Monday, January 23, 2012

Dudley, Blount and Mortimer - School House Reports 1961

In the 40's and early fifties when the school was called Wyre Farm Camp School, the school houses all had Coventry names - Godiva, Leofric, Earlsdon, Radford & Mercia. Which strangely is more houses than there were later on! After 1957, when the school became the LEA run City of Coventry, the houses changed to more local (to Cleobury) names, ironically! Mortimer, Blount, Dudley and Junior House.


The following house reports are from Issue 4, July 1961 of  The Boarder.


House Masters and House Officials 1960 - 61

Blount House  
House Masters - Mr James Lovatt, Mr Gordon Place - Mr M. Chopping, Mr S. Thomas.
House Captain - J. Bolster
Deputy House Captain - R. Farr
House Prefects - K Moyle, M McAvoy, J. Shaw, R. Edwards, P. Widdison.

Dudley House

House Masters - Mr G Oxendale, Mr E. K. Foy, Mr A. Elkins-Green, Mr Colin Partridge.
House Captain - D. Hazelwood
House Prefect - K. Ley, R. Smith, D. Squires, G. Hewitt.

Mortimer House
House Master - Mr A. Thorne, Mr J. Cox, Mr Breeze.
House Captain - R. Graham
Deputy House Captain - R. Yates
House Prefects - R. Lucas, B. Warman, L. Thomas, G. Holloway.

Blount House
The Old Blount House Sign

Blount has had a very active year both in sport and house activities. the year began with a large number of boys from the house being chosen to represent the school in the two Rugby teams. the house chess team won the chess trophy and this was a very good omen for the beginning of the year.

During the autumn term house entertainments were arranged in which it fell to the lot of different age-groups each week each week to entertain the rest of  the house. The term ended with a Christmas bazaar, opened by Mrs Webb, to which the rest of the school was invited.

In indoor sports the table tennis team made a very gallant effort to obtain the shield but for the second year running we lost by a narrow margin. Field football was played with our usual enthusiasm and alertness. Our greatness achievement was winning the cross-country team cup and Paul Williamson became Victor Ludorum. By his fine effort he had broken the existing school record.

Generally we have had a very good year in house affairs and I would like to thank the house prefects for giving up so much of their time. I would like to welcome Mr Thomas into our house and I hope his stay will be a happy one.

Finally I would like to thank on behalf of the House, Mr Lovatt and all assistant Housemasters for the enthusiasm and energy they have given the House throughout the year.

J. J. Bolster (House Captain) Form V

Dudley House
The old Dudley House sign

This has been an eminently successful year for the House. The various committees, which have been run by the boys and masters in the House have organised many events, the most popular being the trip to Birmingham during the Christmas term to see the Repertory Company perform in a farce called Hobson's Choice. 

Congratulations must go to the whole of the House for their combined effort in winning the Cross Country standard's cup. Special praise must  go to R. smith and G. Lancaster who each won an individual trophy.

This year there has been a marked improvement in the musical display given by the House in the school Eisteddfod. Perhaps next year we shall win the competition.

C. Ley won the individual chess trophy for the second consecutive year although the House lost to Blount. prefects should be congratulated on their efficient running of the House and especial thanks should be given to the two prefects, who each term have had the difficult task of sleeping in the lower part of the House organising the Juniors.

We would like to thank - last but not least - the Housemasters for their continual support and we hope that the House continues on its successful career.

D. Brown and D. Hazelwood 

Mortimer House

During the first term of the 1960- 61 school year Mortimer boys took a prominent part in the annual school play and also in Colts and First Eleven Rugby fixtures.

Mortimer Ties
Spring term brought the house success in many spheres. We won the table tennis shield by a large margin. We retained the Music shield by a very effort on the part of all the in the House - newcomers and 'Old hands' alike. Our successes were to continue when we competed in the House field football. It was not decided to which House the cup should go until the very last game between Mortimer and Dudley. This was very exciting and proved to be a hard fought match but Mortimer finished the victors by a narrow margin. The Yard football was the greatest of our victories. i must congratulate both the Junior and Senior teams for their consistently good performances.

Next took place the Cross-Country matches - both the standard and inter-house runs. In the Standards our running was not quite good enough to give us enough standards to win and in the inter-house match runs our running was not consistent. I must thank the Juniors for their very good win which gave us an overall position of second.

I would like to thank Mr Thorne, Mr Cox and Mr. Breeze for all the help and encouragement they have given the house. During the last  year the house has shown a happy spirit which is an essential part of our school training and i think this chiefly is the reason for our success and the growing reputation which our house enjoys. When i return as an old boy I hope I shall see the same happiness and spirit shown as when I was a member of  Mortimer.

R. Graham - Form V

5 comments:

  1. Does anyone know what became of James Lovatt - of all the teachers I found him to be one of the nicest - I was a fan (strange I know) of how he wrote, typically I would copy his font from when he used to write on the blackboard, in other words I liked how he wrote rather than what he wrote Indeed, even now I owe my writing script to James Lovatt. (like comic sands)

    He must have thought my writing was clear and like his as I remember at the end of one term he asked me (I mean told me) to write the schools end of term reports for him to which he merely signed them off as have been written by him - they were of course his words merely written by me.

    Looking at his photo on this blog brings back memories I would like to think he is still alive and kicking somewhere, can anyone throw any light on his whereabouts ?

    The original M28

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    1. Chris Harden - Fristly, what a surprise after all these years to find Paul Norman, Dave McGarry, Paul Reese and many others that I never thought I would ever hear of again. I would love to hear from any of you if interested in making contact. Chris_H@pdixtal.com

      I agree that the Rev. James Lovatt was a superior human being in every way and I would love to shake his hand. A truly great teacher and individual.

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    2. Alison Rowland tells me that "Jim Lovatt is still with us – and in reasonable health, as far as I know. He was a minister in Brighton & Hove for many years, before retiring to Sidmouth, where he and his wife, Angela, still live. He's probably about 81 / 82 now."

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    3. yes - that seems as though it could be correct - if you google james lovatt sidmouth - there is a web page regarding him having served in the church for 40yrs or so. If indeed that refers to the Cleobury James Lovatt !!.

      Would be interesting to know whether he ever looks on the internet at sites such as this - as he would be circa 80 years or so, would he be internet savvy ?

      Original M28

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  2. Someone mentioned that the Rev James Lovatt became a Minister in Bournemouth. He'd probably be in his late 70's or in his 80's by now if still alive. No further information!

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