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years ago (1960's) i was sent to Player comprehensive School. i remember my very first 10 minutes there very clearly. i walked in had a walk around several class rooms and then decided what a dump and walked out and never went back. for 5 years i pretended to go to school but never did. instead i went my own way going all over nottingham. playing trunt had one problem, the school board man. if he caught you he would report you to your parents. in 5 years i got caught by him once and he went and told my mum. when i went home that day my mum asked me what i had for dinner at school? i cant remember i said. thats because you havent been have you? to get around this problem i waited for the school to close and would ask someone what they had for dinner that day. my mum would ask me the same question nearly every day and i would give her the correct answer. one day i asked another lad what he had for dinner and he told me. i go home and mum asks me the same question. the answer i gave was not the correct one. my sister went to the same school and everyone in that school had the same meal if you had school dinners. it turned out that the lad i asked did tell me what he had for his dinner but he forgot to mention that he went home for dinner???? i am still after this little punk whoever you are!!! things started getting serious after years of no school attendence but i never changed my mind and people started to realise i wasnt going to change my mind to suit them. i very clearly told everyone that i would not be going to the Player comprehensive School and that was final. threats were made by the social services saying they would put me in social services care homes so i told them it wont make no difference and i would leave the second i arrived and still not go to school. i think people started to realise that this young lad (thats me) is going to become a problem for us. yes, i did become one big problem for them and everything they wanted me to do i did the opposite. i was put into childrens homes all over nottingham and every day i left untill i was caught by the police who took me back. ten seconds later i left. this went on for months and eventually i went back home. the verbal threats of social workers failed. after all that i still wouldnt go to the Player comprehensive School!! i just carried on as i had done before and people left me alone. one day i went home and my dad had come home early from work with one of his mates who i have seen before. his name is graham and he asked me what school i wanted to go to. i told him any school apart from players. graham has a son called paul who was the same age as me and we got on perfectly. i had no idea what school paul went to but i knew it wasnt players so i told my dad and graham i wanted to go to pauls school. my dads face sort of changed colour and didnt say anything and it appeared that was the end of the story. several week later my mum took me to a shop in nottingham city center and i had no idea of what was going on but i was given a cap, blazer, trousers, shoes and loads of other stuff to try on. about 2 hours after we left with a big brown suitcase full of stuff and went home and carried on as normal. a few day later my dad said he needed to talk about school and wanted a promise that if i went to the same school as paul i would go and not miss any lessons. i made that promise not even knowing anything about pauls school. my dad then dropped a bomb shell by telling me that if i wanted to go to pauls school i needed to have a musical talent. now that was a problem i could do nothing about and had no idea about music apart from what came out of a radio. paul would know what to do because he went to this school so i went to pauls house on the bus. he gave me a trumpet and told me what to do which i did but nothing happened. winded and with paul laughing his head off at my expence i was thinking of giving it up and going to players instead. pauls school was becoming complicated. i went home wondering what needs to be done to cure the problems. suddenly i found myself playing a guitar or trying to. the school summer holidays were at an end and i found myself in a car outside my house and paul sat on the back seat and a large brown suitcase on the front passenger seat. i had no idea who was driving the car but he told me his name and that was that. i had no idea where we were going but we were not in nottingham. i saw a sign saying northampton services and we stopped to eat and carried on. a few miles down the road we were spinning all over the road and the car turned over about 4 times. it then went very quiet and i ran. a lorry driver got hold of me and took me back to the car. police and ambulace then arrived and we were taken to hospital. a few hours later i left with the driver and we were okay. wheres paul? police car came and we were taken to the police station. wheres paul? nobody is saying nothing. police ask me why did i run away? no answer. wheres paul? same question from police why did you run away? i am thinking paul is dead. we had to stay in northampton overnight. the next day the police came back with the lorry driver who told the police what i had said. i just kept asking the same thing wheres paul? they eventually told me that paul had a broken leg. the police took us to the hospital and then they left. hours later i saw paul and the nurse left us alone. paul could not move and there were wires and pulleys all over the place. that was not a broken leg but a broken body i was looking at. i moved the sheet and he was covered in plaster fron the neck down. eventually , i was told he very nearly died. i went home that same day feeling very sick with people and lies. this all happened in 1968 and i was 10years old, the same as paul. i never saw paul again untill 1984.

a few days later i was okay to travel and go to the school. i had no idea where we were going but my dad took me and we did not go on the m1 motorway like last time. it was early evening when i got there. the place was hayling island, hampshire which is about 5 miles from portsmouth. the school was called broadview house school. the day started with lessons from 9.00am to 12.00. lunch break and all afternoon for yourself. go and do anything you wanted untill tea time at 4.30. after that back to school for an hour and then as you please. the beach was about 30 seconds down the road. very quiet and peacefull place to be just when you wanted it. plenty of pocket money and many ways of earning more money in your own time for good rates of pay ending up with up to £5 a week. that was good money in them days and you could live like a king. what took me by suprise was there were only about 20 kids in the whole school and you lived there. this is why the brown case was needed and the school uniform. the cap that was brought at nottingham i wore once... that was to try it on in the shop. this was not a school like players, this was a holiday camp where you lived and they payed you for being there. there was a massive orchard at the back which we used to our advantage. some locals didnt like us because when they come near us we would throw apples at them for a bit of fun, yet those same people would come to the school pantomine and enjoy their stay. most of the kids that went there loved it and there were kids there from 5 to 16 year olds. problem is its closed down now so no you cant send your kids there now the shows over but you could try pontins as theyre down there. it was a brilliant school, gave you a good education and at the same time rewarded you for the time you put into the school by just being there. musical talent? if you couldnt play a trumpet play the clarenet, or the flute once a week or so. you may learn something in the end but it wasnt rammed down your throat. at the end of the day it was your choice. a lot of the kids there used to ask what sort of school is this? to be honest ive no idea, well that was untill recently. my dad died in 1981 at the ripe old age of 42. he was someone who wrote everything down in his work and in his personal life. he kept documents of wages, invoices, diaries of where money was spent and who to, tax receipts and the list goes on. he had over 24 bank accounts at different banks and kept the winning tickets from the horses he backed. he had a good engineering job which started at 14 years old so he knew his stuff. he had a good paid job and saved his money. nobody knew his welth untill he died. paperwork leaves trails and history of that person. tells you what that person was , his commitments and other little secrets he wanted to keep. it took me over 29 years to find this paperwork after my sister took the money value from it, i.e emptied the bank accounts and the insurance money he had without saying nothing to anyone just to spend it on beer. there are three large egg boxex(the big boxes which trays of eggs stood in not the little six egg things) of paperwork, i found documents, receipts and letters from broadview school, payments for school uniforms and everything else you would need for a school education. not forgetting(like i did because i didnt realise at the time)your living at the school as a border and having your meals provided. who's paying for that? without me knowing my dad was and had done so for a few years. the bottom line is this: because i am so stubborn and wouldnt go to a school because it looked a right dump the alternative was to move area and have the same thing or give the person a choice. however i kept my promise had a good education and have my own business rather than rely on state hand outs and become a burden on society. as for broadview it was a bording school that did a lot of good for the majority of the hundreds of kids that went there, however paul was not one of these people as he ended up in prison, but i still consider him a good friend

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Welcome.

Thats got to take the biscuit for the longest first post :)

Dont worry about Rob his bark is worse than his bite.

Look forward to your comments on other Nottingham topics.

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Well I thought that was really interesting thank you for sharing it Fred. I read every word. I think its nice to hear a potted history of one's childhood experiences.

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All my education was done at Player schools, Infant, Junior & Senior.

The regime was tough but fair, I left at fifteen in 1967.

We were taught to spell & learned a bit about "grammar".

My spelling and grammer have gone a bit lazzzzzy now a days

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Well I thought that was really interesting thank you for sharing it Fred. I read every word. I think its nice to hear a potted history of one's childhood experiences.

thanks for that but i see it as part of a persons history. A potted history was a very good description.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello all ex Playerites.

It's interesting to know some people still take an interest.

I was at Player between 1961 and 1965 and have produced an unofficial website that may be of interest to anyone at the Boys from about 1958 to 1965. It contains lists of staff members from 1940 to 1965, names of all the lads who started in 1961 and left in 1965, a list of school trips and some photos. You can find it at www.alan-russell.co.uk/playerschool

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I think i was tortured by the Dentist there, i can still picture it & even worse at Chourcer st.

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  • 8 months later...

I think i was tortured by the Dentist there, i can still picture it & even worse at Chourcer st.

You and me both - had 7 out in one go...

Big bu99er he was with steel glasses - went with my Grandma and she bought me a plastic water pistol from the shops on Broxtowe Lane by the island for being 'good'

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Anyone remember the dinner van arriving...correct me If I'm wrong, was there a Balcony at Player school where you could look down into the playground and the dinner van used to pull in right under the balcony - think it smelt better than it tasted

PJ

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  • 4 months later...

Finally I find something about player school and the thread runs out in November 2011...typical....In case anyone comes back and is interested I was there at Player 'Grammar' from 1970 to 1975 when it became a comprehensive, I believe I was actually in the 'Grammar' stream of Player Bilateral school as it was known at the time...I think it is some sort of community centre now....I can't find any pictures or anything much about Player school on the Web its like it didn't exist.....

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Crackin' post by the way Fred...top notch....kinda reminds me of that old film....with John Thaw and the kid in it ....maybe a bit tenuous but very riveting all the same.. thumbsup

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I've heard it called: Players Academy for Young Gentlemen........................only by people that attended, the Wynne brothers in particular

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Wynne brothers?....who are they?

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Anyone remember the dinner van arriving...correct me If I'm wrong, was there a Balcony at Player school where you could look down into the playground and the dinner van used to pull in right under the balcony - think it smelt better than it tasted

PJ

I remember the dinner van, I don't remember a balcony but that may have been in the girls end of the school, they had a quadrangle too...the dinner van used to come round and to the back of the kitchen/dining halls and drop of loads of aluminium boxes and trays of food...it smelt good sometimes depending on what was on the menu....sometimes it was rank...specially when it was cabbage or sprouts which seemed to be very regularly...what about Caramel tart....mmmm....treacle sponge.....mmmmm.......... frog spawn........semolina...rice pudding with a dollop of jam or a shortbread biscuit...

Christmas pud with threepenny bits in....you'd get shot now....

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The name rings a bell actually Wynne....I maybe thinking of a car company though.

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Hello all ex Playerites.

It's interesting to know some people still take an interest.

I was at Player between 1961 and 1965 and have produced an unofficial website that may be of interest to anyone at the Boys from about 1958 to 1965. It contains lists of staff members from 1940 to 1965, names of all the lads who started in 1961 and left in 1965, a list of school trips and some photos. You can find it at www.alan-russell.co.uk/playerschool

I have had a look at your unofficial website, I actually recognise some of the teachers even though I wasn't there until 1970,

Mr R H Leaman, was our Technical drawing teacher until he retired I can't remember when but during my time at Player. Also, Nobby Auckland, Mr Cranswick, Mr Hammond (Smoked in the storeroom) Mr Messenger was Deputy Headmaster, Mr Mills, short bloke with thick black rimmed specs, looked like Joe 90, Mr Terry in Maths who could wheel round and hit you with a piece of chalk or a board rubber without having to aim...and used to smoke his stick of chalk when he wasn't throwing it at you...and Mr Towle in RE...amazing...

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Jeez....everyone must've realised who I am and won't speak to me now..... :mouse:

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The name rings a bell actually Wynne....I maybe thinking of a car company though.

The Wynne brothers lived on Beechdale Road, opposite the Bus Depot, George (now 61) Ray (now 55) Darryl (in his 40's) one may have been at Players when you were there??

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  • 9 months later...

I left in 1956 and find it interesting that some of the teacher I had were still at the school. Nobby Auckland was my form master and used to take us for football, helping Alan Wade the ex Notts County player. The Headmaster was Mr Gallager. I enjoyed my time at John Players and had a good education, well I thought I did, I finished up a Chief Office in Local government so the education could not have been that bad.

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Hello all ex Playerites.

It's interesting to know some people still take an interest.

I was at Player between 1961 and 1965 and have produced an unofficial website that may be of interest to anyone at the Boys from about 1958 to 1965. It contains lists of staff members from 1940 to 1965, names of all the lads who started in 1961 and left in 1965, a list of school trips and some photos. You can find it at www.alan-russell.co.uk/playerschool

I remember you !!

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  • 3 years later...

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