Ravenscroft School From 1951 1958

A Memory of Beckington.

I attended this school from 1951 -1958 and Mr Henry Francis Bailey ( with his wife Mary ) was always the head. At least till the time I left in 1958. They had one son Christopher who I believe wanted to become a teacher too.
I could write a lot on the school because I knew it so well. What does not show in the pictures is the large coach house barn close by at the top of the drive way. This had huge wooden doors to seal it off and a small pedestrian door in one side. Behind was one of the main class rooms for seniors. Beyond this another smaller room called `The Cabin` which could be reached by steps leading down from outside. Above the Cabin was an empty room reached by a ladder on the wall which must have at one time been a hay loft.
Above the main classroom was another room used for teaching too and reached by a zig-zag set of stairs outside, which had a small porch at the top.

In the early 1950`s the garden area adjacent to the barn was called an Elizabethan Garden with dwarf box hedges and a sundial. (This never told the right time because there were thirty boy pupils there !!) It was later dug up and laid as a lawn and used for Croquet.

The main school building was entered up some steps and via a large stout door with beautiful coloured glass set in it .
This led to the hall with large amounts of oak panelling and a huge fire place opposite. To the right was a door leading into a spiral staircase which went up all three floors.
Beyond the hall was the pantry/washup room on the left, then on the right the Library and a tiled corridor to the kitchens.
Leading off left from the hall was the common room for the boys. And beyond the pantry/washroom also on the left a boiler room called `The Gunroom ` This led down to a tiled area with basins and toilets and a conservatory type structure with a green house at the far right end in which was a huge vine which produced delicious black grapes in huge hanging bunches.
The school sat on a sharp bend and in winter fogs was witness to many bad road accidents, one which stands out was an Austin 7 coming from Frome and did not negotiate the bend at all and went straight into the wall of what was then a nursing home and left a large piece of the stone work chipped out.
The main sports field was some distance away and reached by going through the church yard and several fields beyond, turning right along the road way and then through an old apple orchard. The pitch had a very distinct slope on it, which made most teams play up hill for the first half !!
Behind the barn was the play ground area, which was clinker. There were a set of wire cages within which lived the chickens that provided the eggs. They shared this area with lots of black and red currant bushes and gooseberries.
At night they were ushered into a wooden hut and in the morning one duty was to collect any eggs laid overnight.Also to check the soft ground within the netted area where they sometimes decided to lay as well. They were fed on potato peelings and kitchen scraps.
To the left of the playground were two bunkers for the coal and coke, another duty which we had a roster for to collect fuel three times a day for the huge boiler.
Coke had a habit of forming clinkers and these had to be carefully raked out from the firebox each day and the ash spread on the vegetable patch which was to the right of the grass areas beyond the main buildings. Bits too congealed to be of use were put in a special bin.
Opposite the coke bunkers on the corner was a small concreted area with a roof ,used for the day-boys to park their bicycles.
I recall most winters we had snow and sometimes quite deep. During this period it was possible to see a circular area which never froze outside the common room window. Apparently this was caused by a well, of which nothing was visible at ground level.
The uses of the rooms within the main school building were frequently changed around, so that on returning at the start of term you had to learn what was where again.
Many of the rooms had huge fireplaces you could stand up in from the days of log fires. Some of the senior bedrooms had oak panelling and a screen and large windows that looked out onto the main road below. At the front elevation it was noticeable that a couple of windows had been bricked over, rumours said because of the Window taxes from days gone by.
All teaching was done in the barn classrooms and only the infant teaching carried out in the main school. Bedrooms were all on the second floor and bathrooms were constructed within the turreted sections. The third floor contained sick rooms and a laundry store and later the Head Master moved up there from the second floor. Matron had a room next door to one of the bathrooms on the Frome side.
Teaching staff tended to change quite regularly and many stayed for only one term before moving on. Names that come to mind are Nankivell, Calvert, Humphries, Wrenfrew, Priestman. The main Teachers who were there for most of my time were Mr Bailey who taught Maths and English and Rev EE Bromwich who took care of Latin, Scripture and occasionally Greek. The others taught History and Geography. All the infant teaching was carried out by a Miss Waring though when I first went the three of us, very juniors, had Mrs Gulliver whose son was one of the three.
The uniform was based on two shades of brown and had a large black raven on the school badge.
The football shirts were originally two sets of different brown squares but this did change to a dark brown somewhat like a `T` shirt.
All cooking was done in the kitchens at the rear of the main building and supervised by Mrs Bailey with the help of a lady from the village called Mrs Humphries.
Just up the road on the same side as the school was a small sweet shop run by an elderly lady called Mrs Clarke. One of the school `dares` was to visit after hours at night using a small gateway at the rear of the school wall.
Being a school everything had to be regimented and class change over of lessons was signalled by someone in the `Cabin` taking a large hand bell and ringing it outside the room for several seconds. This was very distinctive and could be heard all over the grounds.
Meal times within the main school were announced by the duty pupil sounding a large gong on a table which sat in the lobby to the kitchen corridor.
Below ground was a single cellar where all foodstuffs were stored, huge tins of beans and dry stores such as flour and sugar.
The pupils were divided into two houses called Picts and Scots and staff would award points to anyone seen helping out or being particularly good. At the end of each week at assembly the pupils with the highest points totals were allowed to wear a small badge, blue for Picts and Red for Scots, and this gave preference for second helpings after meals. At the end of the year the house with the highest points were taken for a day out and picnic. I seem to remember in the 7 years I was there my house the Picts won 6 times.!
Within the grounds were several mature trees especially a conker near the vegetable garden which used to get loaded. At the far end of the grass play area was a large tall fir tree. You were allowed to climb this for the first ten feet but no further. Of course it was obligatory to climb this as high as you could when not being viewed.! There were two particularly awkward sections but once you had worked these out it was possible to reach the top ( around 80 feet ) Many people before leaving carved their initials as far up as possible and in my case I took two photographs from the very top.
Happy times and memories and great camaraderie.

Memories part two..

The food was always good and tasty with the exception of tapioca pudding which few liked.
Friday was always Fish pie day and in the Summer we all went to Frome baths for swimming in the morning. The baths were tucked away down a small side track off the steep hill leading out of Frome. One thing that always stuck in my mind was a shop at the bottom of the hill with the glorious name of Aida Birtwhistle. Probably a hairdressers ?
When I first went to the school there was obviously a small Magazine printed by the pupils with the help of masters, this had some interesting facts on matches played and general goings on. I have one faded copy dated 1952. It describes the summer term cricket results against such schools as Edgarley, Greenways, Stroud, Hillbrow and All Hallowes. A mixed set of results with four games being won and four lost and giving details of the various star players !!
The magazine obviously was not printed each term because I have another faded copy dated Christmas 1955 which I know was printed and put together by a pupil called May (ma) He had the use of a gestner at home and was as far as I can recall interested in going into publishing.? It has the mention on the front that this will be a surprise edition.
I also have a copy of the prospectus my Mother was sent (in 1951) and this came with three pictures of various aspects of the school dormitories and classes. It sets out the curriculum and what was expected of pupils in the way of discipline.
During the Summer there was always a Frome Cheese Show held down the road on a large site. This we were allowed to attend and it had the usual horse jumping events, multiple stalls and static shows of farm machinery. There were of course judging events of Cheeses and farm produce and home made jams and pies.
Of the pupils several came from quite close, One named Holroyd was hit by a car crossing the road nearby and had a leg broken and the danger of traffic was stressed at assembly next day.
Sunday always started with a visit to the Church down a side road close by. On return letters had to be written home and checked for spelling by the master in charge. This was followed by lunch and then a walk for the afternoon. The route could be one of several and turning up the country lane just up the road led to the railway where if the timing was right we could stand on the parapet of the bridge and wave at the Cornish Riviera a it flashed by underneath. Very often the driver would sound the whistle. There was a section of metal trough visible up the line and this is where the train could take on water while at speed. This route was called Long Berkley and the walk carried on beyond and round in a large circle to arrive back at Beckington.
There was another route called Short Berkley which turned left before the railway bridge and also came round in a smaller circle back to Beckington.
Going the other way the favourite walk was down to the first farm and then a left turn down a muddy lane. After clearing the buildings it used a track through gates and fields and followed along a ridge. At one point you could see down in the valley was an old WW2 pillbox close to a small river.
The track took us as far as an impressive country house called Orchard Leigh and we used to skirt the large lake and carry on past to a small island on which was a church. This was reached by a wooden footbridge and somewhere in the grave yard, was I believe, the grave of the poet Robert Newbolt.
Occasionally on the lane to Berkley, at the Beckington end, a Gypsy caravan would appear for a week or so.This was the traditional round barrel shape and had a fire kept alight outside the front steps on the ground. Over this was the inevitable kettle supported by sticks. The children always looked dirty and smoke stained. There was always a horse tethered near by. I suppose they did odd jobs to earn a few shillings but I can recall the wife making clothes pegs from Hazel twigs.
During winter if the weather was too bad for games we were sent on a run which invariably meant Long Berkley, the lanes were quiet but the cold wind played havoc with exposed legs.!!
Sport was always Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and this involved walking through the Church yard and various fields to get to the games field. Here we played football or cricket as the season dictated.
During the Summer there was always a Fete in the grounds of the Vicarage and we were sometimes asked to help set up stalls. These were the usual cake stalls, bottle stands and various games of skill including throwing bean bags to get them through a hole in a wooden box or tracing a wire round a set of loops hoping not to set off the alarm. One other one was a bucket of water on the bottom of which was a two shilling piece. The aim was to drop an old penny carefully into the water and hope it covered the silver coin in which case you took them both . This was a pretty forlorn hope and the odds must have been hundreds to one against.!!
I often wonder what became of the friends I knew but some details I can still recall.
Royal`s father was a dentist. The Shepherd`s father worked for a bearing Company. The two Burton brothers had a father who was an ex Royal Marine bandsman and he ran a pub in Bath at the top of a hill in Landsdown. The Perret brothers had lived in Africa with their parents at some time. Malim and Maynard were both sons of Naval officers. Malims was on HMS Triumph which at the time was flying aircraft. By coincidence I went to Hong Kong on her in 1969 by which time she had been converted into a heavy duty repair ship. Fisher was the only pupil who took Greek. The White brothers had a father who was a property developer round Bath. Ridley`s father worked in the Theatre. Hoddinott lived in the village somewhere as did Holroyd.
Rev EE Bromwich who took Scripture and Latin actually had the parish of Wanstrow and claimed his favorite number was 93 !! When he preached at Beckington church which he did once a year he always had the bell tolled 93 times.! Griffiths had a remarkable skill at drawing.
Of the staff Mrs Bailey was always keen on horses and at one time fenced the orchard by the playing field and bought a horse which she kept there. Rev Bromwich left before me and went to Bromsgrove school in the Midlands. Miss Waring was there the whole of my time but masters came and went sometimes staying for only one term. Mr White , Gibson, Nankiville, Wrenfrew, Calvert, Priestman to name but a few. Matrons also came and went regularly and for two terms we had a German lady for a while to help called I believe Miss Halla.
Occasionally MR bailey recalled stories of his first Ravenscroft at Yelverton which had to close during the war .There was an airfield built close by and as of the 1960`s the runways were still visible and used by land yachters.
One story he used to say was about how they got their water pumped up by using a series of pulleys and chains to work the mechanism.
If I can work out how to add photographs I will add three taken from the Summer Term school pictures.
Any way happy memories as I said before.