Henry Mellish

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Stan,you seem like a nice chap..............so don't be Mardy...........and do what Jill tells ya..............lol.

[TBI 2,351]

It's an opportunity for folk to sometimes get things off their chests. Like they used to say on that ad, it's good to talk.

[loppylugs 8,427]

Interesting responses and I agree with them.  Please don't depart because all do not agree with you, Stan.  You made it clear that you had some bad experiences.  I, for one, am sorry about that.  If you read the Chandos school stuff on here you will see some griping of mine.  When all was said and done though, they did instill some values of hard work and respect for others.

 

The way I see it, it is not for one or two teachers to police a whole school.  They just can't do it.  If misbehaviour takes place in their domains eg, science lab. Then they better deal with it there or bring the headmaster into it.  He is the overall manager of the place.

 

Forgive me if I'm a bit defensive about Bob.  He was like a father to me more than a father in law.  A mentor and a friend.

 

keep posting, mate. I'm sure you've got lots to contribute.

[Stan The Jockey 21]

Of course I don’t think that Dannimac and Spud were any worse than other members of staff. They were just part of the overall problem. I only mentioned their names because they have been heralded from the rooftops in earlier posts.

 

I remember a summer’s day when the lunch break could be taken on the field. And one of the school yobbos decided to make me sit down on the grass, while he hit me every fifteen seconds on my chest. This went on for about ten minutes. I was in complete agony. I’m amazed my ribs didn’t break. I couldn’t even walk properly afterwards. The day after, I looked like a West Indian bluetit. Luckily my parents never found out. But where were Dannimac and Spud when that was going on? Probably having a nice cup of tea in the staff room, whilst talking about cars.

 

My wife became a head teacher. She lifted her school up to Ofsted ‘outstanding’. And I’m sure she wouldn’t have let her pupils run riot like the staff did at Smelly Henry.

 

As a side issue, I wanted to learn how to play cricket. But no-one at Mellish ever taught me. Despite the school running several teams. So I was about 20 when I started to play. And I later became reasonably good.

 

I didn’t smile for several years. But I do now!

[philmayfield 6,115]

You obviously have a very jaundiced view of the school. I spent seven very happy years there and never experienced the sort of problems to which you refer. Obviously some teachers were better than others and some had psychopathic tendencies which made them unfit for the but that's what life's like. It's what you make of it at the time that matters. I've come across a lot of obnoxious individuals in my business life but I've always won in the end because I behaved better than them. Perhaps being at Mellish taught me this!

[loppylugs 8,427]

That was obviously a case of bullying / abuse, and should never have happened.  That said, we come back to the central issues.  Were those particular teachers assigned to oversee the outdoor activities that day?  If they were and were not doing their duty they should have been reprimanded.  You do not say whether such was their duty that day.

 

Bullies, in my experience are sneaky cowards.  They will not do their dirty work when they know a teacher or other supervisor is around.  The matter should have been reported to the head for his intervention.

 

At the secondary school I attended the teachers were a mixed bunch but I don't think any would have condoned such bullying.  The head was very handy with the cane for such types if caught and they knew it.  

 

Sorry you suffered such abuse.

[Jill Sparrow 10,303]

At the school I went to, there was no bullying among the girls. We were all bullied by the staff! Gave us a sense of solidarity!  

[woody 552]

I was subjected to some bullying when I first started at Mellish as I was a fair bit bigger than average. As time went by and my interest in rugby grew the opportunity to deal with the bullies started to become apparent. Sooner or later we came face to face on the pitch and they discovered that despite my extra size I could run as fast as them and when I caught them it hurt. A well placed elbow or knee got the message over quickly and, as others have said, a bully does not do well in public. It didn't take long for things to settle down using this tactic. This was all down to a quiet word from one of the teachers who supervised training and had obviously seen what had been happening. His advice to give them some back paid off, and of course he was keeping his eye who the guilty people were for future reference. It taught me to stand up for myself when needed and how to turn the actions of others against them.

[Guest]

Mmm! School bullies- very cowardly people....a few 1st years sought my help on Ruddington Lane way back when.

Same pillocks tried this rubbish in the working world.

[Orlando 10]

Oh come on Stan ! I thought maybe you'd been subjected to some traumatic  abuse to make you so jaundiced about the place. If that's the worst that happened, you got off lightly ! As for wanting to learn cricket, surely every boy played the game in 1961 ! You must have led a rather sheltered life up til then.  Anyway the policing at break times was the job of the prefects not the teachers so please don't blame them ! And anyway where were your mates ?

 

It really is quite astonishing that a man of your years should not have been able to make his peace with the place. From the vantage point of mature years it may have been hoped that you would possibly realise a debt of gratitude was in order to an establishment that was largely responsible for getting you a string of O levels, a 6th form education and then, on your own admission, a job at the end of it all ! 

 

Also citing Dannimac as part of the problem is really bad form especially after the nature of the memories being shared here. He really was a darling of a man and was universally liked, nay loved. I was privileged only to have had one physics lesson with him as cover for Ena Ben. The contrast in teaching styles was remarkable and he held a class of 12 year olds entranced as he calmly taught us about electrical currents embellishing the lesson by relating how the Algerian electricians he had come across in the war were able to fix all the equipment whilst still plugged into the mains as they'd become immune to the shocks ! 

 

I wonder Loppy ? Did he ever tell you of his wartime experiences ? 

[loppylugs 8,427]

No he never talked about war time experiences, Orlando.  I never asked.  I think he had moved to Nottingham from the Middlesborough area in the late 40s. I had always assumed that teaching was one of those professions that kept you from the call up, but I could be wrong on that.

[Jill Sparrow 10,303]

#236

 

Don't think teaching was a reserved occupation, Loppy. It might have been for the first few months but then retired teachers were called upon to return to the classroom as those of conscription age were called up. 

[Stan The Jockey 21]

 

There’s an expression about the bearer of bad news, isn’t there? Anyway, as I’m being attacked from all sides, I’ll try one more time to explain myself. Then I’ll stop posting.

 

I’ve no idea which teachers were supposed to be on playground duty on a certain day 52 years ago. I wouldn’t have known on the day itself, so God knows how I’m supposed to remember now! But, in any case, I cannot see the relevance.

 

I had quite a successful business career, and in doing so worked with hundreds of different people. And I could count on one hand those who were clock-watching jobsworths. Most of my colleagues chose to put their lives into their jobs. They were permanently trying to make things better. They wouldn’t admit it now, but they were. And I’m damned sure that if any of them worked as a teacher at Henry Mellish, they would have done the same there. So they wouldn’t have been taking lunch breaks whilst there were fights outside the staff room window. And they wouldn’t be driving home past a melee of boys being dragged along Highbury Vale by a trolleybus. They’d have put their whole Mellish careers into trying to make a difference. And my wife’s school staff would have done likewise. This is what I’ve been rattling on about in previous posts!

 

I know Dannimac and Spud were lovely blokes, but that’s not been my point. I’ve only used their names because people knew them. And I was by no means the softest weakest kid on our year – there were a lot who received much more aggro than I did. And surely knuckledusters brought in from Hucknall shouldn’t have been allowed in a classroom?

 

We were supposed to be a school. Not a youth detention centre. Or an army training camp. The school ethos of "let them sort themselves out, it’ll make men of them" seemed totally wrong to me.

 

Coincidentally I have a next door neighbour who also attended Stinky Henry. I guess he would have started in 57 or 58. I know he hated the place, but I don’t know why. I’m now going to ask him!

 

Thanks for reading my garbage.

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,303]

#238

 

It's not garbage, Stan. It's your experience of a schooling which wasn't very pleasant.

 

Ye gods, these days if a teacher so much as looks at a pupil in a manner he or she finds unacceptable, there's hell to pay. So why shouldn't those of us who didn't enjoy the process of education have the opportunity to posit our views?

 

You're right, Stan, about those who put their all into their work and those who do the bare minimum, or less, it they think they can get away with it. I like to think I have always been and still am one of the former.

 

Perhaps you could try to persuade your neighbour to post his school experiences on NS. There are those on here who suffered the rigors of The Manning along with me and have not been afraid to add their comments. Although I generally treat those years with humour, I didn't find them amusing at the time!

[loppylugs 8,427]

What you say is not garbage, Stan.  They are your experiences.  Neither are you being attacked from all sides.  A difference of opinion does not constitute an attack.  That was your legitimate opinion of the place.  Some disagree.  I felt similarly about Chandos school.  I'm sure others might disagree.  I would not consider that an attack.

 

I for one, hope you keep posting. I'm sure you have lots of great memories to share.  Lets just move on from this one.

[Stan The Jockey 21]

 

A rider!

 

When you are terrified of going to school, you do tend afterwards to look for reasons why. I was frightened all day, every day, for the first few years. And I felt neglected by the staff. I needed an arm round my shoulder, and some gentle reassurance. But I never got it. Hence my current hatred of the place.

 

At one point Scratch Hitchison tried to ‘make me more of a man’ by making me stand up and give a short talk about something or other. God knows what. But this had completely the opposite effect! I then started absconding, cheeking off the staff, etc., etc.

 

What the school should have realised was that, if a teaching method works for 75% of the pupils, then, as an obvious statement of fact, it doesn’t for the other 25%. They seemed to forget that! And none of them, Spud and Dannimac included, showed any inclination to try to do anything about it.

 

My next door neighbour is currently lounging around at his Norfolk pad. So I can’t quiz him. But I guess that his anti-Mellish sentiments are more ‘smoking based’ than mine!

 

Cheers.

[Jill Sparrow 10,303]

#241

 

We'd be interested to hear them, Stan, when he returns!

[Rob J 13]

I thought that I would catch up with the latest threads on the forum as I haven't posted for a while and am fascinated by the intensity of the recent posts regarding our old school. As I have said previously life at the school was tough at times with a mix of talent both in scholars and teaching staff but all I know is that it gave me a well grounded education that held me in good stead during my working life and now retirement. The other point to bear in mind is that also in adult life there is the same mix in every walk of life including the workplace. Life's too short to dwell on the negatives! 

[MargieH 7,599]

Well said, RobJ

[FLY2 10,108]

Exactly Margie !  I was always told by my dad, that you only get out of life what you are prepared to put into it. 

I've  'always' tried to adhere to that. 

[philmayfield 6,115]

Mellish for me was nothing like it has been described. I left in 1962. There might have been bullying, that happens in all walks of life, but I was never bullied and don't recollect any major instances of it. To pick on two members of staff, both who were honourable men, was unfair. I spent many happy years there and thoroughly enjoyed it. It gave me a solid foundation for all aspects of life. I have been successful in my professional and business careers and owe a debt of gratitude to a fine school. 

[Rob J 13]

Exactly Phil. It was a fine school which, at the time when I left in 1963, ranked second only to Nottingham High School. It had an excellent reputation both from a scholastic and sporting point of view as well as providing a CCF which very few schools in the area had.

By the way, Loppy I saw by chance the photo of you and your wife to be (Bob McC's daughter?) posted a couple of years ago who I do remember on the Rome Olympics trip. Great experience for a 14 year old lad!!

 

 

[loppylugs 8,427]

You know Rob, I can't even remember which thread I posted that in.   If you can send me a link I'd be interested in seeing it again.  We had a few pics of the two of us together, but not the number that folks tend to take today.  She had a lot of Bob's character.  Kind, good natured, patient.  She needed to be with me.  Lol.  She had good memories and quite a few pictures of the Rome Olympics.  I still have them somewhere in the cupboard.  Mostly long shots of athletes that are unrecognizable.

[Rob J 13]

 loppylugs     3,505

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 · #19

Posted June 21, 2014 · 

Don't know if this will work.

Taken at a photo booth in the old Vic station. With my girlfriend of 1963 who later became my wife.

Hi Loppy. This was in the Woolworths Photo Booths thread.

Rob J

[loppylugs 8,427]

Thank you so much, Rob.  I look like the hound that got the rabbit, don't I?

 

As my memory gets worse I'm really going to have to play with the search features on the site until I get familiar with them.  Sometimes I can't remember what I posted yesterday.  Fifty years ago, no problem.

 

Thanks again.

 

Edited to add that was indeed Bob's daughter, Janet.