t

i ecemher, 1955.

).lrri'itrr ~raIltnutr ~rhool lR£wru .

No. 52 D ECEMBER. 1935

E D [TOR- lVlR. V . V. D RULLER.

CO~DI IT'rEE-

D . H UNT, F.1\'£. J O H NSOX , BIDDLE i , P ARSO!\"S.

~ ciJolll H"gistrr. Valete

"' Bryan , A. (vi .) , 1928-35. Scatt,cl'good, K. J . (Lo\\". \'. ). 1930·35.

*Harris , L. A. (vi. ), 1928-3'::;, Bulmor, E. E . (Upp . i\' .) , 1031·:35 *Jackso ll, F. J. H. (vi . ), 1925·35 . Court., C. (Upp. iv .) , 1933-35. ·Sherwood. W . E. (vLI , 1927-35. Hanson. H. iH. (Upp. iv.). 1931·35. ·Spencor, R. E. ,,,T. (vi . ), 1925-35. Morta n . M. H. (Upp . iv.). 1927 · 35. · \"'a l'nol', P. W. (\-i. ), 1928· 35. Smith, K. J. (Upp. iLl, 1031-35. Savage, A. M. (Upp. v .l, 1930·35. Ligat, H. L . P. (i i i ), 19:J4 -35. S isam, P. M. (U pp . v .l, 1926-35. H obson, E. O. F. (Rem. ), 1932·35. Spie l'S, E. J. (Upp. v. ), 1030·35. Cole ma n, J . D. (ii .), 19;12-35.

AI'chOl', D.1\[ . (Low. i v.). Aust.in , W. M. ( ii i.) Bll. l"Il cs, J. F. (Low. iv .) B um es, H. l\[. (i.) Bidd lc, S. G. (Low. iv.) Bl"yan , B. (iiL) Colle t.t., G. R . T. (ii i.) COWpOI", J . W. (iii .) Cl"esswcll , P. 1\'[. (iii.) D evey, W. S . (ii i.) E d wa l'ds, P. H. (iii. ) H a nsell, V J J. ( iii .) Higlcy, J. A. (iiL) Hill , J .)L (iii. ) Hillmnll, G. J. (i. ) J 'o hnson, A. E. (L ow. iv.) K ey to, E . P. (Low. iv.)

· Pl'ofecL

Salvete Moore, .-\. D . (LO\\". iv.) P o rt ma n , E. H. (iii .) R imme r, D. W. (ii i.) R obinson, I. C. (Low. i\-.) Sandol"s , C. S. (iii. ) Savago, D. A. (iii. ) Smit.h, P. J . ( iii.) Stnnley , C. A . (iii .) 'l'ay lo l", E. -1 . (Low. i\·. ) 'l'ay lo l", J. ( iiL) We bb, It. C . (i iL ) Wolls. M. D. (iii.) Whi t,ohouse, D. N . (Low. \'.) Wilson, C . M. (iii .) Wooels. K. A. (Upp . iv.) Woodward , M . J. (Upp. i \·.)

This te rm t he numbe r' of schola rs in a ttenda nce has been over :WO.

2 The Alcester Grammar School Record .

®lu ~£holars ' Qiiuilb foetus. PRESIDENT-Mr. C. T. L. Caton.

SECRETARY-S . C. Styler. TREASURER-C. H. Baylis.

CO~n.U'I'TEE-M. Baylis. ~L Clark, R. Smith, C. Corbett, vV. H. Foster,

F. Rook.

F ine weather favoured the Summer Reunion, which was held at School on Saturday, July 27th. Although the attend· ance of Old Scholars was perhaps somewhat smaller than usual, an enj oyable time was spent by all those who were present. f or the afte rnoon, an American Tennis tourn ament had been arranged. and thirteen couples participated in some very good tennis. The finalists were B. Olive r and B . Hodgkinson, a nd 1'1. Baylis a nd F. Rook, the former pair proving the ultimate vic tors. F o r t hose \\'ho wished to play, c ricket, croq uet and clock golf had also been arra nged. The evening part of the reunion was devoted to dancing .

At the supper intcf\'al , the bus iness meeting was held. The chief item was the election of officers for the year 193j-36. !\fr. Caton was elected to the presidency, a nd C. Baylis to the oflice o f t reasurer; S. St yler was re-elected secreta n ·. To the committee were elected R. Smith, \V. H. Fast-e r and F. Rook. As Sports Cap tains the meeting appointed E. Holder and B. Savage.

Las t winter , an effort was made to revive the Old Scholars' Football Club , which had been defunct for a number of yea rs. Considerable in te rest had been shown and support offered to the project, and the Guild was asked to accord oflic ial recognition to the Football Club. \Vhen the matter was brought forward, the acting committee was unanimously confirmed in office, a nd good wishes for t he success of the Club were ex pressed . A repo rt of the achievements o f the club will be found ill th is magazine among the other sports news.

Towa rds the end of t he summer, and too late for inclusion in last term 's RECOR D, the annual tennis match between Old Scholars and School took place. The Olel Schola rs were represented by the follow ing pairs :- R . Bunting and C. J3aylis ; E. Holder and D. Bay lis; K. Staff and K. Bailey; C. Averill a nd S. Snlith. The result was a victory for the Old Schola rs by 63 ga mes to 6r.

Tli e .'llccsLc r Gm1HlIIa r S chool Record. 3-

The \Vinter Reun ion is a rranged to take place at School. on Saturday, Decembe r 2Ist, commencing: at 7-30 p.lll. There wi l\. as usual. be dancing in the hall. but those who do not wish to dance will have the oppo rtu nity of playing ca rds or table tennis, fo r which rooms will be set apart . A cordial invitation to attend is extended to all Old Schola rs.

rt is proposed to hold a Christmas dance in the Town Hall , on Friday, December 27th, from 8-30 p.m. to 2 a. rn . Tickets (2S. 6(1. each) may be obtai ned from members of the com­mittee. Old Scholars and their friends are invited to come along. in order to make the nigbt a huge success.

Congratulat ions to F. H a rper, who has passed the examina­tion of the Royal Sani tary Institute and Sanitary I nspectors Exa111i nation J oin t Board . and has been elected an associate. (A.R.S. !, ) ;

To D. Gwynne J ones on obtaining a second class in his. honours fin als in history at Oxford;

And to P. Carratt, who has passed the fi nal Diploma eXClrn i:1at ion for teachers of Domestic Subj ects at Bath Domestic Science College .

rn a hockey match played with the School on Friday. Nm'e lllber 29th. the Old Schola rs were represented by E. H older (capt. ), R. Bunting, G. Ainge, M. Clark, B. C1ark, M. Bomford, K . Staff, L . H eath , M. Davis, C. Winnett, 1\L Sis:1. l11. The Old Scholars won by seven goals to one.

Jlli!'th.s, Oil July I 8th , to l\{r. and Mrs. P. Bu rden-a SOIL

On July 2 [st, to l\ rr. and Mrs. E. A. Finnemore (nee V. Bunting)- a 5011.

011 September 7th , to Mr. and :Mrs. Feast (nee M. \x/hite ~ house)- a SO IL

all September 26th, to .l\Ir. and Mrs. J. Brown (nee C. Dowdeswel l)-a daughter .

0 11 r-.;ove mb 12th. to Mr. a nd ~hs. A. Fcrgtlson (nee M. Thomas) - tw in 50 11 a nd daughter .

Til e Alccster Grammar S chool Record. 5

through the pouring rain to draughty classrooms. No, all this will be wiped away, all will be changed for the better.

There are v .. hispers that Science is to be recognised at last; \ve hear that two new laboratories will be built. "Vhat scope this provides ! \"' hat visions it inspires. \"re shall see a cosy lab. stocked with brand-new apparatus all ready to be broken; mirro r-surfaced desks itching to be scratched; polished floors with unlimited possibilities for slides ; new jars of potassium ch lorate ternpting the mice on bonfire-night. All these we shall have- what a dream!

At last will the importance of arts be ack nowledged. Certain indiv iduals have pressed for years for a lift in this direction, but this li ft has been, like the mythical tree of golden apples, always a little too far away. The lift has been promised but not from official quarters; the History-room in a boisterous north wind is not a haven of rest; some say that periods of calm rarely centre round this spot. But no wasps will challenge this new abode of learning, they wi ll find plaster tougher than wood. Indeed, we all agree, I am sure, that those past personalities, which have so kindly provided work for us , should have a respectable covering for their boary heads.

Again, pupils who study the earth and its functions will ::;0011 be able to study them in not such close quarters as prev iously. They will live in a temperate climate and not in the tropics- not that we can blame the stove. Then will the compass, which now directs our gaze to north-north-east, direct it true )Jorth, - after all wood does warp.

\Ve now come to a more enlivening part of the tale; eaters will be given fuller accommodation. I hope the school-dinner eaters will not lake this too literally. \Vhat T do mean is that the school authorities have finally recognised that, although fift y moderately sized children ean be seated in a dining room, fi fty children, post cenam, are rather packed. Then again, ample play will be given to elbows and knees, not to mention feet, although shins will be furt her apart; moderate space will be given for unpleasant sounds from the upper end of the table to disappear. \Ve have to consider t his innovation as a very practical one, one consistent with the higher morals, one consistent with the larges t appetite.

In conclusion, I would like to warn scholars that \-"hen this useful erection is being made, sllch art icles as ladders and falling bricks are unlucky-or need I ? That is all.

L.P.

6 TIIt~ Alcesle ,. Gramllwr School Record .

®pPl'fss ioll. ( With o pologies t.o Longfell,)w).

Full of angel' was t he mast.c l' , When he stl'odc in to t.he c ia.c;sroo lll , Found his pupils in a u uproo r, III confusion, in diso rdOl', . : Yo u s hall listCH t.o Olll' sto ry . T o our wrongs and t.o OU I' SO I'I'OWS,"

Thro ugh Lltei r' t.eet.h t.hey buzzed and muttet'cd . .• Do not as k us whenco t.h oso s Lo ri es Whence Lhe:')c gl'Ouns and impreca t. ion:':, Fro m j,he co ld a nd dlun p o f c1oakmolll.i \Vhcl'C We' rD fo rced t.o d o our homew<)rk, While t.he girls con t. ri vo in com fo rt. I n the wa rm and fu rni shed c lassroo m;; To com plete t heir prepa rat.ion . F,'om the silenco o f d oten t- ion. Fro m l haL silence s t.l'lll1go and eerie , \Ve d emand to huvo exemption; From that. 0 \'0 1' bea ring sys tem, Whic h makes t he Wo boto u ru le rs, K eope l"S of our ga me a nd le is u re . We d em li nd t hat they be ban ished, And Lho il' me t-hods lOO Ilbol is hed. " Thus insp ired by t he ir leade r, Thus amused to (;1"0 and ange r. They pu rsued i.lle ha pless IIlUSlCl', \Vho hnd fo und u. I'c fugc fro m them. That t hoir wrat.h sho uld no t. o'crta l,e him . H e porcei\'eci t he \Vo bctou. Sough t the ir a id unci t.he ir nss istan c,,-,. Which t.hey gm'C him ; what, a i,rib ute '1'0 theil' loyal ty, uns we rv ing. '1'0 t hel 1' c haracters so lIoble , T o t heir courage, yet und a un ted. Soon they q ue ll ed UIO howling reheL;:;. Dro\'e t.he m back in to t hc ir c1ass roorn.~. R ei nstated quiet and o rder. Resorted to t.he ir ancient annour, P ll t. the whole lot in dcLcntion. ,'\ lId wi t h \'igilance rcdo ubled, Tho ug h ts of li be d .), d is pc l'seel . P HYLLrS H OUC HTON ,

.Jilotrs 11I1~ tl elus. '.n:e head bo ~' t his year is Bayne, J, 1lc1 the head girl is

M. Eowles.

The prefects are M. Rowles, K. CoUills. :U. Jones; Bayne, If !."'.viett i , Luker. Parsons, Ricba rds. The jun ior prefects <,,r.: D. H unt, F. J ohllson, F. Sore ; Bayl i::; i, Hands, Holman .

L ukeI' is this season's Football capt,jl' , a nd r.r. Clell1soll is th(' Hockey captain.

The A lccstc r Grnmlllar School Recoril . 7

Sides captains are as follows :- Brownies , Richards and F . Sore : jackals, HC\\')ett i and 7\L Clemsoll: Tomtits, Luker 'and ~r. Rowles.

At t he closing a5~embly last term. ::\ [r. eat011 lllad~ a lIumber of presentations,

The cricket bat (t he gift of :\[r. S. Stone) for the 1110:.1: improved senior member of the Sc hool ele\'cn \V~s presented to Hew'lett ii : while t hat (given by :\1r. A, Baylis) fo r t he 1l! ~3t improved jun ior member of the eleven went to Down .

The tennis racq uet (the gif t of :\ frs, CatolJ) was prese !'~ .:.d to Flora J ohnson .

Sherwood recei\'ecl his cricket ca p.

The Tennis Gold Medal was presented to K, Collins, " 'I\ }

the Silver )[edal to :'i. Ron-les.

Tennis colours \\'ere handed to K. Collins. :\I. Rowles hI F. Sore,

,-\ replica of the \'ictor Ludofll m Cup (in lieu of a G ·Id Medal) was presented to LukeI'.

:'Ir. Catoll ga \'e his personal gifts of books to Shen\'ood nul ] . J ackson, in appreciat ion of their work as he3cl bo~' ;: ' (1 head girl.

::\[1'. Cook was presented . 011 beha lf of the Staff and Sche .1 . wit h fl Gra ndmother clock. on the occasion of his nw rri ,{:!',' .

She rwood \"as slIccessful i ll obta ining a Cou nty Scll, ,.;I L ea\' ing Scholarship a t t he end of last te rm .

. -\ 11 cordia ll y welcome "J Iiss R03se. who joined the Staf.· ' 1,

the begin ning of term .

Hal f term was i'\ovember 4th and 5th , An extra holi cI"y was given to celebrate She rwood's Sllccess,

\Vednesda y, Ko·.-embcr 6th . \\'as :l holiday. th is b~ ill g i:h~ vI:edding clay of the Duke and Duchcss of Glollces ter.

The Atccstcr Uramlllar Schoo l He cnrd .

A tennis pa rty for the SixtlI and Upper Fifth forms was held on Monday, Jul y 29th.

From our Sports Day reports last te rm, we inadvertently omitted t he award of the Arts a nd Crafts trophy to E. Lewis,

On F riday, October 4th, a lecture on " The }.fercantile Marine and Missions to Seamen," was given by the Rev. Lambert \,Villiams.

On Friday, October 25th , Captaill Cannon gave a lecture on the work o[ the R .S . r.e.A.

A lantern lectu re was given on Friday, Novembe r 15th, by Mr. Guy Fotbergill , the subj ect being " Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land."

\Ve wish to acknowledge the gift of Rudyard l":ipli ng 's " The Just So Stories," presented to Form i, by !H iss Smith on leaving.

©.rror~ 1!:rtlcr. It is very suspicious that Sam uel Pcpys, who gave 50

lively an Ox.ford Report last yea r is very reluctant now to reveal the contents of his mysterious diary . \Vhatever the cause of that may be, it has fallen out, that UPOII myself, who t hink it safer to keep no diary. has devolved the duty of compiling that record of scand al and distinction, t he A.C.S. Oxford Letter.

The" senior member" froll! St. Hilda's, who honours us as well as herself in being a member of the cOlllmittee of the Labour Club, is now become ever busie r as the shadow of Finals engulfs her from our view. Such was her zeal before the General E lection that even the expectation of seeing her three distinguished" fellows , . cou ld not lure her to the excel­lent tea which was provided by our \'ice-president from Keble. This Illost estimable character is also work ing hard and plays footba ll for Keble First Xl. (Here is your cha nce, he told me, of getting one in against me and talking of t he atrocious state of Keble football. But since r am a gen tle­man, yOll see I have not taken it). Never theless' nihil scribo 11is1: veru1lt' (if the Latin passes the Editor it is 11l0re than ever 1 ma naged at A.C.S. ) and I l'IIust add that on t he night of November 8th , 'which is a t ime for celebration at Ox ford,

Th e .'I Ic:ester Grammar S cilOO L u'ecord. 9

as your present H ead Girl may tell you if yOll ask her, I espied a youth, known to both of us who met my courteous greeting with an enq uiry concern ing t he availabili ty of t he alcoholic contents of my cupboard. But when he lea rned that I had drained my last glass of lemonade before ve nturing [orth-

" like light dew exhaled he flun g from mc."

The third member of our society is ou r hon. secretary from " Ba!liol- I Incan , St. Hugb.~s. "- Note I am sorry about the above mistake. [t was impossible for t he printer to ascribe her to two colleges, and while you can draw your uwn conclusions he had to dra w t he line somewhere. But r ascerta in that she a lso is wo rking ha rd and spends a great deal of her t ime philosophising, wh ich scems to be rather an cngaging pursuit .

The rem ainii1g member of the societ y is you r humble scribe, the office boy frolll Pembroke , who fills his days with ITI any harmless a nd illnocen t pursuits. Among other things he fQ \VS on the river J.nd rows in one or two study grou ps. He ran t he mile wi t hout disgrace ill the Inter-College relay races last month and is by now a n in veterate consu mer of lemonade. On t he occasion of smoking his fi rst pipe, for half an hour before dinner, be beat it from hall b~f t hi rty seconds (you need nol trouble to ask me what he beat). He has had a n argu ment with t he vice-president who has nosed out that he is writing poetry. Says t he" \' ice" ( 1I0 harm meant) " Put t hat in the Report , the news of course, not you r slush. " "Never," says t he office boy. " Then I will," says the vice darkly, " and I'll tell them what it is about."

At this coup Jc grace , the office boy wilts, but carelessly and wit h his accustomed sang-froid, allows that he wi lt reconside r his decision.

At {he momen t of going to press, the society is to hold a meeting to discuss the honour e:.;:tencled lo them of a n in vita­tion fro m the debat ing societ y which first gave nurture to their child ish attell1pts at o ratory , The office boy is to give the tea a nd is now on the scrounge, pinching rolls of bread from hall dinner in order to make a balanced meal out of two lu mps of toffee and a piece of Du tch cheese, which he guarantees to be good stuff, for he has already caught two mice with it.

W.E. S.

10 The Illct:stt:r Grammar S chool Hccnrd

® i)osts. Ghosts are very elusive things and so it is diflicult to

find many sound , material facts about them. The dictionary defines a ghost as, " Tbe soul of a man ; a disembodied spirit ; apparition; shadow." I th ink that t he popular acceptance ·of a ghost is something shaped like a human bei ng but not material.

The usual time for ghosts to appear is somev'ihere rOllnd about midnight. Voung boys' parents ha\·e usually gone to bed by then, the still, mysterious darkness lellds itse lf to the startling effect produced by a ghost more t han bright d;lylight and at that time people's senses are not so ale rt, so thJ t it is best to go ghost -huntin g: in the middle of the nigh t.

Ghosts appear ill all sorts of different places. Perbaps the most common is the churchyard; it must be \'e ry startling to see a white fi gure flittin g about among the graves, but if it i ~ hit bv a stone or a stick, more often than not, the missile does not go through the figure and it emits \'ery hum all cries. Another favourite haunt of ghosts is t he co rrido rs of \'ery old buildings. But t hey usuall~' appea r at Christmas at house­part ies, where there are a few bright young things home 0 11

holiday from college. \"et another 011e is the bedrooms of murderers; the murderer will probably say that the rnurdered person visits him when he is in bed, but it is wonde rflll what the possessor of a gu ilty conscience can imagine.

Nov ... we must see why ghost s appear. Murderers imagi lle that the ghost of the lI1urdered person appea rs to re\-enge itself. It very often succeeds by causing the assassin 's nerve to break down and he eilher confesses to the wrong or com11lits su icide. The schoolboy often wants to get revenge 0 11 the vi llage policeman and it lllust be a great delight to " the young imp ," who is so accustomed to run awa~' from the law, to see the boot on t he other leg. Or it llIay be just t he love of playing prac tical jokes which causes him to forsake the warmth of bed to dOll a sheet and other ghost ly para­phernal ia.

Ghosts appear attired in differen t sorts of clothing. The most C0l111110n form is t he onc who haunts the churchrards attired in long, white , flowing robes with clanking chains trailing after it, tillS on t he end of a piece of string, and wit h a ghastl y white, luminous fa ce wi t h green eyes, prod uced by luminous paint. Another form of this kind of ghost is a ga~­filled balloon covered with a sheet: it floats about very real­istically. Those ghosts which are supposed to haunt people,

I l .'

Th e Alcesic 'r Grammar S chool Record. 11

a re usually dressed in the clothes in which t hey died, and if they have had their heads cut off, they probably have t hem tucked under their arms, like, 50 we are told, t he wives of Henry VIII.

By now, I expect that you have guessed that I do not believe in ghosts, but I am quite ready to cballge my views if someone can prove to me that there are sllch beings. I t hink that a ghost is usually onc of the t hings I have mentioned or just an hallucina tion a nd I have never heard any person who is perfectly sa ne and \vhose nerves arc not strained by some trouble, say that he has seen a ghost .

;\ ll t ll llllL Down Lhe country lanes to -da y

In the b roezo t he branches SWtl v. Lef\\"f~s of b l'own, red and gold '

8 hi \'OI' in the Autumn co ld.

Soon t he wind wi ll be !HO I'C slH'ill. Whist!il)~ gai ly down Lho h ill ,

Do wn {.he IOCLves will CO llie in ~ ho\\'c r;:;. \·\' h irling t·(otllld fo r ho Ul"» and hou!'s.

So Iho i.o uc h of Aul·um n's lland Sweeps fl cross t he d rollry land.

AI! t.J1O tr(>os will SOO Il be deep In t he ir »;Ient win ter s leep.

J . COL LETI' (Lowel" Foml.h ).

~I1 rh is 1!:ifc! Once more. dear readers, wc a re faced with the terrifying

ordeal of writing an article for the A.C.S . Record. Should \Ye survive, you r magazine may be polluted yet again .

\Vell . fi rstly, it is a question of Hats. \,Ve are led to believe t hat much confusion has been caused by two femal es. who will persist in wearing their school hats ~ t rak ish angles (the im pudent hussies !), but, (a las) it appea rs tha t the angles No: we ca n' t do it. All our knowledge of geometry has c0111 pletely disappeared, but no doubt a ny of our able mathe· maticia lls (you can choose between a crooner, a designer of bathing costumes and two experts, one on the subject of bees, a nd the other on t he subj ect of (h)asparagus) wi ll be only too pleased to give you any furthe r in formation y Oll llIay reqlllre.

T he females of t he school have again been allowed a pri\·ilege. They now do t heir daily dozen. ph ysical jerks. sli mming exc r· c ises, or wh at you will in complete freedo m (what a b10- 1

I t Th e Alcester Grammar S chool Rtcord .

oh. \ye beg you pardon- rumour). (o r is it Ven usae ?) may now be seen in gY 1!1 knickers (what a relief !)

These Modern \ 'enuses (wait for it- wait for it )

Dea r readers , we are afra id that nothing very exciting has happened this term. The Sixth F orm are. of course . very ann oyed that they should have been forced to take up ne\\' qua rte rs- one rnember particu larl y is get t ing qui te slim (she can do with i t~ ) through running LIp and down stairs . (Pl ease note- an escalator is badly needed) .

\\' e have yet further suggestions for improvement. The in sta ll a t ion of a cocktail ba r is Cl necessity in these l1lodern ti lllcs. :\[ay we suggest too , that " \Voman a nd Beauty. " " Brit;w nia and Eve. " and " Raz i',le ," should take the pl ace of t iie " Listener ," .. :'IIanchester Gua rd ian," and " Pu blic Opi nion?" \Ve consider that a ballroom , toge ther " 'it h Harry Roy's Dance Band. and a dance twice a week would do much to revive our d rooping spi rits (very badl y needed). Do YOll not ag ree that Charlie Kun z would grea tly lessen the monotony of ta king detention ? And just think- t here would be complete silence ~ One word. also. to our budding musicians- as the i\{usic Room is s it uated so very near to our form room , would it be too much to ask YOll to ref ra in frolll playing scales so cont inually ? It is ap t to get Oil onc's nen·b . especially towards exa11l in ation time. Now, a litt le ho t rh~ ·thrn ~

.-\ word of warn ing to the inexperienced . \·Ve ha ve noticed with constern ation that a certain scientific indi vidual is contin ua ll y risking his life by " ratt li ng" to school in an unwholeso me way. It is with relief that we obse rve the pre~ell ce of the Alsatian-presumably wa iting fo r a ll oppor­tun ity to show his strength should t he engine fail. And of course, there is usually that " tough guy" wait ing to li ft ,. p ram " and occupant out should it a t an y time st ick ill t he lllud . But again . we repeat , bewa re! \Ve value the Efe of our budding genius to such an extent that we g reatl~' fear a ny accident which might prove fatal. Also. it \\'ou ld be just too tragic if the engine refused to get its owner to schor)1 in time for the exams.

Befo re we close , we t hink t hat a word of praise to ou r Sixth-fo rm crooner would not be misplaced. \·Vit h just a li ttle 11Iore practice he may yet out-Crosby Crosby hi lllsel f. Bu t \ye should like to add t hat , while wc consider him as less than all eighth wonder, it would be very much appreciated by t ho:se ot her damsels of li S for whorn his serenading is not

T he Alce sLc r Granl lllCLr School Rl3corc/. 13

intended , if he would only prac t ise elsewhere during the absence of the rea l recipient of his painful toils.

Goodbye, dear readers, and a merry Christmas! Even yet we a re hopeful of rneeting you in that cocktail bar!

QD lla tJl1 ~ ri ~ rr.

K.l\LC. M.J.R.

Our junior biologist informs us that" the amoeba does not breathe through its nose, like human bei ngs . because it hasll' t got one."

According to E.N.L. "birds chirp 111 the populars" and " there are some f oui ill the field."

I /le rui! prostrllMfs /wmi c"ltmjo."tibns armis, says M. R., mea li S

"He. lying on the ground. rushes forward with st rong arms."

N.C. writes of the " Holly Alliance "- undoubtedly a prickly subject.

F. J. t ranslates LtJ-s I3retons SOII.t les jils d'll /hEch.!:, as " The Bretons are the SOilS of fish." She has evicl en lly disco\'ered a new version of Da rwin 's theory.

Fishes, in fact , seem to be popular, for R. G. T . S. assures us that" the soldiers court many fish in th~ ri ve r. "

A buddillg scientist makes the startling announcement that " ~doses grew 011 a darnp wall." \Ve always thought it was in the bulrushes!

1 h{l(lde le'pcre t ha ll 1I1y slter{e, according to }. f. \V., means "I would rather have a livery than a shirt." Challcer cer· tainly is humorous!

\VilI M. C. kindly enlighten us as to \\'hat exactly IS the kanga roo's "ta le ? "

d\ mdirl1t" but j]:tllgrrou5 ;l\ rt. J'1l'I not quite sure how it began. To go roller skating in the

dark on a November evening is very strange. But boys do have strange ideas. Anyhow, 1'0111 and Dick came home at five o 'clock, each ca rryillg a pair of roller skates. After tea they strapped thelll on and sta rted demonstrating their skill

14 Til e AkcstC T Of(f"))l1llQ r School Hecord .

by gliding across the kitchen. Suddenly '1'0111 said to me, " Vou ca n't do this ." So, determined not to be beaten by a me re boy, and my own brother a t tha t, I fetched an old pair o f skates from t he attic a nd vali antly began to put t hem on.

\.vhcll I bad broken two straps and mended them witb string, I t hought my t roubles \vere over. But alas, r was soon to be disillusioned. The boys were already raci ng up and down the garcien path to the light of electric to rches. r determ ined to practise indoors first, an d afte r about fifteen minutes hard work I could go- I do not sa ~ ' skate- across the kitchen without holding on to the table. Very elated by this wonderful feat. I \Vent out into the yard . Dut pride goes befo re a fa ll . and I had forgottell the cella r grating. This is situated close to t he wall, and . fortunately for me, there is a water pipe dose to it. Had there been nothi ng to hold on to I should probably have been feeling ve ry sorry for myself before long. As it was I managed to grasp the pipe and haul myself into a less precarious position.

Then the fun started . Taking two short steps forward. I collided with Dick, who was now so proficient that he had abandoned his torch. Vr/e both regretted it . for we coll apsed on to the aforementioned gratin g. But berore I had time even to ca ll out. Dick had gone a nd i was left to myself to struggle to rny feet. \Vhen I had at last recovered a nd had encou ntered a st ray football. \vhich caused another fall, I decided to abandoll the attempt, in ~ pite of t he sco rn of t he brave boys. But I had the last laugh, for as I was taking off I'll )' ska tes. I hea rd a crash as t hey collided and fell through the cucumber frame! No dam age, except the break ing of glass. was fo rtunately done. Such are the misfortunes of novices. Therefore, let me give a word of advice to prospecti\'e cha mpi ol1s-lca m to skate in daylight. and be sure that there is something near by to hold on to.

(I)hror ~ (lhnmilln t iolls , 1005 . H IG H E R SC HOO L CERTII'ICATE

:\lonER:" STUDIES-

'F. J. H. J acksoll.

H . D. H.

*A warded Cobden Pri ze fo r Economics. SC I-I OOL CERTIFICATE.

H OKOU RS-"' L. Pa rsons (8 cred its , \\'i tlt dist inctions in English

and History) ; ·E. J. Spiers (6 cred its) ; *H. D. Hu nt (7 credits , with dist illct ion in E nglish).

The A lc:ester Gramm ar S choul R ecord . 15

P ASS-F. H ands (3 credits); D. O. Hewle tt (6 credits) ;

C. Luker (1 cred it) ; W. G. Rippington (6 cred its) ; F. M. Johnson (2 credits) ; A. !lI. Savage (2 credits) ;

P . !I t Sisam (3 credits). *Qua lification to claim exem ption from London I\ [a tr iculat ion examination.

®xfl1ru HItU Qi;Hllturiugc Qhn milt!1tioItS, 1935. HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFlC\TE.

I\'fATHEi\1AT I CS~

L. A. H arris.

(!Lhc .Illl1sirnl ,~o(il'tU' PRESIDE"T- :\fr. Caton .

SECRETARy- Pa rsons. CHA I R~IA:-;-!\l i ss Deans. No meeting of th is Societ y has as yet been held. Plans

however. are afoot to provide many interesting meetings for both this term and the next .

l\ fr. Bates is to give a rec ita l of gramophone records of Gil­bert and Sullivan's light operas, on Thursday, November 28th. Such a programme has been long desired and it provides an interest ing d ivergence from former rou tine.

Miss Deans is to approach Miss Flctcher to give us in t he near futu re, another programme of Irish folk-songs. She has g iven the :Musical Society such a recital once previously and it was very successful.

At Christmas, t he usual ca rol concert is to be held, but at present, talent in the school is not sufficientl y ad vanced to a llow the reservation of a whole meeting to it ; it will, however, be interspersed in a miscell aneous program me Qne evening next term.

L. P.

IDdmtiltg ~ocirtl!. COM~II'I'TEE-

i\f iss Evans (Chairman). Bayne, D. Hunt , Pa rsons, Biddlc. F . Sore, Butt.

In spite of several suggest ions tha t the Society should be a llowed to lapse for a short t ime, a meeting was held on Thursd ay, November 14th. The subj ect for d iscllssion was : " That tbe Modern Generation would prefer to have lived either in t he past o r the future than in the present," and the keenness with which it was co ntested full y justifiecl the con ~

"

I "

Hi Tile Alcc.~lcr Gra1ll 'III(U Sc hool Record.

tinuation of the Society'. The motion. which was proposed by i'I. J ones and 1\f. Rowles and opposed by Bayne and P arsons, was decisively defeated by 39 votes to I5.

It is hoped that afte r examinations, another meeti ng \vill be held to which old mcmbers of the Society will be in vited.

P . J. R

~rOl1t s. Practil:a lly all the scout meet ings this term ha\'e bcen

spellt indoors owing to b2.d weather condit ions. T wo fine days which we have had. were ut ilized to the full es t extcnt. Inter-patrol football matches were held, and, weather permit­ting, we hope to partake of a similar afternoon's sport sometime in the near future. An attack and defence competi­tion was held betwcen the patrols. only the state of the ground marring an afternoon's en joyment.

Meetings indoors were spent in very high spirits. Small sketches were ac ted by the va riolls patrols , " l\'[ock Trials" being by fa r the IllOst slIccessful. Signalling tests were also held indoors this term, a nd lHany scou ts succeeded in obtaining the second class badge.

As in previous years, the elder members of the Scout Troop will go round the neighbou ring district carol singing on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of Decembe r. On t he 23rd, we visit Great Alne and Haseior, the 24th Alceste r, a nd on Christmas night we shall vi sit Bidford and distri ct. Vile sincerely hope that the weathe r condi t ions, which have prevailed throughout the t erm, will not last over Christ mas.

The number of t he Scont Troop has once more risen, t his ti me by ten members. The nU lIlbcr at the end of last term was forty four, while of the present moment it stands at fifty four. \Ve should like to rcmark that alJ newcomers are qu ite 'welcome, as there is still room for many add it ions.

P oi nts up to date :- Peacocks 353 ; Owls 352 ; Eagles 346 ; Ka ngaroos 309 ; \Voodpigeons 306 ; Cobras 236.

L . G. B. (P. 1.,. Ow ls) .

JfootbnlL CAPTA IN- Luker. Sr.CRE'I'ARv- Bayne.

After a disappoin ti ng opening, the Football season bas developed a more encou raging aspect. This can largely be asc ri bed to a general alteration in tactics and especially to the adoption of the" Third Back Game." Recent success can also be attributed to Luker, who, at centre-half , has combined vigorous defence with constructive ability and to

Tlu: Akc,~t cr Grammfl r S c hoo l Record , 17

Grubb, who has on all occasions pro\'ecl his value as leader of the forward s, Although the defence has retained many of its stalwarts of last year a nd has now attained quite a high standard of efficiency, the forward line has been sadly depleted and the comparatively small size of its newcome rs has been a distinct handicap, Altogether, this term has been mainly experimenta l as far as the attack is concerned, but it is hoped that a more settled for wa rd formation will lead to further success after Christmas.

Results to date:

A.C.S. v. Reclclitch C.H.S. (home). c1rawn 3- 3. v. Evesham P.H.C.S. (home). lost 1-6. \'. King's Norton S.S. (home), lost 0-6, \'. Evesham P.H.G.S. (away), drawn 2-2.

v. 'I'he Old Scholars (home), won 4-3. v. Redd itch C H. S. (away). won 5- 1.

Sides Matches :-Tomtits 3, J ackals I: Brownies 3, Jackals 2; Tomti ts 3,

Brownies 2.

®!b .§i d)Il!Ill'S ' ;jfOllt bllll Qi, !u[J.

PRESIDENT- Mr. E. \-'!ells.

H o:,\ . SECRET.\RY- F. Duxbury,

Ground: Crooks Lane, AIcester.

P J. n.

The Old Scholars' Football Club, which has been restarted this season after a lapse of many years, has made a "cry successful beginning. Seven of the nine matches played have been won, and two lost, one of these being aga inst the school, when a weakened team bad a very rude awakening.

The club no\v has a membership of th irty five, and, though it will be impossible for all to play. it is hoped to gi\'e as iTla ny as possible a game. At the same time, whilst there has been keenness amongst Old Schola rs to p lay, a nd much compe­tition for places, the committee have been somewhat dis­appointed at the attendances at matches. Those with free Saturday afternoons, club members especially, we wou ld urge to rally round and give the footba ll cl ub their moral support .

t ~ '1

I 11

IS TIl e A fr{: ,'.;icr Grall'II/ar Schuol Rteurd .

A conce rt and a wh ist drive have been held in aid of the­funds. a nd both of t hese were very successful. Another whist drive is to be held in the Town Hall. Alcester , on February 27th, 1936, and it is hoped tha t as many Old Scholars as possible wi ll make an effor t to be present on this occasion.

A day tr ip to Ox ford, on Febru ary 1st . including a match wi t h Keble College, has been a rranged for club members. Pa rticulars of this outing may be obtained from the secreta ry ;' accommodation is limited , and applications for seats will be treated st rictl y in rotation.

Results to date :-

A.G.S.O.S. F.C. \'. Bournville Athletic Club I V (away) , won 5- 3·

v. Old No rton ia ns II (away), lost 3- '7.

v . C. of B. Public vVorks Dept. (home), won 5- 0 .

v. Austin App rentices IT (home) . won 9-1.

\', Fa rmer's Ins. Soc. Sports Club H (away} won 3- [ .

v Shrimpton and Fletchers (home) , won 7-1.

\' . Moor Green "A" (away), won 5- 0.

v. Birmingham Uni ve rsity III (away), won 6-2 .

\', Alcester Grammar School (School), lost 3- 4·

'jiJor.!t1 !l' CAPT.l.IK-M. Clelnson.

Of the fi ve matches pl ayed this term , three have been won, t wo lost. Owing to t he bad weather, t wo matches- t he second XI match against Evesham P.H.G.S. a nd the first X I against Bromsgrove C. H.S.--unfortunately, had to be scratched.

Two sides lIlatches on ly have been played so far this term. In these t he J acka Js were successful both times , beating t he Tomt its ro- o and the Brownies 2 - 0.

Thl; A.lcesler Gram /l Iar School Hl: cord

The results so far have been as follows :-

A.C.S. v . Redditch C. H .S. (awa y). lost 1-3. v . Studley Ladies (home), won 3- 2. \'. Evesba m P.H.C.S. (away). lost 0 - 10.

\'. Sbipston-on -Stour (home), won I -O.

v . Evesha m Ladies (home), won 3-2,

(!i; riclteL Played \Von Drawn Lost

IO 4 -I- :3

19

The following boys played fo r the School :-\Fam er, H ewlett i, Ricba rds, Ken iston, Hewlett ii, Gmbb, Bayl i5 1,

Down , Bayne, Sherwood, Hunt i, Butt and Smith i.

1}Trni l's Llll 1!Jtlllfirr flig ht. T he sl.tll'S so brighl. Light up to night \\' jth fountAin.'; gl\Y, .-\ g rand a lTtty,

I 10 \'0 to soe [n e .... e r .... ! reo The s u·Ldight., bright. I n t ho drcary night.

The w ind dot I1 sigh Through the Ican":;;;o d ,'y, And rocket.;; fly F rom ~h()m to t11 (' ... ky.

The end , r fco l' I s ':01')' near, The [nst \\'0 het\!' Is tho c h ikh' l~ Il 'S chc('!',

P A.T H .-\XSON (Remo\'c) ,

Jfor the jiulliors. The Magician.

(suggested by a poem). In a dark forest, nea r a pool of deep blue water, lived a

mighty i\'[agician. H e wore a long, dark red robe, painted all over with twinkling stars, sil very crescent moons and glowing

21) 'fIle .·I lcesl.cr (jraUl1l1ar School Reco rd.

suns. Around him, flowed quicksilver water; and tiny brown field-mice and little pink-eyed white ones ran about.

He could change people into birds-parrots, a ll t he colours of the rainbow, or pale yellow cana ries. They could be trout, or gold-fish or buge whales, terr ible sharks or swift , deadly sword fi sh. At a wave of his wand, he would change you to a lovely graceful Polar bear, a lion with a tawny mane, a little squeaky mouse with a long tail, a poisonous snake , or even a piglet.

A boy and a girl come to him from Littletowl1. They stand under a t ree, waiting for the Magician to see them. \Ve wonder what they want to be.

Form I (in collaboration).

Bonfire Night.

\,Ve are going to have a huge bonfire and lots of fireworks on November 5th.

\~Te have been collecting sticks tor our bonfire for a week , and it is about four feet high already, and 've a rc going to burn Guy Fawkes on it. \Ve shall have to spread the wood out in a half-moon to dry, if it rains a lot. \Ve have becn clearing the shrubbery out, and have got a lot of wood from that. Some of us are going to get wood from Dadd y's works, and others are going to chop up boxes. Everything will go on, briars from the hedges, rubber tyres and old torch batteries.

\Ve have all bee.n saving up money to buy fireworks. \Ve want to have a big show. \~ie'll have Catherine wheels, rockets , Jack-in -the-box , can non-crackers, a boomerang, Bash-bombs, squibs, mountain-glides, sparklers, fountai lls, volcanoes, snakes and Belisha Beacons.

The sq uibs jump alon g the ground, going Pop-pop-pop­pop-pop-pop-pop-pop I

Rockets have to be carefully lighted; they bang in the air and hundreds of coloured stars come out.

You stick Catherine wheels on the end of poles and they spin round-fizzy-whizzy-whizz. \Vben you tight a snake, it goes into stars in the air. \Ve have to wait for Daddy la light the big ones, but we enjoy the sparklers and whirl them roulld in our hands.

Form I.

ALOESTER: THB CSRONJOLB QpPIOB,

HIGS STRBBT.