Happy Days
A Memory of Alton.
I contracted polio in 1955 & after nearly 2 years in hospital I went home & started to overcome my disability.
I arrived at Treloars, or Lord Mayor Treloar College, as it was then known, in 1959 & stayed until 1967. The junior house was Burnham & the senior house, Jephson.
I was pretty hopeless to start with, but then learnt to swim & matters went on an upward swing from then on. Played water-polo, football & a bit of cricket (not v.good). Ended up as Head Boy before leaving in 1967.
I did a tailoring course & obtained City & Guilds intermediate.
Academically pretty hopeless but I learnt to be independent & this stood me in good stead when later on, in 1967, I moved to East London to a new job in tailoring .
Treloars did a lot for a lot of people & I remember being in Jephson House, see picture, which was built in the 1500s. In the winter it was extremely cold & I remember wearing my overcoat in bed several times to try & keep warm. It can't have been that bad as I survived. Our Housemaster was Mr F Gaston & the Principal Mr Heywood.
It was a good time in my life & when I left I was a bit lost but soon overcame these feelings & cracked on with life.
I now hear that the site is going to be redeveloped, as Treloars has moved to the Holybourne site.
Add your comment
You must be signed-in to your Frith account to post a comment.
Add to Album
You must be signed in to save to an album
Sign inSparked a Memory for you?
If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?
Comments & Feedback
It was a sobering experience to see many of the students who shared the college with the 70 boys, who like me had haemophilia. Cases included those with polio, muscular dystrophy, brittle bone, cerebral palsy, severe asthma and a number with juvenile arthritis, whose physical handicap ranged from mild to severe.
Treloars engender a sense of self-worth and independence but the housemasters and many of the staff never wasted an opportunity to remind those who would listen, that it was "a hard world out there" and their disability would make it even harder. It may sound harsh to those on the outside and particularly in this age of “political correctness” it would be completely unacceptable, but we were often told that we had no right to expect that we should get any special treatment just because we had a problem.
Students were always reminded that this place offered a great opportunity to learn skills that would help them compete with their able-bodied fellows and it was their responsibility to make the most of it.
While the surroundings were extremely beneficial, I look back now and realize that it was the staff who made the most difference.
There are many I remember who made a difference to me.
Mr. Mayhew who sparked my interest in history,
Mr. Arthen who taught science,
Mr. Dick who made a valiant attempt to teach me French,
Dr. Rea and Colonel Howe, whose persistence helped me understand maths,
But perhaps most of all, I remember Mr. Bachelor who taught us the basics of electronics that would serve me well to get and hold down a variety of different careers within the electronics industry. Perhaps most of all I thank him for his humour and willingness to tell us it was a hard world and prepared us for it.