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Hi. Im a 1961 to 1968 er. As I’ve said before, Mellish didn’t do me much good. I never felt safe there. I was always looking over my shoulder. But I was quick on my toes, so I never did actually get hit! I don’t think that any of the masters helped to prevent bullying. Not even the ‘nice’ ones, like Spud and Danny Mac. In fact, in some ways, they were probably worse!

 

The reason that I didn’t leave aged 16 was because, by that age, I had completely lost confidence to do anything much at all. But things got much better later in life. All’s well that ends well!

 

Although my submission name is Stan The Jockey, you can find out who I really am by looking on Amazon Books. My comedy cricket book is entitled ‘The Season That Was’. I’m 70 soon.

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Sorry TBI. I really don’t understand why the system was junked - unless it was to bring “ equality”, meaning mediocrity, to every kid. We are NOT equally academically gifted, and thank God. I went to

I think the difference between Grammar and secondary education was vast,,, Qualifications GCEs etc were hardly in our vocabulary at Padstow............i soon realised after a visit from the ''Youth Em

I for one loved school.  Grew up on a Council Estate, passed the 11+ and went to Grammar School.  Not a perfect school but always grateful for a good education.  Both my Mum and Dad passed to go to Gr

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Just had a good look at the new website which is really informative. It includes the panoramic photos of staff and pupils over the years and it made me think - what sort of structural arrangement was constructed to enable the photos to be taken? As a retired civil engineer I am intrigued. Can anyone remember?

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I certainly remember the structure. I started on the ground level in 1a and worked my way up to the top in the sixth-form. I don't recollect seeing the raw construction but I would imagine it was done from scaffolding and planks. I think it was taken at two yearly intervals. My old friend and contemporary, Prof. Malcolm Peaker FRS is the instigator of the site.

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I thought it had to be something like a temporary stand at a sports event taking a lot of weight from virtually the whole school except those on the ground!! I saw the photo of the Biology Library crew and do remember Malcolm and yourself although I was probably a couple of years younger (1957-64). Malcolm is doing a great job. The information on the staff over the years is very comprehensive.

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Malc never gives up on his research. He does have a website on zoology and another on photography. At one time, for a short period, he was the director of London Zoo. He lives in Ayrshire where, until retirement, he ran a research institute. To be a Fellow of the Royal Society is quite an an achievement. I'll call him and see if he remembers how the panoramic 'photos were set up.

 

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Malc was wondering about this as well. He thinks it was made of wood and that Panora took it with them from school to school. There was certainly nothing like it stored at the school. Like the true researcher that he is he’s checking with other contacts for further information.

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FWIW, I remember all the staging being put up for the Mundella panoramic. It wasn't done by people or with materials from the school. I've no idea which photo company was used. Mundella had them done every five years.

 

Rickety thing too, I was stood up near the back row, no H&S then.

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When the Carlton-Le-Willows panoramic photo was being taken I only remember the long wooden benches from the Gym being used but there must have been chairs used too, or benches on top of benches.  Just looked at one on the school FB site.  The front row are sitting on the floor, next row kneeling, next row sitting on chairs, next standing behind, next are all a bit taller pupils, then I think the gym benches were used.   

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On 10/20/2015 at 6:09 PM, Dikdok said:

 

Can you help me out with something? I seem to recall Harry Hadwin teaching biology, but everyone else seems to think he was physics. If he didn't teach biology, who did?

Dick

Hadwin - Biology, Zoology, Botany. Kept dead fish in the death tank for dissection.

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On 10/21/2015 at 5:52 AM, Dikdok said:

Apparently the Messerschmitt had a few adventures, it also mysteriously appeared behind the pillars of the bike shed one time.

I recall filling the sinks in the chem lab with gas and blowing the wooden sink cover off, I think it went about 3 feet, but I'd forgotten about the big explosion. Did anyone ever get the blame for it? Remember making nitrogen tri-iodide and putting it on door handles ( it exploded on contact)?

This is quite fun. My wife thinks I'm having an affair as I spend so much time on the laptop!

I used to make Nitrogen tri-iodide too. We also mixed sodium chlorate and sugar with water, soaked the board run]bber, dried it out and put match heads in. Also made rockets from cloth with dried sodium chlorate and made flares which we set off in the air raid shelters - we had keys we made after pinching that deaf caretakers' set.

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Hi. My name is Martin. i attended HM from 1965. I remember Arsey Bottoms, Labby, Miniman, Hitch, Piggy, Jed Strutt, Froggy, Pablo and many others. Never got bullied by other students, but the old, WW2 damaged staff were another proposition. I saw students thumped, kicked and hit with various objects. 

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I left a few years before you started Martin but I was pleased to see the tradition of explosives and pyrotechnics continued. Some of my friends who engaged in that activity became eminent scientists although it didn’t assist my accountancy career. We too obtained the school master key. A teacher lent his keys to someone who rushed down the road to get a copy before returning it. The copies were copied so we all had one. A lot of the staff were sadists. They held officer rank in the war and treated us like the erks they were previously in charge of. Hutchinson and Frank Clark we’re prime examples, although Charlie Evans, a Lancaster pilot, was a good guy. I attended the closing ceremony prior to the fine building being demolished.

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Hi everyone, just posting to see who’s still alive and kicking from the good old days at Mellish! I know you’re still around, Phil, is there anyone else out there from the late 50’s-early 60’s? The only ones I’ve found so far are Chris Guy and of course Malc Peaker, who I’m sure won’t mind being reminded he always seemed a bit of a nerd and must now surely be the most highly qualified and eminent nerd to have come out of our school!

Richard (Dick) Brown 54-61

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I remember those dogfish kept in the tank of formalin, the fumes were terrible. Also chasing puddles of mercury round the bench, “cleaning” pennies in hydrochloric acid, killing earthworms and frogs in jars with gas. Also I still have a scar on my thumb from trying to catch a cutthroat razor that I knocked off the bench in the biology lab. Happy days.

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Hi Dikdok i didn't go to Mellish but the wifes cousin did think he was there from late 50s to the early 60s. His name is Graham Baker he would be about 78 years old now and lives at Giltbrook when he was at Mellish he lived in Kimberley.

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hi I went to  mellish   Steve Turner   the class register went  lees Maitland March Nott oldfield Oreschyn parr parker parkinson reid reid reinders richardson roper russel smith smith slater swift thorley  torr turner williams williamson ?????? good days when you could take a home made pipe bomb on cross country and let it off on the railway line near the golf course if you had wished to 

 

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we connected the water tap to the gas tap with the hose off a bunsen burner in the chemistry lab and turned both taps on --the water won easily thundering down the gas main for 10 minutes   no hot dinners that day   the ovens werent working  wonder why??

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Nothing like pipe bombs but one of our group made a two stage missile launched out of resonance tubes from the physics lab. Sadly it exploded before take off. The headmaster couldn't cane him because he had a heart disease so he was suspended for two weeks. He's still alive today!

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