Hello everyone!!
I am wondering if any Exmothians or Littlehamers here can remember their days at school between the years 1951 to 1962 and if so, what did you think of them, as a punishment or a delight?!.
My first school experience was at The Beacon School which I attended when I was six years old. I still lived in St.Andrews road then. Remarkably, I can still remember most of the teachers there to:
Headmaster: Neil Widgery. Teachers: Mrs Ellis, Miss King, Miss Smith, Miss Elliot, Miss Parrott, Miss Gilliard, Mr Arthur Nunn, Mr John Braddick and Mr Howe.
I used to stay for school meals. I hated the school meals so much, I even wrote a letter on Mum's behalf saying I was excused from eating greens, which, of course, was quickly found to be a fake, 'cos I put 'singed' instead of 'signed', so the punishment for that was a double portion every time we had it!!.
My friend and I got caught by the police writing 999 in white chalk on the red phone boxes, which we didn't think was wrong at all, but got taken to school and had to stand in front of everybody the next morning at assembly, to be told off from the Headmaster!! Then we got caught during the meal time break with ice lollies, which we bought at Crowsleys Sweet Shop in High Street (Mr Crowsley then moved to Littleham Cross, where for years he had a fish shop. After he retired, his son Chris (an old school friend), made the shop into a small Supermarket. Chris, so I hear, has now retired himself. I got three whacks on my bottom with the cricket bat for leaving the school!.
Six months later, we moved to Littleham. I was still six years of age and then Mum decided I should be educated at the School in Littleham Village. All I can remember about that school, was that it was very short lived and I went back to The Beacon.
Then the '11+' exams arrived and I qualified for the secondary school. To be honest, I cant recall any on my classmates qualifying for the grammar school, which was situated in Gypsy Lane. I do know though, that the distinctions of 'Secondary Boy and Grammar Boy' put us into rival groups, where in Phear Park, we would stand and hold our pride as 'Secondarys' and give the 'Grammers' something to think about!.
Corporal punishment was rife in school in my years from 11 to 15, but it didn't do us any harm. I think today, when I see the modern youth, that form of discipline wouldnt do them any harm at all, whereas today, a parent is forbidden by Law (here it is so) to give his child any form of a 'clout'. That is punishable through 'bodily assault'.
All in all, they were good days when I reflect back and I don't consider those days either as a punishment or a delight, we had to go to school, whether we liked it or not and back then, the attendance was 98%, in fear of 'The School Beadle', someone very similar in character to 'Mr Bumble' in Charles Dickens 'Oliver Twist'!.
Rob.
We were wondering if we knew you.We went to exmouth secondary school in the 1960's (62 to 64) My husband Malcolm Snell and me at the girls school Pat Bennett. I used to babysit for Mr Nunn one of the boys school teachers.
Friends we remember
Rob & Reg Needs, Maurice Pewtner ,Tony Norton, Adrian Hicks,
Did we ever come across you we were wondering?
We went to Exmouth last weekend to see my 92 year old mother who has just moved into a bungalow.
Shame about the seafront, all the beach huts are gone, we used to break in to them at night (won't tell you what for!!)
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