Becket School et al.

[philmayfield 5,530]

Shall I tell you about when I wrote off a light aircraft! 

[Beekay 4,422]

That would make for very interesting reading Monseiur. Were you a failed Kamikaze pilot in a previous life.

[philmayfield 5,530]

The tale’s much too long to relate here. When I drove to casualty to get my minor cuts sewn up they let me park right outside the front door when I said I’d been in an aircraft crash. They put me on a trolley and wheeled me straight into x-ray in front of the waiting queue. I always say that if you want to be seen quickly in casualty, tell them you’ve just pranged an aeroplane! We’d just upped the insurance value the week before so our flying group of four made a profit on the cost price of the Cherokee when the payout was received! It was just 40 years ago. I keep meaning to visit the sight to commemorate it.

 

[The Engineer 542]

Dreamon, thanks for the photo.  I remember the chem lab.  From that viewpoint, fume cupboards were on the left and out of shot on the right was the water deioniser and the chemical store room.

 

Any other photos of our old school?

[IAN FINN 609]

Where did you crash phil? Tell us the story teflon.

[philmayfield 5,530]

It was at a farm strip at Park Farm, Kirby Bellars near Melton Mowbray. It was a difficult landing as the strip undulated. I knew I wouldn’t make it so I decided to go around and try again. Unfortunately there was a taut wire fence just over the hill at the end of the strip in which the undercarriage caught. The aircraft stalled and flew into one of the historic walls of Leicestershire. The starboard wing twisted and bent over the exit door so we couldn’t open it. The wing fuel tank had ruptured and was dripping fuel. I was in the left hand seat which I stood on and, under the circumstances, I found hidden strength to bend the door enough so that we could squeeze out. Fortunately the aircraft didn’t burst into flames. We walked away virtually unscathed. As my copilot said at the time ‘all part of life’s rich pattern!’ We reported the accident to the local police. The sergeant said ‘not much happens in Melton but today we’ve had a flasher and now a bloody aeroplane crash!’

[Dreamon 2]

On 11/20/2021 at 4:43 PM, The Engineer said:

Dreamon, thanks for the photo.  I remember the chem lab.  From that viewpoint, fume cupboards were on the left and out of shot on the right was the water deioniser and the chemical store room.

 

Any other photos of our old school?

@The Engineer

 

Hello Engineer, sorry for the long delay in replying.  Here's a picture of the "high-quality" chemistry lab bench. In fact, I was trying to capture decades of carvings but they haven't really come out clearly.

 

 

This is a picture of the front stage in the assembly hall/gym. I remember coming in for some Saturday morning detentions (with the scholar shown blurred in the picture) and clearing out the dusty space under the stage. Groo!

 

 

These are the buildings used to house the physics and biology labs in my day but they may have been used for something else later on.

 

 

Here is the rear of the main building showing the playground. At a rough guess, these pictures muct have been taken about 6 months before the buildings were demolished.

 

 

Hope you enjoy them!  Which years were you at Becket? I left after A-levels in 1974.

 

 

[The Engineer 542]

Thank Dreamon.  Have sent a PM

[Dreamon 2]

On 2/6/2020 at 8:24 AM, David Bentley said:

Another priest was Fr Gregory....ran off with the new French teacher madamoiselle Coquelle..good trade-in for the dog-collar..

 

I've just come across your old post. That sounds like a bit of scandal I missed. Were you joking or is it true?

[Dreamon 2]

Just wondering ... whatever happened to Heather Ackford, one of the biology teachers at Becket?

 

I can't find any reference to her in Google.