Charney Hall School, Grange-over-Sands

Updated Feb 2022 with The Bracken Fight  Tony Hampson and Sandy Walls - pupils in the 1950s Michael Pemberton, Race and David Johnson (a future master) abt 1955 Walks on Hamsfell on a fine summer’s day were a delight. The smell of the fresh Morecambe Bay air blended with perfume from the grasses, bracken and vapour from the peaty ground wafted over us. The sun was hot and in no time we had cast off our jackets and rolled up our sleeves!  The bracken was well established on the fell. It lined many of the paths. In the autumn term it turned a russet brown and died back until its re-emergence in the Spring, forcing its way up into the warm light where the vertical stalks spread their fiddleheads to reveal fronds which put the green sward into shade. The mature bracken was stiff and straight, just right for use as a spear. It had the added bonus that when pulled the root was found to be black, ideal for scoring a hit on the white shirt of any unsuspecting boy. Thus the bracken figh

Updated 22 Feb 2022 : Just found this wonderful photograph hiding away in an old ‘50s photo wallet! It was probably taken with a Kodak Brownie as the original print is minute so the image has a blurry, atmospheric quality….best viewed at arm’s length! It reminded me of great times on the fell. Goodness knows how I managed to get this group together - my first and only impromptu ‘School Photograph’! Michael Coxey always had the largest net and the biggest collection of specimens! Kenyon was to return as an assistant master (I’m told by Joy Baszucki that it was customary for the staff to call trainees ‘The Boy’). Beaumont* (or Beamont) was the son of the famous test pilot, Roland Beamont**. I once saw an English Electric Lightning Fighter, an amazing machine with twin vertically mounted turbo-jet engines, flying low over the Creek near Lytham. When it reached the Ribble Estuary it tilted upwards at a right angle into a vertical climb, just like a rocket! (It could exceed Mach 1 in this a

A much welcome post from Tilak! I am sure fellow Old Boys will have somewhere in a drawer or in the loft or in an unopened box in the garage School Reports from Charney Hall “CH”.   I think I have seen an earlier posting where part of the School Report was shown.   As I have nothing to hide and for wont of not boring other CH Old Boys I am appending my School Report extempore.   Quite clearly the mediocrity and failures of my later life started to show signs at CH and the rot had already set in and the Masters and Mistresses were quick to appraise and forewarn my Parents of this fact!   I started the term at 1st and it was downhill from thereon and has continued throughout the early and latter part of my life.   As a historical record the document is interesting as I have even later reports from CH where they are modernised and placed in a cardboard folder in loose leaf form.   It is wonderful to see the musings and thoughts of the Masters and Mistresses as they came up with something

Joy Baszucki Joy Baszucki  made contact after seeing my post in Grange’s local magazine,  Grange Now . Her mother Lilla Baszucki taught French at Charney Hall around the years 1962-1968. Lilla emigrated from Italy having gained a degree in Classics there. She had hoped to teach foreign languages in the UK state school system but was required to have a degree from a British university, this time in History and French, before she could realise her dreams. Lilla Baszucki (centre) from Charney Hall Year Photo 1961 Lilla Baszucki It would appear that, for the assistant teachers, Charney was a rave in the 60s. It wasn’t uncommon for Lilla to attend 2 or 3 parties a week in the Lodge. Maxwell and Barbara Duncan did not attend…or perhaps they were not invited! Joy was a young girl at that time and would accompany her mother up to the school on Saturday mornings. Her mother would teach and Joy would be bundled off to see the matron, dear Hazel Brown. Lilla and Joy became great friends with John

Further to a visit to St. Paul’s Church, Grange-over-Sands I post photographs of the interior together with the war memorials associated with Charney Hall. There is no point in reiterating Louis’s magnificent article on Charney Hall and its Memorial Hall and I thoroughly recommend reading this and include the link below: http://cumbrianwarmemorials.blogspot.com/search?q=Charney+Hall%2C+Grange-over-Sands The verdict is still open regarding the location of any plaque commemorating the 22 old boys who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War which may/may not have been displayed in the Memorial Hall. I do, like many others, remember sign written lists of boys who attained scholarships to public schools. However I have not seen any evidence of a plaque on the internet which does not make sense. Having taken the trouble and cost to erect a building it seems nonsensical that the School did not record those who fell in the traditional manner.  St. Paul’s must be congratulated for mai