The Cane (corporal Punishment) !


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Are we too soft on kids today?

I remember getting the cane on quite a few occasions. The last time was from 'Piggy' Roberts the Woodwork teacher. he was not averse to hitting you with a piece of 3x2. I can’t remember the name of his cane, or was it 'Percy'.

He would insist you held your arm out straight, palm up, with fingers flexed downwards to fully reveal the palm. He would then cane you sharply.

If you moved your hand you would get an extra one.

Marciniak the metalwork teacher adopted another method.

I remember his broad Polish accent, "BOY"!

He would grip the fine hairs on the back of your neck with his fingres, whilst talking close to your face. He would then gradually raise the height of his hand stretching the hair. You would end up standing on tip toes, wincing! :o

"Now go and 'oil blue' that work BOY!"

I never had a problem with him. Being a stamp collector, I used to go into town to get his first day covers. What a good skive that was. :D

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I always behaved!  

The sadism from teachers that went on back then was unreal but I suppose they experienced it in their own schooldays. The threat of violence to ensure discipline certainly kept a lot of us in check. N

That's too bad, Colly.  Seems to me he was showing who is really stupid.  Seriously, it is a legitimate question and sound theologians have debated it over the years.  FWIW.  I believe there will be a

Guest a5h4w

I used to get on well with Mr. Marciniak, never once fell foul of him.. Metalwork was my reason for going to school .. twisted shank poker, planished fruit bowl, adjustable spanner, copper tankard, metal lamp standard, plus other stuff.. and I think the tankard is still around to this day at one of my aunts .. a double lesson metalwork wasn't quite long enough !

A true exponent of 'spare the rod and spoil the child' was a teacher called Webb who used to take technical drawing, I can remember him smashing down on my hands with vigour and gusto, for the unholy crime of reaching behind that bottom brick building in the playground and retreiving a ball .. it hurt that much that during the next lesson which was art, I just sat there writhing in agony.. so much so I got up and went home ! .. and nothing was ever said !

- Yes a fine chap was Webby !!! :angry:

AL.

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Indeed Webb was a fine teacher.

I remember him catching someone smoking at break time.

(Webby) Ahhhh ! H****** Caught you at last boy, Go to my room.

(H******) Oh Sir can't I have break First.

(Webby) Certainly boy, go to my room, I will break your arm!

Ahhh that's when teachers had a sence of humor.

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Guest a5h4w

And what about the strap? as carried by the likes of 'pop' Williams - RE and music..

now that was a mean looking piece of kit approx 12" to 18" long as I can recall, with tassles at the end, and about a quarter inch thick.. used in the right hands that could have ripped flesh no sweat ! .. I seem to recall him whacking some boy with it once, but thankfully I never fell foul of the implement , he carried it around with him wherever he went as a visual deterent !

now Pop Williams is another teacher who deserves a topic in his own right !

everyone from the early 60s will remember him very very well - Highly polished brown shoes and a bald head to match, and always sucking a menthol tune. <_<

was he there mid / late 60s ?

AL.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This Sounds Like "Piggy" Roberts? the woodwork teacher apart from the strap and Tune.

Pop Williams, I don't remember him?

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Guest a5h4w

Pop had obviously left by the time you'd got there then, or you'd have known exactly what I was talking about .. an highly contoversial teacher was Pop!

(one never really liked being alone in his company).

and Piggy, well never had much to do with him, he had always been the woodwork teacher during my term, and the only occasions I saw him was through the connecting door at the side of the furnace from within the metalwork room, usually you could hear some sort of commotion going on, compared to the sublime tranquility of the metalwork class. (other than a few expletives - missed hammer blows etc)

It would have been interesting to have had some lessons in there though, and I often wonder why they never alternated between the two.

BTW - what differences did going to mixed education make?

did the gals take wood/metal work? - did the lads take cooking? - and had the cane been abolished by then ?..... :unsure:

AL.

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Well I probably never met Pop then?

Interesting your recollection of that connecting door to Piggy's room.

I would never have remembered that until you mentioned it.

In the metalwork room, was a drum of old engine oil.

We used to dip hot work in it, to 'Oil Blue', I am wondering if this also

inhibited rust? or if it was just for the colour.

I never heard of the Oil Bluing process since.

Perhaps it was a Polish thing ? ;)

As for merging with the girls school, That deserves a seperate topic.

It's now got one....

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  • 8 years later...

Six of the best, from Mr Spencer in 1954 (cant remember the month) for smokeing behind the air raid shelter in the main play ground, he even confiscated my ciggy box with my Park Drive fags in it.

I left school easter 1955, Good old days..

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dennis i had not even started school then sep 55 but shortly after i started school a new girlcame to live on person st off deabil st i first met her when the man with the barrel organ and the little monkey came onto debil st her her brother came to top of there st to see himm we became good friends for about three years , the point i ment to make was that her name was rosie marciniack and she was the nice of your teacher her dad henry and three of his brothers came to englan in the war and all were in the polish airforce regiment. henry drove a old ford car and used to take me out for days out with rosie and her brother peter .

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Dennis

You left TB 13 years before me. I bet it hadn't changed much since your day.

I never did find out the purpose for 'Oil Bluing' Steel, maybe someone who joined since 2004 will tell us?

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Piggy Roberts, (Woodwork), Mr Webb (Technical Drawing) and Pop Williams (Music) were there when I attended Trent Bridge Senior Boys between 1955 and 1959. I cannot ever remember seeing these teachers dishing out the punishment. I was in the 'A stream' throughout my years there and nobody really messed around in lessons. I can only remember one time when a teacher physically punished a pupil. The pupil was sat at the back of the class and he was using his ruler to send bits of blotting paper to pupils near the front. The teacher saw one bit and warned the class to cut it out. The pupil did it again and the teacher jumped out of his chair and stormed to the back of the class. The rage on his face caused somebody, in fear of his life, to tell him who the culprit was. The teacher grabbed hold of the culprit, slapped him around the head, dragged him to the classroom door and threw him into the Assembly Hall telling him to wait outside the Headmasters (Mr. Green) door. Lots of the desks had gone flying all over the place and the rest of the class just stood there as silent as a mouse. The teacher told us to tidy the room up and get on with the lesson. That was the only time I ever saw this teacher have a problem in his classroom. I would imagine that when the word got round he wouldn't ever have a problem with any pupil again. The only problem that I ever had at Trent Bridge was with a Relief Teacher. I was the Bosworth House Captain and it was bitterly cold outdoors. I asked my Housemaster for permission for two friends ( Johnny Attenborough and Alan Blythe) and I to stay in his classroom during the break periods to keep warm. He said it was ok so long as only the three of us was in there and that we'd keep quiet, which we did. On the second day we sat there talking and the Relief Teacher walked in, shouting at us to get out. I tried to explain the situation to him but he started to manhandle us, trying to chuck us out of the classroom. I grabbed hold of his jacket lapels and smashed the back of his head into a metal cupboard. He reported me to the Headmaster and I had to go to his office. After explaining what had happened he said that he would speak to my Housemaster and get back to me but I never heard another word about it. We carried on keeping warm during break times.

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no mick the only one i realy knew was henry but then he was alwaysa mr marciniac as were his brothers when i met them only knew henrys name years later when i discovered they lived in lenton henry and joan used to come in whitehart for the odd drink and told me to call them by first names joan died of cancer not long after this and henry did not come out so much i sometimes bump into rose in town but not for a year or two she was living in west bridgeford with her husband last time i saw her.

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Don't recall ever receiving the cane (I think I would have remembered it) but I did get the 'slipper' on a couple of occasions. Remember well, the sadistic sports master actually taking a run-up down the corridor to do this. How I'd like to meet him now...

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I forgot to mention something regarding Mr Webb. When we had Technical Drawing it was always the last lesson before lunch. Mr Webb would give me some money and I'd go to the cake shop and buy him a cake and a chocolate bar. I'd always make sure that I'd get back to the class as the lesson was about to end. I had no interest in Technical Drawing so I loved popping off to the cake shop. I've looked on Google Maps and I'm sure it was the one at the junction of Turney Street / Fraser Road and London Road, opposite the old Turney building. It's now a launderette.

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When I walked into the cake shop it would be a treat for my senses as I smelt the freshly baked cakes and bread. I always hoped that I'd be in a queue because I'd then have time to look and smell all the goodies on offer. Unfortunately, none of it was for me as I had a school dinner waiting for me. I wish I'd had a choice...lol

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i used to go shopping to morrisons now tsb bank in netherfield for school cookery ingredients for the week manager tony harrison used to bring us back up to school in his car as there was always too much for us to carry back knew tony because his mum was my red cross commandant and i often got invited for tea to there house they lived in the bungalow next to the cemetary gedling near grey goose.

netherfield had a couple of cake shops but the one i liked best was smiths next to reads bike shop.

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I had the dubious pleasure of attending Chandos St School in Netherfield 58/62, (a safe haven for a bunch of power crazed teachers) corporal punishment was rife, from Mr Marsh the headmaster (cane), Mr Winter (rubber tubing from the science lab), PoP Stanley (slipper), Mr Brazier (strap) Mad Mick Marshall RE teacher(cane) Mr Jones (clip behind the tab) Mr Fox (well aimed piece of chalk, or blackboard rubber whichever was the handiest) Mr Still and Mr Pike (woodwork, chisel between the fingers or lump of wood to any part of the body) PE teacher, name escapes me, (slipper). Happy days.

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most i ever got 500 lines or chalk rubber thrown onto you desk so dust went all over you hit with a ruller once but ive told you all that story before its no wonder most of us hated school

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As a first form pupil at Henry Mellish Grammar in the early 60s we had a particularly nasty teacher whose speciality was to lift a boy to his feet by the hair and then slap him round the face as hard as possible. I received this treatment once for saying a single word to the lad next to me and have never forgotten it. There were quite a few sadistic teachers at the schools I attended. Saw canes smashed over boys heads and one lads head cut open by a flying board rubber. To be fair there were also some truly inspirational teachers too.

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