“Willingly to School!” The Rowland Years.

 

“Willingly to School!” The Rowland Years.

Put together by Trev Teasdel.

Robert Vickers Rowland Headmaster 1961 - 64

In the last issue of The Boarder (School magazine No3 July 1961) the editors wrote - 

"We look forward to a new period in the school's history. A period which will be inaugurated when Mr R.V. Rowland takes over the headship in September. He has already spoken of his keenness to come to the school, and our best wishes go to welcome him."

He had big shoes to fill with the death of Mr RT Morris but was already up for it  -  Alison Rowland told me -

" In terms of the social history, the development of a local authority version of a public school education was part of the whole post-war 'levelling' process, and something my father (Bob Rowland) was very interested in. He was from a very modest background, but had won a scholarship to Solihull School, and went on from there to build a successful academic career. He was passionate about learning (and couldn't pass a bookshop, whether new or second-hand, without buying something), and wanted a good education to be available to all."

The Boarder, in the same issue as above, interviewed Mr Rowland in July 1961 as he visited the school to have a look around and meet some of the boys.

Profile of Mr RV Rowland

"With the death of Mr RT Morris, an era in the history of our school ended; with the coming of Mr RV Rowland, a new age begins, the exact outlines of which will not be visible for some time.

Mr Robert Vickers Rowland is of welsh extraction and attended school in Solihull. Soon after leaving school, war broke out and he joined the RAF and he became a pilot. When the war ended, he studied at Birmingham University and took a degree in German. Afterwards he did  postgraduate work at Oxford and in Germany.

He taught in a number of schools, the most recent being Prince Henry's school in Evesham and Wolverstone hall. The latter is a boarding school run by London County Council and is similar, in some respects to our own school.

When I asked him for his first impression of the boys, he said it was their neatness which was most notable. He said he was impressed by the tidiness of the school and also by the general politeness he met whilst walking around during his visit to the Founder's day cricket match.

With some trepidation, I asked him if he had hopes for the school. He smiled and in a loud voice said "Good gracious, yes.". He went on to say he wanted new buildings and to make sure the school maintained its good record. He also expressed the wish to cultivate new interests in the school and was keen in furthering the development of the social committee." 

M. McAvoy  form Upper 1V

It's interesting that he wanted buildings, and shows he was keen to build on some the initiatives of RT Morris in developing the capacity of the school, but he also had some of his own ideas.

In 1963 a photographer and journalist from the Coventry Express came to the school and also interviewed the new headmaster, who by then had been in the job nearly two years. I personally remember this as I was in my first year at the school as the photographer came around taking photos, some of which, the published ones, you'll see below.

WILLINGLY TO SCHOOL  - Coventry Express 1963.

"We are not fighting pictures or the telly every night" said the tweed suited teacher. "Extra evening study is always done, and willingly!" He was talking to me in the masters' common room at the City of Coventry Boarding School where 170 Coventry boys live in a wild and beautiful part of Shropshire.

This school, a cluster of buildings on a hill overlooking the small village of Cleobury Mortimer, a few miles from Kidderminster, could be the poor man's Eton. But a public public school is the best description. A place where boys from the ages of 11 to 15 (16) live a genuine classless existence. It offers some of the best qualities of the traditional public school without its drawbacks. It makes no difference who your father is or what kind of car he drives. Motorcycle combinations and E type Jaguars stand side by side on visiting day. There is no fagging and the results speak for themselves.

The City of Coventry Boarding school, which has been open since the summer of 1940, is the boarding school of the Coventry education Authority. In the blitz it was used as a receiving centre for boy evacuees.

Buildings
And suddenly from the experiences of these boys the education people realised that living in a friendly community with hundreds of boys of the same ages developed a strong spirit of self reliance. And that is why Coventry Boarding school is still operating today. A new school building programme is on the drawing boards. The headmaster has had to turn down hundreds of requests for places each year. There were almost 75 per cent GCE passes last year.

Parents pay according to their means. Tuition is free and the boarding fee less than the actual cost to the Authority. Parents may ask for an assessment of the actual fee which is £100 a year. The London County Council run the same kind of school at Woolverstone Hall but the fees at Woolverstone are much higher, up to a maximum of £240. The boys at Cleobury Mortimer, in the regulation navy blue blazers and grey flannels, are well spoken, well mannered and able to stand on their own two feet.

The 15 year old school Captain, David Holmes, of 62, Northumberland Road, Coventry, told me "There is little or no bullying by the upper school. If the younger boys are upset about anything they go to their housemaster. He is like a father to them. I take my GCE's in the summer and then I hope to become a draughtsman. I think the education here is of a higher standard than the normal secondary school. The classes are smaller and get individual attention."

TELEVISION
"Although we have television here, it is not a distraction. This evening most of the upper school will be studying without supervision. Not because they have to, but because they want to."

The 42 year old headmaster, Mr Robert Rowland was senior housemaster at the LCC's Woolverstone Hall.

This is his third year as head of the Coventry School. He lives with his wife and three children Susan (13), Alison (9) and Jonathan (6 months) in a cottage in the school grounds. He has attempted to bring new ideas to the school. If a problem comes up, he gathers the House Captains together and discusses the problem with them. And in most cases he yields to their wishes. The boys flock to his small crowded study with their requests and problems.
"I hope before long to achieve a limited range of sixth form courses. To give the boys a chance at University places." He told me.

He spoke about his big problem, homesickness on the first day.. "This shows itself immediately and the boys make it worse by not taking any interest in the things going on around them. But we are soon able to get to the root of the problem, and then they settle in happily."

Eleven year old Gordon Talbot, of 172, Lockhurst Lane, Coventry, started at the school in September. He said : "When I first came I thought I wanted to go home again but then I made friends a few of the other new boys. Now i love it here. The hours of sport are terrific." The boys are allowed to watch television for a few hours each evening if they want to.

GIRLFRIENDS
There are the usual school societies in the evening, and on Saturdays the boys can go down the village to the cinema, or go cycling in the lovely countryside. Sport in the healthy Shropshire air takes up only the usual part of any school curriculum. Equal emphasis is placed on the arts and the sciences.

"This is not a monastic life" said Mr Rowland, "Some of the older boys have girl friends in the village. This is not frowned on, the only stipulation made is that the girl's parents know of the relationship. I would like to organise school dances. But there are just not enough girls in the nearby area."

City of Coventry Boarding school pupils go out into the world with something the secondary modern or comprehensive cannot give them. They go with a sense of independence and ruggedness, a thing not easily cultivated."

I almost got in this photo - behind the last boy seen in the photo! Of course, we were posing!

Left to right - Malcolm Carroll, Michael Burns, Frankie Fasulo,, ?, Hughes. This was Mr Chopping's Chemistry class in the old science lad.

Matron (Miss Richards) and Mrs Barbara Rowland

Nr and Mrs Chinn (Director of Education with Mr and Mrs Rowlands 1964.

Mr Chinn and Mr Rowland on sports day.

David Partridge, One of the pupils in the early 60's remembers him fondly " Mr Rowlands had been a student at Gottingen University before the war and then a bomber pilot in WWll, difficult time for him I think. He was very good news, and he also taught French rather well."

Alison Rowland (using her maiden name) adds - 
" Somewhere, I have a full obituary for my father which appeared in Janus, the school magazine for Woolverstone Hall, the school where my father taught before becoming Head at C of C. My father won an exhibition to Cambridge, but did not take this up because of the outbreak of war. Following his war service first as a pilot and then in intelligence, he attended The University of Birmingham where he obtained a First Class honours degree in German. He went on to do a teacher training qualification, winning the Cadbury Prize for Education, and then spent time studying at Gottingen University (not Heidelberg, as mentioned by one of your contributors), before beginning a career teaching modern Languages.

My mother, Barbara, continued to live in Cleobury Mortimer after my father’s death, until she died in 2001, aged 79. She is buried, along with my father and my sister, Susan, in Neen Savage churchyard – a place full of memories. My mother forged a long and lasting friendship with my father’s successors at the school, George and Margaret Parker."

And here it is - 

http://www.whs-archives.net/docs/janus/sn/def.htm

It's hard to access Mr Rowlands's progress on these ideas as his tenure was cut short but it has been mentioned that he campaigned vigorously for new buildings and it is notable that work began on the new school building - variously referred to as The Senior block or later Forest Lodge, in 1965, a year after his death. There will be more on the new block in another post.

Inside the new block 1966

The idea of developing the social committee maybe never happened but that would have been a good development, sadly though the school magazine ceased to exist, for whatever reason, in 1961 and I think that would have enhanced any new social committee. He had the idea of creating school dances - these did emerge, at least briefly under Mr Parker, in 1967, just before I left and at least one other.

Rowland wanted to develop a sixth form too, to enable some pupils to access higher education. This never came to fruition although some of us did go on to get degrees, often as mature students but an A' level pathway was never developed at the school. Had he lived a six form might have come to fruition at the school.

There was seriously some good potential under Mr Rowland but as Rosemary Webb-Rehill, the bursar's daughter reports - a large part of that potential was never realised - 

"Sadly he died February 28th 1964 - Rosemary Webb Rehill recalls " Bob Rowland had been visiting a boy who was in jail. He was on the M6 and rear ended a broken down lorry. The big scandal was that he was "over the 8". The sad part was that Barbara Rowland had just had a baby (Jonathan)......Bob Rowland had three children, Sue, Allison and Jonathan. He came to City of Cov. after Mr.Morris had a heart attack in the assembly hall during a play. I think? it must have been early 60's. late 50's. Sue was the same age as me. After Bob died in that tragic road accident. The Rowlands moved down to a house in the vicarage in Neen Savage. Barb. Rowland bought land from Jim Davis (I'm guessing insurance money) in the village and had a small house built. Sue was killed in a tragic road accident a few years later in Kinlet.."

His former school Woolverstone Hall, remembered him via The Rowland Memorial Prize -

" A new prize, the Rowland Memorial Prize, will be competed for for the first time this term. The fund from which this prize will derive is made,up,of contributions from members of the teaching and administrative staff who worked at Woolverstone Hall with the late Mr. R. V. Rowland, and from the Old Boys' Association. It will be awarded to the winner of an annual essay competition, set by the deputy Headmaster on a subject of general rather than specialised interest." http://www.ecoates.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/janus/whj/w64j.htm

He was also remembered at Solihull School, Birmingham,  where he was a pupil -

Robert Rowland was a pupil at the Solihull School - a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England. 2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560.

He was mentioned in their Silhillian journal -

You can read more about that school on an earlier post on this site https://wyrefarmed.blogspot.com/2011/09/robert-vickers-rowland-headteacher-to.html

In the 17th century Solihull school became a boarding school and the number of pupils grew. The school became more notable and well thought of due to the involvement of several prominent families. Much of this development came under the Headmastership of Rev. Richard Mashiter who, in 1735, was famously elected ahead of Dr Samuel Johnson, the celebrated author, essayist, and lexicographer.

From the 1962 School Brochure

WYRE FARM CAMP SCHOOL TO CITY OF COVENTRY SECONDARY BOARDING SCHOOL 1957 – 58.

 

WYRE FARM CAMP SCHOOL TO CITY OF COVENTRY SECONDARY BOARDING SCHOOL 1957 – 58.

Put together by Trev Teasdel

Sweeping operational changes were made to Wyre Farm Camp School in 1957 which saw the school rebranded in the press as an "Outside Eton" for Coventry working class boys after gaining a reputation "as a reception centre for teenage misfits who came before Coventry magistrates court." Not everything about these changes are crystal clear, but using press cuttings, memories, school brochures and magazines, I've tried to build up a picture of what was going on.

The prime movers in these changes were W.L. Chinn OBE MA (Director of Education for Coventry) and Mr R.T Morris, Headmaster of Wyre Farm Camp School, who together had a new vision for the old camp school.

Central to these changes was the purchase of the camp by the Coventry Local Education Authority (LEA) from the National Camps Corporation (NCC) who had built and run the camps since 1940. There had been discussion about what would happen after the war to these schools that were functioning as evacuation camps. Some had been sold to Councils or LEA's for use as schools as early as 1945, not so Wyre Farm Camp School.

Wikipedia says

“During the Second World War these camps were used as schools for evacuated children, run by local education authorities.  The first camp to be used in this way was at Kennylands, near Reading. In the decades following the war, most of these camps were sold to county councils and education authorities for use as schools.”  Dent, H. C. (2007). Education in Transition. Read Books. pp. 96–98.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Camps_Corporation#cite_note-Dent-2

In the 1947 Wyre Farm School brochure we read "Coventry Education Committee was granted the use of the Wyre Farm Camp in June 1940 and they still retain it. The whole of the catering and domestic duties are carried out by staff under a manager appointed by the National Camps Corporation."

And "In peacetime they would be rented and used either by Education Authorities as Camp Schools or by approved non-profit making or public utility organisations as Holiday Camps for the rapidly increasing body of workers, with their families, who were obtaining holidays with pay. " Town Thorns website https://www.townthorns.co.uk/1940-1952

Clearly there had been a bipartisan arrangement whereby the NCC ran the camp, employed and paid the domestic staff and outsourced the educational aspects to the Coventry LEA. In 1940 the teaching staff had been recruited from Coventry schools. The purchase by Coventry LEA was made around May 1957.

What Were the Problems?

Mr Morris explains -

"Some people may recall that the school developed a bad reputation some years ago, as a reception centre for teenage misfits who came before Coventry magistrates court. But this is the case no longer."  The Coventry Standard 1957 "No Longer a School for Misfits: A First Class Education is it's Aim"

This would explain why some people on Coventry Facebook book pages still refer to the school as a 'bad boys school' and used to disciplined their sons by threatening to "send them to the bad boys school" . I had no idea where this reputation came from until I read the article.

I can't say to what extent these 'bad boys' were sent to the school in terms of numbers or whose policy it was - most likely it was under Mr Martin the former head from 1942 to 1953 and maybe a policy decision of the NCC. I think the inclusion of  'bad boys' was just a small part of the intake, which included pupils whose parents were away in the forces and 'normal' school pupils of that age group. I can't see any evidence, and none of the old boys have mentioned, that the school was ever any kind of formal borstal! Most likely it was considered that the strict discipline and the outdoor life would be remedial for some types of offender. However, the inclusion of them was enough to spark an adverse reputation in the city and a hindrance to plans being made to expand and develop the school.

The School Rebranded as 'Our Outdoor Eton' 

Mr Morris and Mr Chinn were keen therefore to rebrand the school as 'Our Outdoor Eton' - a Secondary boarding school for Coventry working class boys' (hence the headline of the article here). After the purchase, it became The City of Coventry Secondary Boarding School, soon contracted to The City of Coventry Boarding School and then to The City of Coventry School. It was one of the few municipal boarding schools in the country.

The first annual school magazine - The Boarder, published in July 1958 noted this two page spread that appeared in The Sunday Mercury Sunday 1st June 1958.

"On April 30th and May 1st 1958 a reporter and photographer visited the school. The school was to feature in a double page article. Many photographs were taken and notes on all the school activities - athletics, swimming, cricket and classwork. The article appeared on visiting day Sunday 1st of June. Three hundred copies were ordered by the school and distributed to parents. the feature was entitled "Cleobury's Outside Eton". " A, Baker. Editor. 

What Changes Were Made?

This rebranding gave the school a fresh start and they planned to develop it as 'an establishment with a name for a first class secondary education' with it's advantage of smaller classes and optimal pupil / teacher ratios, monitored homework / Prep sessions and a newly created fifth form for boys who were considered capable of taking GCE's. Mr Morris told a Coventry Standard reporter that "any boy would be considered as a would-be-entrant to the school whether he has been successful at 11+ or not."  and assured the reporter that "There is no possibility of a boy with a police record gaining admittance to the school."

In The Boarder Issue 1 July 1958 It was reported "As this first issue goes to press, the first ever series of GCE examinations are in full swing. For the seven boys concerned this was a culmination of a five year course of study: we wish them every success."

New Buildings

Mr Morris wanted new buildings - class rooms, house blocks, dormitories and a new gymnasium. Not all of these were achieved before his untimely death in 1960. It's possible the prefabricated hut was the new Gymnasium, although as PE Master Glyn Roberts has mentioned, it was far from adequate with its stone floor, so perhaps the new gymnasium was never achieved. PE had originally been held in the main hall. Two new classrooms were achieved however - the music room and one opposite the staff room. 

New buildings were also on Mr Rowlands list but it wasn't until the early days of Mr Parker that the new school block with new class rooms, dormitories, science and biology labs were established in early 1966. Part of the need for new buildings, was that Mr Morris planned to incrementally increase the intake of boys, initially to 200 and more over the years.

The house system also changed - 

The Boarder No1 noted in July 1958 " This has been the first full year of the school's existence under its present title and organisation. It has seen many changes in school life, the most notable being the formation of three independent houses. September saw us living in Stoke, Radford, Earlsdon, and Gosford. They have now undergone a metamorphosis, becoming Blount House, Dudley House and Mortimer House with Annexe providing sleeping accommodation for the overspill." 

New staff were also recruited during this period, and it was estimated that there were 12 fully qualified Masters at the school according to the school brochure.  

In July 1958 the first of three annual (end of year) magazines appeared during Mr Morris's watch -  although produced on a duplicator, The Boarder, edited by a mix of staff and pupils, reflected a dynamic wealth of activity from clubs, creative writing, sports, house reviews, trips and visits, list of starters and leavers and new and leaving staff, religious matters and the launch of the Parents / Teachers Association which often fund-raised for facilities for the school. The magazines are now a great resource in terms of charting the school's history. It's a great shame they stopped after Mr Morris died.

You can read the three copies on this page on this the school site - https://wyrefarmed.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-boarder-second-issue-of-school.html

The Boarder Issue 3 July 1961

In an obituary to Mr RT Morris the magazine wrote "No one can doubt that a major contribution to these changes was the tremendous drive and enthusiasm of Mr Morris."

Ken Short recalls Mr Morris's drive and enthusiasm even before he became headteacher, and the photographic record shows him to be in all the sports team photographs like no other head or deputy head before or after. Ken says "Mr. Morris was headteacher Mr Martin's figurehead. It was always Mr. Morris who seemed to organise things, one hardly saw Mr. Martin except for morning assembly. Even Sunday services at Cleobury Mortimer or Neen Savage was led by Mr. Morris, and on sports day Mr. Morris was ever present, no sign of Mr. Martin!"

The school also got a new Bursar who oversaw the running of the school in terms of catering, buildings and domestic staff who were now paid by Coventry LEA rather than the NCC. The new Bursar, Mr Webb inherited some of the former NCC staff and recruited new ones and eventually the amazing Tony Booton who kept the camp in tip top condition beyond it's tenure as CCBS.

Mr Webb the Bursar and family including Rosemary.

Meanwhile what was happening in Coventry? The Phoenix Rising!

The new Coventry precinct in reconstruction in the 1950's

All lit up and ready to go by the late 50's

In 1957, Coventry was rising from the ashes of war, symbolised by The Phoenix. The foundation stone of the new Cathedral was laid in 1956, the new European style city centre was a good way to completion with Broadgate island and a glorious traffic free shopping centre, designed by Donald Gibson. It wasn't all down to Hitler though, in the 1930's the medieval cobblestoned Butcher Row was demolished to make way for Trinity street and the development of Corporation street with it's Art Nouveau design for Coventry Theatre and The Rex cinema. Donald Gibson was appointed Coventry’s first City Architect and Planning Officer in 1938. His plan involved completely rethinking the city centre in a radical design even before the war. Hitler's demolition job made the new design urgent. As I recall there was still building work going in 1957. By the 1960s, Coventry was a model of modern, brutalist architecture – quite removed from its pre-war image.

The Willenhall Wood Estate, brand new in 1957 / 8 grass and trees out the front and roads at the back. 

New Garden City Estates

Most of the housing stock had been destroyed in the war - quick cheap prefabricated homes were built but by 1957 a brand new estate had been created on the outskirts at Willenhall Wood - it was state of the art - and I grew up there when it was brand new. It was based on the Radburn design which began in Radburn New Jersey in 1929 aimed to incorporate modern planning principles, which were then being introduced into England's Garden Cities. The tradesman's entrance ie the roads were at the back of the house - out front grass and trees and flower beds - safe for children to play (except they never let us play footie out the front because of all the windows!). They were Council houses for (back then) the 'better tenant' without rent areas. White pebble dashed exterior with French windows, American style dining rooms and a hatch to the front room for serving meals, and lots of grass and trees on the estate - Garden city - very aesthetic! It also had a brand new school, Willenhall Wood Junior, and the new headmaster was none other than Mr John Lowe, who up until then, was Mr Morris's deputy headmaster - I went there and it was on account of Mr Lowe that I attended CCBS.

Me, myself at Willenhall Wood Junior School prior to going to Cleobury. Below it's headmaster when he was still at Wyrefarm Camp School in the 50's

Everything at that time was transforming, modernising, both the school and the city.  'A brave-new city taking shape as the Phoenix rose from the ashes of war.' 

(Read more about growing up in the city in the 1950's here - a stream of consciousness essay by Trev Teasdel which has been quoted in sociologist Selina Todd's essay Phoenix Rising: Working Class Life and reconstruction 1945 - 1967.) The link to my essay is here https://coventrymusichistory.typepad.com/blog/2007/03/born-in-the-50s-a-coventry-tale.html

Changes to the Coventry Coat of Arms.

By 1959 these Phoenix like changes were reflected in a new version of the Coventry coat of arms and ultimately on the front gates of the City of Coventry School.

The original coat of arms looked like this -

You can see it on the school sign before 1959 here with the Bursar's children including Rosemary Webb in the foreground.

In 1959, it was changed to this to reflect post war rise of the new city from the ashes of the old - "In 1959 the coat of arms was enhanced by two supporters; the Black Eagle of Leofric on the left, and the Phoenix on the right - representing the ancient town and Coventry's rise from the ashes respectively. "

Charles Joyce playing his guitar in front of the new coat of arms c 1967

Laurie Lindsay at the gate.

Profile of Mr RT Morris

The Boarder Issue 3 July 1961 published and obituary to Mr RT Morris -

""Mr Morris came to Cleobury Mortimer from Frederick Bird School, with the first party of boys in June 1940. He was there at the outset. He was a very keen sportsman and coached the school's cricket teams for many years. He, himself, had played cricket for Coventry and North Warwickshire and Rugby football for Coventry RFC and Warwickshire. After coming to Cleobury Mortimer he captained the local cricket team for several seasons.

He was appointed headmaster in 1953 but before this he was a house master, and Countless boys will remember his firm but just discipline and his pride in the good name of Earlsdon. During the period of his headship, the school changed considerably. The most important events were, as already mentioned, the purchase of Wyre Farm Camp school by Coventry LEA (Local Education Association) and the acknowledgment of the school as a fully recognised Secondary boarding school with a flourishing GCE stream.

No one can doubt that a major contribution to these changes was the tremendous drive  and enthusiasm of Mr Morris. A man of strong personality, he was passionately interested in his school and fiercely proud of its reputation. he expected the best from his boys and staff and was not satisfied with less.

Whatever the future of the school, whatever its successes  and improvements; a great debt will be owed to the man who made them possible - RT Morris."

Mr Morris died on 29th November 1960 and this report was in (I think) the Coventry Telegraph

Mr Walter L. Chinn - Director of Education for Coventry - between 1947 - 1969

The Boarder Issue 1 in July 1958 reported " In the summer term the school welcomed Mr WL Chinn, Director of Coventry Education and his wife on Sports day."

Mr Chinn was a regular visitor to the school, enthusiastically attending sports day ceremonies where the certificates were handed out, and other important occasions. His role was important in pulling the strings from the LEA point of view, and his enthusiasm for the purchase and development of the school under its new identity. Photos were made of him at various events.

He was awarded the "The Coventry Award of Merit in 2013 by the City Council, the award created in the 1960s, was a means of acknowledging and honouring personal behaviour reflecting the highest ideals of citizenship or outstanding performance in any field of human endeavour which enhances the good name of Coventry and affords inspiration to its citizens."

From 1963 Paul Williamson (Cross Country Champion) receiving his certificate from WL Chin. Far right Headmaster Rowlands and with the book master of ceremonies Glyn Roberts PE Master.

Press cuttings and photographs.

Wyrefarm Camp School - School brochure 1947

One of many showing Headmaster RT Morris in a Sports Team photograph (On the left).

And again below.

Photos from the Sunday Mercury "Our Outside Eton" article.

Thanks to Jade Weaver for sending these on behalf of her grandad Peter Gilberthorpe who was there 1953 - 1958

The teacher is Wally Clarke

WYRE FARM CAMP SCHOOL - THE WAR YEARS.

WYRE FARM CAMP SCHOOL - THE WAR YEARS.

Researched by Trev Teasdel

You can download this article as a PDF file.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q0ffylOZ9iMxijtZdnsoFZrVyGPjCjI9/view?usp=sharing

Following on from The National Camps Corporation article, I want to take you back, through the eyes of some of those that were there, to the war years. I have brought together all that we know of the war years, information scattered in various posts and cuttings on the school blog. Wyre Farm Camp School was built towards the end of 1939, prior to the declaration of the 2nd World War.

Lionel John Aubrey puts the situation in perspective.

OPERATION MOONLIGHT SONATA

" In October 1940 there were short periods of intense bombing on the City of Coventry, followed by the blitz of November 14 ~ 16 ~ OPERATION MOONLIGHT SONATA. Over this 2 day period 500 tons of high explosives were dropped on the city and the city centre was ablaze. The city’s factories were blasted and burning and when the all clear sounded at 6.15 am of the third day, the shocked, dazed, frightened and tired people of Coventry emerged into what had once been streets, to find 4,330 homes had been destroyed and over 1200 people had been killed. There were further bombing raids with 6/8 hour intense periods on the 8th and 10th April 1941 and the last bombing raid was in August 1942."

From The Coventry Telegraph 1983 " The summer of 1940 was rife with rumours of an invasion. There was one, however, which was peaceful and unopposed. This was when 200, 12 year old Coventry boys descended upon Shropshire. They had been evacuated because of the worsening situation in France.

On arrival at the camp on Monday June 17th 1940, there was a brief ceremony led by the Rev Richard Lee and the Union Flag was raised. After dinner the lads were distributed to the four dormitory huts which were Gosford, Radford, Earlsdon and Stoke."

Dennis Whiteley, (Secretary of the Old Boys Association), takes us through those early moments in an article written for the Coventry Telegraph, by Peter Walters. Actual article below.

THE PIONEERS ARRIVE AND IT'S HANDS ON TO SET UP THE CAMP.

"As a convoy of battered buses pulled up at the camp gates, some 200 Coventry kids got their first eyeful of the timber huts that were to be their home from home. Dennis Whiteley, just 14 at the time can still remember the air of mounting excitement as they piled out of the vehicles and formed up in ranks to march the final few yards.

The date was 17th of June 1940 and the 200 were pioneers - the first batch of Coventry evacuees to reach the safety of Wyre Farm Camp School, in a quiet corner of south Shropshire.

With the Luftwaffe's attack on Britain already underway, Coventry was looking like an increasingly dangerous place for children in the summer of 1940. To the city's education authorities, the rural location seemed a safer bet.

For Dennis Whiteley and his pals from a string of city schools, it was the start of a great adventure that he still recalls fondly more than 50 years later.

"We were put to work clearing fields for Football and cricket pitches, and I remember forays into the forest to cut wood for goal posts, under the supervision of Mr Griffiths."

During the hard winter of 1940 the boys had to manhandle sledges over snow drifts to pick up the bread from the railway station. Even in the harshest of weathers, they were found running around in plimsolls and shorts. The evacuees devised an initiation ceremony for newcomers that involved crossing a river ford in the middle of winter stark naked!

However Dennis does recall homesickness, Not all boys were happy, he does recall a few sobs after lights out on the first night. "Most of us loved it but there were one or two who decided to run. The furthest anyone got was Kidderminster. The local bobbies on their bikes used to pick them up on the roads." He does recall his younger brother Jim who walked all the way back to Coventry only to be brought back by his parents. The punishment for boys running away was being called up in front of the whole school at assembly and being canned.

It wasn't long before evacuees became familiar in Cleobury Mortimer, marching through he village on Sunday on church parade and crowding into the village shop to buy cakes and pop. Relations with the locals were good on the whole. More than one Coventry kid ended up returning to marry a village girl.

Dennis remembers when a Spitfire roared low over the camp and dropped a small parcel and performed a low level loop the loop. It was the camp cook's fighter pilot son delivering her birthday present.

Dennis said "there were 8 teachers and the camp was a collection of wooden buildings, providing dormitories and bunks, classrooms and an assembly hall. He remembered swimming in the river, battling through deep snow, and scrumping apples, picking blackberries for the camp cook and playing schools at football. To us the countryside was unknown, Shropshire was very rural at that time and we had all come from the city to be surrounded by miles and miles of countryside. We had never seen anything like it."

They had only been there about 6 months when on the night of November 14th 1940 they saw the flames of Coventry burning on the night of the Coventry blitz.

SCHOOL BUILDINGS

The school back then would have been recognisable, but there were more houses - with some dorms having more than one house in it. The houses were named after areas of Coventry until the mid 50's, such as Bablake, Stoke, Radford, Gosford, Godiva, Mercia and Earlsdon and all the dorms had verandas on the end - the flats came later. No swimming pool; and no garages or small classroom such as Mr Lovett's.

Bert Gummery "“We were all put into houses named after districts in Coventry – I was in Earlsdon house – and we slept in house dormitories in bunk beds. We had lessons each day and played a lot of sports and games, especially football and cricket. I can remember us marching down to the village to church and also going to a cinema in the village. It was strict; you had to behave yourself just like at ordinary school, but we enjoyed it and mother used to visit every month from Coventry.”

Lionel John Aubrey "You represented your ‘house’ in all aspects of life, collecting points from promptness, cleanliness, attendance, sport etc. Each house had a master and 2 prefects."

Bert Gummery ""I was one of the first intake of evacuees there. I remember arriving at the school clutching a jar of jam – we were all allowed to take a jar of home-made jam with us with our name on which were able to have at meal times. I also recall a photographer taking our picture."

The Daily Telegraph Tuesday June the 9th 1942 Coventry Boys are Learning in a Children's Paradise.

"Five dormitories with 170 lads...two tier beds and every pupil is equipped with a separate locker for their personal belongings. A large dining room complete with modern kitchens and a spacious assembly hall and chalet like home for the headmaster Mr B Martin. The school contains a gymnasium, library, woodwork and art room."

HEADMASTERS AND TEACHING STAFF

The first headmaster was Mr Donaldson, known for his use of the cane and he set the bar for the school discipline which continued to be followed after his departure. Mr Donaldson was only there until 1942, it was a two year contract..

Coventry Evening Telegraph memories by Stan Atkins 1983 "Mr Donaldson was from Broadway school in Earlsdon. To keep his charges in order he had the assistance of masters drawn from Coventry schools.He was also previously head of Twon Thorns Camp school at Easenhall Coventry.

Mr Donaldson is typical of the period, strict but fair. On one occasion, after a pitched battle between the dormitories, he dispensed summary justice by lining the school up and caning every 10th boy.

No one complained except perhaps the unfortunate "tenth boys"

At first the lads were viewed with suspicion by the locals but they soon got used to the invaders. In an area with many apple orchards, there was scrumping. The farmers, like Mr Donaldson, dispensed their own justice. A clip round the ear was usually sufficient,. The odd serious misbehaviour was dealt with very severely by Mr Donaldson.

From the cutting in the Midland Daily Telegraph August 1940 we get a portrait of Mrs Donaldson - the headmaster's wife -

" A word about the one person who has done more than any other for the joy and comfort of the boys - Mrs Donaldson, "Mother" to every one of the boys 160 boys and wife of the Headmaster. For 16 hours a day, when the camp began and now for a full 12 hours a day, Mrs Donaldson is looking after the welfare of the lads. Youngest to oldest, if they have any troubles at all, the boys fly to her, and, in spite of the fact that she does it all without salary, she loves her job.

Mrs Donaldson waved a hand at 50 or more boys playing a variety of games. Most of them wearing nothing more than shorts and shoes, yet their sun burned bodies did not feel the coolness of the hillside wind so apparent to we city folk.

"Fresh air, good food and regular sleep did that" she said firmly "Life at the camp is equivalent to a good boarding school - and there are 40 vacancies."

His replacement was Mr B Martin (Bert) and his deputy was Mr RT Morris who eventually became the head in 1953. Mr John Lowe was another early teacher, keen on sport. Mr Lowe became deputy head under Mr Morris but left to take a headship of the newly built Willenhall Wood Junior school in Coventry c 1957.

Ken Short remembers Mr Martin "Mr. Martin liked to run a tight ship. He stayed in the background, Mr. Morris was his figurehead. Mr. Martin was unapproachable, mild mannered but still a disciplinarian. It was always Mr. Morris who seemed to organise things, one hardly saw Mr. Martin except for morning assembly. Even Sunday services at Cleobury Mortimer or Neen Savage was led by Mr. Morris, never Mr.Martin. I can never remember Mr.Martin strolling around the school, only Mr. Morris and on sports day Mr. Morris was ever present, no sign of Mr. Martin!"

Ron Brooks remembers "my dormitory was EARLSDON (E12) and MR LAMBLEY was our dorm' master and he was strict - polished our floors, beds made neat - walked on cloths on the floor to keep polished. I must admit he gave a whack on the behind with a slipper for not doing something, Ouch!"

Other teachers remembered were Mr Lambley, Mr Dey, Mr Lamb, Mr Musgrove.

However, in the Coventry Telegraph 1983, it says "The first masters were Mr Morris, Mr Windridge, Mr Breeze, Mr Carr, Mr Dey, Mr Parkes and Mr Griffiths.

LIONEL JOHN AUBREY

writing on the BBC site The War Years about Wyre Farm Camp School, tells us -

" Records show that the boys were mainly from schools in the town and factory areas of the city and by December 1942, 283 boys had been relocated to Wyre Farm. It is assumed that most of the boys had lost their homes, or parents, or both. By the end of May 1945, 584 boys had moved through Wyre Farm."

SCHOOL ITINARY

Lionel John Aubrey,

"The day usually started with a quick wash and off to the dining hut for breakfast. Prefects checked you into the hut (clean hands!) and in rotation you prepared your ‘house’ table and cleaned upon completion.

After breakfast you made you beds, cleaned and tidy the dormitory.

8.45 Assembly in the school hall, prayers, notices etc. On completion dispersed to classes. There was an opportunity here to visit Matron should you be unwell. Lessons were for set periods and you changed classrooms or teachers as required.

11.45 Lesson completed, return to dormitories to was hands etc.

12.0 Lunch, prefects supervised, on completion ~ free time.

13.0 Return by classes to classrooms

3.30 Return to dormitories, free time. There were various activities available, all supervised by prefects/Masters (Scout Group, Drama Group, Gardening, Sports)

5.0 Tea, on completion resume free time

6.30 Return to dormitories, showers, ready for bed (supervised by prefects/Masters)

8.0 Lights out

Saturdays

7.30 Breakfast. On completion carry out set tasks under supervision f prefects. E.g. clean ablutions, dining hall, classrooms. Skirmish surrounds of buildings, paint areas etc.

10.0 Various activities.

Sports team prepare. Football and cricket mainly. School team was in a league with other schools from Kidderminster, Bewdley, Stourport.

Scouts normally went camping for the weekend. Drama group was very active.

Tuck shop opened for one hour.

Sundays

9.0 After breakfast assemble in school hall for church service. If weather permitted we marched to Cleobury Mortimer Church, (approx 3 miles) prefects supervising.

After church we made our own way back to school in time for lunch. Sunday afternoon at leisure, weather permitting most of us would go for walks.

One Sunday of each month, parents/friends would visit from Coventry. Coaches (2) would come for the day, arriving about 10.30 and departing about 4pm. Lots of the boys had no parents, perhaps some of their family might come. Those of us with a parent always had one or two in our company for the day. There was always plenty of sweets and comics to share around. On occasions we would all walk in Cleobury and have a lunch, this was a real highlight. When visitors left the rest of the day was free.

(Note) lights out was early, about 8pm and of course the shutters would be applied to reduce the lights - you never knew if a bomber or two would be returning to the coast after a rain and might decided to ditch any unused bombs on the camp. You couldn't be too careful.)

FEMALE TEACHER

This is from a phone interview with Pat Bryan of Neen Savage (83 at the time) arranged for me by Aileen Parker. Pat told me she was a child during the 2nd World War. Both her Mother and her Uncle taught for a short while at Wyre Farm Camp school during the early years of the war. Pat was born in Coventry and lived off the Allesley Old Road.

Her mother , Flora Aidie who was a teacher in Coventry and her father worked in Radford. She said the outbreak of war changed their lives. Pat remembers hiding under the table in the home during the Coventry blitz not knowing if they would survive the night. Soon after the Coventry blitz November 1940 her mother was asked to go a teach at Wyre Farm Camp school where Pat's Uncle - Harold Eaves - was the Earlsdon Housemaster and teacher.

"My mother was there about a year and she was the only woman teacher. After this my mother and my dad went back to Coventry and I stayed with my uncle Harold, but then he got called up and joined the RAF, so I stayed on. I've never went back to Coventry. My maternal Grandmother had a bedsit in Cleobury Mortimer and she managed to get a cottage in Cleobury, so I moved in with her - then my father came and joined us because he was fed up with his job in Coventry, and then my mother saw an advert for a Headmistress in Neen Savage school. People said you don't want to do that - you'll end up playing the organ and singing in the choir which actually she did - anyway the woman who got the job - she only stayed a couple of months and then she took off, so the job was advertised again so that was that - she applied for the job and got it and we moved into the school house in Neen savage where there was a house with the job so we were all three of us together. The house was up the road from the church. So the first woman teacher at the school became the headmistress of Neen savage School and Pat herself studied at Bridgnorth Grammar school and her father got a job in Cleobury with Off Turns, one of the local grocers."

It wasn't until the camp became The City of Coventry Secondary Boarding School that the curriculum was set on the path towards GCE's circa 1957. Until then, the curriculum was more practical with a lot of outdoor activities such as the farm, and of course the basic subjects.

Pat doesn't recall what subjects her mother taught, but thinks it would have been Maths and English and maybe general studies. "Uncle Harold (Eaves) taught Geography and Woodwork but he got called up in 1942 along with Mr Morris and they both joined the RAF. Harold never went back to teach there.

The Midland Daily Telegraph Wednesday August 21st 1940

"The curriculum is at the moment school lessons in the morning and as much fresh air as can be obtained before bedtime at 7.30pm. Fishing, swimming, rambles, gardening, sports and games come in the latter category. Proudly the youngsters showed their vegetable plot with still the greater pride, the flock of Geese. which exist mainly on their food scraps. They pointed out with delight the six young pigs fattening in the sty. but spoke regretfully of Lilly the Lamb. Lilly strayed from the farm and found a diet of toffee cake and chocolate provided surreptitiously by the boys, better than grazing! She would persist in following the boys to their lessons and even went to sleep in the dormitory!"

The Midland Daily Telegraph Tuesday June 9th 1942

"Added to the usual school curriculum are classes in practical nature study, gardening, biology, and practical geography., the surroundings being ideal for studying the last mentioned subject. fresh air, unrestricted quantities of the best food, nightly shower baths, are but a few of the advantages of this school."

CHRISTMAS AT THE SCHOOL DURING THE WAR 1940 - Pat Bryan

"My uncle brought me back down to Coventry two or three days before Christmas because my father was still in Coventry, then he and I came back to the school on Christmas Eve 1940. We came over to stay - and my mother got us fixed up with some digs at Morley Town farm which was the farm just along from the City of Coventry School, so that was the three of us - my mother, father and myself all in one place - anyway, that was Christmas Eve. My uncle Harold - when we got to his room in the Earlsdon block where he was housemaster, we found his bed covered with Christmas socks, so we helped him put an apple and orange and some sweets into them and then crept down the dormitories putting one on each of the beds because it was Christmas Eve. The boys had to stay at the school over Christmas during the evacuation period otherwise it would have defeated the object of course. The parents sent their presents on to the school by post.

So, Christmas day came and we all ate in the big dining room and we had turkey - well I never tasted turkey in my life. In those days if you had a chicken, you had it at Christmas and Easter and special occasions, not like we do today and have it all the time and so turkey was a luxury!

The next day it snowed and the boys absolutely went berserk. They were snowballing and tobogganing.

Ron Brooks recalls visiting day

"The first Sunday of the month we would wait for the Midland Red buses to come in, I think there were four or five. The parents who couldn't come upset some of the boys, me included, although I was lucky I could go to the village as my grandmother and aunts lived there."

From The Coventry Telegraph 1983

"Although the lads were pleased to see their parents, they were often more interested in the contents of their bulging shopping bags carried by mum! Only too soon the coaches would depart and although the lads would be the last to admit it, there was many a damp eye!"

AIR RAID SHELTERS

Coventry Telegraph 1983 "Often the lads were roused from their beds and directed to the air raid shelters. Many will remember the nights when the sky in the direction of Birmingham was aflame. These were anxious days, with the disruptions to the post, news was slow to filter through. After the blitz, one enterprising dad cycled all the way to the school to tell his son he was ok! Mr Donaldson, headmaster, after the Coventry blitz, returned to City to gather what news he could and this he passed on to the assembled school."

Doug Bukin from WW2 People's War site -

" I was evacuated with about four other boys who'd been bombed out in the Coventry raid, to a place called the Wyre Farm Camp School. The camp consisted of about ten wooden dormitories, probably with about thirty or forty double bunks in them, with a hall and a refectory. It was originally built and run by the NCC (National Camps Corporation), but we named it the 'Nazi Concentration Camp'! It was said it was built for itinerant agricultural workers before the war. For a while I was miserable and homesick. I would have been quite happy to go back home to the bombs and so forth but I settled in. My parents were able to visit one Sunday a month. We all had tuck boxes, and my mother always used to bring along my favourites: rock cakes. The rock cakes lived up to their name at the end of the month when they were rock hard. And a baking dish full of rice pudding - lovely! The parents were always invited to a roast beef dinner in the refectory, which was an enjoyable and a rather rare luxury that they really appreciated. We spent our sweet ration at the school tuck shop. My friend and I were quite fed up with it and one day we tried to escape home on some 'borrowed' bicycles - 'stolen' would probably be a better word! We only managed to get as far as Kidderminster or Bewdley.

We were completely lost so we came back to the camp and nobody knew we'd escaped over the wire of Colditz, which was how we thought about our escape from the camp.

On a Sunday morning we'd have bacon and eggs. Everyone had a little notebook, all the kids had one, they wrote 'IOU one piece of bacon, IOU a glass of milk'. They'd always swap things that they did or didn't like. We bartered amongst ourselves. I loved milk, and in those day it was all full cream milk. At four o'clock in the afternoon, we'd all go into the refectory for a mug of milk. I loved it. I could have ten or twelve mugs of milk a day from the kids who didn't want their milk.

There was a little first aid place there as well. There was a nurse. Three or four of us caught mumps, and we ended up in an isolation dormitory.

The gates of the camp school opened out onto Wyre Forest which is a beautiful forest. It was lovely. One of the teachers took an interest in me. He was a butterfly collector and I expressed an interest in butterflies. He used to take me out, we'd get a net and a bottle of cyanide in those days, for killing the butterflies and putting them on a board. I probably know in wildlife more about butterflies than any other creature. I could recognise all of them from a picture and we collected about thirty-six or thirty-eight of the fifty-four species in that area. He gave me a tremendous background interest in nature. I thoroughly enjoyed that - it was lovely. You don't do it these days, you don't destroy wildlife, but we didn't know any better in those days.

It was a normal school. We'd have assemblies in the morning. There were communal showers which I hated. The big boys would always be slapping you with wet towels - big bullies! Then we'd have fairly frequent film shows in the hall, that was one of the entertainments. We were confined to camp. But on Saturday afternoons we were able to go into the local town Cleobury Mortimer, I always remember they had sugary sticky buns, and if you were lucky you'd get in and they'd have some. Spending my pocket money on them was wonderful I wish I could have one now! They were the best buns I've ever tasted. That was our afternoon escape. Sometimes on a Sunday we'd have a packed lunch and we'd all go out on a conducted climb of Clee Hill which was a steep hill: very close to and overlooking the Welsh borders. We'd climb to the top, and it was probably about seven or eight hundred feet high. I've been up since and it looks a lot smaller now than it did then! In the early autumn, September onwards, we would all have to go out into the field potato-picking. I hated that job. The tractor would go along and turn out all the potatoes in the furrows and we would have to go along picking them up. It was backbreaking work even for young people, putting them in buckets at the side of you. Then you got a penny or tuppence for a sack of these potatoes. I utterly hated that job, I really did."

ENTERTAINMENT

From Coventry Telegraph 1983 "Entertainment was provided by the boys themselves in the form of Saturday concerts. One lad who took part in those concerts is today a professional actor who has appeared in Crossroads. At first there trips to the cinema in Bewdley, Eventually they acquired their own school projector operated by Mr Windridge. They even had a cine camera and films were made of their activities and shown on the projector. One film was of the 'Wood Hunting Expedition" in Wyre Forest. As this was silent, there was record of what the master said to the boy who dropped a log on his foot.

Rick Medlock Coventry drummer. "My dad was there during WW11. I do remember him talking about the bombing raids on Coventry and Birmingham as you could see the sky lit up by the bombing from the school. He said some of the kids would run off back home after seeing that. He also talked about scrumping raids organised by one of the teachers. They would black up and do it like a military raid on a local farm. He believed it was organised with the knowledge of the farmer. Also some children found some incendiary bombs and hid them under there dormitory LOL. I went there as a child for a school holiday. My dad told me they got into big trouble over that. I assume they were dud otherwise they would have probably gone off!"