Stouts Hill School

Key to visitors

2012-01-09T14:21:00.000+01:00

Here are the people who've contributed to this blog so far, with whatever I know about their dates at the school, and links to their own Web sites, if any.

Roger Dawson 1944-48
Anthony Sweeting 1945-48
David Woodall/Mackinley-Woodhall 1946-51
John Corps 1945-52
Derek Brian Hulme 1950-53 (approx)
Nigel Cant 1949-55
Christopher Ellis 1952-57
Ken Merron 1955-57
David Dawson 1954-60
Nick Benn 1955-60
James Sillavan 1958-62
Richard Guha 1959-62
Jonathan Marler 1959-62
Jeremy Blatchford 1961-63
Mike Curtis 1959-64
Jeremy Cape 1960-64
Chris Hale 1961-64
David Ireland 1959-65 (?)
David Llewellyn 1960-65
Julian Williams 1962-67
Jonathan Palfrey 1963-67
Emile Farhi 1963-68
Charles Llewellyn 1962-68
Robert St Maur Mills 1963-68
Peter Dawson 1965-69
Andrew Porter 1966-69
Jonathan Hely-Hutchinson 1968-69
Roger Fayle/Knott-Fayle 1965-70
Stephen Fry* 1965-70
Richard Madley 1968-70
Jonathan Tilney 1968-70
Andrew Pike 1964-71
Richard Leitch 1966-71
Robin Kimmons 1967-71
Ashoak Daryani 1965-72
Bob Davidson 1968-72
Michael Lawson 1968-72
Laurence Robinson 1968-72
A.J.G. (John) Morris 1968-73
Colin Richards 1968-73
William Greeves 1969-73
Huw Warren 1972-74
Jason Crossley-John 1973-75
Justin Tugwell/Hunter 1970-77
Andrew Gordon-Johnson 1973-?
Robert Darell 1974-79
Alan Davis 1974-79
David Morris 1975-79
Tim Ridley 1975-79
Paul Reynolds 1975-79
Michael D. Walker —
Sarah Cromie —

*Stephen Fry hasn't contributed to this blog, as far as I know, but I've occasionally referred to his autobiography Moab is my washpot (1997).

Any dates you may see in Friends Reunited are unreliable: it seems that many people misremember their own dates. I take dates from the Stouts Hill Magazine whenever I can.

When people have changed their surnames since leaving the school, I've given both names like this: name-then/name-now.

Old boys list

2011-12-28T17:59:00.000+01:00

In 1979 and 1980, Jeremy Lee-Browne compiled a list of Stouts Hill old boys, with their dates at the school and their addresses at the time. John Morris has removed the addresses—most probably out of date by now—and passed me the edited list as a PDF file (thanks to John for this effort).

The list is seriously incomplete. I suppose Jeremy included only those whose addresses he could find, so (for instance) I'm not included myself. Naturally, the early years are under-represented, although it does include some fairly senior old boys.

April 2009: I've now made my own list, compiled from information in the Stouts Hill Magazine. This list is also incomplete and there is more to be done with it, but I contribute it as a work in progress.

You can find both lists here.

June 2011: I've done more work on my list, which has gone from 12 to 19 pages, with a better representation of senior old boys, and also includes more dates previously missing. I hope to add more information later this summer.

December 2011: I've added old boys' info from the 1954 Magazine, and a few minor corrections from John Morris.

The Latin lesson

2010-11-24T16:55:00.000+01:00

From Life of Brian: Romani ite domum.

Word verification

2010-10-27T15:46:00.000+02:00

In July I turned on word verification for this blog, forcing people to type in a random word before adding comments.

The purpose of this is to prevent spammers from using programs to add automated comments to the blog, which has become a real nuisance.

I'm now turning word verification off again for a trial period, because Blogger has implemented a new spam-filtering system. I'll see how it goes.

27th of October: I've turned word verification back on, because the blog is receiving about 20 spam messages a day, and the spam filtering system doesn't reduce the nuisance much. I still get all of them arriving in my e-mail inbox, and still have to delete all of them. Much better if they don't get onto the blog in the first place. I'm sorry it means a little extra trouble for anyone wanting to post messages on the blog; blame the spammers.

Stouts Hill Reunion 2010 completed

2010-09-02T00:57:00.000+02:00

The Stouts Hill Reunion 2010 was held as planned at Stouts Hill on the 15th of August, attended by at least 25 people, who all seemed to have a good time chatting and wandering around the house and grounds. The weather was dry and pleasant throughout.

Alan Davis and his sister Lesley arrived early with an abundant supply of good cold snacks and soft drinks. The bar (in the former headmaster's study) was unmanned but open; we could help ourselves to drinks and drop payment into a box.

I am gradually adding photos of the reunion to Flickr: click here. Please be patient: I have other things to do, and you can expect more photos to appear here over the coming weeks. You're welcome to contribute your own photos.

Although the reunion was a success, the turnout was lower than expected: quite a lot of people expressed interest but never appeared, including all of the eight people who originally requested a reunion in 2010; so Alan and Lesley brought too much food and had to take most of it away afterwards. Alan received advance notice from Emile Farhi, Charles Llewellyn, David Mackinley-Woodhall, Ian McKellan, and Miles Wachter that they would not be coming; and Derek Hulme left a note on this blog.

Anthony and Sue Cromie sent a brief letter to Alan that he read out at the reunion:

Sue and I are very disappointed that we are unable to attend this reunion. We are particularly impressed with your organisational skills and congratulate all on the great success last year.

If you feel it appropriate please ask the Old Boys to carry on setting the example in life of decency and fair play. And I refer to Kipling's poem 'If'. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance, run etc...”

My own thanks again to Alan and Lesley for their efforts.

Stouts Hill 1960s video

2010-07-15T12:55:00.000+02:00

From a correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous, I've received a video made from various pieces of cine film shot at Stouts Hill in the 1960s. The video is four and a quarter minutes long, and shows what seems to be a masters versus old boys football match (probably September/October 1962), plus some sports day races.

You can find the 30-MB MPEG-4 file here. To download:

In Firefox for Windows, right-link the link and select Save Link As.
In Internet Explorer for Windows, right-click the link and select Save Target As. IE changes the file extension to .htm, so you will have to change it back to .m4v manually in order to see the video. Thanks, Microsoft.
If you have a Mac and can't right-click, control-click instead.

Considering the age of the film, the quality is good, although one section of it is damaged and double-exposed.

I haven't tried to put this on Flickr, because Flickr limits videos to 90 seconds.

Stouts Hill Reunion 2010

2010-06-28T23:12:00.000+02:00

Following the successful event in August 2009, David Mackinley-Woodhall told me that he knew of a group of people interested in a reunion in the summer of 2010, some of whom were unable to come this year; and Alan Davis bravely volunteered to arrange another event.

Since then, others have expressed interest, and I hope to join in myself if I can make it to England at that time. If you think you might like to come, please leave a comment here or get in touch by e-mail, to give us an idea of numbers.

The reunion is now planned for the 15th of August 2010. Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour!

Later: I've now booked a flight to England in August, so I seem increasingly likely to be there.

Photos circa 1950

2010-03-31T18:36:00.000+02:00

Recently Charles Hamilton (Stouts Hill 1946-53) has contributed 15 photos from his time at the school, and I've added them to Flickr as a new set: you can see them here.

More information about these photos would be welcome, if any of you can remember!

Later: he's also sent scans of the school play programme from 1947, and a photo of the wedding of Anthony and Susan Cromie (1960).

Stouts Hill Reunion, 16th August '09

2009-08-20T19:29:00.002+02:00

Well, we did it! The first Stouts Hill reunion since the school closed just over thirty years ago. I can say that I was pleased with the way the day went and how much those of you who attended the event enjoyed it too. I think everybody considered it to have been a worthwhile exercise.

The planning over the past ten months or so had gone smoothly with Stouts Hill Resort being most helpful and letting us have the three rooms and a staffed bar for very reasonable rates. Thanks go to Maureen, the resort manageress, for making it happen. My biggest concern was parking, but with dry weather in the week running up to the 16th meant we could use the field and not inconvenience those in residence.

Shopping for the buffet was done the day before by myself and my sister Lesley and stored in the fridges and freezer at Stouts Hill meaning we didn't have to get up quite so early on the Sunday. Many of you sampled Richard Evans' very kind contribution of wines from the bar. I must also thank Richard for his wife's help in the kitchen in preparing the buffet.

First to arrive was Robin Duncan sporting his boyhood cap. In fact there was several other items of uniform on display including various straw boater hats, 'Old Boy' ties and a scarf. I had brought my tie but wasn't brave enough to put it on until realising I wouldn't look too daft in putting it on.

Arrivals were steady after midday with Sue and Anthony Cromie walking to the school to greet others as they arrived. Their daughter Sarah came along too. Other staff present were Paddy Scott Clark and her sister Jane, John and Christine Flood and a later visit by Chris Coley. Some of us only had a few miles to travel, but some hardy souls travelled from Yorkshire, London, West Wales and to show true commitment Miles Wachter and his wife came back from holiday in Devon for the day!

Sadly, quite a few who had said they would attend didn't make it for whatever reason. They missed a great day! I made an effort to try and record all who attended. Here is the 'register' for the 16th August. Sorry if I missed anybody out.

Justin Bodle
Jeremy Blatchford
Michael Cromie
Jason Crossley-John
Robert Darrel & elder brother (sorry, didn't get your first name!)
Alan Davis
Peter Dawson
Edward Dolby
Robin Duncan
Douglas Edwards (Jan '42 to July '47!)
Richard Evans
Robert Evans
Emile Farhi
Andrew Gordon-Johnson
Derek Hulme
Michael Lawson
Charles Llewellyn
David Mackinley-Woodhall
Digby Macpherson
Andrew Needham
Grant Needham
Jonathan Palfrey
John George Phillips
Jonathan Phippen
John Poulton
Michael Read
Laurence Robinson
James Sillivan
Miles Wachter
Julian Williams

Apologies: Christopher Clift, John Morris, Richard Madley, John Corps, Justin Tugwell and Tony Thomas (music teacher)

Also, there were wives, partners and a small collection of (well behaved) children who enjoyed the visit. I think the most popular observation was how pretty the location was and what a splendid building to have as a school. There was the opportunity to have a look around the grounds to see how the place has changed over the past thirty years.

One thing that pleased me more than anything was how most really made a day of it! I was expecting departures from 3 p.m. and as such made sure we had a group photograph. However, this proved to be only an interlude and everyone seemed to carry on reminiscing for a good couple of hours afterwards.

Needless to say, the question was raised as to when it was going to happen again. As I had only planned for this to happen just the once, I was slightly shocked, but the enthusiasm was certainly there. I think it could be a possibility in the summer of 2011.

Several very generous individuals did ask me to let them know if I was out of pocket in financing the reunion. I think I managed to collect from everybody a contribution, with some donating more. As such I managed to pay all expenses and was left with a small profit! As mentioned above, if we are to do this again sometime then I can simply 'carry over' the balance.

Thank you all once again for making this reunion the success it certainly was and to those who have sent e-mails and 'phone calls of thanks to me over the last few days.

Alan Davis

Mr Cromie

2009-08-20T07:50:00.002+02:00

Anthony Cromie, known as Crinkles for some unknown reason, was a fairly young master and dangerously alert: the master mostly likely to materialize out of thin air and pounce on you.

I don't recall whether he ever taught me in class; but he was ever-present around the school. I also spent a short time (one or two terms?) in the dormitory located in his house, which Robert says was known as The Cottage.

Jonathan Marler thinks that Mr Cromie was already related to Mr Angus in some way before his marriage. Jonathan adds that he had “a good sense of humour and a certain charm”.

In his retirement letter to parents in July 1969 (copied to me by John), Mr Angus provided the following information about his successor as headmaster:

Anthony was educated at Wolborough Hill Preparatory School Newton Abbot and Sherborne School, Dorset, where he became Head boy and played Rugger for the 1st.XV and Hockey for the 1st.XI. He was called up for National Service, joined the Infantry and was commissioned in 1952 and later did two Overseas tours with the 1st.Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment - the first to North Africa at the time of the Negnib coup d'etat in Egypt and then saw action against the Mau Mau terrorists in the Aberdare forest in Kenya. He later went to Trinity College, Dublin, where he obtained a Second Class Honours degree in Modern History and Political Science.

Anthony is 36 years old, joined the School in 1955 and has had 10 years teaching experience. In 1960, he married my daughter, Susan, and they have a son, Andrew, and a daughter, Sarah.

Andrew Pike believes that Mr Cromie went on to work at the Old Ride School after Stouts Hill closed.

Anthony and Susan Cromie still live in Uley.

In 2005 he published a slim volume of children's stories with attractive colour illustrations, called The Adventures of Jonathan Jackdaw. Copies were distributed at the 2009 Stouts Hill Reunion.

Jane Angus/Oldridge

2009-08-20T07:46:00.000+02:00

Jane was the fourth of the Angus daughters, and a pupil at the school from 1947 to 1954. According to the 1973 Stouts Hill Magazine, she was married on the 12th of May 1973, to Mr. Robin Oldridge.

John Morris says:

Jane was a great swimmer and lovely in a swimsuit too. Jane blushed very readily, e.g. if she noticed that you had noticed that she looked lovely in a swimsuit.

Reunion, Sunday 16th August '09

2009-07-28T19:37:00.002+02:00

I am starting to receive messages checking that all is okay for the 16th. I can confirm that everything is still very much 'on'.

I paid Stouts Hill a visit a few weeks ago to finalise a few things, the main concern being parking. So long as the ground isn't wet it will be possible to park on the grass. We will also be hoping that all the residents will have gone out for the day too leaving the car park available. If any can car-share it will make things easier.

I am thinking that an arrival time of about midday will be best. This means that those who are travelling from home on the day will not have to make too early a start.

With the help of my sister (and maybe my mother, who used to be a Matron at the school) I will be laying on a Finger Buffet around mid-afternoon with tea, coffee and squash. Up to then it will be possible to take a look around the grounds and parts of buildings or find old friends. It would be a good idea if we manage to get a group photograph of everybody before we go our separate ways later on.

In order to cover the cost of room hire and food, I am asking for a contribution of £5 each. Also, dress code for the day is informal, but I will leave that up to the individual.

I will be away for a week, commencing the 1st August so will not be able to reply to posts, messages, etc. However I can be contacted on +44-1453 756461 or +44-7866 326617 if anybody needs specific questions answered promptly.

We must try to have as many present as possible; so, if anybody still keeps in touch with old school friends, make contact and get them to come along!

Alan Davis

P.S: There is a bar available too that we can make use of. I am assuming it is cash only.

Residents may start returning around tea time and also the staff may want to do any residual cleaning so it may be wise to call things a day around 6pm-ish.

Questions

2009-07-08T13:01:00.002+02:00

Charles Llewellyn has sent me a couple of questions that I can't immediately answer, so I'll put them up here in case any of you can manage it.

The motto of the school was in Greek. How is it pronounced and what does it mean?
What is an old boy of Stouts Hill called? “Old Kingfisher” would appear to relate to those who were members of the Old Kingfisher Society. However, after such a passage of time, are we all Old Kingfishers? Or Old Stouts Hillers/Hillites/Hillonians/Hillsides? Or doesn't it matter at all?

I think I saw a translation of the motto somewhere in recent years, but can't remember now what the translation was or where I saw it. And yes, I did study Ancient Greek at Stouts Hill, but that was 42 years ago. A little research suggests that the motto (τοις μελλουσι) may have been pronounced tois melloisi (roughly).

Stouts Hill Reunion Date 16th August '09

2009-05-09T12:00:00.000+02:00

At last we have a date set for our reunion at Stouts Hill. It will be Sunday, 16th August 2009 and we have use of the main hall, the former music/drawing room and the former 'Blue' dining room. These rooms are all linked through.

As I have stated in previous messages on this blog, the catering will be determined by numbers. At the time of writing, there are enough for Stouts Hill to cope with so it will be possible for us to have a buffet type of late afternoon lunch. I am awaiting a price and menu from three caterers whom Stouts Hill use from time to time.

I have also spoken to Mr & Mrs Cromie and Mr & Mrs Flood who are very keen on attending. I think there are more members of staff who may be able to come as and when I track them down.

If you know (or when you know) that you will be able to attend, please send me a message. More details will be posted as I get them.

Update: 21st January

To answer a couple of questions that have come my way, I think the event should be informal so no need for your Sunday best suit and shoes (remember them!). Regarding a start time I am thinking of perhaps midday onwards with a buffet mid to late afternoon. This should give ample time for those who turn up later to still have a look around and meet others before eating.

I am still a bit concerned at the price of the buffet. If turnout on the day is low, I could be landed with a substantial bill. Another idea could be to just have tea/ coffee and some light snacks. It might be I could organise this myself and significantly reduce the cost. Those of us who might wish to go for a sit down meal at Nympsfield afterwards could then do so.

Update: 9th May 2009

I am pleased to be able to advise everybody who wishes to attend the reunion that Anthony & Sue Cromie, Paddy Scott-Clarke, Mr & Mrs Flood and Major & Mrs Ormsby have all confirmed that they wish to attend.

I have also sent a reminder message to those who are listed on Friends Reunited. This will, I hope, inspire as many to make it to Stouts Hill as possible. Please let me know, if you haven't done so already, if you are to attend. Post on here if you like, I do check quite often!

Alan Davis

Mr Dealey

2009-04-04T08:18:00.000+02:00

Robert remembers John Dealey the butler, and so does Stephen Fry. I'm afraid I don't remember him myself (sigh).

The Stouts Hill Magazine reports that he came to Stouts Hill in February 1940 and worked there until his death in June 1975, apart from a short spell in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He was survived by his wife Sue, their children Colin and Valerie, and grandchildren. He was “a very sincere Christian and played a full and active part in the life of the Parish Church.”

Newspaper cuttings

2009-04-03T18:55:00.003+02:00

Today I've added a new Web page with two newspaper cuttings about the closure of the school in 1979, and the announcement of the founding of the Kingfisher Society in 1970.

Recently I've also added three new photos from Michael Read to the 1959-67 collection.

Catering for the Reunion

2009-01-29T20:56:00.000+01:00

I have the menus for a buffet lunch if we hold this at Stouts Hill. Again this is dependent on numbers. The approximate cost of the buffet and room hire will be about £25 per head. As stated in other posts, we do have the option of making our way to the Rose and Crown at Nympsfield for a sit down meal (so long as they have your order in advance) which may, dependent on your appetite, work out roughly the same price.

I have about 20 confirmed for the reunion so far. Suggestions are always welcome but I do need to know soon from attendees as to which option they prefer. I will go with the majority.

Update: 29th January

The menus I mentioned above are quite elaborate, which of course adds to the price. I think that this is not really necessary and so long as we have tea, coffee and soft drinks with some finger food that should be satisfactory. I will probably arrange this myself with my sister and her friend helping out as she has been kind enough to offer. There is a bar where the Headmaster's study used to be and we can make use of that too. Stouts Hill may be able to staff it, if not I will attempt to arrange somebody to help. If anybody wants to have a hot meal afterwards, there is still the option of the Rose & Crown. This should keep the cost down to a more manageable level and also reduce my financial risk!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year

2008-12-21T00:12:00.000+01:00

Best wishes of the season to anyone who may happen to look in at this time! You'll probably remember the Christmas feasts at Stouts Hill.

Alan Davis recently pointed me to a short article about Stouts Hill by Stephen Fry, in which he repeats some of his memories already mentioned in Moab is my washpot.

Stouts Hill Reunion 2009

2008-12-21T00:11:00.001+01:00

Alan Davis has pointed out that March 2009 will be the 30th anniversary of the closure of the school, so it seems an appropriate time to hold a reunion of ex-pupils and staff. He's visited Stouts Hill (now a holiday resort) and found that we could have the use of part of the building for such a reunion.

Alan lives near Stouts Hill and seems willing to take responsibility for organizing the event, so three cheers for Alan! He's already sent out a message about it through Friends Reunited.

If you're interested, please contact Alan directly so that he can add you to his list. If you don't have his address, you can find mine here. You can add comments to this topic if you want to join in a public discussion; remember to add your name, unless you want to remain anonymous.

For Stouts Hill's own Web site, see the link 'Stouts Hill now' on the right-hand side of the page.

Newsflash, 2 Nov: Alan tells me that so far 21 ex-pupils have expressed interest in the reunion, including himself and me, and not including family members who may wish to come along too.

Newsflash, 27 Nov: Alan tells me that Stouts Hill is willing to let us use three rooms (main hall, drawing room, Blue dining room) for a fee of £50, to cover any cleaning up that may need to be done after the visit. The cost of a buffet lunch will be estimated in the near future. If a large number of people turn up, there are concerns about car parking and the fact that there is only one 'public' toilet in the main building. As an alternative, Miles Wachter (Stouts Hill ex-pupil and ex-master) may be able to offer lunch at Beaudesert Park School, where he's now deputy headmaster. Regarding a date, Alan is now considering a Sunday in July or August, but he's still welcoming your opinions on this subject.

Newsflash, 2 Dec: Please read Alan's recent comments about eating arrangements (among the comments on this topic). As one alternative, he's found a pleasant pub at Nympsfield (a short distance from Uley) that can accommodate about 60 people. He'd like your opinions.

11 Dec: As Alan is now a Contributor to this blog, I'm hope we'll see further news on this subject directly from him.

21 Dec: Alan tells me that "feedback on the reunion has come in at... absolute zero! What to do? There are only six possible dates, so I think that by new year if I still haven't got any feedback, I will approach Stouts Hill and ask which is the best date out of those for them and go with that." Seems a reasonable plan to me.

Start your own threads

2008-12-11T10:24:00.001+01:00

The normal way that a blog works is that the blog owner starts each new thread with an initial post, and the general public can then comment on it. I proposed initially that anyone who wanted a new thread on a particular subject could put a comment about it in the new thread suggestions thread, but few people have taken me up on that.

I've now noticed, rather belatedly, that I can invite particular people to become Contributors to the blog, in which case they can start their own threads. If you're interested in doing so, let me know, preferably by e-mail, because I'll need your e-mail address in order to issue the formal invitation. My address is here.

In order to be a Contributor, you need to register as a Blogger user, which is quick, easy, and free. You may also need to learn a little about how Blogger works; I haven't found it difficult myself.

As an alternative, you are of course free to start your own blogs. As this is my blog, I retain a certain amount of editorial control over it (I can delete stuff, etc.).

I've already added Alan Davis as a Contributor, because he's in charge of the Reunion and will probably have things to say about it.

I thought of setting a Fiendishly Difficult Exam for prospective Contributors, but gave up the idea on realizing that I'd probably fail it myself. I have fond memories, though, of the Assassins' School final exam as described in Terry Pratchett's Pyramids.

Class of 1968/69

2008-12-07T17:23:00.000+01:00

I can make a start on this from various sources of information.

William Annandale
Peter Dawson
Roger Fayle
Naveed Iqbal
Nicholas (?) Ireland
Graham Kirk
David Povey
David Quinn

Quinn, Iqbal, Povey, Annandale, and Ireland can be seen in the group below:

Stouts Hill Magazine

2008-11-22T08:28:00.001+01:00

Paddy Scott-Clark, Julian Williams, and Jeremy Cape have kindly sent me some old issues of the Stouts Hill Magazine to scan, and I've now scanned all of them. In addition, John Morris has (even more kindly!) scanned eight magazines himself, and sent me the files.

As a result, all magazines from 1959 to 1977 are available for downloading here, with the exception of the 1965 issue, which I'd particularly like to get hold of (does anyone have it?).

The 1966 issue has 8 pages missing and 8 pages duplicated: evidently someone in 1966 made a mistake in assembling it. I've scanned only one copy of each duplicated page.

Technical note: I scan the magazines at 600 dpi and 16-bit greyscale, and archive the scans in TIFF files; but those files are large, so the files I upload to the Web are reduced to 150 dpi and 8-bit greyscale, slightly cropped, and subjected to JPEG compression. John Morris scanned his magazines at 300 dpi, 8-bit greyscale, JPEG.

Class of 1967/68

2008-11-14T18:26:00.000+01:00

Julian has suggested putting together a list of our bunch, who travelled through the school together and left in 1967 or 1968. I can start threads for other years as demand arises.

Simon Cash-Reed
John Charles-Jones
Robert Cullen
Brian D'Arcy Clark
Michael Dolin
Richard Erskine
T. (Taffy?) Evans
Emile Farhi
Lindsay Gunn
Graham Holmes
Jeremy Klinger
Charles Llewellyn
Digby Macpherson
Jacob 'Yogi' Matheson
Malcolm & Robert St Maur Mills
Robert Morris
Grant Needham
Jonathan Palfrey
Michael Read
Timothy Sangster
Azad Shivdasani
Mark Waterstone?
Michael Webbern
Julian Williams
Donald Wynn
Robert Yorath

Here's a photo of some of us; date uncertain, probably 1965.

R. Jackson (1960-65) and R. Coley (1961-66) have also been nominated for this list, but their dates at the school suggest that they were older than the rest of the group.

Mr Coley

2008-11-08T11:25:00.000+01:00

Stephen Fry mentions being introduced to poetry by an English master called Chris Coley. I never met Mr Coley, who apparently replaced Mr Birchall soon after I left the school in 1967.

Mr Woods

2008-10-31T14:52:00.000+01:00

David Woods was known as Peck, Pecker, or Pecker Bird — because of Woody Woodpecker, of course, not because of any personal characteristics.

He was a keen young man who taught Latin to the younger boys, invented educational games to be played in class, and organized voluntary sports out of class.

Jonathan Marler remembers that he taught Greek as well as Latin.

He was interested in photography, and developed and printed photos himself in a darkroom at the school.

The 1967 Stouts Hill Magazine reveals that Mr Woods was a pupil at the school in 1938-41, so he must have been born in about 1928 — not as young as I thought. He went to teach elsewhere in 1967.

I must admit I had a brief urge to caption the above photo “Pecker has only got one ball”; surely I can't be entering my second childhood already?

Mr Quick

2008-10-31T14:43:00.000+01:00

I must admit I'd almost forgotten Michael Quick, who I think taught the younger boys. He was known as Inky, perhaps because of the Parker Quink fountain pen ink that I think was in common use at the time.

The 1966 Stouts Hill Magazine reveals that he taught at the school for five years, from 1961 to 1966; so he was no longer there in my final year. The 1967 Magazine reports that he was enjoying teaching older boys at Dover Grammar School.

Sue Angus/Cromie

2008-10-29T11:45:00.000+01:00

Sue (Susan) was the third of the Angus daughters, and a pupil at the school from 1945 to 1952. She married Mr Cromie in 1960, and they had a son named Andrew. During my time, they lived in the Cottage, on the school grounds, part of which was a small dormitory with bunk beds. I slept in that dormitory for one or two terms, I think.

John Morris remembers that Sue taught him to dance the Charleston for Salad Days.

The Cromies still live in Uley.

1968 school fête photos

2008-10-17T16:44:00.002+02:00

I've added to the photos a couple of the 1968 school fête, provided by John Morris today. These are much higher-quality versions of two of the photos that appear in the 1968 Stouts Hill Magazine.

After the opening (with Mr and Mrs Angus):

Boys selling in the rain:

Mr Angus

2008-10-17T16:42:00.001+02:00

Robert Angus (known as Boss) was the headmaster of the school until 1969: a tall commanding figure who seemed so central to the school that he must have been there forever. Indeed, according to Nicholas Barton's history of Stouts Hill, Mr Angus founded the school in 1935, at the age of about 29.

He ruled from his study, on the ground floor at the back of the school; an old-fashioned comfortable room that most boys visited only in order to be caned. With occasional exceptions, he was the only person in the school who wielded the cane, and so he had to spend a part of each day caning boys. He seemed to take no pleasure in it and presumably regarded it as a necessary chore.

He taught maths to the 6th form, and did so rather efficiently, concentrating on geometry in particular. Strangely, although I later specialized in maths and took three different maths 'A' levels, I don't think I ever encountered the subject of geometry again after leaving Stouts Hill.

He was married to Joan, who seemed not at all well during my time at the school, and they had a collection of quite young and attractive daughters: Carol, Paddy, Sue, and Jane, in that order. I believe that some or all of the daughters were educated at the school, although girls weren't normally admitted.

I never had any idea that he was a poet. But apparently he wrote poetry throughout his life, and there is now a Web site devoted to his poetry, which also reveals that his MA from Cambridge was in English, and that he originally planned to be a writer, poet, or journalist.

He was a man of considerable dignity. On one occasion in the 6th form, he saw a large mug sitting on a shelf above his head. Feeling that it shouldn't be there, he reached up for it. What he didn't know was that someone was growing beans or sprouts in water in that mug. Assuming that it was empty, he up-ended it in the process of removing it, and neatly tipped the beans and the water over his own head.

He stood there dripping and we sat in silent shock, awaiting the explosion. But he took it well, and realized before saying anything that no boy had committed any crime: he had merely made an unsound assumption.

It was Mr Angus who advised my parents, knowing that they were short of money, to enter me for scholarship exams to four different public schools, in the hope that at least one of them would award me something. One of the headmasters of these schools sent my parents a nasty letter when he found out about this: he felt that it wasn't cricket to shop around for the best offer. I don't know whether my parents bothered to reply.

Jonathan Marler says that:

Mr Angus had good connections with several public schools, and some house masters at those schools sat on an advisory board for Stouts Hill. Notable among them was John Lewis of House Number 8 at Malvern, and a number of Stouts Hill students went to Malvern, including myself.

According to Nicholas Barton's book, Mr Angus died in 1985 and Mrs Angus in 1992. Subsequently the bungalow in the school grounds to which they moved in retirement was sold, and some alterations were made to it.

Paddy Angus/Scott-Clark

2008-09-12T06:50:00.000+02:00

Paddy (Patricia) was the second of the Angus daughters, and a pupil at the school from 1943 to 1950. On the 1st of September 1964, she married Ian Scott-Clark, who became the deputy headmaster after Mr Angus retired, and she sometimes taught at the school herself. They had a son named Kim, who appears in one of the photos that John Morris contributed.

I've been in touch with her by e-mail in recent months; she's been friendly and helpful, and sent me four Stouts Hill Magazines for scanning. She still lives at Stouts Hill.

Carol Angus

2008-09-12T06:43:00.001+02:00

Carol was the first of the Angus daughters, and a pupil at the school from 1942 to 1950. Paddy says of her:

Sadly my older sister Carol died in June 2003 of cancer. She was full of life and would have been delighted with your web and would certainly have contributed some funny stories. She remained friends with many of the boys later in life. She herself became a nurse in the London hospitals.

The 1964 Stouts Hill Magazine notes that she was working in the Princess Louise Hospital for children at that time.

John Morris says he was told that Carol was an air stewardess; it seems unlikely that she had two different careers, but quite possible of course.

I don't know whether she ever married.

Some early-1960s photos

2008-09-06T09:44:00.000+02:00

Jeremy Cape (in Australia) has sent three black-and-white small-group photos from the early 1960s, which I added to Flickr with the other photos on the 3rd. Thanks, Jeremy!

Today I decided that the photos were too dark, so I've taken steps to lighten them and uploaded the new lighter versions.

Stouts Hill group on LinkedIn

2008-07-24T18:37:00.000+02:00

Those of you who are members of LinkedIn, the international Web site for professional contacts, may like to know that there's now a Stouts Hill group that you can join. It was set up by Richard Guha, not by me.

Oliver!

2008-05-05T16:37:00.000+02:00

John has provided the following photo of Oliver!, the school play in 1969, with Mr Cromie as Fagin.

Oliver! was performed again in 1974, but rather oddly the 1974 Stouts Hill Magazine offers only a blurred photo and a brief incoherent article by a participant: no cast list and no review.

Salad Days

2008-05-05T16:23:00.000+02:00

This was the school play twice: in March 1967 and also in 1973 (as remembered by John and Huw). The first one was in my time; I didn't appear in the play, but I remember listening to a record of the songs that was lying around.

See an outline of the play and Wikipedia's page on it.

Site map

2008-04-27T10:49:00.000+02:00

Blog entries are arranged in chronological order by date of posting, which doesn't make for convenient reference. I've now provided a site map to give an overview of what's here and enable you to find particular topics more easily. There's a link to the site map in the right pane.

History of the school

2008-04-25T16:04:00.000+02:00

This is largely based on information from Nicholas Barton's A history of Stouts Hill (2006, 128 pages), as mentioned by Alan Davis, which I bought in 2007 from the Stouts Hill Cotswold Timeshare.

The Stouts Hill site was occupied in the 13th century by a family called Stut or Stout; hence the name. However, Timothy Gyde inherited the place from his father in 1743 and built the main building that we know now, perhaps using some parts of whatever building had been there before.

Timothy Gyde had expensive tastes and died insolvent; the place was bought by William Lloyd Baker in 1786. A descendant of his, Olive Lloyd-Baker, was still in possession in 1935 when Robert Angus was looking for a place to start a school. At that time the property “had been empty for two years and had no electricity or main drainage (only septic tanks)”, so Miss Olive Lloyd-Baker asked a modest rent for it.

Stouts Hill School thus started in 1935 with 12 pupils, Mr and Mrs Angus, two other teachers, and a matron. By 1939 it had 60 pupils. At that point war broke out and Mr Angus joined the Army. He was released from the Army to return to the school “at the request of influential parents”, upon which he joined the Uley Home Guard.

By the 1960s, the school had about 120 pupils aged from 6 to 13; some boys stayed on an extra year, reaching 14.

Barton reports that Mr Angus bought the property from Miss Lloyd-Baker in the early 1970s and made it into a charitable trust. In fact the 1964 Stouts Hill Magazine reports that the school was already a charitable trust at that time; it seems to have happened during the 1963/64 academic year.

The Angus Wing or New Wing was added to the school in 1968 (after I left), containing classrooms, dormitories, and staff bedrooms. Beech House and South Bend in Uley were no longer needed.

Mr Angus retired in 1969 and moved into a new bungalow constructed in the grounds; Mr Cromie took over as headmaster. Later, a new assembly hall was built (now used for badminton and other games).

The school closed after the first term of 1979, and the property was taken over by the present owners, the Stouts Hill Cotswold Timeshare. Barton reports that the number of pupils had declined to 80 because times were changing and the school hadn't changed with them sufficiently. In particular, he thinks that parents were becoming unhappy with single-sex education and felt somewhat less need for boarding schools. (I was sent to boarding schools because my parents lived in Nigeria and didn't think I'd get an adequate education there.)

I've heard rumours of some kind of financial scandal around the time that the school closed, but I don't know the details.

The Angus Wing was demolished in 2000 as it was “always considered an eyesore by visitors to the timeshare”.

Photos 2004

2008-03-26T11:20:00.000+01:00

Emile Farhi has contributed eight photos of Stouts Hill taken in December 2004, and I've added them to Flickr with the others—please use the Stouts Hill photos link in the right pane.

These are relatively small photos (640 × 480), but nice to have. I don't have many modern colour photos of the place. You can also see Emile here, looking quite recognizable from forty years earlier.

Mr Bruce

2008-03-15T16:00:00.000+01:00

Stephen Fry mentions a Scottish master called Jim Bruce who taught history with a Scottish emphasis, and divinity. He had been a prisoner of the Japanese during the Second World War, and died in about 1995.

According to the 1966 Stouts Hill Magazine, he was due to arrive at the school in September 1966, so he was there throughout my final year; but I don't remember him, I suppose because he never taught me.

John has provided this link to a 36-page PDF file written by Mr Bruce about his experiences as a teenage prisoner of the Japanese. He was apparently born in about 1926.

Timothy Sawdon

2008-03-14T18:13:00.000+01:00

Timothy Sawdon (known as Soggy) was one of Mrs Angus's two brothers. He could be seen around the school but at the time I never understood who he was nor what his function might be. Occasionally he would give a music appreciation class, which would be a disaster because he was completely incapable of controlling a class, and furthermore because few boys (of my generation, and at that age) are disposed to appreciate classical music.

As well as being helpless in front of boys, he had a nervous twitch that boys would unkindly mimic.

He used to come into the library sometimes to play Mozart on the piano. I didn't recognize the music at the time, but years later I was reminded of that library on hearing Mozart. He didn't mind sharing the library with me because I didn't cause trouble: I read my book, he played his music, all serene. Perhaps he imagined that I enjoyed his music, but in fact I was concentrating on my book and wasn't kind enough to think of complimenting him. I was a boy, after all.

John says that he was an Old Blundellian: he went to Blundell's School in Devon, as John and I both did after leaving Stouts Hill.

Reginald Sawdon

2008-03-14T17:59:00.003+01:00

Reginald Sawdon was one of Mrs Angus's two brothers, who lived at the school throughout its existence until he died suddenly of a heart attack on the 12th of June 1967 (according to the 1967 Stouts Hill Magazine).

He was almost completely deaf and dumb, and David remembers that masters used to communicate with him using sign language.

David also remembers that he was very fond of his red motorcycle (around 1950), although later on he acquired a car and seems to have been equally fond of that.

Julian says he was said to have made the two model battleships that were displayed in glass cases outside the blue dining room.

Unfortunately I seem to have no memory of him. Sigh. My memory is like a colander.

Date the photo

2008-01-23T08:41:00.000+01:00

John says this aerial view of the school is pre-1967. I reckon it's probably pre-1963. Have a look at it at a larger size (it goes up to 2184 × 2080) and tell us if you know better.

Photos 1969-1974

2008-01-21T19:06:00.000+01:00

I'm in the process of adding a large batch of photos from 1969 and onwards, kindly contributed by John Morris. John scanned these from fairly small prints, so the quality leaves something to be desired.

At the same time, I've reorganized the photos into three separate time periods. Please use the link in the right panel to reach them.

Mr Flood

2008-01-11T16:54:00.000+01:00

John Flood had a room at the bottom of the hill near the shooting range, and as far as I remember we always went there to be taught by him, instead of staying in our normal classroom.

According to the 1968 Stouts Hill Magazine, he taught science, geography, and scripture, thereby covering a considerable amount of ground. I don't remember whether he taught me scripture, but (coming from a non-religious family) I was never very receptive to that subject. I do remember that we touched on the subject of biology once — and we went to the lake to look for specimens — but I think that was only for a short period of time.

He was mainly memorable for taking us sailing. On Sundays he would take a few senior boys in his car to Frampton, where we sailed on a lake that was part of a wildlife sanctuary. The lake wasn't very large, but it was larger than the school's own lake, and had a couple of islands in the middle, which made it more interesting. We used to hope for bad weather, because in good weather there was no wind and we'd have to paddle slowly around the lake.

Apart from the sailing, the other attraction of Frampton was the packed lunch, which was different from regular school food and therefore greatly enjoyed.

Mr Flood had a small printing press with movable type, which was used to print some notices for the school. Boys who felt interested could participate in using it.

It was kind of him to give up his Sundays to take us sailing, and we appreciated it as a treat at the time. I was a bit wary of him because he came down rather sharply on any misbehaviour; but I suppose that's fairly normal for schoolmasters.

I wrote to Mr Flood in December and received a long and pleasant reply in January, most of which I've added as a comment to this post because it seems too long to add as an indented quotation. He seems to have prospered well enough over the years.

Mrs Flood

2008-01-11T16:49:00.000+01:00

It's clear from the Stouts Hill Magazines that Mrs Flood was teaching at the school during my time, but I'm afraid I don't seem to remember her. Perhaps she taught only the younger boys.

I was already nine and a half when I arrived at the school in autumn 1963, and with my poor memory I remember very little of the early years.

The Kingfisher Society

2008-01-03T08:26:00.000+01:00

John has sent me a copy of the letter that announced the founding of the Kingfisher Society.

On the 27th April, 1970, the above society was formed independent of the school, by the “Old Boys” with the object of taking over from the school all functions and meetings of Old Boys, maintaining contact between former pupils, past and present staff of the school, and to take an interest in and assist with the progress and development of the school in all its activities, to give the school where possible both financial as well as moral support, and in time to create bursaries or scholarships for sons or daughters of old boys to attend the school.

The system was that boys would pay for lifetime membership either on leaving the school, or by termly installments during their time at the school; all payments being voluntary.

I was never a member of the Society nor aware of its existence, because it was formed several years after I left the school. John wonders whether it ceased to function after the school closed, or whether it's still operational in some sense. Does anyone know?

Exam papers

2007-12-21T22:16:00.001+01:00

John sent me scans of four internal examination papers from 1972, which I've now retyped and appended to the Stouts Hill Magazine page.

Front of school

2007-11-01T16:46:00.000+01:00

This is the only photo I've come across so far showing a part of the school that doesn't exist any more: the gym/chapel on the right and the cuboid block on the left, with classrooms on the ground floor and New dorm above.

The bell above the door was the main school bell but I don't remember exactly on which occasions it was rung. Entering through the door, I remember a long corridor running up to the tuck shop at the far end, with classrooms on the right and then a dining room further on. I don't remember what was on the left, apart from the entrance to the large changing room with communal shower. I have a feeling there were some offices on the left near the entrance.

It would be quite interesting to get hold of a complete floor plan of the school as it used to be.

Vegetable garden

2007-11-01T16:36:00.000+01:00

I came across a photo recently that reminded me of the vegetable garden that ran down the hill from the gym/chapel to the Cottage. I think this was divided into allotments, some of which were maintained by boys as an optional activity. Some of you out there may remember more about it.

Get comments by e-mail

2007-10-26T22:02:00.000+02:00

Thanks to a new Blogger feature, you can now ask for all further comments in a particular thread to be e-mailed to you automatically. On the comments page, just check the box "Email follow-up comments to ..."

This works only if you have a Google account. Well, a Google account is free and easy to get, if you want one.

Mr Knight

2007-10-21T11:04:00.000+02:00

Mr Knight was known as Cells, I never knew why; Julian thinks it was short for Muscles.

He taught us Latin in the 6th form. He was a calm man who seemed neither old nor young, and managed to keep order without throwing his weight around.

Probably in our last year, Grant Needham collected money to buy him a birthday present, and presented him with a tie and some pipe tobacco. He seemed rather pleased; it was an uncommon thing for schoolboys to do and only Grant Needham would have thought of it.

Stephen Fry thinks he looked like Dr Crippen but seems to have liked and respected him, adding that he fought in Africa and Italy in the Second World War.

Major Dobson

2007-10-21T10:57:00.000+02:00

Stephen Fry mentions Major Dobson as a good teacher, and adds that he was captured by the Germans at Dunkirk, then escaped, and fought in Italy throughout the Second World War. I'm not sure whether he was at the school in my time; I don't think so.

Mr Kemp

2007-10-21T10:49:00.000+02:00

Middleton Kemp was a somewhat elderly man whom I saw around the school and at Beech House, where he lived; but I don't think he ever taught me.

Stephen Fry thinks he looked and talked like C. Aubrey Smith in The Four Feathers.

Here he is walking down the drive:

Elocution

2007-10-21T10:36:00.000+02:00

Emile Farhi and Stephen Fry both remember having elocution lessons at Stouts Hill. Evidently these lessons were an optional extra and my parents never requested them.

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice

2007-10-21T10:30:00.000+02:00

Jonathan Marler remembers:

Every morning was started with chapel in the gym/theatre. The choir sat on the stage and every service started with the singing of the Venite.

We would all go to the village church for the annual carol service. In my first year, I was called upon to sing the opening verse of Once in Royal David’s City, which was a great honour.

Funny, I don't remember the annual carol service in the village church myself. Apparently my memory is at fault again.

I do remember arriving at the school at the age of 9 and finding myself in chapel with a hymn book in my hands and no idea what I was supposed to do. My family wasn't religious and it was my first encounter with any kind of religion.

Stephen Fry seems to remember with horror the new tune for the hymn 'O Jesus I have promised' that was introduced partway through my time at the school. I remember that tune because I rather liked it (and its cheerful piano accompaniment), and I could still sing it from memory, if required. I'm afraid I don't remember the old tune.

All creatures great and small

2007-10-21T10:12:00.000+02:00

Julian remembers...

The boxer dog which bounced across the wide open spaces and the jackdaws in the turrets, blue dragonflies over the lake and cages of exotic birds in an alcove outside Mr Angus's study.

Yes, now you mention it, I remember the aviary in the garden area. I think one or more of the Angus daughters (Paddy?) looked after it.

Stephen Fry remembers ponies and horses, two parrots and a mynah bird in cages near the headmaster's study, and dogs — including Boston terriers, a boxer called Brutus, and another dog called Caesar.

Mr Birchall

2007-10-21T09:10:00.000+02:00

Mr Birchall taught English in the 6th form. He seemed rather elderly to me at the time.

He evidently liked me, as he lent me books from time to time, ones I wouldn't have thought of reading on my own initiative. I think he lent me, among others, A high wind in Jamaica (Richard Hughes, 1929) and perhaps also Alan Moorehead's African trilogy (non-fiction, about the Second World War in North Africa).

I'm embarrassed that I seem to remember nothing else about him now. It must be rather discouraging for schoolmasters that most of their pupils, even their favourites, leave school and are never heard from again.

Jonathan Marler adds:

I did not care for cricket and was allowed to play tennis with Mr Angus and Mr Birchall instead. Mr Birchall also coached running. He never raised his voice or sent anyone for the cane, but commanded total respect by the weight of his personality and intellect.

Stephen Fry thinks Mr Birchall looked like Roland Young.

The cellars

2007-10-10T22:28:00.000+02:00

The cellars were accessed by a door on the ground floor, between the sixth-form room and the headmaster's study. Through the door were stairs down to a series of small, dungeon-like rooms, dark and dirty and barely lit (by a few naked bulbs, I think); if you persevered, you came through at last to the exit, emerging up some stairs into the open air just under the library windows.

The cellars were used to store boxes belonging to the boys. I don't remember what they were supposed to contain, nor what they actually contained; but each boy had a locked box sitting down there, like a smallish trunk. I suppose that's why we were allowed to go down there; otherwise, the cellars would probably have been kept locked.

More photos

2007-09-30T21:11:00.000+02:00

I've recently scanned another six photos of Stouts Hill in 1996 and added them to the usual place (see the link in the right panel).

Later: I've also added a whole batch of photos from Alan Davis, mostly photos of the Stouts Hill prospectus for 1969. Some of these photos are small (640 × 480) and some are large (2560 × 1920).

Scholarship list

2007-09-29T15:52:00.001+02:00

Here is the list of names from the scholarship boards that used to hang in the gym/chapel; thanks to Alan Davis who photographed them recently. I give them in reverse order. I see that the school was still gaining a respectable crop of scholarships right up to the end (despite the gap in 1976).

1978: P. Brooke (King's Taunton)
1978: M. Tucker (Blundell's)
1977: R. Ninnes (Wycliffe)
1977: R. Flindell (Monmouth)
1977: D. Stock (King's Taunton)
1977: A. Thomason (Malvern)
1977: P. Lee-Browne (Malvern)
1975: E. Pearson (King's Canterbury)
1975: J. Shaw (Malvern)
1975: P. Clark (Harrow)
1974: D. Clemes (St Edward's)
1974: D. Prior (Gresham's)
1974: P. Clark (Harrow) (one in 1974 and one in 1975?)
1973: J. Morris (Blundell's)
1972: S. Murphy (Kelly)
1972: T. Sanders (Malvern)
1972: S. Tytherleigh (Malvern)
1971: C. Sangster (Haileybury)
1969: A. Apps (King's Canterbury)
1969: D. Cameron (Marlborough)
1969: W. Annandale (Harrow)
1969: D. Quinn (Malvern)
1968: D. Povey (St Edward's)
1967: G. Needham (King's Canterbury)
1967: J. Palfrey (Blundell's)
1967: T. Evans (Pangbourne)
1967: J. Klinger (Malvern)
1965: D. Ireland (Stowe)
1965: R. Andrews (Malvern)
1964: R. Bayly (Denstone)
1962: R. Guha (Blundell's)
1962: A. Adam (Denstone)
1961: N. Moore (Oundle)
1961: C. Annandale (Clifton)
1961: C. Ward (Blundell's)
1961: R. Evans (Harrow)
1961: S. Alexander (Felsted)
1960: P. Langford (Stowe)
1960: I. Frazer (King's Canterbury)
1959: C. McKane (Marlborough)
1958: R. Summers (Wycliffe)
1958: K. Merron (Epsom)
1957: P. Espemhahn (Westminster)
1952: J. Ginzler (Wycliffe)
1952: J. Corps (Oundle)
1948: D. Farr (Marlborough)
1947: S. Rees (Stowe)
1947: M. Connock (Marlborough)
1947: J. Radcliffe (Cheltenham)
1945: M. Bryan (Dartmouth)
1945: J. Walton (Dartmouth)
1944: I. Clarke (Dartmouth)
1943: P. Caple (Pangbourne)
1941: R. Corrie (Clifton)
1938: J. Tatham (Malvern)

No apostrophe

2007-09-26T12:48:00.000+02:00

According to Nicholas Barton's history of Stouts Hill, the name of the place was taken from a family called Stut or Stout, in the 13th century. So, by the normal rules of English, it should be Stout's Hill with an apostrophe.

However, it seems that no apostrophe has ever been used in the name, by any owner or occupier of the property. So, by the full weight of centuries of tradition, the name is Stouts Hill without apostrophe.

Eat, drink, and be merry

2007-09-20T09:11:00.000+02:00

A quote from Molesworth seems appropriate at this point:

Acktually whatever boys may sa about skool food the moment deaf master sa lord make us truly etc. whole skool descend upon food with roar like an H bomb and in 2 minits all hav been swept bare.

There's not a lot I remember about Stouts Hill food, but probably you lot out there remember more than I do, so this is just to get the ball rolling. I have a few isolated memories.

There were several dining rooms, presumably used by different age groups. One of them was quite large and squarish and conveniently adjacent to the kitchen. Another was long and narrow. And there was a third that I remember mainly from the Christmas feast; was it used only for that purpose? Seems unlikely.

The Christmas feast at the end of the autumn term was a genuine treat, and I think we all enjoyed it thoroughly. There were candles and plenty of traditionally appropriate food, and the masters served as waiters. I wonder if they had their own more alcoholic feast later.

At some time between meals (mid-morning?) we were given a snack of some kind, I remember oxtail soup in mugs in winter, which I rather liked.

At least once a day we found one or more vitamin pills beside our plates, which we were expected to swallow. I remember a yellow translucent pill; I don't remember whether there were other kinds. (Maybe they were really tranquillizers? Just kidding.)

I detested prunes and could hardly bear to eat them; except once when the chef had a brainstorm and cooked them in cider, when they became quite palatable. But it never happened again. I remember being kept back alone in the long narrow dining room with a plateful of uneaten prunes in front of me, and blurting out to the matron (Joan?) that they made me sick. I meant only that they disgusted me; but the matron evidently thought that I had an allergy and that they literally made me vomit, because she suddenly took pity and saved me from the deadly prunes thereafter.

I remember once accidentally tipping far too much sugar over my porridge. With my fine scientific brain, I theorized that salt is the opposite to sugar, and therefore all I had to do was to tip lots of salt on top to cancel out the sugar. The experiment failed to confirm my theory, and I didn't try it again.

Ten Little Niggers

2007-09-11T13:04:00.000+02:00

This was the school play sometime, but I think it was performed by an age group older than me.

See the Wikipedia page about the book and play.

1066 And All That

2007-09-11T13:01:00.000+02:00

This was the school play in 1964. I was too shy to act, and I suppose the main parts went to older boys anyway, so I just came on as a Roman soldier in the chorus.

I'm sick to death of fighting and slaughter
I'm sick of kissing the swineherd's daughter
I'm sick of marching along these roads
I'm sick of humping these heavy loads
I'm sick of Gaul and I'm sick of Greece
I want to go home and live in peace
Rome, Rome, sweet Rome
There's no place like Rome

I'll have you know this is pure memory from 43 years ago. I tried to check it on the Web but couldn't find it.

Class of 1962/63

2007-09-11T11:26:00.000+02:00

I can make a start on this.

Jeremy Blatchford
Richard Guha
John Hadden
Robert Knight
Jonathan Marler
David St Maur Mills
Jonathan Moss
Mark Phillips
Adam Price
Atta/Ataur Rahman

Jeremy has contributed a school photo from 1962 (I think):

The grounds and surroundings

2007-09-11T09:20:00.001+02:00

Richard points out...

The fact is that the 150 acres was quite incredible for a small prep school — some universities do not have as much land. Amateurish and quaint as it may have been, it was really a rather special place.

Indeed, the rural environment was pleasant, and it was good to have so much varied scenery to roam over. Am I right that garlic grew wild in the woods, or was it something else? I'm not good at plants.

Julian remembers:

In the autumn we would be found throwing sticks into the branches of a large chestnut tree and collecting armfuls of conkers which were then smashed to pieces and scattered across the grounds in a school frenzy of conker matches.

I remember the conker season too.

When I went on to Blundell's, I found it quite dull by comparison. Blundell's also has quite a bit of land, but mostly devoted to buildings and playing fields, and relatively flat.

The matrons

2007-09-11T08:39:00.000+02:00

These ladies of various ages were posted around the school and the dormitories as overseers. In most cases I'm afraid I don't remember their names; maybe in some cases I never knew their names.

Richard remembers...

Nicola Nelson ("the beautiful under matron," as Molesworth would have called her). She was, I believe, a friend of the Angus family, and worked at the school for a year or two. She was perhaps 17, very attractive, tall, and inspired boys to carry sprigs of mistletoe in their pockets close to Christmas with which to ambush her. I also remember, one of the off-site dormitories was run by a matron called Joan, who at perhaps 35, seemed terribly old to us, but looking back, was actually quite good-looking.

Julian remembers Nicola/Nikki leaving after his first year, so I suppose she was gone by the time I arrived.

Jonathan Marler also remembers her...

... leaning over the bathtub in the bathroom outside Long Dorm and someone whispering “I saw her nipples.” She smiled and no one was sent for a caning.

There was another young and attractive under-matron at South Bend for a short time, but I don't remember her name.

The principal matron at South Bend I remember as being short, plump, no longer young, and bossy. Someone was caned for calling her a gorilla in the course of an argument. She confiscated The Bishop's Jaegers (Thorne Smith, 1932) from me, although I protested truthfully that it was given to me by my parents. Later someone pinched it from her room and gave it back to me; though I don't know what happened to the book as I don't have it now.

I do remember Joan, but Julian remembers her at Beech House whereas I remember her operating in the main building with the younger boys. I also seem to remember her being present at meals. Evidently she got around a bit.

Digby Macpherson remembers on Friends Reunited a young matron called Melanie, whose surname was apparently Felton.

Hypnotism

2007-09-09T08:37:00.000+02:00

At one time there was a vogue for hypnotism in the school. I'm not sure whether it was Azad Shivdasani who started it, but he certainly brought a book on the subject to the school. This must have been in the summer term; I remember he and I and Emile Farhi lying in the long grass around the edge of the main cricket pitch, trying to hypnotize each other according to the instructions in the book. We never succeeded, but we spent quite a long time trying.

Rumour suggested that others were more successful. According to an unverified story I heard, someone hypnotized a boy and told him that he could feel nothing in his hand. Another boy, who thought hypnotism was rubbish and wanted to prove it, hit the hypnotized boy's hand very hard with a cricket stump; and, sure enough, he didn't feel it. But later, when the hypnotism was removed or wore off, he felt it all right, and had to request medical attention.

Marble ramps

2007-09-08T12:34:00.000+02:00

Of course, in the 6th form we were ever so senior, mature, and studious. Relatively speaking.

But we were schoolboys aged 12 or 13, and we still had some little diversions.

The desks at which we sat in class had lids that lifted to reveal an interior space for storing books, pens, rulers, etc. In the far right corner of the top of the desk was a round hole designed to hold an inkwell — although inkwells were already out of date in the 1960s. In the near left corner of the bottom of the desk was a slightly smaller round hole for convenience of cleaning: dust and debris could be swept into the corner and out through the hole.

It occurred to someone, somewhen, that a marble could be dropped into the first hole, and with suitable internal arrangements it could be made to drop out through the second hole. Thus was born the idea of the marble ramp.

A beginner's marble ramp, once he got it working correctly, would work rather fast: the marble would go rumble plonk, rumble plonk, rumble plonk, and drop out through the second hole. But this was rather boring and showed no finesse. A truly admirable marble ramp was distinguished by the length of time taken by the marble to emerge (the longer the better), and by the variety of interesting noises it made on the way.

One weekend we pooled our talents and materials, and set up an enormous marble ramp alongside two walls of the classroom — using piles of books, rulers, and other bits and pieces, as with a normal deskbound ramp. With a normal ramp, one marble at a time was used; but with this one, we dropped a whole bunch of marbles into it to see which would reach the end first. In places the marbles were visible as they raced; in other places they were hidden, and we could only hear the rumbling of them until they emerged into view again.

Having gone this far, we went further: we invited other boys in to bet on the marble races. A couple of us (don't look at me) knew about horse racing and were able to manage the betting in a professional manner. Of course it was all a bit silly because one marble is about as good as another; but it was a novelty and it seemed great sport.

Mr Angus got wind of the affair and was initially displeased; but he was persuaded to allow it to continue on condition that the proceeds went to charity. I suppose we had to dismantle the Great Ramp before lessons resumed on Monday.

Mr Day

2007-09-08T09:49:00.001+02:00

Julian remembers a master named Day but thinks he wasn't long at the school. I'm afraid I don't remember him at all.

Starry starry night

2007-09-07T22:57:00.000+02:00

In the valley at night there were only a few scattered lights of human habitation, and if clouds didn't intervene the stars had the sky to themselves. Since then I've hardly even seen them so clear, they're everywhere drowned out by the spreading of humanity and its hunger for light at all times.

It was easy to take some interest in astronomy then. Was it Klinger who had a telescope, with which the moons of Jupiter could be seen?

At any rate we could walk under the stars to Beech House and South Bend and go to bed with their distant blessing. The effect was somehow more friendly and reassuring than Asimov imagined in 'Nightfall':

Thirty thousand mighty suns shone down in a soul-searing splendour that was more frighteningly cold in its awful indifference than the bitter wind that now shivered across the world. The bright walls of the universe were shattered and their awful black fragments were falling down to crush and squeeze and obliterate men.

Commander Staveley

2007-09-07T16:12:00.000+02:00

Commander Peter Staveley was an ex-naval man who taught French in the 6th form, although I had the impression that he would rather have been doing something else.

Despite that, and despite the fact that he wasn't French, he seemed to teach the language well enough (I still remember a little of it).

I have one isolated memory of a French class in the 6th form. We were reading a French Canadian story of a past century, called Les Compagnons de l'Arc en Ciel, in which there was a Red Indian woman called Wahiah. One day two boys arrived late for the class. They burst through the door into the room, and one of them announced, "Wahiah!"

Jonathan Marler remembers that the Commander was “a consummate gentleman and very interested in the welfare and education of the boys. He taught me how to row and he awarded me my rowing badge. I remember his speaking of his submarine days and teaching me the Valsalva manoeuvre, among other things.”

Crime and punishment

2007-09-07T13:48:00.000+02:00

As far as I remember, the boys were about as law-abiding as you can expect boys to be, and I can't remember any particularly interesting crimes; perhaps you can?

The borderline between normal, harmless behaviour and misbehaviour is uncertain and fuzzy, it depends on the whim of the master. Even if the master is absolutely consistent and has a clear, sharp borderline in his own mind, boys are not telepathic and can't see exactly where it is. So we boys had to be a bit wary of masters in general, because we could never be quite sure what would set them off.

The common punishment for any non-trivial offence was the cane, administered by the headmaster (only). Boys were sent to the headmaster's study and would queue outside if necessary.

The cane was a punishment, not an assault. At least in my experience, he didn't put his full strength into it and didn't draw blood. The common sentence was one or two strokes, perhaps more for major offences.

I wasn't a troublesome boy and was caned rarely, about once a year as far as I remember. Some other boys were caned much more often.

Offences I remember being caned for:

Going to the lake by myself without permission (I didn't realize permission was required) and falling in (I was looking for tadpoles). Mr Cromie found me in my underwear beside the lake: I'd stretched out my clothes to dry.
Jabbing Gogs Wilson in the bottom with a fork, in the squarish dining room beside the kitchen; I was taking a minor revenge for something he'd done to me. I think it was Mr Cromie again who noticed.

There must have been lesser punishments used in the school but I find it difficult to remember them. In the earlier years, boys were sometimes required to stand in front of the class performing uncomfortable exercises, e.g. standing with arms outstretched for a long time. Some masters also had a knack of grasping the hair near the ear and twisting it painfully.

In retrospect, I think that caning children is probably neither necessary nor desirable, but I wouldn't claim to have suffered any serious harm from my small experience of it. There is a danger these days of giving children no discipline at all; but I don't claim to know the best way of bringing up children.

Jonathan Marler remembers...

... climbing down the fire escape with another boy, stealing weed killer from the shed and sugar from the kitchen, mixing them on a board and setting fire to them on the lake. I do not remember being caned for that, but I am sure I was. Being caned was a pretty regular occurrence for me. Another night, we stole sausages from the kitchen and cooked them on a scouting stove.

Photos

2007-09-07T11:46:00.000+02:00

I have some photos of Stouts Hill taken in the 1960s, some others taken in 1996 when I visited the place briefly, and some contributed by other people.

I've uploaded them to Flickr; you can find them using the link in the right panel.

Do you have any relevant photos?

Language

2007-09-07T10:37:00.000+02:00

As some isolated communities do, the boys of the school developed their own vocabulary, which might have mystified any outsider listening in to our private conversations. Python-worshippers may remember the episode of the squadron leader's banter. But there was nothing intentionally secret about it, and the masters were probably able to follow it.

I've forgotten most of it by now, but a couple of examples come to mind. "Hard ched" meant "hard luck" (by way of "hard cheese" and "hard cheddar"). "The whack" meant being caned.

Because we all studied Latin, we sometimes threw in a few words of pidgin Latin for comic effect, or spoke English as if translating literally from Latin ("The match this afternoon is ought-to-be-watched.").

Once, at assembly, Mr Cromie got up in front of us all (evidently the headmaster had delegated this task to him) and announced that he had heard boys using the word "crappy". He presumed that those boys didn't know what the word meant, and suggested that we substitute the word "tatty" in future.

I don't think anyone took up the suggestion, but we found it amusing and somewhat to his credit that he thought of recommending a substitute instead of simply banning the offending word.

In the main changing room for use after sport there was a large communal shower area with multiple shower heads. On one occasion, a matron accompanying a visiting team was surveying the naked boys in the shower, and was overheard to comment, "They come in all shapes and sizes!" This was felt to be highly humorous and was much quoted thereafter.

Houses

2007-09-07T09:42:00.000+02:00

Officially, the boys were divided into four "houses" (yes, like at Hogwarts). However, the physical characteristics of the school made it infeasible to assign boys to dormitories on this basis, so in practice the "houses" didn't correspond to anything in reality. It seemed a meaningless concept and I took little notice of it.

I think the houses were all named after creatures of some sort. One of them was probably the kingfisher, which was a symbol associated with the school for some reason. I think another one was the otter. Perhaps I was one of the Otters; I don't remember now.

The library

2007-09-07T08:58:00.000+02:00

The library was at the foot of one of the corner towers, on the left of the main building in the photo below.

A rather elegant round room with plenty of windows, it contained quite a varied collection of books — all fiction, as far as I remember — in shelves underneath the windows. It also contained (rather oddly) a grand piano and a cheap record player with a few records. There were records by the Beatles (Rubber Soul), the Rolling Stones (Big Hits: High Tide and Green Grass), the Monkees (More of the Monkees), and the Animals (The Most of the Animals).

The room had a highly polished wooden floor. We discovered that, if we sat on the floor and rotated with our legs extended, then pulled our feet in towards the centre, we rotated rather fast on our bottoms. This was quite fun as an occasional diversion.

I liked reading and spent a lot of time in the library. It was generally peaceful because I was often the only one there. Sometimes Mr Sawdon came in and played the piano, but that wasn't a problem.

Of course, piano lessons were also conducted in the library. My mother wanted me to have piano lessons, but I had no interest in playing music at the time, and went through the motions mechanically. Later, in my mid-teens, I taught myself to play the guitar badly, as many people did in those years.

Sports

2007-09-07T07:46:00.000+02:00

We played soccer in the autumn term, except for the older boys, who played rugger. We played cricket in the summer term. I don't remember what we did in the spring term.

In general I wasn't a sporty type, but one year I had a fit of enthusiasm for soccer, and played keenly at centre half. I rather liked tennis, which I think we could play on Sundays in the summer, and sometimes I spent hours at it without stopping, although I've never been good at it. The school had both grass and hard courts, in front of the main building; I preferred the grass courts.

When a visiting team from another school came to play, we were obliged to watch the match (otherwise I wouldn't have bothered). Some boys liked to shout, "Up the Hill and down the other side!", which I thought was rather amusing, but the masters thought it unsporting and sternly discouraged it.

The school had a small outdoor swimming pool, located in the garden area at the back. After a couple of unpleasant experiences, I avoided it, because the water was always cold, even in high summer. My parents lived in Nigeria and I was accustomed to swim in comfortably lukewarm water; swimming in cold water seemed an extraordinary form of masochism. Fortunately, swimming wasn't obligatory.

There was an indoor shooting range at the bottom of the hill, for shooting rifles (I think) at targets. I seem to remember trying it once. It was an optional activity for boys who were interested in it.

There were rowing boats and perhaps one sailing boat for use on the lake; the lake was too small to do much sailing, but it served as an introduction. Older boys could go and sail at Frampton thanks to Mr Flood.

Jonathan Marler adds:

Riding was another highlight. The stables were “down the hill” near Mr Flood’s room. Mr Kemp and Mr Knight were in charge. I believe Mrs Knight was also involved. My parents did not have much money and I offered to give up riding after a year, because it cost them an extra guinea. In hindsight that was foolish. It would have been well worth a guinea to continue riding. Who knows, I might have married Princess Anne.

Dormitories

2007-09-06T22:32:00.000+02:00

There were various dormitories for younger boys on the first floor of the main building, each dormitory having curtains and bedcovers of a different colour. Julian and I remember blue, green, and pink dormitories; there may have been more.

On the same floor was the medical section: a small room in which boys could have their temperatures taken, etc., and another small room with a couple of beds in it, where boys could stay if they were deemed too ill to be walking around. In times of mass illness, I think the nearest dormitory was also pressed into service for this purpose.

There wasn't room for all boys to sleep in the main building. The older boys slept in one of three alternative locations: in another house on the same site, called The Cottage according to Robert, which had one small dormitory with bunk beds and was also lived in by Mr and Mrs Cromie; or in Beech House or South Bend, located in the village of Uley.

Beech House had a large dormitory on the first floor and perhaps one or two smaller dormitories on the ground floor; I forget. Mr Kemp also lived in the house.

South Bend had several small dormitories on the first floor. Julian says that Mr and Mrs Knight lived there; I don't remember. There was a matron who was in charge of the boys; one of whom was once caned for calling her a gorilla in a moment of bad temper. At one time there was also a rather young lady who slept in a bedroom above the stairs with an internal window of coloured glass. Some boys used to sit on the stairs to try to catch a glimpse of her undressing, but I think she was wise to that and managed to keep out of sight.

We didn't go back and forth freely between Beech House/South Bend and the school: we went all together at the same time, in a supervised column. There were few people or cars to be seen in Uley, but I suppose the school didn't want us wandering around the village unsupervised.

New thread suggestions

2007-09-06T22:13:00.001+02:00

If you'd like to talk about something and there's no existing thread suitable for it, you can suggest a new thread here.

Notable old boys

2007-09-06T21:57:00.000+02:00

Everyone seems to know that Stephen Fry (actor and author, born 1957) and Captain Mark Phillips (Princess Anne's first husband, born 1948) attended the school.

Stephen Fry and his brother Roger were at the school during my time, but because I was several years older I never noticed their existence and probably they never noticed mine.

Wikipedia's page about Uley mentions that Rik Mayall (comedian and actor, born 1958) is another old boy.

From when I was at the school, I seem to remember that Sir Peter Scott was mentioned as an old boy, but as he was born in 1909 he would have been about 26 when the school was founded. Maybe he was associated with it in some other way?

What is meant by "notable"? I have a rough rule of thumb that people become notable when a page about them appears in Wikipedia. And yet actors of quite modest accomplishments may appear in Wikipedia, while old boys such as Richard Guha and Azad Shivdasani (with very considerable accomplishments to their names) do not. This seems rather unsatisfactory.

Location of Stouts Hill

2007-09-06T21:42:00.000+02:00

Stouts Hill was and is located just outside the village of Uley in Gloucestershire, England.

About this blog

2007-09-06T21:28:00.000+02:00

This blog was suggested by Julian Williams as a way of allowing different people to contribute their memories of the school. I agreed to implement it. I was at the school from 1963 to 1967; Julian was there from 1962 to 1967.

It's possible that some other kind of Web site would be more suitable for this purpose, such as a wiki or forum, but Julian and I decided to try a blog first because it seems easiest.

The plan is that I start threads on various subjects and you continue them with comments if you have anything to add. You can add suggestions for new threads to the "New thread suggestions" topic.