At that time the School some 250 boys, distributed into 5 Houses – Cox’s, Allsop’s, Meads and two School Houses, Odds and Evens having a compliment of about 50.
The country as a whole was recovering from the 1914 – 1918 War, The General Strikes and the 1929/30 Depression and unemployment was high. Anxious eyes were cast on Germany where Hitler was defying the Peace agreements and the League of Nations were powerless to prevent it.
In the School Reveille was 7.00am followed by a cold bath where the only
were a Medical Certificate,
8.00am breakfast
8.30am Prayers in Chapel
9.00am - 1.00pm lessons then lunch
2.00pm – 4.00pm sports then tea
4.30pm - 6.00pm lessons then supper
7.00pm – 9.00pm Prep then hot drink – bed - lights out!
In Cox’s House there were three dormitories with roughly 15 plus a Prefect in each. It was the custom for either the Housemaster or his Deputy to tour the dormitories and discuss current problems or success in inter House sports.
In winter frosty weather made life tough, the first person had to break the ice in the cold bath, which were filled the previous evening in case the taps froze overnight. The Common Rooms were only heated by a small fireplace in the middle. The toilets were outside and often froze.
Discipline was strict regarding dress administered by Prefects who dispensed justice with a ‘Potty Bat’ (R Fives Bat). Masters always wore gowns in class and discipline was maintained by threat of the cane and with chalk or blackboard dusters??
Sport was divided into soccer in the Autumn Term, Hockey and Athletics in the Easter Tem and Cricket in the Summer Term. Those not participating went down to the fields behind Letchmore Heath to construct new soccer and hockey pitches. This work was supervised by Mr English who otherwise taught French and whose accuracy with chalk earned him great respect.
Lessons were on the School Certificate, to gain this one had to pass in English, Maths and Science (Physics, Biology, Chemistry) 2 languages (in my case French and Latin). There was a similar syllabus for those taking a classical education. Exams for these subjects were held in he last fortnight of the Summer Term.
On Fridays the day was dominated by the OTC. One got up in the uniform, lessons were normal in the morning, followed by Military Training in the afternoon leading to the gaining of Certificate A (this was invaluable in obtaining entrance to OCTU in the 1939 – 45 War).
Remembrance or Armistice Day was it was called was naturally observed in those days. On the prescribed Sunday the OTC marched led by its Drum and Bugle Band to Aldenham Church some 21/2 miles away. There the Senior Bugler sounded the Last Post and Reveille.
Admittance to university required considerable expenditure by ones’ parents. Mine, owing to depressed business were not prepared to meet this cost. At the end of the Easter Term I attended an interview and got a job in the Precious Metal Industry at that time they were very busy buying gold from the populace as the country had gone off the gold standard. I should have started in the September but was suddenly called in the middle of the School Certificate exams as the Company had a lot of sickness and needed replacement