Shaw, Cordelia Welch, Josie Fear, Sally Manfield, Alison Tinknell, Christine Hoskins, Tony Stacey, David Adams. Middle Row (L-R) Mr Gordon Churchyard, Eric Puddy, John Reeves, David Banwell, Andy Ratcliffe, Tim James (Donald), David Olive, Michael Garbett, Trev Poole, Mike Thomas, Tim Shipsey, Erica Vowles, Ann Western, Michael Nicholson, David Plumley, Martin Howell 'Fred the Foot', and Miss ? Front Row (L-R) Tony Limb, Lynne Heal, Sue Barratt, Janice Lukins, Jill Steer, Karen Watts, Sharon Reaney, Pam Champney, Liz Johnson, Margaret Taylor, Jimmy Fisher and Steve Westby.

(Photo contributed by Christine Hoskins - many thanks to Sally Manfield (Adams) for filling in all the ?'s.)

'As far as sport was concerned, this was an area I had no particular interest in. However, Beryl Leach managed to somehow manipulate me into the swimming teams and the occasional athletics event, covering backstroke and either long jump or 800 metres. I think it was revenge for the fact that I was not very good at geography in her classes. I also survived a few of the cross country events, managing a 10th place on one occasion.'

'I believe Sexey's swimming pool had to have the coldest temperature recorded anywhere on Earth (I agree! - MJ), even a penguin would have  turned its beak up at the cold, sullen surface. Swimming was done even on cold, wet, misty days; pupils would traipse miserably out from the changing rooms, wrapped in towels and say prayers before entering the water.... you could hear folk saying 'Oh God' as they arrived. However, it provided plenty of house competition each year, and for some reason Somerville seemed to always have the better swimmers (but we 'Blakes' would always get even on the running track). 

'Away from lessons and sport, other events included a 'general election', where a small group of people stood as candidates for Labour, Conservatives, and other less well-defined political movements. They would spend a number of break and lunch times delivering speeches, then a voting day would be set and everyone cast votes in cardboard ballot-boxes. I do not recall the outcomes of these events, nor indeed whether there was more than one; but it was quite an unusual few weeks.'

'Elsewhere on the website, the school magazine has been mentioned, and I think this caused a bit of a stir when it was first announced. Everyone was encouraged to contribute something. I still have a copy somewhere at home. Stories, reports, poetry and similar were all offered up; one that sticks in my mind even now is a short piece by Vince Russett, that started off as 'The mushroom! it grows and grows....' with reference to Nagasaki, I believe. Funny how tiny snippets remain in memory and larger events elude us entirely.'

'There is one particular period that I wish had been possible to extend;in my time in the 1st form I can remember a woodwork teacher (Mr Atkins?- MJ) who used to hold simple woodwork classes during a lunchtime, for anyone to attend. This, to me, was more interesting than cooking buns or sewing aprons, and I really enjoyed sawing wood and making small items, including a pendant and a fruit bowl. However, he left at the end of my first or second year, and no more classes were ever done (that I know of).'

'I also had to give up Art after the third year, because of the way the subject-choices fell for the O level studies. This was another period of happy creativity. Mrs Peak was teaching at the time and after she left there was a Miss or Mrs Elliott.' ( Many thanks for your contribution, Christine. - MJ).

In 1966, the school put on a performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Including the helpers behind the scenes, this involved about a quarter of the school's pupils. Press reports at the time were very favourable -

The school's Speech days took place on an annual basis, as you would expect. Looking at the dates on several of the programmes, these were held on the second Friday in December.

In order to gauge numbers for seating purposes, invitation cards were sent out to parents. (This one, from '68, was supplied by Tony and Lynda Cousins.) Despite the 'Friday 13th' date, I don't think there were any major mishaps!

 The programme itself was a simple, four sided affair using folded, white card and black text - although it was professionally printed (by Shearn Brothers, Burnham on Sea, in 1968).

An inspection of the 1968 programme reveals that Christine Brooke was the head girl and seconded the 'Vote of Thanks'. The 'brainboxes' at the time were Andrew Bradley who passed four 'A' levels and four other pupils (Margaret Bowerman, Christine Brooke, Kerrigan Litten and Paul Webber) who passed 'A' level mathematics a year early.

Of particular note amongst the 'O' level candidates were Pamela Callow, Barbara Cox and Jane Perry who each attained twelve passes.

According to the 1969 'Sexonian' magazine - 'The event concluded with some fine singing by the School Choir.'

This picture was kindly sent to me by Sally Adams and is the final, whole school picture of  the  1960's, taken in 1969. This is the central section and shows the majority of the teaching staff.

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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