Holme School Headley

A Memory of Headley.

I remember the Holme School from when I arrived in 1956. It was large and rather frightening, especially being told by Miss Watkins to sit down and write on my slate, wasn't used to that. Fell in love with Miss Richardson later on, who then left to have a baby, very upset. Remember being caned on the hand by Mister Lee for going into the girls toilet with Fiona Munroe. Pieces of the ceiling falling down during assembly one day, great panic! Yanec Clinski, Polish child who was constantly being caned and endlessly crying, never heard someone cry as much, v puzzling. One day somebody found a dummy hand grenade, we didn't know it was a dummy, took it to the master on duty, who told him to take it to the headmaster, great stink about that!! Doing the dinner round, a great honour, going around all the classes collecting the number of children requiring lunch that day and then taking them to the kitchen. Father Christmas suddenly appearing at Christmas and being scared out of my wits as I didn't know who he was!! Watching the country dancing in the playground at the end of the day and too shy to join in. Putting my finger over the drinking fountain and spraying everyone with water. The long walk through the woods to Mr Wheatley's class in the old chapel, past the spooky house on the corner where the creepy man lived; nobody knew why he was creepy but he was to be avoided, although nobody ever saw him! Proudly taking poster my father had produced for British Railways to be put up in the canteen. Sports day and longing to be able to run like Tommy Morris, who seemed to win everything! Going to Mill Chase to sit the Eleven Plus exam and thinking God this is frightening! (the school not the exam). Leaving in 1961 and feeling sad and guilty that other boys weren't going to the grammar school as I was.