We created names for the various parts of the school so that we could discuss our plans without listeners knowing what we were talking about. I seem to remember that a horizontal ridge along the top of the building where two sloping roofs met was called a "road". If the intersection between two parts of the roof was not horizontal but sloped down at an angle, we called it a path, i.e. a road that was not horizontal.
If you stood at the gate in Sutherland Grove in 1946 when I joined the school, and looked westwards, you would have seen a large 71/2 acre grass field, bounded by Skeena Hill on the north and Combemartin Road on the south and west. The school building stood in the north-west corner of the field. The driveway, running from the gate to the school, divided the site into the large playing field on the right and the small playing field on the left.
The "old building" was in the form of a squared U with the mouth of the U facing roughly east, towards Sutherland Grove. The base of the U therefore was on the west of the building and ran approximately north-south. It housed the assembly hall, school kitchen, the headmaster's study and the prefects' room and the library (both on the top floor). The north wing housed the physics and chemistry labs, the gym and the art room (Mr. Hodgkinson). The south wing housed the woodwork shop (Mr. Tribe), Mr. Ascher's French room (also the detention room) and Mr. Clode's math classroom (top floor).
We thought carefully about the wording. We all agreed that it should be non-political and should not be offensive to any individual. Recall that the LCC (London County Council) was the local governing body for all London. Among other things, they encouraged boys to cultivate habits of good hygiene. We all made the decision to support and reinforce this worthy objective. The hope was that while the masters could not publicly approve, they might smile privately. Mr. King (the headmaster) had won the Croix de Guerre during the First World War and I think he would have remembered his own youthful spirits around thirty-five years earlier.
The banner was stitched together from old sheets and towels in the garden of Mike Kelly's house in Gwendolen Avenue. And on it was written, in black letters on a white background, the slogan that was proudly emblazoned on each sheet of LCC toilet paper:
Eventually, the work was done and we were ready to proceed. The individual steps had been carefully thought out and everything was ready. Before we went, we all agreed that if one of us was caught and the plot exposed, the other three would immediately own up.
We three first climbed up to the ledge on the north wing. The first end of the cable was attached to the coiled prong on the roof at the south-east corner of the north wing. This involved getting on the sloping path and proceeding head first toward the prong. (Recall that a 'path' was the downward sloping intersection of two sides of the roof). Mike went first, secured by a rope around the waist which David and I held as a precaution. Mike successfully wound the cable around the prong and returned down to the ledge. We then lowered the free end of the cable to the ground where it was retrieved by Jocek. The banner, which was threaded on the cable, stayed on the ledge.
The plan called for us to descend to the ground and then go up to the ledge on the south wing. Before we did so, we stopped at the slates and scratched over our names to make them indecipherable. We knew that people would soon be going up there and it was wiser to destroy the evidence. Too bad! Posterity would have to wait!
We were now on the inside of the U at the north-east corner of the south wing. The next step was to lower a string to Jocek who attached the free end of the cable which we then hoisted up to the roof. It was now David White's turn to attach the cable to the prong on the north-east corner of the south wing. Again, he had to proceed head first down the path to the prong, secured by a rope around the waist, held this time by Mike Kelly and me. This was accomplished successfully and the cable was now securely stretched across the mouth of the U, i.e. across the front of the school. Even in broad daylight, a single cable drawn across would scarcely be visible from Sutherland Grove and the banner was still curled up close to the north wing of the U.
We then descended to the ground to join Jocek who went up to the south-east corner of the north wing to tie the third string. This went without a hitch.
It was now my turn to climb to the north-east corner of the south wing, to tug on the final string which would slide the banner out to the final position and then tie the final string to the drainpipe. I was carrying a jackknife which I had tied to my belt. While I was up there, the strings became tangled and I had to cut the jackknife free. Unfortunately, I cut the wrong string and I realized that I had cut the fourth string of the banner. If I had come down at that point, it would have been an enormous job to pull the banner back, repair the string and try again. So, I knew that I had to tie the string then and there. I was using two knees and my left hand to grip the pipe, so I had my right hand plus my mouth to retie the string. Somehow, I managed to do it but I was exhausted and I had to come down for a breather. Then David White immediately went up and fastened the string. (I seem to recall that David had helped with the third string also, but I'm not sure of that.) This completed the project.
I have to thank Mike for taking those photos all that time ago - they certainly make the memories more vivid today!
Mike Kelly also became a reformed character. He, too, went to Imperial College to study mathematics and he also went on to a law-abiding career, with IBM. He now lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and has posted entries and photos elsewhere on this website.
I won't claim to be a reformed character, although it might have appeared that way since my youthful follies were kept secret until now. I went on to do my National Service in the RAF and then went to Wadham College, Oxford to study mathematics. I now live in New York and work for one of the major international banks.
However, that leaves Jocek and I have no idea what he did. I don't think he was a mathematician, but I remember that he was interested in physics. Jocek, if you read this, remember our agreement that if the plot were exposed, we would all confess. It is time for you to admit your misdeeds in public and accept your share of the blame! Jocek, where are you?
In 1975, I returned to visit the school to see if any of the old masters were still there. Both Mr. King and Mr. Fenn had gone by then but I did meet Mr. Payne (history), Mr. Aubrey (Latin) (who was due to retire the following year), Mr. Gibson (mathematics) and Mr. Coate-Bond (gym). By then, the comprehensive building had been up for about twenty years, but the old building was still there.
I looked up at the prongs at the ends of the roof on both the north and south wings. The end coils of the cable that had held the banner twenty-two years before were still there, clearly visible from the ground to someone who knew what to look for. It would have been troublesome for anyone to remove them and I suppose there was no reason to do so.
But that was thirty-two years ago. I wonder if they are still there now. If any reader goes back to visit the school, please look and post a note on this website.
The next morning, I walked up the drive with another boy and pretended to be puzzled to see the banner. He explained to me that it must be a prank.
We all kept the secret but it is not quite true to say that nobody even suspected. Before we had started climbing, I had invited Tony Bennett to join the group. Being a sensible young man, he declined the invitation. (Tony later went on to study mathematics at Imperial College with Mike and David.) On the Monday, while the banner was still up, he approached me in the corridor. Before I could deny all knowledge, he grasped my hand and said, "Congratulations!" It was pointless to speak, so I remained silent.