Schooldays of Malcolm Archbald SMITH
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Worksop College
Malcolm passed his Common Entrance exams whilst at Papplewick Preparatory School which enabled him to enter public school. His parents had selected Worksop College in Nottinghamshire where he started on 22 September in the Christmas Term of 1954, having been driven there by his mother in her Morris Traveller. He was placed in School House (Scholae) becoming one of the 53 boys in the care of housemaster W.B."Morty" Rigg, and was allocated the school number 435. He started in class 4b which had 24 boys and of which the Rev.Pickles was form master. Malcolm had never been so far away from home, and although he had been a boarder at his previous school, it took a couple of weeks for him to get used to the school. However, once settled, he started to enjoy life there and engaged in a variety of activities. He found that he could cope with all the academic subjects, both arts and sciences, as well as the sports and general activities.
The administration aspect of the school was naturally well organised. To get to and from school at the beginning and end of each term all possessions were packed into a cabin trunk and tuck box. The trunk would be packed according to a list then would be unpacked completely at school. All personal possessions were put into the tuck box which was was about the only personal space available to a pupil and was kept in the Tuck Room. Uniform and other clothing could be purchased at the school shop and the cost invoiced to the parents at the end of term. Next door to the school shop there was a Tuck Shop which sold sweets and the like. Additionally it was open on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons for 'Tuck Shop Teas' and the ultimate was an 'everything' which comprised poached egg on toast with tinned tomatoes and peas for the cost of 2/6d.
Daily life at school was very structured relying on routine, and the daily timetable was published in The School List each term. The morning started with the waking bell at 7:10 and breakfast at 7:55. There were four lesson periods between 9:05 and 12:45 with a 30 minute break in the middle. Each pupil had a desk allocated to them in their classromom in which they kept their exercise books and writing materials which had to be carried when attending classes elsewhere. Lunch was at 12:55 after which there were Club and Team practises before games between 2:15 and 3:50. Tea was served at 4:00 then there was half an hour prep period preceeding two more lessons between 5:15 and 6:40. Supper was at 6:50 then two more half hour prep periods. Next was bedtime for the younger ones whilst the seniors had more prep before dorm time at 9:05. Bath nights were allocated to one night per week. Lights out was at 9:30, supervised by the house captain and house master.
This photo shows the dormitory of Malcolm's house which was located on the first floor of the South wing between the library and the chapel and was a single room with four rows of beds. The bathroom was on the left and the toilets on the right. At college, toilets were known as 'courts'.
Not only was each day carefully structured but also the weekly cycle was set to a routine. On Monday afternoon the Combined Cadet Force activities replaced games. This was basically compulsory but there was a choice between army or RAF. On Wednesdays there were no afternoon lessons so the boys could follow their own interests and even visit the town but there was a callover before second tea to ensure that no-one had gone astray. Saturday was similar to Wednesday except that town visits were not allowed and this was the day that sports matches would be played, either home or away. During the Christmas term rugby was the predominant sport. Sunday was devoid of all tuition or sport but attendance in chapel was compulsory both in the morning and evening.
The term was punctuated with various events such as films, school concerts or plays, lectures and exeat Sundays when boys could be taken out by their parents. On the occasions that his parents came they stayed at Ye Olde Bell hotel at Barnby Moor. Malcolm's progress during his first term was recorded in his diary. He did keep a diary in his latter years but that has since been lost and the contents forgotten. His diary shows that he was immediately performing well in cross country and rugby. He had joined the Numismatic Society and was in the Choral Society with which he attended a concert given by the Vienna Boy's Choir in Sheffield City Hall. He was taken out by his family on two of the exeat days, one of those being his birthday. All Saints Day on 1 November was traditionally a day out for the whole school. Various societies arranged trips to interesting locations and this time Malcolm joined a trip to the City of York where he spent the day looking around the old buildings. Malcolm did not know anyone when he first arrived at school but soon made friends, especially as there were a couple of Southerners who joined his house at the same time. During Malcolm's first term, a boy was expelled having been caught stealing. Being tall and athletic, Malcolm and another boy were chosen to travel with the master to escort the boy home. It was all done in a very civilised manner but it was poignant when they arrived at his home in a very pretty village in Yorkshire. They were ushered in by his elderly mother and given tea before returning back to school. At the end of that first term, Malcolm was one of those who read a lesson in the carol service.
Meals were served in the Great Hall pictured on the left. The boys sat on wooden benches at tables arranged by house and in order of seniority downwards from the top of the table. At lunch, a master would sit at the head of the table but for other meals sat at the high table. The school prefects sat separately at a table in the centre of the hall and the head boy would say grace. Malcolm has a recollection that on the last day of the Christmas term the masters would serve lunch or dinner.
After Christmas at home, Malcolm returned to school and this term his long standing friend Julian Hereward started. Also another Southerner arrived at school whose name was also Malcolm so to avoid any conflict, Malcolm was called 'Archie' by his Southern friends. They continued to be friends in later life but then called each other Mal. This was a busy term for malcolm. The annual Dorm Run was held on 11 February in which Malcolm finished in 52nd place. On 19 March he was amongst those confirmed in the college chapel by the Lord Bishop of Southwell. The school play took place in the school theatre this term between 26 and 28 March and was The Happiest Days of Your Life in which he had a small part.
1955 was the Diamond Jubilee year for Worksop College and the main event during the summer term was the Speech Day which held on 23 July. There was much pomp and ceremony as Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal was in attendance to lay the foundation stone of the new indoor swimming pool. Details of the day were fully reported in the Summer edition of The Worksopian and a book recalling the history of the school was published to mark the occasion. The term finished with the CCF camp at Gandale in Yorkshire which Malcolm attended.
At the beginning of the Christmas Term in 1955 Malcolm moved up into class Remove B in the care of English literature teacher Mrs Beanland. For the All Saints Day outings that year, he believes this was the year that he joined a trip to Leeds where he looked around the city with particular interest in seeing the old London trams. During this term Malcolm continued with the Choral Society who were rehersing "The Revenge" ready for next year. Rugby was the principal sport during the Christmas Term and Malcolm quite enjoyed it. The previous winter he had played in the position of open side prop forward but then moved to number 8 in the scrum. He would have been playing in the junior team for the house matches and they lost in the finals.
The early part of 1956 was marked by heavy snowfall which hung around for six weeks or so. The Dorm Run was held on 10 February and this year Malcolm finished at 18th position, earning his house colours for cross-country. On 26 February he was amongst those in the Choral Society who performed the complicated work "The Revenge" and few days before the actual performance they had been recorded to tape. The CCF Field Day was held on 15 March which was a wet day. Round about this time Malcolm joined the fire squad. Their purpose was to be the first response to a serious fire whilst the fire brigade was called. The squad were properly trained to run out and couple the canvass hoses then train the water jet onto the seat of the fire. Malcolm had a special task which was, upon hearing the alarm, run to the car park and close the water valve that served the original swimming pool then join the remainder of the squad. Had there been areal fire, the actions of the squad would probably been ineffective as the water jet would hardly reach the first floor windows due to the lack of pressure of the water from the school well.
The weather for the Summer Term was also the worst for some time and this interfered with the outdoor activities. A notable event was the dining hall furniture being replaced with new tables and benches. Malcolm was showing signs of promise on the athletic field and gained all of his standards and also was awarded house colours for his contribution to the house decathalon team. School House were top at athletics that year.
Malcolm never overtly broke the school rules but those rules did not keep him in check. He and one of his friends managed to get into town to buy some alcohol (only Babysham) then bring it back to school via Green Lane which was actually out of bounds. They did venture to a pub in town once and actually were served despite looking and feeling out of place. After that they went to the cinema and had a shock when the lights went up and they found they were sitting a few rows behind their housemaster. Pranks frequently took place and typical of that was to ring the chapel bell at night then get back to bed before getting caught. One notable nightime event was when everyone was woken up suddenly in the middle of the night by a series of loud explosions.
Malcolm's brother Stewart started at Worksop in the Christmas Term 1956 and joined School House. Malcolm moved to form Vb of which Mr Philips was master but was tranferred to Va for French at which he unexpectedly did well. He was allocated study 22 which he shared with D W Barraclough.
On 8 February in 1957 Malcolm finished 7th in the Dorm Run. In March he performed in the school production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Iolanthe in which he sang a tenor part as one of the peers. His ability at cross country running found him a place in the school team for some matches that year. During this term Malcolm was in a party that visited Pilkington glassworks in Cheshire. At the end of Lent term he was selected to play for Worksop in the Public School seven-a-side competition at Roehampton which took place at the start of the Easter holidays.
Malcolm started smoking cigarettes at school as some of his friends were already doing so. Peter Styvesant was his brand and one a day was as much as he could manage. A smoker would take a walk that went behind Mason's Copse and have a cigarette whilst out of sight of the school. As a House Prefect, Malcolm shared a study with Barraclough and they would deliberately burn toast to mask the aroma of their cigarettes. As a prefect, Malcolm would smoke in the bathroom then store the 'dog ends' on the picture rail above. At a school reunion dinner in 1959, Mr Beanland said to Malcolm "I understand that you gave up smoking after you left school".
The new indoor swimming pool was opened on 10 June. With that started a range of new activities with swimming classes and sports. Life-saving training was given with Malcolm reaching the level of bronze cross. The pool became the focus of midnight swims which is where Malcolm learned to dive from the springboard. This night time activity became so popular that sometimes there were several groups out at the same time. A routine started whereby anyone wishing to go for a swim left a towel on the end of their bed then someone would go round all the dorms, waking up anyone with a towel on display. Needless to say it got out of hand and was stopped. Also on 10 June the school held their Summer Ball but Malcolm had no partner. One of his housemates said that he knew a girl from the town and that she might have a friend who would come. A sucessful meeting was arranged a week before and Malcolm was introduced to a girl called June who agreed to partner him. Their friendship flourished and they remained friends for the remainder of Malcolm's time at Worksop.
Malcolm had succeeded in passing six out of the seven 'O' level exams that he took then, having foregone the arts and language subject so, at the start of the Christmas term in 1957 heprogressed to the Lower Science VI form under Mr Beanland, specialising in Biology, Chemistry and Physics for his 'A' level exams. He was appointed a House Prefect that term thus sharing a study with the other prefects, Barraclough and Dugdale. As an army cadet, he achieved 1st place in the Order of Merit for his Certificate A part 2 examination. Some of the boys got together to publish a magazine called The Satellite and Malcolm has a couple of submissions published in the one and only edition.
The Lent term in 1958 saw an epidemic of influenza which basically shut the school down for two weeks. The Dorm Run was cancelled as a result however, Malcolm won 3rd place in the steeplchase. He had a place in the school cross-country team and won his school half-colours. He was also in the school shooting team and went to the Public Schools Championship at Bisley at the end of term. Malcolm's housemaster, Mr Atkinson, started a numismatic society which Malcolm joined and was priviledged to be given a few Roman coins.
In the summer term Malcolm had an occasional place representing the school in the ¼ mile and ½ mile events. He ran second string to M R Woodcock in the ¼ mile whom he could never beat as he had set the record of 55.6 seconds in 1956 which stood for 66 years. Malcolm's place was regularly contested by W Wood who had very similar running characteristics. Malcolm won his house colours that year for his contribution to the house decathalon team.
When school returned for the Christmas term in 1958 Malcolm moved up to the Upper Scince VI form. He was appointed head of house and, therefore, a school prefect and consequently occupied study 26 overlooking the quadrangle. He was able to wear his own clothes in place of school uniform except for his Sunday suit. He had a mortar board and blue gown thus being known as a 'Blue Gown'. He was also appointed 'Prefect of Theatre' thus being the highest ranking Blue Gown. At mealtimes, the school prefects sat on their own table on the centre of hall. He wrote home with an account of his investiture and also with information about his leaving school at the end of that term.
Having completing his first year in the Lower Science VI form, Malcolm concluded that he would probably not pass his 'A' level exams so decided that he wanted to quit school and start employment. He had no aspirations to go to university and subsequently agreed with his parents that he should leave at the end of that year, despite having just been made Captain of House. His housemaster, Mr Atkinson, did make approaches to keep Malcolm at school, but he was determined to leave and was keen to get into work. Malcolm wrote home to recount events. After he had left school, Malcolm received a delightful letter from the headmaster, Roger Northcote-Green, thanking him for his contribution at school and wishing him well for the future.
Malcolm became a member of the Old Worksopian society and attended a few gathering, area dinners and returned to the school for reunions. In latter years he became more involved by contributing memories and memorabilia to the school archive.
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