Caludon Castle (and other school) Memories (1 Viewer)

Not got all day as still at work. But a few quick bits.

I left in 84. The last year before the girls started. I was only there for the last 18 months. Because of my past I was put in the naughty boys class :smuggrin:. Block 1 but can't remember things like house names. All my teachers were big. Reynolds, Wilkins I think who played rugger for Cov at the time. Djorjevic or something like that. We called him Jaws as he looked like him out of the James Bond films. The group I was in was nearly all black lads.

Strange that you should ask. Was at a wedding last weekend. The grooms grandfather was a teacher when I was there. He remembered my year very well. We were a right bunch. We spent every day either playing table tennis or fighting. When we ran out of other lads to fight with we just beat the shite out of each other. The only school from the age of about 7 where I wasn't wagging it all the time. Enjoyed it too much.

started in 54 when it opened. First house was Berkeley and jack Knight was housemaster, in 3rd yr went to Mowbray and Blob Davies was housemaster.

head was Tllley and dep head was Cooke. Remember "Vic" Buckingham and Alan Simpson as football coaches, haven't a clue what they taught though.

only guy I had all through teaching one subject was Dia turner geog teacher. Anyone remember "Blackjack" Serby history teacher. remember we went down a pit at Nuneaton (Haunchwood I think ) and the fat so and so got stuck at the pitface.

They wore the cane out on me :smuggrin: Used to get it for either looking after mates or from getting sent out of lessons.... normally TD. The headmaster had a locker full of canes. If you got the choice you took the widest. The thin ones would leave a bruise. The last time I got it I took 3 on my left hand. When he told me to hold my other hand out I said no. He ended up telling me I would be suspended if I didn't. So I said I wouldn't as I wouldn't be able to write if I did. So I took another 3 on my left hand :wideyed: Tried to make out that it didn't hurt. But my hand felt as though it had fell to bits. Sait 'thank you' and left :smuggrin:

Think he gave up on me after that.

Gazolba said:

OK, here's what I remember. I was there from 1961 to 1967. Used to bicycle to school as most kids did.
Boys only then and all male teachers and they never arranged anything with local girl's schools so no opposite sex contact at all.
It was a very sports-oriented school and I always got the impression that was as important as academics.
They used to read the school's sports results out every morning in assembly.
Headmaster: Tilley, Deputy: Cooke (a really scary looking bloke)
I was in Seagrave and then Howard houses. The different houses were like different worlds; a school within a school.
I remember at lunch break kids used to race their Dinky and Corgi toys down the long paved slope next to the gymnasium.
As I recall there was only one black kid in the entire school.
Hated almost every subject except Latin, French and Art as I was good at all those. Top in Latin and won prizes for Art and French.
I think that was mainly down to teachers that did not inspire any enthusiasm for their subjects.
Managed to get 8 'O' levels and 2 'A' levels.
Discipline included detention after school, writing lines and being caned (which I manged to avoid).
Teachers I remember:
Rickard (Geography),
Philbin (Sports) - who later commited suicide,
Knight (English),
Vickery (Maths) - a horrible man,
Titt (Science) - my favourite, for some reason he took a liking to me.
Jackson (Art)
Had very good teachers for French, History and Technical Drawing whose names I forget.
Physics teacher whose name I forget was the worst teacher on Earth. Made you hate his subject.
(I'll probably remember some more stuff and add it later ...)

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Physics guy was probably "Dobbin" Stables. utterly rubbish. remember Vickery - was head of Seagrave I think, another useless one.

Cardinal Newman joined in 87 pretty much kept my head down through the school years

We had a really fit teacher joined at the start of my second year she turned up in a Porsche she was a milf before I knew what a milf was, also we had an English teacher who could be seen heading to the Bell most lunch times

I was at Cally 1982-1987. Chester and Morgan houses. Mr Inness was the headmaster. I remember 'Piggy' Wilkes, Ned Reynolds, Jaws and loads of others.
My Kids are there now and its strange when you go to parents evening and see some of your old teachers.
We were in the 5th year when girls started. One 5th year was seeing a 1st year girl and got bullied for it. He went to one of the PE teachers to whinge about getting picked on and was told to 'get his girlfriend to sort it out'. Also had Mr Cassidy who'd make you stand on a table and get whacked on the arse with a table leg for talking in his art class. Kids have it easy nowdays.

eastwoodsdustman said:

I was at Cally 1982-1987. Chester and Morgan houses. Mr Inness was the headmaster. I remember 'Piggy' Wilkes, Ned Reynolds, Jaws and loads of others.
My Kids are there now and its strange when you go to parents evening and see some of your old teachers.
We were in the 5th year when girls started. One 5th year was seeing a 1st year girl and got bullied for it. He went to one of the PE teachers to whinge about getting picked on and was told to 'get his girlfriend to sort it out'. Also had Mr Cassidy who'd make you stand on a table and get whacked on the arse with a table leg for talking in his art class. Kids have it easy nowdays.

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You was there at the same time as me then. Was sure the girls started in 84/85 though. I have a brother who started when I left. Thought they started when he did. And I was 19 in 1987.

Well remember the teachers you mentioned. Wilkes broke a mates leg playing rugger. There was a bit previous to it. Remember the ambulance coming to collect him.

My days were 92-96 was a Berkeley boy but by then it had gone down to just two houses, Berkeley and Chester.

Started with Innes as Headmaster then to Kineely (sp). Teachers of note, the legendary Beb Brown and his mushrooms, Mr Maddox - not to be messed with, Mr Coleman who once lent a mate of mine money so he didn't get his head kicked in off the guy he owed money to for drugs, Kal Chima a genuinely good guy, Mr 'Burnt Sausage! Bradburn and the utterly delightful Drama teacher Miss Williams :happy:

As first years we used to nick the footballs off the 5th years when it went behind the goal just to be legged by them. There was one guy in particular who was quite quick.........Marlon Devonish!!

I remember Mr Maddox giving another teacher a blackeye after they played 5 a side in the lower gym one lunchtime. I was in Mr Chima's first class when he started. He retired a year or two ago having taught my kids. He's also related to Juggy of CWR fame. Mr Taggart the music teacher is still there too!

Probably going to make you lot sound very old here...

I was at Cally 03-08. No houses during the time I was there, pupils were instead sorted into 8-10 different form groups per year. My time was equally divided between the old school buildings with 5 blocks (which was literally falling apart at this point) and the new, single school building. Have to say I much preferred the earlier years in the old school building - it was a shithole, but it was our shithole.

Teachers who were still knocking about that had been there a while were Mr Chima and Mr Jackson (I think? Art teacher).

RB1992 said:

Probably going to make you lot sound very old here...

I was at Cally 03-08. No houses during the time I was there, pupils were instead sorted into 8-10 different form groups per year. My time was equally divided between the old school buildings with 5 blocks (which was literally falling apart at this point) and the new, single school building. Have to say I much preferred the earlier years in the old school building - it was a shithole, but it was our shithole.

Teachers who were still knocking about that had been there a while were Mr Chima and Mr Jackson (I think? Art teacher).

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It was Mr jackson who got chinned by Mr Maddox. Couldn't remember his name.

I'm ex Caludon Castle and went there in the sixties. When I was a pupil Tilley was the headmaster, with Cooke his deputy. That was the era of the cane and they loved dishing it out. You got it for minor stuff and when I missed a detention I was told to go to the house master, who was Mr Siddell. He was also my rugby teacher and as he always played me in his team, I thought I'd just get a ticking off for forgetting the detention. How wrong was I as he got out his cane and whacked me on my hands, twice hard on each. It really hurt and my fingertips were bleeding, but was told to just go back to my lesson. On my way out with my bottom lip twitching he calmly said : " Don't forget you've got rugby training later. " Can you imagine that happening today ? But I never went back for more of that as it shook me up, so in a way it worked for me.
But I enjoyed my years there and I was in Talbot and Greene, and as I loved football and rugby and cricket too it was mainly good times. I started in set 2 so I must have been fairly bright, but in my last year was in set 4. All I cared about was sport and because the teams I was in were successful the school didn't care if I wasn't putting much effort in the classroom. Caludon looking back was geared towards sport over education I found, and even my English teacher a Mr Day was our football coach, and he also loved rock music and I recall him playing Cream and Family in lessons. He was a great bloke/teacher and he was more like an uncle than a teacher. But Vic Webb an ex army major our maths teacher was a hard bastard, and used to punch pupils, or throw board rubbers at you ! But he too doubled up as the rugger coach, and if you got stuck in on the pitch he liked you.
So yes discipline was there and if you messed about you'd get punished, but if you were sporty they left you alone. So all in all Cally was alright.

I was in Cally briefly for the 1st year and most of the 2nd year (can't remember what year but finished Secondary school in 1982. I was in Berkeley then Seagrave Houses. Rupert the bear was the Headmaster (Innes). Mr Denny was the music teacher also my Housemaster at Seagrave. I remember a very young teacher Mr Winter who lived at the YMCA. That's about it. Although I do remember that the school was visited by the then CCFC captain Terry Yorath in his Brown Austin Princess sponsored by Parkside