CHARNEY HALL Tilak’s Post (CH 1967-71) with contribution from Sven F Thome (1965-68)
Post Updated 1 May 2024 : Porritt Will added
KS : I have inserted Sven Thome’s kind donation of memorabilia into Tilak’s post as appropriate. Thank you both for such a magnificent addition to the Blog.
For wont of boring even further former Pupils of Charney Hall “CH” I am appending with pictures taken by my Father and a final School Report below some reflections and memories thoughts anecdotes and musings which have come to my mind as regards my 4 years at CH.
At the time of this piece many of you would know that Earl Spencer the Brother of Diana Princess of Wales has recently published a book as regards the pain of boarding school abuse. I am happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CH and never suffered from the abuse and trauma detailed by Earl Spencer in his Book. I am aware there are others who would have different recollections and memories of their times at CH and to them I would say I have the utmost sympathy and empathy and understand their feelings and views are entirely different to mine.
As usual my memories and recollections are not what they used to be if they ever were and all errors and mistakes are mine and no one else’s and I would stand and be happy to be corrected by those with better memories than me.
99 Guineas a Term and the Reason for attending at CH
At the age of 8 or 9 the Headmaster at my Primary School a certain Mr Bundy advised my Father who was a Dental Surgeon in Barrow in Furness and in the Naval Reserve that his Son was not very bright and would fail the 11 Plus Examination being at that time the only means to acquire a place at the local Barrow Grammar School. Mr Bundy was friends with Maxwell Duncan and suggested CH to my Father and that is how one day I was transported with my Parents to attend a visit to the School and be shown around by Maxwell Duncan. I distinctly recall Maxwell Duncan explaining to my Father that the Boarding Term Fees were 99 Guineas per Term. I always recall the visit as Maxwell Duncan showed my Parents the Memorial Hall which had I believe a Snooker table and a Subbueto Football Table (remember those) and a very loud vintage table radio playing in the background and Maxwell Duncan asking a Senior Boy to turn it down. Whatever Maxwell Duncan said to my Father must have worked and so it was decided that I attend CH much to my Mother’s chagrin and sadness. I was to be followed a few years later at CH by the arrival of my younger Brother.
Early Years and Lessons and Free Milk in the Morning
I have to be honest here and relate that my memories and recollections are not as good as others. I can recall having to stand up in class and shout out the Maths times Table in Maths Classes and also stand up and decline Amo and shout out Amo Amas Amat etc using Kennedys Latin Primer in Latin Classes and be made aware of the present tense and the past perfect and future perfect and gerundive from the subjunctive and learning poems by heart from the Dragon Book of Verse and being made aware of differences between pronouns and nouns and adjectives and adverbs and verbs and conjunctions in English classes. Whilst I was at CH we still used inkwells and metal quill pens and learnt how to write in cursive handwriting. I recall at about 11am ish the whole School attended the large main room and we drank milk from small bottles which I understand were part of the Free Milk Program halted by a certain later Prime Minister hence the phrase “Thatcher Milk Snatcher”!
Sunday Letter Writing to Parents and Walks
The Bracken Fight
With no lessons and no games and left to our own devices Sundays consisted of writing a letter home to our Families or Parents which were dutifully collected by a Master overseeing Letter Writing Sessions and posted to make the Sunday Collection times. Walks played a big part of School Life either up the Face or Hampsfell and up to the Hospice. Mr Fawcett would not allow us to wear gloves unless we wore coats whilst other Masters were less strict. Walks were pleasant and ideal to doff your red hats to unsuspecting passing elderly Ladies and await their smiles and acknowledgements in return.
Sunday Church Service and Collection of Sixpence and wearing the Poppy
Pupils at CH will remember the Sunday walk down the hill to the Church in the centre of Town and the walk up the hill for the return to CH and the prior disbursing of the Sixpence each for the Church Service Collection and during Remembrance Sunday the distribution and wearing of a Poppy.
Charney Well Lane Credit : Google Earth
Masters Gowns
I am only able to only recall Mr McCullagh and Maxwell Duncan wearing Masters Gowns and never recalling Mr Fawcett wearing one at all.
Did you do the No.1 or No.2? and the Infirmary and Medicinal Dispensation Room
After breakfast I recall especially the junior boys being roll called by a Senior Boy or Prefect and invited to attend and visit the communal toilets and on their return asked to confirm whether they had accomplished a No. 1 or a No. 2. Apparently if you were unable to perform a No. 2 for several days then you would be sent to Matron for further investigation. Ms Ford (later Mrs Wolstenhome) and Ms Hughes were the Matrons during my years and were I thought generally liked. I always remember a large sterile white or light coloured painted room on the upper floor of the main building with a large wall cupboard where medicine and ointments were handed out to the walking wounded after injuries suffered during games and walks and the general rough and tumble of school life. If my memory serves me right there was a small room with perhaps one or even two beds on the upper floor where those who were poorly were incarcerated for recovery from illness.
Books being read to you by Maxwell Duncan and Enid Blyton and Biggles / Capt W.E Johns in the School Library
The small School Library was in the Lodge and with a Science Laboratory tutored by Mrs Brown on the upper floor. I recall avariciously reading Enid Blyton authored “Famous Five “ Books and also Capt W.E.Johns Biggles Tales. Maxwell Duncan read to us The Hobbit and also other Tolkein Novels.
Swimming Pool
The swimming pool had already been dug and constructed by the time I first attended at CH in 1967. I was not a particularly strong swimmer but I managed to win purely due to my bulk and weight the walking race in the swimming pool where one did not swim but just walked the water! I do recall one particular cold Winter when the swimming pool did freeze over completely and boys were permitted to actually risk a supervised walk across the frozen water. In this day and age of Health and Safety this would not have been allowed.
Charlie and Herbert and Blackberry and Raspberry picking Walks
In this current climate of healthy living and eating and growing ones own food and being environmentally friendly it is easy to forget Charlie and Herbert not only tending and making sure the cricket pitches and rugby and football pitches were ready for play and use but also the vast gardens tended by them with all manner of vegetables and produce used and consumed at CH Dining Room complete with the odd slug and insect and fly which had been missed and landed in our plates. I very much hope that I have remembered the names of the Kitchen Staff who I recall being named Molly and Betty. Also who can forget our Blackberry and Raspberry picking walks where classroom waste bins were used by Boys to collect the berries when in Season.
Educational Visits
This Old CH Pupil always remembers the Ravenglass and Eskdale “Ratty” Railway Trips arranged by CH no doubt loved by Mr McCullagh and the trips to the Undergound Caves in Lancashire and Yorkshire arranged by the School.
The Sloping Playing Fields
I have met in recent years Old Boys from Lime House and Earnseat and Seascale Prep and without exception their abiding memory of playing for their respective Cricket Football and Rugby teams against CH is the sloping playing fields at CH and to their eyes the unfair advantage afforded to CH due to the fact that we were used to playing on such pitches. At the time of attendance at CH it did not really cross my mind that the pitches were so sloping but hindsight is always a fine thing and perhaps these Old Boys of other Schools might have had a point.
Sleighs and the Snowball Fight Walk
Old Boys of CH will remember a hut or a shed on the lower playing fields where an assortment of sleighs were kept for use by Pupils. On a particular heavy snowfall day I recall the glee and happiness of Pupils using the sleighs and particularly benefitting from the snow covered sloping pitches of the lower fields complained about by Old Boys of other Schools in the preceding paragraph. On one especially cold and snowy day Mr Fawcett announced that a walk would be arranged and that it would be totally voluntary. It was then announced by Mr Fawcett to the few hands that went up agreeing to accompany Mr Fawcett on his walk that his would be a “Snowball Fight Walk”. The despondent and crest fallen looks of those Boys who had declined to go on the walk initially was a picture to behold!
The Monkey Puzzle Tree
Old Boys and Visitors to CH would be aware of the large Monkey Puzzle Tree by the driveway to School from the front gates. It is such a shame that such a beautiful and rare tree is no more. This Old Boy will forever every time he sees a Monkey Puzzle Tree to his day cast his mind to the first time he ever saw a Monkey Puzzle Tree in the grounds of CH.
The Shooting Range
CH was lucky enough to have its own Shooting Range using rifles and guns utilising 0.22 bullets kept in a padlocked cabinet in the large School Room in the main building. Stringent Health and Safety and other restrictions were not in force those days and it appears quaint and a very simple way of life without specially built and reinforced gun cabinets and super locked and impenetrable ammunition cupboards of today.
Mr Fawcetts Colour TV
I believe it was in approximately 1969 that Mr Fawcett acquired a large Colour Cathode Ray Tube Television and a big treat for Boys was to be invited into his ground floor living room at Grove House and watching Rugby Matches and Football Highlights .
UP! Mr Fawcetts Wake UP Call at Grove House.
Those Old Boys who were in dormitories in Grove House will always remember his Wake Up Call with the Solitary word ‘Up!’ . Again from memory Mr Fawcett had a bedroom or bathroom in the upper floors of Grove House and we could possibly hear him waking up and getting ready and hear his foot steps coming down the stairs. Any unfortunate Boy still sleeping had his sheets and blankets and bed cover rudely pulled away with the Shout of ‘Up!’ from Mr Fawcett.
School Quiz at End of Summer Term
For some historical and quaint reason the School took great steps to prepare and have printed a School Quiz which this Old Boy could never score highly which had personal and topical questions for Boys to answer.
Charney Hall Miscellany (6 documents kindly donated by Sven F Thome)
Sven says ‘For 9-13 year olds actually some pretty decent fiction and factual stuff: stories, articles and limericks’.
I have briefly touched on the loss and whereabouts of the School Flag Pole in a previous post and the School Flag proudly fluttering which can be seen in one of the pictures attached. This Old Boy recently visited his old school at St Bees and the Flag Pole had a “Gay Pride” Rainbow and Multi-coloured Flag and I can imagine what might have gone through Maxwell Duncan’s and Messrs Fawcett’s and McCullagh’ minds rightly or wrongly at the thought of such a flag on CH’s Flag Pole.
Charney Hall Wall Game
Eton has its Wall Game and why cannot Charney Hall have its own made up Wall Game. CH Old Boys will recall a homegrown School Wall Game with a Tennis Racquet and a Tennis Ball utilising part of the wall which ran northwards from the New School Block to the lane at the back of the School . The Rules were simple enough. There was 4-6 Boys manning the Wall and one would throw a Tennis Ball to another Boy in the middle and the aim was for that Boy with the Tennis Racquet to hit the wall directly without the Ball being caught. If the Ball hit the wall without bouncing that would be a six and if it bounced before hitting the wall it would be a four. If you hit the ball and it was caught then you were Out. If one of the boys manning the Wall caught a ball with one hand after it had hit the ground then that was also Out! I think the rules were made up as we went along.
The School Play Androcles and the Lion
During this CH Old Boy’s time George Bernard Shaw’s Play Androcles and the Lion was performed at the School in the Memorial Hall. Due to a Boy being taken ill who was supposed to play a major role it was necessary for another Boy to take over at short notice and I always recall Mr Hopkins prompting the Boy with lines at the back of the Memorial Hall. I was one of the “Slaves” in the Coliseum and had some white bed sheets as a loincloth and Matrons lipstick applied to me to represent blood and cuts and wounds!
Sing-a-Long with Mr Fairclough Hymns and Ancient Classic Folk Songs in the Memorial Hall
Once a week our Class would troop into the Memorial Hall and we would watch and listen and sing as Mr Fairclough at the piano would play a variety of hymns and ancient folk songs.
The Christmas Carol Concert
Parents and Family Members from all over Northern England would attend the Christmas Carol Concert in the Memorial Hall where angelic and cherubic Boys would preform a number of Carols and Christmas Hymns to appreciative and adoring Parents and Families.
Bruegel Paintings on the Main School Room Wall and Radiator Pipes
This Old Boy at CH always remembers keeping warm and sitting on warm pipes that surrounded the main school room which could be divided by a partition. Again the walls were adorned with beautiful Bruegel Paintings / Prints and the memories of these lovely prints lingers in my mind to this day.
The Carps Shop
One Old Boy has touched on previously the smell of the Carpenters Shop and where we built models and repaired butterfly nets and attended to remedial matters.
The Pocket Knife an Essential Part of every CH School Boy
Possibly outlawed nowdays but part of our attire and an accessory and adornment was the pocket knife with a small blade which was used to show off to other Boys.
The Conker Fights in the Chestnut Season.
Old Boys will recall the Conker Fights during the Chestnut Season. Stephen Broadhurst had a disgusting and ugly looking small conker which had been dipped in some secret vinegar recipe which made the conker rock hard and practically indestructible.
Assembly and Prayers in the Memorial Hall
Apart from watching Film Shows Mr Fairclough’s Sing Alongs and watching the Black and White Television or playing at the Snooker Table or playing Subbuteo and the Common Entrance Examination Times, Maxwell Duncan sitting at a large ornate wooden Chair would lead the Assembly Hymns and Prayers in the Morning and Mr Fairclough* at the Piano. At Christmas Senior Boys would direct the Junior Boys in decorating the Memorial Hall with Christmas Decorations in anticipation of the Christmas Carol Concert. Unfortunately one year the Christmas Decorations went over the top and Maxwell Duncan refused to sit at his usual Chair which had been profusely decorated with tinsel and Christmas Decorations.
KS : *Raymond Hirst would also accompany Mr Duncan in the 1950s
What do you call an Old Boy or Old Girl of Charney Hall?
We have Old Boys at Sedbergh called Sedberghians and at St Bees they are called St Beghians and obviously there are Old Harrovians and Old Etonians but what do we call Old Boys from Charney Hall. Perhaps an Old Boy reading this out in the ether could come up with a suitable moniker and title for an Old Boy or Girl of Charney Hall.
Cricket Football Rugby Teams
Due to being overweight chubby distinctly un-athletic and having the nickname “wobble” this Old Boy was dumped in the Goalkeeper position in the Football Team where he let in countless goals much to his teammates and his dismay. My position in the Rugby Team was in the Second Row with John Mathers and in the Cricket Team I was a slow bowler and down the batting order as merely average with the Bat.
‘Good Luck, Good Luck, Good Luck, Cluck Cluck Cluck!’ Chant End of Assembly at end of Summer Term prior to Common Entrance Examinations commencement
Old Boys would recall their last Summer Term before going up to their respective Public Schools and having to sit the dreaded Common Entrance Examinations in the Memorial Hall after Assembly and Prayers. We were serenaded and had our ears blasted with the ‘Good Luck’ Chant from the remaining Boys who were departing the Memorial Hall. The actual Chant of ‘Good Luck’ after the fourth or fifth time sounded like ‘Cluck Cluck Cluck’ which sounded like a Duck or Mallard would make rather than the words ‘Good Luck!’
Mr Fawcett being asked the question by a Boy “Sir …Do you have Any Children?”
I always recall at School Mr Fawcett being cheekily asked by a fellow pupil whether he had any Children and it perhaps shows the nature and character of the Man that he replied immediately and without hesitation that all the Boys at the School were his Children.
The Bombed out Ruined Building in Grange Park
I always remember a bombed out and large building in the Park in central Grange over Sands where we were taken for our walks and recall being told this was the remnants or left over of a German Bombing Raid. I recall even being told that Grange-over-Sands was bombed by mistake by the Luftwaffe during WWII who mistook it for Barrow-in-Furness being this Old Boys Home Town. Perhaps other Old Boys could shed some light or credence to this rumour.
KS : This was most probably the remains of the Yewbarrow Lodge Estate donated to the townspeople of Grange by Ltn Colonel Austin T Porritt (1875-1956). See Note 1 below.
Rolls Royce Jaguar E-Type Aston Martin Humber Car
In a moment in which this Old Boys Mother called his Father out for having some form of mid-life crisis and acting like a middle aged playboy my Father purchased new in 1970/71 a last in the series Volvo 1800E Sports Car similar to the model used by Roger Moore/ Simon Templar in the first TV Series of the Leslie Charteris “The Saint” My Mother had strict rules and disapproved of my Father giving lifts to the Dental Nurses or other Women being allowed in the passenger seat. The memories of this prompted me to recall the wonderful cars seen in the Driveway of Charney Hall driven by Parents and Old Boy’s Families. I recall the Thompson Brothers’ Parents driving up in a Rolls Royce and John Lyons’s Parents coming in a Jaguar E-Type and Green’s Parents revving an Aston Martin DB model to delight the Boys! Unfortunately whilst this Old Boy still has his Fathers Volvo 1800e which is awaiting funds to put back on the road my dreams of one day owning an Jaguar E-type or an Aston Martin DB5 have remained just a dream.
Humber Hawk or Humber Super Snipe or another model the OOP !
Old Boys will remember the vast carrying capacity of Mr Fawcett’s Humber car which transported groups of Boys on Day Trips and to respective Team away matches. But was the car nicknamed the OOP because the Registration Plate a Humber Hawk or Super Snipe or another Humber model?
Where in the world is that wonderful collection of Moths and Butterflies in the Memorial Hall. In the modern era of ipads and iphones and mobile phones and social media it is quaint to recall Boys being kept amused building Airfix models in the Carps Shop and Butterfly and Moth capturing and collecting and simple hobbies and pursuits. The beautifully crafted and purpose built Subbuteo Table with a wooden edge will always be a memory for this Old Boy and I recall Subbuteo Cricket matches being played and Subbuteo Floodlights for football matches utilising different teams with their respective team colours.
Caning and Black Marks
Sadly being a bit of a “goody goody” and not much of a “rebel” I was never caned but did suffer the ignominy of having a black mark as a punishment against my name on a list in the main schoolroom. For the life of me I cannot recall the reason for the misdemeanor which caused me the black mark.
Mr Duncans Study
In the fours years I was at CH I only attended Maxwell Duncan’s Study once with other final year boys being my final evening at CH to say Goodbye and be given Maxwell Duncan’s signed ‘The Works of Shakespeare’.
The First Rapper Andrew Holmes-Higgins
Ulverston is not only the home of Stan Laurel but I believe the home of the first ever Rapper I ever heard, being the artistic and talented Andrew Holmes-Higgins who I once heard manage to conduct a rhyming and synchronised made up Rap as we made our way down one morning from our upstairs Dormitories in Grove House to our Communal Bathroom on the lower floor. He may have forgotten this but it is imprinted in my memory forever.
Andrew Holmes-Higgins’s Suggestion for a Charney Hall Reunion
Andrew Holmes-Higgins (who I understand is based in New York) in a comment in a Blog Post several years ago has mentioned the idea of a Charney Hall Reunion in Grange-over-Sands and this seems an ideal and wonderful goal with the aid of Social Media and email communication we have in the Modern Age. Whilst Old Boys of CH are based all over the World and across the Country perhaps with some advance notice and planning and organisation an enterprising Old Boy or Group of Old Boys might have the foresight and energy to arrange such a Reunion before we all eventually go to the “Great Charney Hall Old Boy in the Sky”.
Greetings to All once again, especially those who have managed to stay awake reading the above.
Tilak
https://grangeoversandshistory.weebly.com/jetties-and-piers.html
A collection of some very informative photographs of Grange-over-Sands over the years. It is interesting to see what was extant when George Podmore first commissioned Charney Hall School in 1888-89 and the activity at the piers and along the promenade, the sea state in the Bay in a storm and when ice bound one winter are amazing.
https://www.francisfrith.com/grange-over-sands/photos
KS: Note 1
https://rossall.org.uk/lieutenant-colonel-austin-townsend-porritt/
https://kentsbankholiday.co.uk/yewbarrow-lodge-and-gardens/
https://www.yewbarrowhouse.co.uk/gallery.htm
Comments
Daily timetable: That’s a priceless document. Brings back so many memories! I always wondered how exactly we passed the days.
OOP – it was definitely a Humber. Mr McCullagh’s grey car was a Hillman Hunter.
Mr Fawcett’s Colour TV. The first time I ever saw a colour TV was in his study, and I can still recall the astonishment I felt when I saw an episode of Star Trek, marvelling at the brightness of everything. And I especially remember the day of the Moon Landing when we were allowed a break from class to all crowd in and watch it there.
Androcles and The Lion – my first acting role! I was a slave and I think I had two lines (which was probably about my limit).
The Carp Shop – I remember its ramshackle condition and the incredibly insecure cabinet in which the rifles were stored, as well as some cabinets of decomposing butterflies and moths, and the locked room at the back which contained the pump and filter for the pool which always made odd noises in the summer. I also remember how cold the place was in winter, and I recall the woodworking classes were often in the evening. Somewhere I still have a box that I made in there.
Pocket Knife – I committed many acts of petty vandalism around the school, one of my favourites being carving the wooden desktops. Why they permitted us to have knives I will never understand.
Caning – I don’t remember ever being caned (even though I regularly deserved it and yet somehow evaded punishment). But I was no stranger to collecting Bad Marks.
The First Rapper? – I have no recollection of this at all, Tilak, but I am happy to accept credit for inventing the genre so long ago. It does rather sound like one of the things I would have done! Thank you for sharing that memory!
Reunion – Though I am still living in NYC I get back to the UK several times a year, although the last time I was in the Grange area was a couple of years ago (my family is from Ulverston). It would be wonderful to see everyone again, but my comings and goings are often at short notice. But if one were to be arranged, I would do everything in my power to be there!
Have been meaning to reply to this post for months, but life got in the way! All the names on the Miscellany for 1965 were on the School List for 1963, but Thorne, Covell and Bonner-Davis were missing, so these 3 were not on the School photo for 1963 (already posted). All the others were present, but sadly I don't recall any of them, already being in the 1st Form! In the 1963 photo I am 2nd left on the 3rd row down.
I helped build the swimming pool, along with many others, and supplied the photo on the blog, showing the construction, and it was in the summer of 1963.
Mr Fawcett's bedroom was right at the top of Grove House, up a few extra steps from the last dormitory, and I believe his bathroom was 1 floor down. I don't remember his cry of "Up" in the morning, but I am clearly a lot older than you, and my memory is not what it was!
We had 2 Eddlestones, Chris and Bob, who were cousins(?), but I don't remember a 3rd one, but we had 3 Wilsons when I started, and at one stage 5 Smiths, so initials were unimportant, just Major, Minor and so on.
I called in to the school in the early 70s on business trips to Scotland, and remember the fall in numbers, Mr Coverdale, who was younger than me, either Form 2 or 3 when I was there, and Mrs Wolstenholme, wife of Guy the golfer, and mother of Gary. Mr Fawett and Mr McCullagh, of course, were still there.
Well done for keeping the memories alive.
Chris Wilson 1959-1963
My apologies for the delay in replying to your message.
Thank you for your comments.
What wonderful memories you have.
I do recall an Eddlestone (possibly either Chris or Bob) who was a lot older than me and from memory when I was there was also possibly Head of School.
Again I recollect the name Coverdale but he was also in the years well above me too
Thank you again.
.
Tilak
All the best,
Chris
Bill Slaer would certainly have left by the time you arrived at St. Bees. Cheerio, Chris
I am not on Linkedin, but Keith has my email address. He has sent you 2 emails, and I have sent 3, but received no reply as yet. Is the address Keith has an old one? My emails to you have not bounced back, so must have gone somewhere! Chris