CHARNEY HALL Tilak Paul (1967-1971) Reflections Part II
Tilak Paul Charney Hall 1967-1971 Reflections Part II and Comments on Previous Reflections
I am not sure what the etiquette and form is of posting a comment on ones own piece supported by Sven and Keith’s input but I have realised that whilst it took only about 45 mins or so to write the previous Reflections Post, unfortunately due to laziness and procrastination and other chores and duties on my part it, took me nearly 4 years to list the subjects that I wanted to write a piece about, and after all that I have still forgotten to add so many other memories and anecdotes which have come to my mind since so I trust all Old Boys of Charney Hall “CH” will forgive me this additional Tilak Paul Reflections Part II, final “belt and braces” job Post. I tried to add this piece to the Blog Post uploaded by Keith previously but the System only allows just short of 5000 characters per comment.
Thank you Keith
I must start with off big Kudos and Thanks to Keith once again for taking on this “poisoned chalice” and commencing and managing and administering the Blog and I am sure he will never know how much CH Old Boys wherever they are in the world so look forward with eager anticipation and interest to each of his new Posts and the happiness and memories it brings to all of us. Without Keith’s additional pictures and comments and additions and historical links and photo enhancement skills my previous “Reflections “ would be quite ordinary.
Thank you Sven
Again big Thanks to Sven for his documents and memorabilia input. I am still flabbergasted with Sven’s Timetable which has brought so many memories for me and also reminded me of how the hours and minutes and days of CH daily and weekly life were filled. Also thank you to John whose new name is the “Alan Turing of Charney Hall” for having worked out that when Sven put 15.8 at the bottom of the Time Table he meant 8.15pm for “Lights Out” in the Dormitories . I was completely stumped and baffled until John came up with the Solution! Perhaps that is how they do things in Norway.
Thank you John and Andrew
Also big Thanks to John and Andrew for their comments. We all look forward to John’s memories after they have been submitted to Keith for uploading to the Blog. I very much enjoyed reading Andrew’s memories in his comments. As ever Andrew was modest as regards his membership of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Move over Jay-Z, Tupac, Snoop and Eminem our Andrew Holmes-Higgins was laying down the tracks years before you!
Charney Hall Roof and Gutter Game
Apart from the Charney Wall Game mentioned in my previous post David Vigodny in his post in the Cumbrian War Memorial Blog, and using his words, mentions the following “To the north of the main house was a small quadrangle - between the new and old buildings, where we used to play at break time throwing a tennis ball onto the roof valley and catching it as it came down again maybe ricocheting off the protruding gutter.”
Table Tennis Table in the Memorial Hall
I completely forgot to mention the Table Tennis Table in the Memorial Hall where I first learnt to play Table Tennis and the subtle art of spinning and smashing a table tennis ball and holding the bat in the orthodox method or the Chinese / Oriental hold method.
Stage in Memorial Hall
From memory there was a temporary stage system with steps put up so that such School performances such as Plays could be undertaken. I cannot recall how this was set up and whether Charlie and Herbert did the “donkey work” in arranging this and where this was kept when not in use.
Wooden Snooker Scoreboard Counter on Memorial Hall Wall
CH Old Boys will remember the Wooden Snooker Scoreboard Counter on the Memorial Hall wall. There was no need for an App on an ipad or iphone or a digital Snooker Scoreboard in those days.
Mr Cockshott’s Tennis Scoring Tablet
H.F.C.Cockshott was this Old Boy’s English Teacher at CH. He had arrived at CH after the closure of The Craig School in Windermere with other CH Old Boys like Richard Harris, John Mathers and John Lyons. Mr Cockshott (‘Cakey Cockshott’) had amazing DIY Skills including a Train Set at home and developed and made a Wooden Tennis Scoring Tablet about the size of a large ipad with circular dials and numerals so Tennis Scores could be remembered.
Castor Oil / Cod Liver Oil
On a wall in the middle of the CH Dining Room was a cabinet with individual tins where I remember certain boys on the instructions of their Parents were administered either Castor Oil or Cod Liver Oil under a weekly rota system. The faces of the Boys after they had received the spoonful of the said Oil made me glad that my Parents had not instructed that I also receive the same. Perhaps a CH Old Boy can confirm whether it was Castor Oil or Cod Liver Oil*.
Sepia Toned Individual Pictures of Old Boys on the CH Dining Room Wall
Generations of CH Old Boys and I will always recall standing out the saintly and slicked back hair picture of a certain A.B.K McCullagh on the CH Dining Room Wall with others. Where O where have all these pictures gone. Sadly I assume they have been disposed of with the School Records and School Flag and Scholarship Wooden Boards in the Memorial Hall.
A B K McCullagh
Picture of Myself next to Railings with a View of the Tide Out Behind
I have to apologise to all CH Old Boys viewing this picture in my previous Reflections Post as it appears I am trying to win a “Gurning” Competition. As a lot of CH Old Boys would have realised my Father who took the picture asked me to smile and I made a bad job of it. It’s a good thing “the wind did not change” otherwise I would have been permanently afflicted!
Fathers’s Cricket Match V 1st XI
Whilst sadly I was not chosen to play in the 1st XI that day against the Father Cricket XI I have wonderful memories of watching my Father bowl and bat possibly 30 years after the last time he had previously done either.
Hampsfell Annual Race and Throwing the Cricket Ball the Furthest Competition
Mention has already been made of the HampsfellAnnual Race in a previous Post where we all ran from the Stone Wall on Hampsfell back to the School with our places from the Wall set by our ages and forms. As regards the Throwing the Cricket Ball the Furthest Competition my endeavours in this regards resulted in me having a strain to my arm for several weeks which required me to throw in a weakened state to the stumps with a bowling action rather than a proper throw until my arm had recovered.
Final Comment and Thought
This particular CH Old Boy would like to thank all his Masters, Mistresses and Matrons at CH for being surrogate Fathers and Mothers to all CH Old Boys and me and although I may not have agreed or liked their actions and punishments and rulings to him at that time he has come to realise in later life how apt and true and helpful they were in his Career and giving him his Independence and in dealing and supervising others and being in charge and leading groups and organisations and facing the “trials and tribulations of life” which has stood him in good stead. The fact that we CH Old Boys can go through life with a little swagger without arrogance and this may be viewed as a good or a bad thing and not be intimidated or fear anyone or anything is perhaps a testament to our Masters and our years being a Charney Hall Old Boy. Some wit** commented recently that having undergone years at a Prep School the past Covid Lockdown was an absolute doodle and one may have to agree with him!
Greetings to Everyone Once Again.
Tilak
*KS Comment
In America I have discovered that it was a by-product of the days of Prohibition when it became critical to find work for the employees in the brewing industry - Amazing!
Many, many years later, in a casual dalliance in the office, my mind must have wandered back through the mists of time to Charney Hall (in one of my reports I appear to have lapsed in a similar way on a regular basis). A jar of Malt Extract appeared before my eyes so straightway, at lunch time, I beetled down to Holland and Barrett and invested….
What an afternoon - I couldn’t stop spooning it down. They advise a tablespoon… I must have slurped at least 5 or 6 or maybe more - who cares! The bell sounded at 5.30pm - time to go home - I stumbled out of the Blue Corner - the ropes weren’t there to catch me - I was definitely on a trip, even hyperglycemic…it was the last jar of Malt Extract that I ever bought - that stuff is dangerous!
**KS Comment
That t wit was me….but I can’t take credit for coining the phrase - saw it in the Sunday Times during the Covid Lockdown and thought it rang true. At the time I was fighting cabin fever because we couldn’t even venture out into our own gardens! 😂😂
Comments
The Stage was stored in a cellar below the main Schoolroom, a dark and dusty underworld which as I recall also held a mechanical shoe-polishing machine. The long wooden suports and planks would be passed in and out through some very small windows that were almost at ground level looking out over the drive. On at least one occasion I helped Charlie and Herbert move them back into the cellar through the windows.
I remember Mr Cockshott very well, and his aromatic pipe tobacco. His woodworking skills included the "CAT" which was a rolling cart in the Lodge Art Room that had compartments to store every kind of art paraphernalia you can think of. There was even a painted cartoon cat on the side. I recall it was salvaged from The Craig when it closed and the letters represented Craig Art Trolley, and he was very proud of it. I also remember he had the largest hands I had ever seen on a human being, for what that's worth.
Cod Liver Oil - in my experience it was jars of "Radio Malt", a treacly concoction which I actually rather enjoyed. It was supposedly given to those of us who were deemed underweight, but I don't know whether it actually worked or not.
Mr McCullagh. I remember him well and his rather lurid War stories about being posted in Southeast Asia. A few years after Charney Hall closed, I was visiting the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway and was surprised to find him working there as a Stationmaster. Sadly I think he died a couple of years afterwards.
And yes to echo Tilak's thoughts, I look back very fondly on my Charney days as among the happiest of my life, though I didn't know it at the time!