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mgread1200, Do you know, I think you may be right about the guy, I stand by the things I personally wrote about him but looking at it from your perspective he was doing his job to the best of his ability the way he saw it, and we as teenage boys thought we knew it all, it took teachers like Fred to bring us back down to earth and make sure we understood our place in the pecking order and as you say it stood you and no doubt a lot of other boys (myself included) in good stead for the rest of our lives so in that respect, yes RIP Fred

Rog

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I was at Fairham from 65 to 73. Fleming house. If you do the maths and notice I was there 8 years. When my fifth year spectacularly failed en masse to achieve the five O levels required to go on to ta

Attended Fairham Comp'  September 1960 to July 1964.  Managed to keep my head down for the 4 years. Escaped the floggings though.  Made my first and last theatrical appearance having a two word bit pa

This is the photo I mentioned. I think I grabbed it from Friends Reunited. I had no involvement with the Penny Farthing; it was a few years before my time.   The location is still reco

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Sorry to bump this thread a bit, but I've just joined the forum.

I went to Fairham from 1959 - 1966. I was in Fleming House under Mr. Hind, a very kind man and a good teacher. I was in Fa, tutor Mr. Bradstock then Fe with Mr Penchion who played a saxophone in a band. Sir Alexander Fleming was dead by then but I met his wife, Lady Fleming, when she came to the school. Maths was Frank Mulaney, again an excellent teacher. For one year we had 'Mabel' Thorpe instead and he was not so good. Doc Chapman for French, Mr. Baron geography, Sid Bolton for PE, he was a swine. Mr. Merrit for History, Mr. Wallace for handwriting (really!), and Mr Allen for English. He was a huge man, very fat and we called him Landberger Gessler after the character in William Tell, then on the TV. Mr. Thom headmaster of course. We called him Isiah as he had lost an eye in the war as a pilot and "One eye's 'igher than the other". Cruel little buggers kids. Mr Parham a little sandy haired man, was deputy head.

I still think Fred Riddell was a bully. When taking assembly he would stand on the stage and point at a boy in the front who was by now quaking, and say "touch the boy to your left", then to him say "touch the boy behind you" and he would thus work his way through the hall frightening a dozen boys to get to the one he wanted near the back of the hall. Then he'd say "you're waving around like corn in the wind. See me after assembly" And you knew what that meant.

Many years later, maybe 25 years later, I was on a train to London when I heard his voice and the sound of it took me back all those years to be a frightened boy again. i seriously thought of getting up and going to his table and confronting him in front of his colleagues (I think he was a Labour Councillor in charge of education) but I didn't do it. If I can think of Mr Hind and Frank Mulaney fondly as good teachers I can think of Fred Riddell as a bad one.

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I attended one term sept 70 - July 71 and was in the Frank Wittle House, which had the trendiest colour "purple" they had a seven day timetable that was totaly confusing! and the "Midland Maths Experiment" which has left me " Numerically Dyslexic" there was a very nasty piece of work in the form of a religious Knowledge teacher by the name of Naylor?

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Hi, Bing I was at Fairham in Sir Frank Whittle House from 1962 to 1964, Mr.Hind or Mr.Heinz? sorry my memory on names is not good now, I do remember Mr. Thom he gave the cane and the strap can't forget that but I did enjoy my time Fairham and the caning got less and less.

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mr naylor and mr perry pe were still there when my son was there early 90s both retiered sortly after he left mr perry had a thing about my sons legs because he was a keen cyclist but used to get mad with him couse he could never get him interested in pe or sports of any kind when he was at school although he whould often do 50 mile cycle rides and go of ice skating absailing climbing with freinds swimming. mr perry used to say to me i wish i could get him interested in school sports he whould be realy good as he is in really good shape for sport he was not happy when i said i was not worried about him not wanting to do sports at school as long as he was doing some and enjoying what he did i hated pe at school but loved to go riding skating swimming in my own timeand i walked a lot all over the place so if i could get out of pe i would

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I remember Naylor or Tack as we called him, yes a vindictive sort of bloke, had his moments with the slipper as I remember, Mr Perry PE teacher I remember too piggy/babs he was indoor world champion at 1500 mtrs back in the late 60's, not a bad sort really but was obsessed with keeping fit, I seem to have gone the other way and kept fat

Rog

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Chris Perry can still be seen around Nottingham city centre. In the last few years I've seen him several times times when I've been in town on a Saturday morning.

Even if you don't know him, you'll spot him - he will be wearing a smart jacket, shirt, tie, ....and shorts. In appearance he doesn't seem to have changed over the past 40 years; same build, same beard, same voice.

I went to Fairham from 1959 - 1966. I was in Fleming House under Mr. Hind, a very kind man and a good teacher. I was in Fa, tutor Mr. Bradstock then Fe with Mr Penchion who played a saxophone in a band.

I was in Fleming A, but a few years later. Tutor then was Mr Holt, but he left and was replaced by Mr Price. I never knew Hind as housemaster; he left just as I started and his successor was Mr Smart who I always thought was a good bloke.

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Mr Hind, excellent chap, he left after my first year (don't think it was because of me though) he lived in a big house on Wilford lane Clifton side and opposite Rivermead flats (don't know if they are still called that), very good teacher, does anyone remember Humphrey Dobinson? English teacher and ornithologist, great bloke along with his mate Richard Warren

Rog

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Dick Warren, yes. How about Mr. E. De Courtney-Wellum, known as "Wishbone" after the cook in the "Rawhide" TV cowboy series. Mick Burns, Mr. Sturtivant, Mr Mander (metalwork, I think). Mr Owen, physics, who had a lovely lilting Welsh accent, There was Mike Smith took Latin which I did for 6 years. I can now read the back of a coin or an archbishops tombstone. I've never forgiven Julius Caesar for writing " Caesar's Gallic Wars", the bane of my years in the Latin class at Fairham.

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Mr Courtney - Wellum (wishbone) blimey forgot about him, thanks for bringing that one up, Mr M Burns unfortunately died on a visit to the USA about twelve years ago,good teacher who finished up as Housemaster for Lovell house an inspirational teacher

Rog

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Whilst browsing the Mace film archive website , noticed this from 1963 , which they seemed to have got slightly wrong calling it "Farnham" Comp School .

http://www.macearchive.org/Archive/Title/midlands-news-30071963-clifton-school-boys-make-model-train/MediaEntry/6281.html

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You may not realise it, but you've managed to combine two threads there :cool:

I went to Fairham although 1963 is before my time, but the location of that clip is the infamous miniature railway at the Fiveways roundabout on the ring road; much debated here http://nottstalgia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10717&hl=miniature (not in the first few posts, scroll down a bit further)

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Fairham Comp finally closed a couple of years ago, although it had been running down for some time. I hadn't been around the area for a while, and when I went past there a few days ago I was slightly gobsmacked at what I saw. The place is abandoned and fenced off, with weeds growing through the concrete, and trees and bushes taking over everywhere. When I was there around 40 years ago it had 1600 pupils and 100 staff. But now......

 

Looking through the gates on Summerwood Lane; 'M' block on the right; 'L' block on the left; Geography block in the middle.

AzERukc.jpg

 

Elliot House on the right. There used to be bike sheds in the right foreground and on the grass area to the left.

YEQnht9.jpg

 

The playing fields.

SHMeITG.jpg

 

Closer view of 'L' block.

7OLqYjf.jpg

 

Looking down the main entrance off Farnborough Road. This is where the staff cars drove in.

AzERukc.jpg

 

Difficult to spot but....the rear of the Main Hall on the left, the rear of the Gym on the right.

6vymGed.jpg

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When they knew the school was closing they still built a new outside all weather sports pitch in the grounds opposite the gates on Farnborough road, and at one time a college was moving in and by looks of it they have not moved in.

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Oh dear what a shame to see how the place has ended it's life, although I never enjoyed one single day there it's still a shame to see that era of my life gone the way it has

Rog

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I can remember Fred, I used to dream of strangling that little swine and becoming the hero of the school for doing so, I don't think there was one single boy at the school who was not affected by his actions or threat of his actions,ruled by fear he did and was probably responsible for many a boy's sleepless nights or should that be nightmares,

Rog

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Bing #32 - So, Mr E De Courtney-Wellum eh?

I only ever knew the guy as "Wishbone" and was never in his classes, except once when he stood in for one of our usual teachers who was absent or something. That would have been in my 2nd year I think (62/63) and I remember it for this reason:

He'd told us all to be quiet & get on with whatever we'd been set to do. Of course there's always going to be somebody who can't resist a challenge, & this time it was a friend (John Pixley?) who started whispering. Wishbone caught on & slowly walked down the row of desks. When he got to John, he lifted the desk lid, pushed John's head downwards & slammed the lid on it! I don't think that one was even in Fred Riddell's repertoire!

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That's a new one one me. But Mr. Thorpe (Mabel to his pupils) once pulled me up to my tiptoes by my sideburns and then asked why I was standing in his class!

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