Charney Hall School, Grange-over-Sands

Andrew Holmes-Higgin emailed me yesterday and reminded me that it is Halloween tomorrow…I don’t really have to say more…just tuck up in a warm bed, switch the lights out and keep the covers high over your head…Andrew swears that these tales are all true… ’Hey Keith - as the spooky season is once again upon us, I thought I’d pass along some rather strange memories of my Charney days on the subject of what to a 10-year-old was unbelievable terror.  I wish my supernatural stories were a little more horrific but we were probably all very impressionable in those days, and something pretty innocuous took on darker meanings after lights out… ’ The Ghost.    My only real ghost story, and I remember it today just as if it happened yesterday.  It in the summer term of my first year (1968) and I was in what I think was Dorm 1 (middle floor, facing North).  At some point one night I woke up and was aware of a hazy light over by the door which moved into the room towards the window overlooking the

DAVID HIRST - Journalist and Foreign Correspondent David Hirst Raymond and Alison Hirst had 3 sons and a girl. The eldest boy was John David Hirst. He can be seen on the far right of the above family photograph on holiday in the much admired and coveted Invicta car. Whilst the other brothers are enjoying the ride - sitting on the rear bench seat was a bumpy affair - David can be seen scrutinising the photographer in a most inquiring way - an intense interrogative stare  almost in advance of his years… . Born in 1936, the son of the joint headmaster and co-owner of Charney Hall, he is recorded in the School Lists of Charney Hall between the Summer term of 1944 until the Autumn of 1948. Thereafter he attended Rugby School from 1949 to 1954 and began his national service at 18 (still compulsory at that time) in Egypt and Cyprus from 1954 to 1956. From 1956 to 1963 he studied at Oxford University, like his father before him, and then at the American University of Beirut. David Hirst appear

  The Ruminations of an Old Man ‘Give me a child until he is 13 years old and I will show you the man!’ . Aristotle will not be pleased with my schoolboy howler! However I cannot help but suspect that the period between years 8 to 13 of a child’s life is potentially a very impressionable and formative time. Phrases such as ‘empty vessel’ come to mind. There are many, diverse influences that crowd into the immature brain of an impressionable child of that age. Perhaps the cloistered, orchestrated environment of an independent school like Charney Hall is the one aspect of boarding school education that has the potential to make the most difference? It goes without saying that all aspects of life in varying degrees are common to all young children  before the pressure of a more intensive ‘education’ in the very broadest sense begins : ‘Early Years’ and pre-school - a home environment with parent(s) and access to their parental skills, support and commitment on tap but which may vary consi

Post Updated 23 April 2024 : See below Post Updated 24 October 2024 : A short report of progress on Phase 1 of the project It was in the Summer term that the school had sole access, twice a week, to the famous Art Deco open air salt water baths. Charney built their own pool in the kitchen garden after I left, perhaps in the 1960s. I have not found any photographs of the new facility, only Maxwell Duncan’s reference to it on an aerial photo (ref Photos from the Web 1) sourced by John Cranna. I have mentioned my own experience in ‘Reminiscences’ and hope that other old boys will contribute. Have you got the T shirt? A time line of the Grange Lido: https://www.savegrangelido.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lido-timeline.pdf The following article dated 2019 indicates the present position regarding its future, courtesy of BBC: POST UPDATE (1) Brilliant News - Grange Lido To Reopen In 2024 After much wringing of hands….this link (above) appears to describe the current situ