EDITORIAL

 

Thorpe Grammar School is ripping – that is, bursting at the seams!  Next term welcomes seven new first forms and a fleet of mobile classrooms strategically scattered in the vicinity of the School.  There is likely to be little relief for some overcrowded sectors, though; the Sixth Form, for instance, can often be heard muttering about the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’, in earlier years known as the Prefects’ Room.

 

The rise in numbers has necessitated the establishment of the cafeteria system, and even after the novelty has worn off it seems to offer many advantages.  However, in some cases this has meant that once-formed societies have found their numbers depleted with the coincidence of lessons and dinner.  This new system is perhaps a portent of the future: with progress we shall need to face further changes.

 

In this 1970 Magazine we have tried to show a few of our pupils’ out-of-school activities, and there must be many other individual enterprises which could be fittingly described.  There is the usual coverage of such school activities as music, drama, debates and excursions, and there are also reports on our sporting achievements.  Above all, we have been delighted with the mass of original material offered us: it is surely a sign of the times that no fewer than seven potential contributors offered, not the single poem that had, by chance, come out right, but notebooks crammed with sheaves of poems.

 

So, we hope you enjoy this year’s edition, among the welter of post-examination and election results, World Cup matches and holiday anticipations.

 

 

STAFF

 

In summer 1969 Mrs Howes left, to return to Norwich High School, and Mr A. Smith moved to become Head of Biology at the Blyth School.  For the present year Miss Crossley exchanged posts with Dr Gierden of the Gymnasium at Kirn.  We have been grateful for his starting German effectively at two levels, and for his guitar playing and his singing.  We wish him every success in the new post to which he will go in Bavaria.  Senor Cordovilla has not only helped our Spanish students to improve their fluency, but has led a guitar class at lunch times.  Mlle. Dumas has been active in games, as well as helping many groups of pupils to better French speaking.

 

Mrs Chance, who replaced Mrs Howes, moves away with her husband.  Miss Drake, after completing her course at Newcastle has accepted a more responsible post in Sussex.  Mr Ross goes to a University Post in Nova Scotia; and Mr Mars will be taking charge of all Science teaching at a Sussex Grammar School which is becoming Comprehensive.  The Rev’d M. Lee moves to Hitchin, to an interesting combination of teaching English at one School, having a share in Religious Education in another, with an official part also in the parish work of the local Church.  We are grateful for the many individual ways in which these colleagues have enriched the life of the school, and our good wishes go with them all.

 

During Mrs Harris’ illness in the autumn we were grateful to Miss Rivett for taking over her share of the English teaching.  We are glad Mrs Harris is fully recovered, and rejoice also at the good news of Mr Manley’s recovery after an operation in London.  Miss Griggs, just returned from Africa, has nobly tackled Mr Manley’s main school classes, and we wish her well in her new post at Watton.  During the spring term, while Mr Davison was at Cambridge, carrying out some research into Breckland past, Miss Gibbons, formerly of Keswick College, took over all his classes.  Her liveliness, quick learning of individual names, and professional skill were greatly appreciated by all.

 

It was a shock to us all to learn of the sudden death of Mrs Crowhurst.  She had been unfailingly cheerful and helpful with school meals throughout her nine years here; our deep sympathy has been expressed to Mr Crowhurst and their children.

 

 

COMMENT

 

This heading was intended to be English, but some readers may take it as French.  “What” has been happening of special note, or “How” it has happened are equally important.  Surveying the year as a whole one realises that despite the further jump in numbers it has still proved possible for staff and pupils to be aware of each other as individuals, as they meet each other in and out of the classroom.  Within the school community any one teacher or pupil takes part in a variety of activities, some grave, some gay, and so each of us gains from the rest.

 

Underlying all the projects, all the expeditions, all the sporting, musical and dramatic activities, all the examination successes – and the disappointments – is the continuous background preparation of teachers, and many others.  Those who are less seen are sometimes less thought of.  Many of our activities could not happen without the work of secretaries – in school, at County Hall and elsewhere.  Administrative Officials at all levels play their part.  Cooks, laboratory assistants, groundsmen, caretakers and cleaners labour intensively for the sake of the whole community.

 

F.P.B.

 

 

A Calendar

Of the Year’s Activities

 

1969

September 13^th           Norfolk Youth Forum – day conference.

September 15^th           Return of School party from Montevilliers.

September 16^th           Lower School Speech Day – Speaker Mr E.A. Ellis.

October 15^th               U.E.A. Debating Competition – debate with Hewett School.

October 22^nd               Upper Sixth Party to Cambridge Arts Theatre – ‘Edward II’.

November 7^th              CEM Conference

November 13^th            Lower Sixth Party to Cambridge Arts Theatre – ‘St Joan’.

December 12^th – 16^th Performances of ‘The Gondoliers’.

December 18^th            Carols and Readings.

December 29^th            PTA Christmas Fair.

 

1970

January 7^th                  Senior Speech Day – Speaker Professor P. Ashbee.

January 8^th                   Visit to the Boat Show.

February 11^th              Sixth Form Party to Theatre Royal  ‘The Way of the World’.

February 13^th              Sixth Form Party visit Keswick College of Further Education.

March 15^th                  Concert by Choirs and Orchestra at Keswick College.

March 19^th                  Area Schools Music Festival.

March 22^nd                 Concert by Choirs and Orchestra at St. Peter Mancroft.

March 23^rd – April 11^th School Party to Kirn, Gremany.

March 24^th                  Public Speaking Competition.

March 31^st – April 6^th Party of Geographers and Biologists to Mid-Wales.

May 1^st                                    Sixth Form Party to UEA Open Day.

May 2^nd                       Drama Club present ‘The Man Who Wouldn’t Go To Heaven’ at

the Maddermarket (County Drama Festival).

May 18^th                      Visit of the Theatre Centre Company.

May 21^st                      School Concert.

May 23^rd – 30^th           Canoeing Camp in the Lake District.

 

 

GIBRALTAR

 

Last October a part of third formers enjoyed a pleasant and welcome change from school routine in the form of a Mediterranean Cruise, stopping at Gibraltar on the way.  On arrival at the famous Rock, I was surprised to find the ten feet high rock of my imagination was in fact nearly 1,500 feet high.

 

After travelling up the Rock by cable car and being chassed half way down again by those so-called ‘friendly’ Barbary Apes, we tried our hand at shopping.  The idea was that you bargained with the shopkeeper to knock the price down.  I was feeling pleased with my purchase of a leather handbag for eighteen shillings…. .. until I found about thirty other people who had bought identical bags, some for up to five shillings less than mine.

 

After our shopping spree, we headed back for the ship, but at that moment it rained, or should I say poured.  The first rain Gibraltar had suffered in that year fell on to us, and we reached the Nevasa thoroughly drenched.  When examining my purchases and souvenirs, I discovered a brochure saying, “Welcome to Sunny Gibraltar”.

 

Jane Bardwell, Form 3L.

 

 

THE GERMAN FAMILY

 

I was woken by a noise which sounded distinctly like three quarters of the German army but it was in fact Regina’s four sisters running up and down the stairs.  Collecting my thoughts, my mind flashed through the events of the past days.  The German Exchange Party had left Thorpe Grammar School and seventeen and a half hours later had arrived in Kirn where Thorpe’s twin school was situated.  I was greeted fervently by my pen friend, Regina Gabriel, and then we travelled over beautiful German mountains to the little village of Hennweiler where I was to stay for the next three weeks.  Leaving my comfortable bed, consisting of a sheet and the most enormous feather eiderdown, I decided to improve my knowledge of the German family.

 

Altogether there were seven in the family – Birgit 2, Petra 6, Monika 9, Agnes 12, Regina 15, Herr and Frau Gabriel – but also there were numerous cousins, aunts and uncles always within calling distance, stemming from the fact that Regina’s mother and father had eight brothers and sisters each!

 

The house was originally a farm but due to a fire last year the agricultural influence had dwindled to twelve chickens.  Nevertheless the house still bore the scars of farm life, as did the whole village of Hennweiler.  One could not walk a hundred yards without encountering at least one manure heap or being confronted by frenzied chickens, pigs or cows.  Milk was purchased at a neighbouring farm in large tin cans and bread bought from the local bakery.

 

German food differs greatly from English.  It consists mainly of carbohydrate – bread, potatoes, macaroni, cream cakes! – and of course the traditional German sausage which comes in various shapes, sizes and flavours.  After three weeks I became quite accustomed to the goulash and Camembert and developed a passion for sauerkraut after my first tentative tasting.

In spite of the absence of a car, Regina and I made several excursions, including one to Mainz, which we thoroughly enjoyed in spite of the snow.  For the last week daily excursions were made to Kirn Grammar School.  The school days starts at 8 am and finishes at 1 pm, no uniform is required and make-up is used freely.  The form my friend Frances and I were in were really wild, carrying out various activities, eg opening windows, switching on lights, having detailed conversations and arguments all through the lessons.  Even eating huge sausage sandwiches under the desk was allowed and to our infinite surprise the form was very intelligent!

 

At the end of three weeks, amidst floods of tears, the English party departed with solemn promises to return next year after having a fantastic time participating in the German way of life.

 

Elizabeth Palmer, Form 4B.

 

 

NOTES OF ABERSTWYTH

 

1.   All present and correct.  Unanimous decision reached, so that coach coughed and spluttered and the intelligentsia of the Sixth Form were at last on their way to the West Wales coast.  After eleven hours journeying, destination Aberystwyth came into view.

 

2.   Residing for the six days of the course in a former isolation hospital provided a very useful and desirable base on which our activities could be centred.

 

3.   Leaving the biologists to their own devices – that is, studying the flora and fauna of local districts – the geographers, under the auspices of Messrs Smith and Waters, made daily excursions to local geomorphological features.

 

4.   It was greatly accepted that most of the hills of the area were to be climbed, notable examples being Pendinas, a site of a former iron-age fort; Constitution Hill, in order to view past and present sites of Aberystwyth; and the summit of the expedition, Cader Idris, a 2927 feet example of an igneous intrusion, reversal of relief and countless other geographical terms.

 

5.   Combined visits were made to the Myherin Forest, and to see the Rheidol River with its clearly defined example of river capture.  Also on the agenda was an excursion to the Dinas and Nant-y-Mochs Dams where local H.E.P. schemes are carried out.

 

6.   The biologists climbed Cader Idris with the geographers and did even more: three of the first swam in the Irish Sea, and the year had only managed to reach its fourth month!  All week the biologists enjoyed themselves but contrary to general belief they all did a great amount of work, often working into the small hours.

 

N. Hall, Upper Sixth.  M. Simmons, Lower Sixth.

LAKE DISTRICT CAMP – WHITSUN 1970

 

This year the School Camp ventured to Lake Windermere, the full complement being 36 pupils, 4 members of staff, canoes and sailing dinghies.  The party was based on the YMCA camp at Lakeside on the west shore of the lake.

 

The week was spent walking (the most interesting being to climb to the summit of Helvellyn followed by the descent by way of Striding Edge), sailing, canoeing and camping.  On the last day the party went to Blackpool where everybody had a chance to spend any money they might have left.

 

Finally, special congratulations go to Meigh and Oliver who managed to swim the width of Lake Windermere.  Thanks go to the four members of staff who accompanied the camp, as well as Mr Wiley and the two members of the Sixth Form who managed to retain some order.

 

B. Smith, P. Cox, Lower Sixth.

 

 

SOC IETIES

 

Activities out of school hours can only be a success with the sustained support of both pupils and staff.  The clubs and societies which have flourished and died this year are a reflection of the fluctuating interests of the members of the School.  While some have gained support, others have lost members and have been forced to die away gracefully.  Some of the deceased societies include the Blues Club and the Stamp Club, both of which enjoyed popular support early in the year.  It is hoped that their rebirth, along with the information of other new societies, will be events not too far in the future.

 

Jane Leech, Lower Sixth.

 

THE BRIDGE CLUB

 

At the start of the new season, or term as it is commonly called, the Bridge Club reunited on the first Monday afternoon and enticed members of the Lower Sixth to join.  For the next few weeks the club succeeded but the interest shown by the Lower Sixth gradually dwindled until the club consisted basically of the Upper Sixth players.

 

While apathy reigned within the Lower Sixth, the Upper Sixth played two matches against the CNS and a further match against the staff – losing all three!

 

CHESS REPORT

 

The new junior team has not been as successful as in the previous two seasons when it won, and the following year retained, the Junior Shield; in fact this season the junior team has not won a single match.

 

The new senior team had their best season for a number of years but, because of a surprise defeat in the first match of the season, the team narrowly missed winning their league.

 

 

 

 

In the annual Norfolk and Norwich Schools Chess Congress, the school obtained two first places, from R. Pryke and A. Drake in their respective tournaments, and also a number of fourth places.

 

R. Pryke, Form 5P.

 

DRAMA CLUB

 

… These our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits.

 

Shakespeare, The Tempest.

 

This year, despite the absence of Miss Drake who founded the club and guided it for four years, the Drama Club has flourished, this time with the assistance of Miss Price.  After the Gondoliers last autumn, which occupied several members for the majority of their spare time, the club worked towards the County Drama Festival this spring.  Having searched through a great number of plays and finally settled for one which was found to be out of print and unobtainable, we eventually chose The Man Who Couldn’t Go To Heaven by F. Sladen-Smith as our entry for the Festival.

 

We gained a place on the final night of the Festival at the Maddermarket on Saturday 2^nd May when the best plays were presented.  At this point it was decided to introduce some scenery other than the rostra used at earlier performances, so an archway was found and painted.  We had two more rehearsals, both with school audiences, before the final performance at the Maddermarket and it was at one of these performances that the scenery decided to collapse, almost crushing two angels.  But this was by no means all the trouble our new scenery caused.  On returning from the Maddermarket, it was tied to the roof of the minibus and as Mr Balls was making his way round the ring road, the scenery slipped off!

 

This one production was the main activity of the year although members of the group did perform at one assembly in the main hall.  The result has been likened to that famed BBC series Monty Python’s Flying Circus and also, I believe, to Dr Finlay’s Casebook, although, performers assure me, it was intended to be serious.  The majority of the club members are also involved in the Norfolk Youth Theatre Workshop, so it cannot be said that interest is in any way falling off, especially as the membership has more than doubled recently.

 

K. Ansell, Lower Sixth.

 

THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

 

During the spring term the Geographical Society held several meetings when a full programme of films was arranged, under the encouragement of Mr A. Waters.  Miss Gibbons also gave an illustrated talk on ‘Apartheid’, putting the problem into its geographical context.  The summer term, never an easy term for regular society meetings, has witnessed only one meeting, that by the well-known Norfolk naturalist, Mr Ted Ellis, who gave a most interesting lecture on the Broads, made memorable by his beautiful colour slides.

 

It is hoped that the society will flourish again next term, but its success will depend on the hard work of the Sixth Form in organising a full and varied programme, and on the regular support of other members of the school.

 

 

GUITAR CLUB

 

The Guitar Club has had a good attendance in this its first year by members ranging from years one to five, although I fear that none of us will ever be Flamenco guitarists in the true sense of the word.

 

The lessons, given by this year’s Spanish Assistant, Senor Cordovilla, varied from trying to play Michael Row The Boat Ashore, which proved to be quite a success, to Blowing In The Wind.  Although at first there was a little difficulty with the language barrier, this was soon overcome by the keenness of the pupils and the Assistant.

 

This has been a most successful year for the Guitar Club and we hope its progress will continue in the future.

 

Helen Stocker, Form 5P.

 

THE MODERN EDUCATIONAL DANCE GROUP

 

The beginning of the school year saw the formation of this group by Mrs Watts and six members of the Lower Sixth.  The group meets regularly on Mondays after school.  Some members had already worked with Mrs Watts for a year, while others were new to this form of dance.

 

We started the year with theory and background work and are now doing a dance dramatisation of Peer Gynt.  In March we were invited to give a demonstration lesson at Lakenham School for a teachers’ training course.  This session was very successful.  On the 30^th May some members of the group went to the Royal Albert Hall to see Kaleidoscopia Viva, a festival of dance, with a group of students from Keswick College.

 

This has been a  very successful beginning for the group, and we hope that new members will join us next year.

 

Sally Marr, Lower Sixth.

 

COLLECTIONS FOR VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS

 

During the autumn term it was agreed that the work of the British Empire Cancer Research Fund should be recognised.  £22.2.0d. was sent at the end of the term.

 

For the spring term interest was centred on Action for the Crippled Child, after a visit to the school by the local representative.  The sum of £21.10.0d. was collected for the work.

 

Donations were given to the RSPCA and the RNLI.

 

In the summer term a number of the school members walked on the “Shelter” project, part of an all-round-Britain effort.

 

THE INTER-SIXTH SOCIETY

 

Despite the apathetic attitude shown by the majority of Sixth Formers in Thorpe Grammar, the Inter-Sixth Society has enjoyed an attendance from other schools in Norwich that should put the Thorpe Grammar breed to shame.

 

The programme of events has included an evening at the Cat-Trap Club with the Van de Gaff Generator, two film evenings and a marvellous folk evening at the CNS with the UEA group Totem.

 

A girl has also been chosen to represent the society in the Norwich Youth Festivals Beauty Queen Competition in the Eastern Evening News (you will obviously have noticed her on the Youth Page of that revered chronicle).

 

The Inter-Sixth Society gives a wonderful opportunity to meet other Sixth Formers from in and around Norwich.  Surely no one would want to miss such a gift-wrapped opportunity?

 

Sheila Mountain, Lower Sixth.

 

PUBLIC SPEAKING AND DEBATING SOCIETY

 

This year the Debating Society has been at a loss.  In other words we have lost David Holmes, John Starling and Graham Shearing, although Shearing was with us until Christmas and this fact produced lively debates which usually resulted in the opposition’s being beaten back.

 

Since Christmas only one debate has taken place: staff versus school, which was very badly supported by the staff – only one member of the staff attended.  Needless to say, the school won by a majority vote.

 

Two teams were entered for the English Speaking Union’s annual Public Speaking Competition for Sixth Formers.  Team A consisted of three members of the Upper Sixth, and team B of three members of the Lower Sixth.  The A team was unfortunately knocked out in the first round on a religious point, but team B was successful in getting through to the Norfolk final where we gained third place.

 

An interesting point came to light about Mr Andrews’ (of B team fame) speech on Language And The Future when the Drama Club produced their play for the Drama Festival.  In the production Mr Andrews played a Scotsman, while in his speech he had stated that accents were dying - a fact that did not escape the attention of the adjudicator who was the same for both events.

 

Spurred on by his success in the Speaking Competition, Mr Andrews entered the School Public Speaking Competition and won, speaking on the subject of Censorship.

 

I sincerely hope that some of the other speakers will take a greater interest in the Debating Society next year, so that it does not die and leave a void within our school.

 

M.D. Simmons, Lower Sixth.

 

 

 

 

MUSICAL ACTIVITIES

 

Musical activities, of both an individual and a corporate nature, have continued to flourish throughout the year, despite some of the problems caused by the new school timetable arrangements.

 

Much of the autumn term was devoted to the preparations for ‘The Gondoliers’, which involved over seventy singers, and a number of instrumentalists, who were augmented by friends from outside the school.  The magnitude of the task facing Mr Hall in preparing singers and orchestra for an opera meant that in 1969 we were unable to have a large-scale carol service in the Cathedral, but the various choirs were able to sing in an evening of carols and readings held at school just before the end of term.

 

In the spring term the Senior Choir, and Boys’ Choir, with members of the First Orchestra, again augmented by friends, gave two public performances in very different surroundings.  The main works performed were ‘Beatus Vir’ and Two Motets by Monteverdi, and the Easter Cantata ‘Christ Lay in Death’s Dark Prison’, a magnificent work by J.S. Bach.  The orchestra also played Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, with Janet Brown and Nigel Ferguson as soloists.  One great problem was the contrast between singing in the Chapel of Keswick College of Further Education one week and St Peter Mancroft Church the following Sunday.  Nevertheless, all problems were eventually overcome, and the two concerts were enjoyed by both audience and performers.  The annual Thorpe Area Music Festival was held during this term, in March at St Andrew’s School, and the Middle School and Junior Choirs contributed to the individual and massed items.  The First Orchestra also took part in this Festival.

 

A Festival of a different kind takes place each year in May, when the Norfolk Education Committee arranges a full-scale Festival at St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich.  In the open class for Madrigal Singing the Senior Choir were awarded a second-class certificate for their rendering of the Italian madrigal ‘O La, O Che Buon Ecco’, and the Madrigal Group received a similar award for their singing of the Motet ‘O Bone Jesu’.  A number of individual instrumentalists also gained awards, and the recorder players of the school between them won four firsts, two seconds and two thirds.  In the same month, at the Cromer Festival, David Watts and James Campbell came first and second in the Open Section of the Piano Competition.

 

The climax of the year came with the seventh annual Concert, held at school on Thursday May 21^st.  Music of varying kinds was played and sung, ranging from Motets by Palestrina to a recorder setting of  Percy Grainger’s ‘Country Gardens’.  Various combinations of recorder players gave us music by Handel, while the Second Orchestra played music by Haydn.  The Junior, Boys’ and Middle School Choirs sang a massed song, ‘The Windmill’, and the Middle School Choir alone performed ‘Brother James’ Air’, and the song ‘I Would That My Love’, by Mendelssohn.  The major works on the programme were Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, two pieces by Smetana and the Finale of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and a Pavane by Gabriel Faure, involving both instrumentalists and singers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE GONDOLIERS

 

There can be few more enjoyable evenings that one listening to ‘The Gondoliers’, and the school’s production fulfilled even the expectation of the purist.  In an earlier school production of a Savoy opera I was allowed backstage, and I can safely say that it is a massive task, a feat of co-ordination that seems deceptively easy when seen from the stalls.  This illusion was heightened by the apparent confidence of the cast, orchestra and technicians (not to mention the longer ‘run’ of four nights).

 

As a production it should not be faulted.  Musically it was polished; dramatically it was professional, and visually, a feast.  The audience was receptive, if at times unresponsive.  Applause encourages, it does not inhibit.  Still, it is pleasing to note that Victorian humour is not lost on an audience nurtured on the satire of the sixties.

 

It would be invidious to single out any actor or actress – and extremely difficult.  Their enthusiasm was most marked, and it proved contagious.

 

Gilbert and Sullivan is becoming a tradition at Thorpe.  It is only to be hoped that more productions will follow, and perhaps some revivals of less well-known Savoy operas will be attempted.

 

M.G.S.

 

THE SCHOOL DANCE

 

‘Thorpe Grammar School is just about the last place that I would have expected to find the famous, or should I say infamous, Edgar Broughton Band, but there they were, much to the delight of their many Norwich fans on Friday.

So began the ‘Eastern Evening News’ review of the school dance, a dance which, like the Edgar Broughton Band, defied tradition.  It seems that in previous years the dance has been instigated by the Headmaster prodding members of the Upper Sixth, who responded by booking the local band who charged the lowest rates.  We felt, however, that the school dance should be something to remember, and who can easily forget the Small Hall filled by a capacity audience, all on their feet chanting ‘Out demons, out!’ at Edgar Broughton’s request?

 

Scenes like this follow the Edgar Broughton Band all over the country; at last summer’s free concerts in Hyde Park 150,000 or more people joined Edgar in ‘The Exorcism’, and at a Cambridge concert 3,000 joined hands and danced in a huge circle as they chanted.

 

The band is widely known for its revolutionary beliefs: as Edgar said when I was lucky enough to be able to interview him recently when he returned to Norwich to play at the Gala: “We like to think of ourselves as affiliated to that part of society, the community that is opposed to the old values of authoritarianism, warmongery and capitalism, that part that doesn’t take into account the person, the individual.”

 

The band is not afraid to confront the Establishment in defence and support of its beliefs, as at Warwick, the band’s home town.  They applied to the council for permission to hold a free concert in a local park, but it was refused them, so they hired a lorry and generator and played in the main street.  They held up traffic for several hours and finally the police were forced to move them into a park, so that they could sort out the congestion.  Thousands of people had blocked the High Street, young and old, thrilled and astounded.

 

The band uses its songs as a vehicle for social comment, and for their political ideas.  They have written a special anthem for the General Election period, and I asked Edgar if they had anything else lined up for this time?

 

“Well, we have – you see, we don’t really have a plan – because of gigs, and tight schedules, time – the all-consuming thing – and things like that it is difficult to work out things for dates; but on certain dates we’ll be here and there trying to incite – if they call it that – people not to vote.  If it’s there – the refusal to accept it as a good system – we’ll try and bring it out.  We might do street scenes, we might do free concerts.”

 

The band have been attacked for including social comment in their act; how do they feel about this?

 

“Well, some of us are fortunate in that we’ve had that little bit of freedom to think that social comment is not just a valid thing but that it is absolutely vital.”

 

Which is more important, then, the music or social comment?

 

“I think it’s getting more musical, but where there is comment it’s becoming more precise.  What we’re saying we’re saying shorter, but musically we’re expanding, so we hope that the whole thing is expanding.  All of us are interested in leaving something behind, in changing things.  We don’t really think that you can do that purely musically, but probably you’ve got to use the medium of music to do it all, so it’s difficult to say which is more important.  We do a lot of student sit-ins.  Wherever there’s a sit-in we can get to, or any kind of student protest we’ll go along.  I hope nobody will ever say we’ve incited anybody to do such and such a thing, but if that’s what they want… we never tell anybody to do things, we just discuss them”.

 

Many of the numbers the band played at the school were on their first LP; numbers like ‘American Boy Soldier’, an attack on conscription and Vietnam, and ‘Love in the Rain’, a loud, heavy rock music number.  How did the band feel about their LP ‘Wasa Wasa’? 

 

“I suppose at the time we were quite happy with it, it was an album and a novelty; we had made our first album and it was a collection of songs we were performing on stage at the time, and we just put them on record.  The second one is much more of a studio thing, we had a concept of what a record should be, but before we made one we didn’t really have one.  The second is out on June 1^st.”

 

The dance didn’t go without incident; the coca-cola ran out before the evening was half over, there were slight problems when the supporting band split up shortly before the dance, but we managed to find a replacement band (many thanks to all members of ‘Steal’), the Edgar Broughton Band arrived late as their van had refused to start in London, and by the time the band themselves arrived the caretaker had locked their entrance door, although hastily spoken explanations cleared up the matter and it was unlocked again.  But it was a dance (although the Headmaster questioned the validity as there was hardly room to dance and most people at the front were seated anyway) that almost all the capacity audience enjoyed; we only had one complaint, and that was from Biddle of the Lower Sixth who would complain on principle about anything that was not ‘The Upsetters’!

 

How strong did Edgar feel the revolutionary movement he represented was amongst his audience?

 

“Several hundred in a town this size is not many so you sometimes wonder if it is very strong.  Certainly amongst those who were here and dug it, and think about it, and talk about it have their own scenes, it is pretty solid and it’s growing, and that’s the main thing, that it’s growing.  It may take a long time but it’s worldwide too:  the student thing, the worker thing.  I mean they really have to think hard now to get gimmicks to catch the votes – and when I say ‘they’ I mean politicians all over the world.  Nixon must be a very tired and worried man right now.”

 

Kenneth Ansell, Lower Sixth.

 

 

 

OEDIPUS PROMOTIONS

 

John Andrews and Ken Ansell of the Lower Sixth

 

Readers of the magazine who follow with any interest the attempts of Norwich promoters to bring important groups and bands to the City must realise what an uncertain and difficult task this is.  This makes even more surprising the fact that the Lower Sixth has in its ranks two promoters who have already made a name for themselves on the Norwich music scene.  John Andrews and Ken Ansell, who promote under the name of Oedipus Promotions (Slogan:  ‘Our Sons Are Our Brothers’) launched their first venture at St Andrews Hall on Wednesday February 4^th.  The concert featured the folk singer Al Stewart, and The Third Ear Band, and the performers, added to a capacity audience, made it ‘a very successful evening for the promoters’ according to the Eastern Evening News, which also said ‘Let’s hope they continue to get the response to concerts such as this.’

 

More recently, in April in fact, Oedipus Promotions have continued on their ambitious way by staging two concerts at the University Barn.  These featured Kevin Ayers and

The Whole World, with Dr Strangely Strange, on April 24^th, and on April 28^th, the Norwich debut of Mike Chapman’s Electric Band, with Hawk wind support.  I gather from one of the partners that the promotions so far have been more of a musical than a financial success, but we wish them well in what is an interesting and extremely enterprising venture.

 

J.B.

 

 

SPOTLIGHT ON…

 

 

JACQUI NEALE of the UPPER SIXTH

 

Former secretary of Norwich Young Oxfam, Jacqui Neale is one among many school pupils who do much work for voluntary associations outside the school; she had been particularly active in money-raising efforts to help relieve problems in under-privileged countries.

 

Jacqui, and Denise Tomlinson, another member of the Upper Sixth, with fifteen other young people run the branch of Oxfam in Norwich, with great success, having raised approximately £4,000 in 1969, £1,200 of that coming from one effort – a sponsored walk.  A tractor and other agricultural equipment was bought with this money and sent to Seringpatan in India.

 

Much help is given to the Oxfam workers by local pop-groups, the Skinn, the Eyes of Blond and the Nooche, who have given their services free, thereby raising money for the organisation, and gaining publicity for themselves and Oxfam.

 

During the Easter holidays Jacqui and other helpers spent much time outside Peter Robinson’s persuading passers-by to attempt to eat three very dry cream-crackers in three agonising minutes, charging the ‘victim’ a shilling for the privilege!  £45 was raised, hundreds of cream-crackers swallowed, but only six people were successful and won £1 each for their achievement.

 

The efforts of Young Oxfam have recently been directed towards moving into and decorating their new offices in Chapelfield, where they hope to organise fasts and dances in the future, as well as using it for administrative purposes.

 

In the same premises the newly-launched Arts Lab, called ‘Meristem’, functions.  Activities include poetry reading to music, dramatic sketches, folk singing, pop-music and light shows.  Angela Digman of the Upper Sixth is enthusiastic but practical about the Arts Lab.  ‘It has a great deal of potential, and a friendly, “clubby” atmosphere with good food and facilities … but it is desperately short of money.  With more support Meristem could be the up and coming place for the youth of Norwich.’

 

Another of the interests of several members of the Sixth Form is the International Club, where, as the name suggests, many foreign visitors and residents of Norwich can meet English people in a sociable atmosphere.  Gail Reekie believes that ‘as well as helping people of other nationalities to feel at home, we also gain from their knowledge of different countries.’

 

From their voluntary activities many Sixth Formers have gained experience and understanding, as well as developing personal qualities which cannot be acquired from ordinary academic study.

 

 

RICHARD SMITH of the LOWER SIXTH

 

Richard Smith of the Lower Sixth is keenly interested in photography, and has become very proficient in this field.  His interest in this hobby began when he was fourteen years old, when a friend of his, the late Sam Mears, was developing some films, and invited Richard to watch the process.  Richard decided that he would like to make photography his hobby, and began to take, develop and print his own photos.  During the next year he gradually improved his photography, but felt that he wasn’t getting anywhere, so in 1968 he joined the ‘Norwich and District Photographic Society’, and the ‘Studio Group’.  He discovered that he especially enjoyed taking Portraits and Fashion pictures, so he concentrated on these.  His first portrait was of ‘Miss Norwich’ 1968.

 

Since then Richard’s photography has improved a great deal, and his name is beginning to be known in Norwich.  This year three of his portraits were displayed in the Norwich and District Society’s exhibition held at the Castle Museum, and he received an award of merit for a portrait entitled ‘Louise’.  He concentrates on commercial photography, and still does his own printing and developing.  He works in a photographic shop, ‘Gregory’s’ in Norwich, and no doubt finds the money useful as photography is an expensive hobby.

 

The photographs taken by Richard shown in the Magazine are two of his portraits, and one action shot, all of which can be seen to be of high quality.  All of us, I am sure, would like to wish Richard success with his photography in the future, and hope to see more examples of his work.

 

 

JULIE BELL of the FIFTH FORM

 

The Fifth Form this year seems to have very few outside interests – perhaps this is a result of the extra pressure of O’level work.  One member who does do something constructive with her spare time is Julie Bell.  Julie has shown herself to be an active member of the Rackheath Players.  In the new year she took the part of Ariadne, the witch’s assistant, in the pantomime ‘A Kiss for Whittington’.  This was written by her father and produced by her mother.  Also included in the cast were Jane Marr, Richard Oliver and Nigel Ferguson, of the Fourth Form, who added their votes to the chorus.  Even when she has not been taking part herself, Julie has helped with all the recent productions of the players.

 

 

GRAHAM DOWNING of the FOURTH FORM

 

In the Fourth Form the spotlight has been turned on Graham Downing as the most interesting member of his year.  Despite a long-dead rabbit being put in his sleeping bag during the Herm Island Camp several years ago, he has maintained a great interest in Field Sports, and often follows the hunt in a land-rover.  I know that a great number of us do not feel sympathetic towards those who participate in what we would classify as ‘blood sports’, so we have allowed Downing to put forward his own arguments in favour and defence of his pastime:

 

‘In this modern, pressurised society many supposedly old ideas, dear to many people, are falling by the wayside.  Not least among them is the idea of Field Sports; in modern terms these are usually referred to as ‘Blood Sports’.

 

It is obvious that many people deprecate Field Sports, but it is equally obvious that many people do not know what they are talking about.  It is noticeable that the vast majority of ‘Antis’ have never seen any of these so-called barbarous sadists who should be imprisoned even if we are not hanged.  What do the ‘antis’ classify as ‘Blood Sports’ and why?

 

At the moment the main offender seems to be hare coursing, closely followed by stag-hunting, deer-hunting and otter-hunting.  Some seem to include fox and hare-hunting on their list.  Then there is shooting in general, and fishing.  Yes!  Fishing is just as much a “barbarous anachronism” as any of the others; indeed, it is a practice despised by the RSPCA and, I imagine, the League against Cruel Sports, that vociferous body of sentimental urban dwellers.  Take warning of this, you multitudes of fishermen!  For as the anti-field sports wedge is driven deeper into the Members’ Lobby you may never more be able to cast your lines into crystal stream or sweet slow river, just as we hunters may never more hear the ringing of the horn and the cry of the hounds on the crisp mornings at the back of the year, or the whistle of arched pinions over the marshes as the wild geese fly through the pink, misty dawn sky.

 

We are harming nobody, enjoying ourselves and collecting a tasty meal into the bargain – wild duck beats “battery-reared, oven-ready chicken” any day.

 

Any wild animal is on the outlook for its predators every second of the day and night;  the duck and pigeon for the falcon, the hare and rabbit for the fox, the deer for the wolf, the perch and roach for the pike and osprey, and fox for man.  Man is a predator and from the earliest times has hunted foxes for food, skins or pleasure.  Those who throw up their hands in such a shocked fashion are still men, still predators, only their meat comes out of cans or from the local abattoir – a useful euphemism for slaughterhouse.  It is these people who have their meat killed for them; they wash their hands of the job.  Surely an animal would prefer to die in his native field or stream rather than in an alien building reeking of blood and resounding to the screams of his dying fellows, a kind of animalian concentration camp.  Surely he would prefer to be killed by his natural predators, if he is to be killed at all, and stand a fair chance of escape into the bargain.

 

Hunting in general is a selective method of killing.  The strong animals normally escape and the weaker malformed ones die.  This is what is known as survival of the fittest.

 

Although it is mostly the pet-loving urban populations that object to other people enjoying themselves in this way, some object on completely different grounds, those of class, imagining those who hunt as wine-sipping colonels.  Thanks largely to hunt supporters’ clubs, most hunters are now middle class, although there are upper and working class hunters too.  And many follow the hunt on foot or in cars, vans, etc.

 

When you next see a heart-rending glossy anti-field sports propaganda leaflet, or see in the press that the government has seen fit, for doubtful political motives, to take steps to ban hare-coursing, ask yourself what harm field sports have ever done to you.’

 

 

 

JAMES LYNN of the THIRD FORM

 

Jim Lynn joined this school from Weston-Super-Mare Grammar School in September 1969.  His previous training had been helped by the availability of swimming coaches in the Bristol area, but despite the handicap of a shortage of coaches in Norfolk, he has continued training regularly, and has enjoyed two recent trips to the Continent to take part in international events.  Earlier this year he swam in the National Championships at Blackpool in the 110 yards Breast-stroke and in a Free-style race, and was rewarded for his success by a place in the England team which took part in an International held in Holland.  Recently his second visit to the Continent came when he was one of the Norwich team which competed against Rouen and Hanover in a triple match in France.  Here the opposition included some members of the French team at the Mexico Olympic Games.

 

 

GORDON WOOLCOCK of the THIRD FORM

 

The small boy with the large fish in the accompanying picture is Gordon Woolcock.  He has been fishing  for about three and a half years, and enjoyed his proudest moment as a fisherman last July when he caught that magnificent seventy-five pound Blue Shark about seventeen miles off the coast of Cornwall.  Setting out from Falmouth with a small fishing party, he was the lucky one who hooked this shark, and managed to get it aboard the boat after a twenty-minute struggle.  This one didn’t get away, and the only note of anti-climax is that his victim was later cut up and used for crab bait.

 

 

ALL SYSTEMS GO . . .

 

 

Original Work in Verse and Prose

 

“O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend

The brightest heaven of invention.”

 

 

*   *   *

*    *

*   *   *

 

EARTHBOUND

 

THOUGHTS OF A MRS LOVELL DURING THE APOLLO FLIGHT

 

I seemed to die for a couple of minutes when I heard the news of my husband’s ship burning up.  I just collapsed, not crying, just a deadly silence, a trembling, a non-believing experience.  Then if faded and I realised everything would work out; I had faith and shared my husband’s belief.

 

 

 

As I sat, wonder-eyed, watching the large television screen, I began to think of all the things that could go wrong in those few seconds of blackout.  I gripped my chair and just prayed… “Okay, Joe”, said Jim, so calmly and unemotionally, as they became visible and were in safety.

 

From what I can remember of the following minutes they were the happiest of my life.  Every possible terror just unzipped itself.  I clasped my children in a state of mixed emotions.  My world, our world, had after three days torture come alive, like new lambs dancing in daffodils, when Jim and his companions touched the welcoming sea, safely.

 

Judy Chaplin, Form 3S.

 

 

SUNRISE

 

The signpost stood naked against the sky as the cross must surely have done on the morning before the crucifixion.  The trees whispered unimportantly in the background while the sky changed from purple to orange as the sun rose.

 

As we boarded the bus we turned our backs upon this magnificent spectacle, until…

 

We rounded a bend and there it was, magnificent in its splendour, yet fading in its orangeness to a pale yellow.  But the orange had appeared further north and now covered the sky like rays from a great lamp.

 

The great expanse of fields, hedges and trees seemed unimportant.  It was as though, even for only half an hour each morning, God was showing that he could do things no man could do.

 

The red spread northwards like a fiery furnace, setting the whole sky alight with grandeur.  The flame was spreading, burning up the sky like sawdust.  Can ever God in all his splendour be more beautiful than this?  It spread across the horizon and up into the heavens like smoke.  The whole world should have stood in awe, but did they?   No, they went about their jobs in banks, shops and offices, while the fire spread over the universe.

 

The pale yellow was still there, but now it was like a pageboy awaiting the King.

 

Then, the great moment.  It had announced its coming, and now it arrived; humbly, sedately.  I should have been disappointed, but I wasn’t.  Wasn’t this the way He arrived?  He announced Himself, then arrived; humbly, sedately – in a manger.

 

Catherine Tink, Form 3S.

 

 

THE DEATH OF AN ANGEL

 

The death of an angel, that ‘s what it was – not that anyone else knows about it.  Once day in May, the boss called me into his office and said, “I want you to go to America and sign a contract with Universal American Confectioners.”  Well, there’s no arguing with the boss, so I packed a bag and caught the next flight to New York.  I signed a favourable contract which made me happy, and it made Hiram J. Macadam, the managing director, happy too.  I returned to my hotel in a very good mood.

 

That evening the telephone rang, and a voice announcing itself as Hiram J. Macadam asked if I would like to take a “lil’ ol’ hunting trip”.  I graciously accepted, remembering that the boss had told me to “keep in with those guys.  Louse this one up and you’re fired.”  The boss likes his little Americanisms.

 

The next morning early I arrived at the Macadam residence and found H.J.  – “Call me H.J., son, everybody does” – all ready for the off.  That evening, after a gruelling drive we pulled up outside a miserable, damp, decidedly dirty hut, which was to be our home for the next two days.  We unpacked, and just as I was falling asleep H.J. said, “OK, then let’s go and shoot ourselves some supper.”  H.J. came back with three rabbits and an opossum; I came back with a bruised shoulder and, very nearly, H.J. himself.

 

So, the following day, H.J.  went hunting without me.  It was while I was alone that I shot the angel.  Sitting in the midday sun, the gun lying beside me on the ground, I saw a white shape in the treetops.  Thinking this an admirable opportunity to gain at least one notch on my gun, I took careful aim and squeezed the trigger.  It fell out of the tree and hit the ground hard.

 

My mounting excitement ceased when I saw what it was: a man.  Young, about four feet tall, and beautiful, with long golden locks of hair, he was dressed in flowing robes and had wings on his back.  He was obviously an angel.  He was obviously dead.

 

I sat down to think things out, with the aid of a bottle of whisky.  Half way down the bottle I came to the conclusion that he must be a real angel.  Three-quarters of the way down the bottle I recalled that the death penalty was still in force in this country.  As I finished the bottle I remembered what I had been told about H.J.: “A strict Christian, a devout man of God.”  How do you tell a man like that that you’ve just shot an angel?

 

So in the end, I just buried the angel.  It had to be a big hole to contain those wings, but I dug it.  I filled it in and smoothed the earth over the top, and no one was any the wiser, I hope.  But if I am turned away by St Peter to spend eternity in a climate rather warmer than that to which I am accustomed, I shall know someone was watching.

 

J. Butcher, Form 4D.

 

 

THAT PORTRAIT

 

Our Queen is a smiling Queen,

Not so stern and stony

As in her latest portrait

By Pietro Annigoni.

Her charm, her grace, her warmth

Cannot at all be seen

In Mr Annigoni’s

Portrait of the Queen.

 

M. Ellis, Form 1R.

 

 

 

 

 

A TWIN’S TALE

 

When my brother and I first started school we looked almost identical and so we had to have slips of paper with our names on pinned to our jumpers.  Now about two weeks after we started, we somehow managed to switch pullovers one evening when we were getting ready for bed, and when we put on the wrong jumpers the next morning, even our parents did not notice.

 

Now unfortunately my brother John was not very good at sums then, and Mrs Lane, our teacher, who had taken in the maths books on the previous day, called him out.  John went out all right, but when Mrs Lane saw that he had Andrew Yaxley printed on his name-slip, she sent him back to his place.  Then she called for me, and asked why my sums were nearly all wrong.  I told her they were not my work.  She checked that she was looking at the right book, and then, rather more heatedly, asked whose work it was if it was not mine.  I replied that it was my brother’s.  Just as an uncomfortable situation seemed to be developing, we all realised what must have happened, John and I changed back our pullovers, and Mrs Lane, with a wary eye on us, went on with the lesson.

 

A. Yaxley, Form 1R.

 

 

LOST PROPERTY – ME!

 

I was lost!  It was a typical Saturday afternoon at Selfridges.  There were roughly two thousand people around me and I had to find my Dad.  “Stay here until I come back.”

My Dad had said, and although I am not normally disobedient, those tempting flavours displayed on top of the ice-cream stall had drawn me like a steel bar to a magnet.

 

Then, suddenly, I found that the ocean of people that had parted for me had all at once engulfed me.  The normally sharp, clean-cut pictures were now just a blur of colour.  I found myself saying, “Oh God, you’ve really put your foot in it.”  It never occurred to me to check myself in at the Lost Children’s Department.  My head was spinning as I heard someone say, “Are you lost, sonny?”  In my foolish pride I said, “N…. no, thank you.” – and he was gone.

 

I thought I saw something I recognised and I rushed in that direction as though I were possessed.  I saw it again and dived headlong into the crowd only to find it was a female person.

 

I even contemplated fainting to attract attention, when someone said in my ear, “So there you are, you young rascal.”  The relief was intense.  I flung myself into my Dad’s arms and hugged him with all my might.  “Com’on,” he said, “let’s have some dinner….”

 

J. Leech, Form 1D.

A BOTTLE FINDS A PENFRIEND

 

It was during the summer of 1967 when I read in the newspaper about messages being placed in bottles and then being thrown in the sea and reaching other countries.  That made me want to try to do the same.  I waited until my Mum and Dad had an empty sherry bottle.  When I did get the bottle, which had a large cork, I set about writing my message, giving my name, address and age, and a short note asking the finder to reply, mentioned where he had picked up my bottle.

 

It was the 22^nd October 1967 when we decided to go to Lowestoft to place my bottle in the sea, and when we got there it took us some time to find a suitable spot as there were quite a few fishermen on the beach.  We finally did find a place up towards Pakefield, where there were few people about.  My Dad said that I was lucky because the tide was on the turn.  I threw the bottle in, never expecting to hear of it again.

 

To my surprise and excitement I received a reply on 23^rd November 1967.  I knew from the stamps it was posted in Denmark.  I have now established a firm pen-friendship with a Danish boy the same age as myself, and we write to each other regularly.

 

G. Sillett, Form 1M.

 

 

NIGHTMARE WALK

 

The wind was stinging my face,

It was a dark, dreary night,

I could sense someone or something behind me,

The roots of my hair went numb.

I started walking faster,

Then trotting,

And finally tearing along the slimy track.

 

D. Bathgate, Form 2S.

HAVING  A LOVELY TIME…

 

Their cold pinched faces seem to belie the holiday they should be having;

“Fourteen days of sun” somehow

Turned to rain

And cabbage-coloured boarding houses

With steamy windows

 

Shivered on the sea-front

Blue bikinis flap

Sadly

On washing lines in back gardens,

And endless landladies,

Their hair wound in pink curlers,

Gossip

In Parlours

Beneath sepia pictures of Great Uncle George;

Until the daylight fades

And guests return to tea.

 

Plastic macs of graduated sizes

Drip sadly on to hall carpets

Waiting for tomorrow’s battle

Against the elements.

 

Then, later, battered suitcases are packed

And the exodus begins.

In the comforting warmth of the train

They think again,

And distance lends romance

To two wasted weeks of rain.

 

Ann Lynskey, Upper Sixth.

 

 

EASTER IN GREECE

 

Greece is certainly the place to go during April after March in England.  Going down across the continent we went from dull leaden skies and a few crocuses, to blue, cloud-scattered skies and a few fruit trees in blossom, to blazing blue skies that hurt your eyes to look at without sunglasses; and flowers everywhere.  There were purple flowering Judas trees all over Greece, and orange, lemon and olive groves, not to mention the masses of poppies, daisies, and various other yellow, purple, pink, red and white flowers scattered among the ruins throughout Greece.

 

Delphi was the first place we visited.  The Temple of Apollo where the Oracle used to be was a rather ordinary-looking lot of rocks with few upright pillars, but the little theatre was lovely.  It is in comparatively good condition, and it has many literary and classical associations.  In Athens the white marble of the Parthenon and the Erechtheum, dazzling in the noon sun, is even more beautiful muted in the late afternoon, especially without crowds of tourists, mostly Americans.

I think Delos is the most beautiful of the Greek islands,  It is completely deserted except for a few goats, and in the early morning, wandering around the overgrown ruins of the city, you can almost hear the pipes of Pan on the slopes of the hill above.  There are mosaics in the city nearly as complete as those of Pompeii, of exquisite Greek workmanship.

 

At Knossos, on Crete, the palace is partially reconstructed as it was in Minos’ day.  This is very effective, as you can see the coloured pillars and frescoes right next to the broken grey stones of the ruins.

 

Greece is really a fascinating place.  Next time you have a few hundred pounds to spare during the Easter holidays, why not go there?

 

Kathy Smith, Lower Sixth.

 

(Kathy, who has been at Thorpe during the past academic year, will be returning to the United States soon after this magazine is published.  It has been good having her with us, and we wish her well).

 

 

SIX MONTHS IN SWAZILAND

 

Few people ever have the opportunity to stay in a foreign country long enough to know the people and customs – though six months is barely long enough – and fewer still to travel several thousands of miles across a vast continent in a matter of weeks, arriving at the parched sand mountains of the Namib Desert only some fifty miles from the stormy Atlantic, the desolate Skeleton Coast, or the aggressively hot, red Kalahari.  And at the other extreme, goggle on the many multi-coloured coral reefs off the lush coasts of Mozambique, each coral formation guaranteed to shred the skin off the soles of your feet, with their delicate razor-blade edges.

 

Swaziland, an independent land-locked country only the size of Wales, has its own monarch and predominately black parliament.  The Swazis themselves still cling to their tribal individuality and customs; they are fiercely loyal to their King, Sobhuza II, who, despite his seventy or more years, annually chooses a new wife from the young virgin maidens who perform the ceremonial Reed Dance before him, to add to the several dozen already living in their secluded mud-hut “Queen’s Village” literally at the bottom of his palace garden on the Lobomba Plateau.  This dance is but part of the Incwala, a special feast in praise of land fertility, and all the Swazis attend in full battle dress.  To see a Swazi warrior complete with shield and battleaxe padding down the main street is no mean sight!

 

Swaziland practises an anti-apartheid policy: the boys’ boarding school to which I went with six other girls included Bantu, Swazis, Coloured, Indians, Europeans and the occasional Chinese and American.  The apartheid that is so marked in the Republic, is even worse, if less blatant, in Rhodesia.  It took all our skill to bluff our way past the argumentative and anti-British passport officer at the border post on the Limpopo River, but we were rewarded with an incredibly beautiful journey through Rhodesia.  And, like the rest of the long trip, it was completely unforgettable.

 

Jo Bates, Lower Sixth.

 

 

 

 

ONCE

 

Once

There was a pure white rose

Embedded in the security of my being;

But destruction evolved,

Creeping

With claws of corruption.

The thorn of hate penetrated my soul,

And the rose silently withered.

Now

Scarred and uprooted,

A flower of forgetfulness begins to bloom.

Do not pluck it from life’s blood

Or it, too, may die.

 

Helen Rees, Upper Sixth.

 

 

A WORD IN THE EAR OF TOMORROW’S PARENT S

 

The words “permissive society” are all too familiar these days.  We are the victims of this so-called society, or perhaps the protagonists in it; it is either thought to be the cause of all current evil, or an excuse for it.  And it is most often on the lips of those who are to us the older generation.  Yet one day we who feel ourselves part of this “permissive society” are going to become the older generation in our turn, and may express amazement and disgust at the activities of youngsters of that time.

 

Yet how many of us at this stage can conceive of anything that would shock us when we are parents?

 

Each generation thinks of itself as having gone the limit, yet each successive generation does things that the previous one never considered.  In Mrs Pankhurst’s era, she probably thought that her campaigning had achieved all, yet now it seems only logical that women should have equal pay.  Similarly we cannot see how our children can do more than we have done.  Perhaps, having been brought up in this permissive society and having seen its effects, we shall go the opposite way and, as in Victorian times, blush at the mention of a chairleg!

 

If we remain broadminded, obviously our children and their society are not going to shock us with anything so mundane as sex or drugs – perhaps then people involved in platonic relationships will seem “odd”.  Then we too will be thought “square” (or whatever expression is equivalent to that), and in that exclamation of “Oh, but you don’t understand!” we will recognise the frustration that we once experienced.  We must accept that when they then are “doing their thing” they will be as far beyond our comprehension as we probably are to our parents now.

 

Ann Mogford, Lower Sixth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS IS GROUND CONTROL…

 

All is quiet, save for the heavy breathing of the occupants of the room.  The red light glows amidst the knobs and buttons on the control panel.  Tensed, pale faces stare at their ghostly reflections in the glass of the cubicle.  The console hums with newfound energy – pulsating, lights flashing, dials clicking to zero … there is a whining in one’s ears and a voice breaks through.

 

“Are you ready?  Begin recording.”

 

Not Houston Control – a far cry, in fact, yet one often feels that one embarks on a journey into the unknown, isolated in the cubicle with an alien tongue echoing through one’s brain…

 

But despite this space-centre atmosphere, the greatly revered “lingo-lab” retains much of the traditional entertainment value of the ordinary classroom.  This is one place where you can really switch off on a Friday afternoon!  Although the teacher is rather less vulnerable, there are closer links between pupil and teacher, and corrections of mistakes are less mortifying in the privacy of the headphones.

 

Listening to, and learning the intricacies of French, Spanish, German and even Interlingua is, surprisingly, much easier through the language lab – at least one can turn the lesson back several times just to make sure that question was entirely understood.  Naturally one becomes one’s own language teacher, and so success depends on personal conscientiousness and application.

 

Thus, twice a week, lost in the world of clicking counters, buzzing microphones and a “langue etrangere”, one blasts off for another journey into the unknown.

 

Steff Smith, Lower Sixth.

 

 

HINTS TO SIXTH FORMERS

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO QUEUE-JUMPING

 

1. When approaching a doorway which a high-ranking member of staff is also approaching, it is best to stop (remembering other corridor users), signal (to those who may not have noticed), smile, and open the door.  When the hazard is past, it is safe to proceed with caution.

 

Remember:  STOP – SIGNAL – SMILE.

 

2.   When passing into a dinner queue it is best first to check that all members of staff in the vicinity have been rendered harmless.  This is easily achieved by pushing hard from the back, and whilst the staff are occupied controlling the resulting overflow at the sides, go to the front of the queue as if making for the library (a library book is often handy to convince any doubting member of staff).  It is then usually safe to proceed in to dinner, resolutely, but with caution.

 

      Remember:  LOOK OUT for the member of staff on duty.

      PUSH from the rear.

      CARRY a library book.

      YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE.

 

3.   If you are feeling rather hungrier than usual, and have managed to get in to dinner by fair means or foul (for ‘foul’ see Note 2), research has shown this way of ensuring slightly more food than the usual allowance:

 

(a)    Approach the hatch with the usual cutlery,

(b)   Hang back and look at the salad, but then pass on,

(c)    Smile at the cooks,

(d)   Ask what alternatives there are, inspiring exasperation, which is quenched by your faithfully stupid grin,

(e)   Pick up a plate and offer it to the cook to whose choice you have succumbed (if the choice does not matter, pick the cook who hasn’t served anyone for ages),

(f)     Suddenly turn round to a friend and make a humorous start to a conversation.

 

The cooks, lulled into a sense of false security by your questions and stupid grin, will be taken off balance, blinded by the brilliant wit of your remark, and, fascinated, will deposit two helpings on your plate.  Immediately change the grin into the expression of someone suffering acute hunger pains, and they will only take a little back.

 

4.   The experienced bus-queue jumper will have realised that younger members of the school are apt to notice and make loud comments which they hope will be heard by adjacent members or staff.  Research has shown that the best way to get on the early bus while gaining points in any staff opinion poll is to proceed as follows:

 

(a)    Watch the teacher on duty until his/her back is turned and then slip into the queue more or less half way down.  Some force may be necessary but the commotion thus caused will make the teacher turn round to see what has happened.  As his/her eyes travel down the queue, the two Sixth Formers standing halfway down seem the perfect place to break the queue.  An announcement is made to the effect “All those behind …(you)… will wait until I tell them to get on the bus.”

(b)    Assume an air of importance, and prevent those behind from pushing by mentioning one or two names at random,

(c)    When the bus comes, hold them back, then make a rush for the bus, looking at the staff apologetically to indicate that you couldn’t help letting the rabble past.  By then, any seat in the bus is yours.

 

J. Ladbrooke, Upper Sixth.

 

 

 

Three Thorpe Poets

 

JOHN ANDREWS – LOWER SIXTH

 

FOR SERVICES  BELOW AND BEHIND THE CALL OF DUTY

 

Tomorrow I shall be eighteen:

Seventeen people will realise this.

 

For twelve years now I have waded through mud,

I have fought for my country…

                                               … in the classroom:

I have survived eighteen years in a battlefield

And my brain is shot to pieces.

 

But no one sells poppies for me.

Homework is the only pension for my wounds;

Not even two minutes silence am I granted:

Seventeen pieces of card, bent double, with a picture on the front

My only homage.

 

 

LIBRARY

 

A pattern of broken words

A flock of birds

On the window painlessly

Silhouetted against the grey sky.

And through the glass a maze of wire

Growing higher

 

Paint-green trees with woven attire

Call me prisoner, call me jester.

This room full of whispers tickles my ears

Jerks no tears…

Inconsequential chatter like a three-ring circus;

I am a flagpole giving my message to the wind.

 

 

SURFEIT

 

What will become of you and me

When the sun sets on 1983?

Are we all just too blind to see

There’s too many people?

 

And when it gets to ‘84

There’ll be just a thousand million more;

More beggars to come knocking at your door:

There’ll be too many people.

 

More baby-mouths to feed,

Take their tiny hands and lead

Full circle to maturity and seed,

Even more people.

 

HELEN STOCKER – FORM FIVE

 

LIONS

 

And so I live between the sky and earth

Heroic as the humblest crawling ant.

 

Into the lion’s cage I go each day

Entering like a priest; reverent, resigned,

I dare to touch the treacherous deities

Before we start our ancient game with death;

When snarling they jump through the flaming hoop

I must jump too the gulf inside me

Grasping at moss upon the rocks;

And when at last my fear swells into madness

I even put my head inside their jaws

To show that I am nothing – and yet all.

But then the lion’s gullet gapes before me

And out of red-hot lungs, like burning lava

Horror comes roaring – just at the final moment

I make a desperate dash out of the cage,

And through the howling crowd – into the dark.

 

Then I am weary – weary as the earth

Awaiting autumn’s most depressing night.

 

 

SCENE ON A BATTLEFIELD

 

Though I don’t know you, yet your fallen son

Still keeps us secretly and subtly bound.

I felt so much for him when he was gone.

Perhaps your own grief was no more profound.

 

Your only son, my friend through long campaigns,

Wounded in blazing battle, all strength spent –

It was on me he lent.

And when I bore him on my shoulders – dead –

The blood out of his wounds – blood from your veins,

Down on my clothes ran red.

 

I know how, in your house now, all is still –

Nothing of him, no song, no uproar gay –

And though the pain in time will die away,

The silent sadness still around you clings;

He is no more – though from his picture frame

He smiles.  Beside him, day and night the same,

The corner wall-clock’s pendulum swings and swings.

 

   

KENNETH ANSELL – LOWER SIXTH

 

GODS

 

In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth;

And the Earth was without form and void.

And darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And God said, “Let there be light.”

And there was light.

This God was a god of Peace,

Love and Beauty.

And this God saw everything he had made,

And, behold, it was Good.

 

Then a new god destroyed Heaven and Earth;

And, again, it was without form and void.

And darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And god said, “Let there be fear.”

And there was fear.

This god was a god of Hate.

Destruction and Desolation.

And this god saw everything he’d destroyed,

And, behold, it was Dead.

 

This god was Death,

He was the scientists’ child… the Bomb.

 

 

FEMME FATALE

 

She kissed the war-torn soldiers’ dying lips,

She blessed them as they pulled the trigger,

She led them across the battlefield,

She cowered with them in the shell-holes,

She ate with them,

She drank with them,

She slept with them,

She laughed with them,

She cried with them,

She  mourned with them…

 

To her dedicated their every deed,

To her they showed their scars,

To her they offered silent prayers,

To her they called from their deathbeds…

 

She was beautiful, elusive,

She was a shimmering, distant image,

She was Peace…

 

 

SPORT

 

Although the results do not appear to be wholly encouraging, the diversity of sporting

activity has increased.  Evidence of this is shown in the following reports…

 

 

GEOFF HOLMES ON SOCCER…

 

Competition for positions has greatly improved in all teams this year.  In the senior school, the 1^st XI and 2^nd XI teams have had full fixture lists, obtaining fairly pleasing results.  However, success was achieved when the 1^st XI reached the final of the Cowles Cup, unfortunately losing 2-4 to Great Yarmouth Grammar School.  Junior teams have again been enthusiastic in their play.  Several players have attained representative status, including C. Fox, who has played for Norfolk Senior Schoolboys, and J. Freezer, who has played for Norwich City A.  Results, taken throughout the school, were quite successful.

 

 

IONA MORRIS ON HOCKEY…

 

Last season was very disappointing for the 1^st XI.  Only two matches were won, both against North Walsham, although we managed to draw a very good game against Great Yarmouth High School.  The disappointing results were due to several factors, one of these being lack of practice which resulted in insufficient co—operation needed to make a united team.  Another was the bad weather which led to a number of cancellations.  Illness also struck the players hard and it was always a struggle to present a strong team with all the setbacks, but we hope to have a better season this year.  Lynda Wilkinson was chosen to go through to the County trials but unfortunately was not finally selected.  Colours this season were awarded to Lindsay Moss, Sandra Abbott, Iona Morris and Gillian Taylor.

 

 

SUE BUTLER ON SHOOTING…

 

This year’s shooting season has been fairly successful.  There are quite a number of enthusiasts in the school who are willing to devote time after school for the sport.  Mr Lee and Mr Davison supervise a steady Friday club whilst Mr Heighes coaches during the games lesson.  The Lower and Upper Sixth usually enjoy an amusing afternoon down the range on a Thursday when jokes are shared and most participate in sunbathing.  Of course, there is time for actual shooting.  However, during the winter there is a desperate attempt to keep warm and it is hoped that heating will soon be installed.  The Viking Challenge Trophy was competed for in autumn and we entered four of the sixty-four teams.  All four succeeded in getting through to the third round, but Team A was defeated by the 1^st Methwold Scouts who also eliminated Team B in round four.  The C team was also knocked out in round four by King’s Lynn ACF.  However, Team D beat Paston Grammar School in the quarter finals and they went into the final rounds.  Unfortunately, although in the final six teams, they were beaten.  In the Norfolk Winter League, ours was the only school entered and out of ten rounds it won four, drew one and lost five, being placed fourth out of six.  The Individual League was also entered and our final positions out of eleven were: in Division 17 sixth and in Division 18 seventh and eighth.  With the continued support and coaching of Mr Heighes, Mr Lee and Mr Davison, the shooting activities have progressed and it is hoped that there will be a number of new interested members joining next September.

 

JOHN HUTCHINSON ON ROWING…

 

This will probably be the last year that the Rowing Club will be able to produce a team of four, as seven of the eight competitive oarsmen are in this year’s Upper Sixth, and the apathetic attitude of the rest of the school towards rowing has left us with a very sparse membership.  This attitude is especially surprising considering the rewarding successes of the Rowing Club over the last two seasons.  Despite this, the present First IV is probably the best the Club has ever seen, and it is moving forward into the season with high expectations, with a win at Norwich Head of the River Race to their credit already.  This year’s B crew, only recently formed, is showing some rare enthusiasm and putting in some keen training both on and off the water.  Our special thanks are due to the Norwich Union Rowing Club for the generous gift of a shell four which is now the most essential part of our equipment and also to the Reverend Winter for coaching us this season.

 

 

MIKE SIMMONS ON FENCING…

 

“Ready?”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“On guarde.”

“Play!”

Disengage, extend, lunge.

Parry quatre.

Riposte.

Now that your attention has been attracted, I would like to tell you that fencing is a grand sport.  This activity is not limited to senior school members, but is also open to junior enthusiasts.  Nobody really has to learn all the moves, in fact, those above are fundamental actions.  One match has been played, and this was lost narrowly.  However, in the Schoolboy Championships held at Wolveston, S. Wilkin did manage to get through to the semi-finals but he could not fight because we do not possess any electric equipment essential for championships.  The Fencing Club would like to thank M. de Wever for keeping fencing alive in the school.

 

 

SUSAN COURT ON NETBALL…

 

The netball this year began badly for the Under Fifteen and Under Thirteen teams who came to the conclusion that their opponents had definitely more practice.  However, both teams obtained better results as the season progressed.  The Under Fifteen team were rewarded for their devotion to the game when they played in a league match at Hellesdon.  They played very well and their only defeat was by the district champions.

 

The Under Thirteen team played steadily throughout the season with some good results.

 

The Under Fourteen team maintained a high standard of play throughout the season.  Various members of this team came to the rescue when the Under Fifteen team became almost non-existent.  This mixed new team did very well for themselves and two members, Hazel Denton and Pat Thomas, received colours for their efforts.  Hazel, from 3R, was also chosen to enter the county team but failed to get through; we hope she will succeed next year.

 

On the whole, the netball teams did very well this year without too big a struggle.

 

 

RUTH NIXON ON BADMINTON…

 

During the last year, badminton has lacked the support and enthusiasm needed to play and arrange regular matches.

 

Only three have been played during the course of the whole season.  The first match in December was a successful defeat of the Blyth school.  The second, also against the Blyth, was lost but only by a very narrow margin.  Finally, our last match was drawn against Notre Dame.  The Badminton Club has continued to play on Wednesday evenings and a few Fifth and Sixth Formers are able to play in the games lessons.  Very much overshadowed by tennis and hockey, badminton has not received enough following, but perhaps this will be remedied in the coming season.

 

 

MICHAEL WYLLIE ON SAILING…

 

Sailing during the autumn term took place at Filby, the Fifth Form on Wednesdays and the Sixth Form on Thursdays.  However it was decided that since some members had now acquired their own boats, sailing would be more satisfactory at Hickling.  As there was still an acute boat shortage, the catamaran had to be replaced by a more useful, spacious boat – a Wayfarer.  There was only one problem:  MONEY!

 

There followed various fund-raising schemes, such as the Christmas Fair which made £48 towards the new boat, and a 32 mile walk which brought in a further £68.  The majority of the members completed the 32 miles and beat the Rowing Club whom we had challenged.  And so a fibreglass Wayfarer kit was purchased.

 

The spring term was spent in preparation for later sailing, boats being maintained while we went ahead on the new Wayfarer, and exacting task considering one could not afford to make a mistake after spending £300.  Further money raising has brought our total up to £128, but we find that, as money comes in, it has to be spent on paint, varnish, licences and the advertisement for the catamaran.

 

Summer term sailing commenced at Hickling.  We gained the use of two county Bitterns to supplement our fleet, and in May the Wayfarer was launched by Mrs Ball.  It is now worth £460, so our efforts have not been in vain.

 

During Whitsun week we held a camp at Felixstowe Ferry, and members of the Lower Sixth and Fourth Forms gained much useful experience.  The sailing activities were varied, including an excursion up river, several trips on the sea (one around the Cork lightship).  Endurance and skill were required, especially on the day we landed on a lee shore between concrete breakwaters only 20 yards apart.

 

Sailing for the rest of the term will continue at Hickling, but after having had their appetite whetted by sea-sailing many will find this less exhilarating than previously, though some of the club will return to Felixstowe for the National Regatta in July.

Pupils from this school who have been selected to represent the county are:

 

Tom Hart and crew.

Richard Hetherington and crew.

Elaine Highcock and crew (Shirley Frosdick and Carolyn Adcock).

Nicola Fryer and crew (Sally Balls and Jill Clayton) and

Michael Gilbert (as crew for his brother).

 

 

CHRIS WELDON ON CRICKET…

 

The season is now in full swing and all six school teams, and the Club XI, face a fairly full fixture-list, which can be seen on the new Thorpe Grammar School Fixture Cards.  The 1st XI has played only two matches, at the time of print, as cancellations by other schools have left us without fixtures on two other occasions.  Of the games played, one with the Hewett School was drawn and the other was lost to Fakenham.  The Club XI has played three fixtures, losing two to the UEA and the Norwich Diocesan XI and drawing with Norwich School.  However, the school’s two senior teams should gain more encouraging results as the season progresses.  It is hoped in the seasons to follow, cricket will draw more support from the senior boys, as at present some apathy is shown.  However, it is very pleasing to report that with the exception of the first year team, who have won and lost two of their matches, all other teams have one hundred per cent records.  We hope that they retain this until the end of the season, as it bodes well for the future.  One final note – of the seniors, Greaves, Hall and Jarman, and of the juniors, Denton, Rowe and Agar have been selected for the Norwich Schools’ Cricket Association trials.

 

 

SUSAN SMITHDALE ON GIRLS’ TENNIS…

 

All four tennis teams had a successful start to the season by winning the first two matches against the Blyth School and North Walsham quite comfortably.  The First VI were less fortunate, however, when they lost by a large margin to Diss in the first round of the Marriot Cup.  The Under Fifteen team was also unfortunate whey they lost to the Notre Dame School in the first round of the Youngs Cup, although they reached the final last season but lost to Diss.  At the moment, boys and girls in the school are competing in a National Ladder Competition which is progressing steadily.  Once again, Mr Ong gives valuable coaching every Thursday after school as he did last season.

DAVE WATSON REPORTS ON BOYS’ TENNIS…

 

It is encouraging to report that boys’ tennis in the school is becoming increasingly popular.  This enthusiasm has developed over the past three or four years and augurs well for the future.  For the first time, training sessions have been held.  However, boys’ tennis has suffered through lack of a member of staff to organise and encourage; but morale is still high.  In the Glanvill Cup, first round, the 1^st VI played well against CNS, Royal Hospital School and St Joseph’s College, but inexperience showed and they finished third.  The same team are due to play in the second round of the Moore Cup in the near future.  The Eastern Region Tournament was held at Thorpe once again with the Thorpe 1^st team reaching the quarterfinals.  CNS were the eventual winners.  The Under Fifteen team have played only one match this year, against Paston in the Stevenson Cup; they lost the match 5½ –3½ after a hard fight.  Although at present the players’ skill has not fully developed we recognise the potential.

 

 

NIGEL DURRANT ON ATHLETICS…

 

Great enthusiasm was shown by members of forms one to four in training for the annual school sports.  However, this enthusiasm was not shown by parents, of whom there was only a small number attending.  Despite this, the level of competition was high, with sixteen new records being established.  The more successful competitors, along with a fifth form team, went forward to the Norwich District Sports, held this year on the school playing field.  From this meeting, we are confident that a large proportion of our competitors will be selected to represent the Norwich District in the County Sports to be held in the near future.  Sixth form participation is restricted by examinations, but a triangular meeting with the CNS and the Hewitt School is arranged, enabling members to display their undoubted talents.

THE PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION

 

The activities of the Association during the past year have followed the usual pattern of formal and social events.  In September the annual general meeting was preceded by a talk, given on this occasion by Miss Folkard, Head of the History Department, in which she outlined some of the objectives of teaching history, including the influence historical events have upon current affairs.

 

In March, those parents who braved an evening of appalling weather were rewarded by a most interesting and informative talk given by Mr D Beacock, Headmaster of Lowestoft Grammar School, concerning the new proposals for sixth form education – a subject which will become of increasing importance to many parents.

 

The major social and fund-raising activity for the year was the Christmas Fair which was again well supported, and the Committee would like to thank all parents and friends who contributed goods for sale and attended the fair.  The sum of £142 was raised, and part of this money has already been allocated to the purchase of record players for the Music and Physical Education Departments, and food mixers for the Cookery Department.  It is by the provision of “extras” of this kind, not provided by the Education Authority, that the Association is able to make a valuable contribution to the facilities available to the teaching staff.

 

It is not normal in these notes to comment upon the work done by the Committee, but this year has seen increasing concern with the problems of transport, particularly insofar as Sprowston and Catton children are concerned.  Whilst the problems are by no means resolved, the fact that the Committee has been able to actively support the Headmaster in his discussions with the appropriate authorities has undoubtedly been of assistance in at least alleviating some of the difficulties.  This illustrates an aspect of the Association’s work of which some parents may be unaware, namely that in addition to the formal meetings, many problems of mutual interest to parents and teachers are resolved by discussion in committee.

 

The membership of the Committee is decided by the parents at the district meetings held in September, so please make a note to attend if there are any matters which you would like to see discussed.

 

R.D. Cracknell, Hon Secretary

NON-TEACHING STAFF

 

 

SECRETARY :  Mrs F. Leech

 

CLERICAL ASSISTANTS : Miss P.A. Smith, Mrs E. P. Painter

 

LIBRARY ASSISTANT :  Mrs L.T. Parker

 

LABORATORY TECHNICIANS : Mr E.G. Camm, Mr D. Hipperson

 

CARETAKERS : Mr E.W.G. King, Mr R.D. Douglas

 

CLEANERS : Mrs B. Armstrong, Mrs C. Bassett, Mrs P. Douglas, Mrs F. Gould,

Mrs G. Matthews, Mrs E. Nobbs, Mrs F. Oxley, Mrs M. Smart, Mrs L. Smith,

Mrs W. Steward

 

KITCHEN STAFF :

 

Supervisor – Mrs E. Mitchell

Mrs K. Whitehouse, Mrs B. Peart, Mrs E. Bloxham, Mrs M. Burgess, Mrs L. Cullen, ((Mrs W. Crowhurst), Mrs H. Day, Mrs M. Dixon, Mrs D. Forder, Mrs M. Larkins,

Mrs B. Powley, Mrs J. Rigby, Mrs E. Tubby, Mrs E. Whurr, Mrs V. Watchorn

 

GROUNDSMEN : Mr G.W. Reeve

Mr D. Boast, Mr R. Woods, Mr G. Youngs