CHARNEY HALL Lilla Baszucki, John McCullagh, Hazel Brown and John Byers
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.
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 McCullagh and Hazel. The photograph below catches them enjoying the day outside the junior classroom. Lilla really enjoyed her time at Charney Hall and young Joy thought that it was like being on holiday….
John was an amusing man, very witty with a wry sense of humour. He was heard to say one day that if he suddenly dropped dead on the dining room floor, Barbara Duncan would issue instructions to leave him there and to hoover around him!
Another example was recalled by David Watt in the ‘Comments’ column of Roger Beaumont’s informative and provocative post in ‘Reminiscences 3’ :
“We had to march down to the town church every Sunday and the only thing that would prevent this was the weather. One Sunday morning the drizzle was on and off and all of us waited anxiously for the decision from Maxwell Duncan and some of the other teachers.
Duncan was clearly undecided, and after a brief discussion, Mr McCullagh said, " The way I decide on things such as this, is to ask myself….Would it stop me going to the pictures?"
I will never forget the scowl that Duncan gave him, as if to say ..How dare you use such a mundane parallel to make such a reverent decision!
He was, however now left in a difficult place. If he decided not to go, it sort of meant that church was less important than the cinema.
Of course, the decision was instantly made to go. The drizzle turned into heavy rain half way down Charney Well Lane and we were all drenched”.
John could be described as well built…...he was also a diabetic but like many would ignore doctors’ orders and indulge himself in forbidden fruit. Years later he would have his leg amputated on account of this insidious disease.
In January 2013 Anonymous reported in the cumbrianwarmemorials.blogspot.com that he came across John McCullagh around 1983, volunteering at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway as station master. Railways were his passion and it was said that he could recite some timetables off by heart.
John Beresford Kane McCullough was born on 20 October 1926 in Bishop Auckland, County Durham and he died at Whitehaven up the Cumbrian coast, aged 64, in July 1993. John’s funeral took place in the chapel at the magnificent Munster Castle.
Hazel Brown, needs no introduction, she was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. With her mellifluous accent, wavy burnt red hair, brown eyes and freckles there was no doubt that she was Irish through and through.
Her home town was not far from her thoughts and every evening the muffled sound of Irish music could be heard in the senior boys dormitory, permeating through the plastered walls of her room. Whilst in the 1950s the boys were into Radio Luxembourg, the first commercial radio station, which was in later years supplanted by Radio Caroline in the 60s, but back then, at lights out the strains of a Gaelic music lulled us to sleep!
1:30if you're irish come into the parlour sing-alongYouTube · conwayhay17 Mar 2012
Hazel was our ally and confidant, a link to things domestic and we felt safe in her presence. She was in charge of our health and cleanliness and formed part of the thankless supporting cast in the comings and goings of everyday school life. I suspected that things would not be the same without her.
John Byers was a classicist and taught Latin at Charney Hall. Joy describes him as an intense, sensitive type, perhaps a square peg in a round hole at our school. The story is told that he entered the TV series, Mastermind. When his turn came to sit on the black leather Eames chair to be interrogated by Magnus Magnussen he was overcome with stage fright and failed to progress with the questions.
Some years later, after he had left Charney, it was reported that he had committed suicide - a sad end to a good life and a stark reminder to the insensitive amongst us of how thin the line between life and death can be for those with mental health issues.
Lilla left Charney in 1968 and went on to attain a B.Ed., teaching at Charlotte Mason College, Ambleside and then on to Longlands School (now Queen Katherine’s in Kendal). Joy remembers her Mum with much love. She was the first* female teacher to be employed at our school and despite strong opposition from some masters quickly won their approval with her outgoing vivacious personality.
Credits : Joy Baszucki for much valued family photos
Keith Smith - digitisation and photo of J.B
*Please refer to John Cranna’s comment
Comments
Perhaps he thought that Arthur was a bit old fashioned and that Beresford and Kane were one step beyond. It was common for parents to use the middle name of children as a way of perpetuating the mother’s maiden name - a huge bonus for those interested in ancestry. Kane was John’s mother’s surname. We committed his initials to memory. A B K still sticks in my memory.
Am pleased to see that John Kilburn has added his name to the cricket photos. He is the only Old Boy with whom I am in contact.
Chris Wilson (59-63)
Chris Bailey
Chris Wilson
I have been in touch with John Kilburn, he's flattered you remember him! After Charney, I remember him playing cricket for Giggleswick at Rossall, but after leaving school he became a pilot, and his time was spent getting in his flying hours, but did manage to play golf. On being out of work in Scotland he played a lot at Troon, getting his handicap down, and on moving to Spain 22 years ago, played regularly until the pandemic. He has resolved to take it up again.
Best wishes, Chris Wilson