BIRTH OF THE NEW SCHOOL BLOCK 1965

BIRTH OF THE NEW SCHOOL BLOCK 1965

Put together by Trev Teasdel

The New School bottom left as of 1966


"Mr Morris wanted new buildings - class rooms, house blocks, dormitories and a new gymnasium." 1957

He intended to build the capacity of the school, with the Director of Coventry Education WL Chinn, in support. His plan was to increase it incrementally to 200 and beyond.

Apart from the two little classrooms and possibly the gym, he didn't get to see his vision fully implemented before his untimely death.

His replacement in 1961, Mr Rowland, wanted buildings too. His proposal was for a 6th form and to also increase the capacity of the school. Mr Rowland had told the press he had had to turn down hundreds of requests for places each year. The Coventry Express in 1963 wrote "There is a new school building programme on the drawing boards."

Again, as we know, Mr Rowland didn't get to see his vision implemented either, before he died. However his agitation for new buildings had worked. Building work started in 1965 under Mr Parker's watch, on the waste land in front of the bursar's hut. As you can be seen the ground level was tricky.

In this photo from 1965 we see a very young Sue Rowland, Rosemary Webb, Sarah Williams and Aileen Parker, with the new building under construction in the background. It's not very clear but you can catch a glimpse behind the wooden hut - the bursar's home.

In spite of Mr Morris and Mr Rowland wanting to increase capacity, I'm not sure there was ever any significant increase in admissions to the school. As far as I know (and I don't have any data to hand) the numbers remained under 200, and I think it was well below that. Correct me if I'm wrong.

MORE NEW BLOCKS PROPOSED

My memory is that this new block was to be the first, and a second, maybe a third, were being planned, utilising the top Rugby field where the Pioneer Centre has subsequently built. Perhaps the Rugby field would have been moved to behind the ablutions - near the air raid shelters. In fact in 1969, there was some footage on the ATV program that showed Mr Thorne taking Rugby in that area. I assume that one of the new buildings would have included a new gymnasium. Because of money restraints or lack of political will, or both, no further buildings transpired.

The full vision of two headmasters never came to fruition. No sixth form, no significant increase in numbers, no new state of the art gymnasium, no development (as far as i know) of the social committee. However, if the full vision wasn't achieved, since 1957 the school had been bought by Coventry LEA; a 5th form for GCE's and later CSE's (they were separate back then); two new class rooms; a change in name and rebranding and the school put on a Secondary school footing.

I don't have headteacher George Parker's vision for the school, although I remember that Aileen Parker told me he had got strong ideas on the school and education in general. Maybe these ideas will come to light.

Photograph Coventry Evening Telegraph 1966

Table tennis - Mick Storer, Spud Taylor, Kev Sadler, Andy Ward. The snooker boys - Phil Stevenson, Paul Norman, Roger Mason.

The above photograph of the recreation room in the new block reminds me that the new block opened in the summer term 1966. The lads in the photo were in the 5th form to my 4th form, but they were soon to leave and we to become the new 5th form. The new block accommodated the 4th and 5th years from all houses - leaving the old cedar wood doors to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years but at least they were able to spread out more.

In the old wooden dorms, the bunk beds were thrown out and replaced with single beds and pupils had more space. The old system was very claustrophobic, with little room for manoeuvre. There were now 4 dormitory blocks for the 3 years to spread out in - This -

Photograph Coventry Evening Telegraph 1966

as opposed to that 

BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

The move into the new block was a breath of fresh air. Psychologically it just felt better - we'd come from a city that had a brand new city centre, pedestrian free shopping centre, bright lights and was totally modern. I had grow up on a brand new garden city estate with open spaces and for the first half term of my first year had gone to Binley Park senior school with sharp new buildings. For me personally the cedar wood huts were dark and dull with little or no space to spread out or have any privacy. We made do, but the new block (I think I speak for all), was a huge relief. It was light, modern and spacy with more recreational facilities.

This was Binley Park Secondary school in Coventry and the new school block approximated to this - for me at least.

Let's see some pictures of the new block and then talk about what it encompassed and felt like.

Still from the 1969 ATV documentary on the school

The dormitories were above the classrooms but instead of packing in 30 or 40 boys, they were more like large bed room with 5 boys to each room, all from the same house - eg Mortimer.

An article in the Coventry Telegraph 2010, noting the demolition of this block - then part of the Pioneer Centre and called Forest Lodge - wrote “Forest Lodge, dating from the 1960s had the unusual set-up of bedrooms above and classrooms below, something that would horrify many modern schoolchildren"

Far from being horrified, we loved the new block - it was after all a boarding school and the new dorms were miles better than the old dorms, so we were elated! No problems perceived!

The squashy shiny vinyl floors were a far cry from the old creaky wooden floor boards, only 5 to a room lent to more space and no double bunks - 'luxury'! 

Big windows that opened, more light and better views. There were lockers in the corridor and a bath / shower room. No more running across the drive after shower, in your dressing gown in the freezing cold! Yes it was a luxury b y comparison!

Photograph Coventry Evening Telegraph 1966

Downstairs there was a reception room where you changed your muddy footwear with cages for football boots. A communal shower and laundry room and one or two class rooms, a prep room, and recreation room with table tennis, pool tables and doors opened to the outside in the summer, and a reading room (as the above photo shows0. At the far end, near the school gates ,were the quarters of at least 4 members of staff. In my time they were Mr Thorne, The Rev David Williams, Mr Plaice and his wife, and I think Mr Harper.

In the recreation room in 1967 and in 1970 there were school dances with girls from the school in Cleobury Mortimer - something proposed by Mr Rowland in 1963. This is the 1970 dance. I was at the 1967 one just before our year left.

Still from 1969 ATV programme

Mr Parker in the 1969 ATV film - his office moved behind where he was standing.

Still from 1969 ATV programme.

Lockers in the corridors upstairs and the door to the washbasins to wake your self up in the morning! You can see the shiny vinyl floor and entrance to the bedrooms. 

Photograph by Stephen Tearse.

One of the beds in the bed room - this one was Stephen Tearse's - one of the popular and nice guys with academic promise who sadly never it beyond 17 owing to a moped accident on the way to work after leaving school. We remember him fondly.

And here he is in the reading room.

Still from ATV 1969 documentary

Lads, in the 70's sitting outside the recreation room.

From Coventry Evening Telegraph 1966

Charles Joyce and Ian Wooldridge playing conquers outside the new block autumn 1966. Photo from Coventry Evening Telegraph 1966

Ralph Aldhous, Dean Revell, Frankie Dutton and Peter Wan sitting on a pile of bricks - as you do -c 1967. I remember I was part of the crowd and we had Kodak cameras - no idea what happened to my photos, but we experimented with trick photography - I tried to line Peter Wan up so that I could get Tony Booton's tractor on his head - photographically! Such fun but it made photography more interesting and sharpened your eye for a photograph. Charles Joyce took this photograph.

Dean Revell, Stephen Tearse, Ralph Aldhous and Chris Packham outside the recreation room on a sunny day in 1967. Whiter Shade of Pale was out about then and the Beatles All You Need is Love - Summer of love time.

Frank Dutton, Peter Wan and Stephen Tearse c 1966 Charles Joyce photo.

1969 in the reading room. Still from ATV 1969 documentary.

Photo from Coventry Evening Telegraph 1966

Moving to the other part of the new block, the stem if the shape of the new block is a T shape, there was a new and spacious library. The library was originally in the cedar wood block near the swimming pool and elsewhere before and in my time was run but The Rev David Williams. He made me a librarian. Mr Williams taught me to catalogue books and Sarah Williams was also a school librarian although I didn't know until more recently. Exams were held in the library too.

A  still from ATV 1969 documentary

Another still from ATV 1969 documentary

Still from ATV 1969 documentary

The Rev DA William overseeing study in the new library.

The Chess Players in the library - A still from the 1969 ATV documentary.

Two new science rooms - the Physics / chemistry lab and the biology labs - luxury - we only had one before that did for for everything - 

Photo Coventry Telegraph 1966. Mr Matthew's biology lab - of course we were posing for the camera. Front left to right - David Woodward, Charles Joyce, Ian Woolridge, Shepherd, Stuart Moore. Back row Trev Teasdel, Frankie Fasulo, Stephen Tearse, Underwood, Hudson.

Bryn Powell teaching geography in the new block 1966 Coventry Telegraph Photo.

Headmaster George Parker planting a tree outside new block in the 70's.

Grainy photos above and below taken in the 70's in the new dorm rooms.

Dormitory in the new block c 1976
1st on left, Nigel Fisher, 4th from left was Nathan Johnson, 5th from left, was Phil Herd also from Lancashire.
Photo via Nigel Rigby

Overhead view of the new school block.

Coventry Telegraph 2010

In 1966 the old science lab by the swimming pool was converted into a recreation room / coffee bar. - it had new paving and steps down to the drive by the swimming pool. Terry Walker (art teacher) got us to do a pop art / dada college on the wall, cutting up images from magazines etc. and Ralph Aldhous contributed some art work to the room. I remember Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze coming out and hearing it for the first time in that coffee bar, and watching the Monkees. Very arty and I think was Terry Walker's idea to have an arty café. The above photo was taken there in 70's.

The Pioneer Centre in the noughties - you could still see the 'New' block, re-christened as Forest Lodge, before it was demolished in 2010. The new blocks of the Pioneer Centre were built on the former Rugby pitch where further 'new blocks' of the school were originally planned!

Oh dear Tony Booton - What have you done to our 'New Block' ? Photo from Coventry Telegraph 2010.

Coventry Telegraph 2010 "A spokesman for what is now the Pioneer Centre said: “And this week, one of the buildings, known as Forest Lodge, which once housed classrooms with dormitories above, is to be bulldozed. The process of demolishing Forest Lodge will mark the end of an era for the hundreds of pupils, now in their 60s and 70s, who lived and studied there.....And every month the centre welcomes a constant stream of past pupils, many of whom bring their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to see the site of their old school and enrich the history of the current centre with their stories and memories, often involving Forest Lodge.”

“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