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Entry of 1951
Starting with top
row from left:- 4th Bob George : One of those boys who was probably the envy of most of the rest of the form. Academically was always in the first two (usually 2nd - see next entry) in the form without really having to swot like hell for the end of year or term exams. Athletically represented the School at rugby, playing in the 1st XV before most in the same year, also excelled in PE. Was good looking and was well liked by several girls at the High School although I seem to remember he was for some time going steady with someone called Jean. Obtained BSc at Manchester University in 1960 (Radford). 6th Robin Gadsby : A boy that every mother would be proud to have. Came first or first= in every subject that we took, with the exception of art, woodwork and PE (I think). It is obvious from this that he was only average with handiwork and not really athletic. Didn't seem to have any problem with any other subject, selected the Science side but I reckon he could have done as well academically on the Modern! Obtained BA at Cambridge in 1961 (Radford). 9th Richard Ward : Dickie Ward lived on a farm around Anslow way I think, he sat with me in 2A over in the prefabs beside the lace (or tape?) factory. You had to go through the bike shed (CCF Rifle Range) to get to the two form rooms over there. Dickie and I weren't really great friends in fact I remember we had quiet a set to one dinner break in which I came a close second. Middle Row :- 2nd & 3rd Chris Goddard & John Adams : These two were almost inseparable, but of course in the form rooms seating arrangement was usually alphabetical, left usually to the form master to arrange some went up and down ignoring the fact that most desks were doubles except in some cases on the sides of the when there were singles. In the first year we were in D Room and this had singles and Adams was at the front in a single and Goddard was in a double with another G or an H. I remember one time when it became obvious that they had developed a code to attract one another's attention by coughing in a certain way, several of us mimicked the cough throughout the day making them both continually look round. Of course that was the end of that method of communication. As can be seen from the photo Chris was madly keen on the Scouts and kept with it through the school. I couldn't find him in Radford with regard to Honours Degrees but I believe J.M. Adams who obtained M.B., Ch.B., L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., from Liverpool is the same. 4th S. Alan Neal : Known as Toff or Toffy Neal, came to BGS from Grange St. Junior school, as I did, along with several others, but only about four or five of us in the photo. Toff was one of a gang of us in the first year that rebelled (Quietly, among ourselves,) over the fact that rugby was played instead of soccer, the game in which most of us had represented their school before arriving at Bond St. I remember most of us played rugby in football boots and even had them replaced with the same as our feet grew. We used to get out as fast as we could onto the games field to play 'popping in' with the oval ball and the H posts. A group of us played organised soccer matches during end of term breaks in the season, usually our year against another, certainly up to at least the 5th year as I remember getting my nose broken when I was 14. Such was the interest in soccer that our die-hard group supported Burton Albion from their formation in 1950, we were usually to be found at the railway end of the Lloyd's Foundry ground down the Wellington St. extension at home games for 1st team and reserve matches - we couldn't afford to travel for away games unless they were within cycling distance. I'm certain the gang will be pretty pleased with the way The Albion have performed this season by becoming champions of the Unibond League and thereby gaining promotion to the Conference. I'm pretty sure Toff used to play in goal in these inter year/form matches and was ok at it too. Loads of us were interested in cricket and during the long summer evenings and summer holidays, we would assemble on the Outwoods Rec. (between Shobnall Road and Belvedere Road) to pick up sides to play cricket, the equipment being provided by those that had it, for communal use. As photos in Radford showed Toff was a useful cricketer too, although I have a feeling he liked being behind the stumps as much as in front of them in those days. He was a member of the CCF, Army section, and I'm sure reached the rank of sergeant or above, although he is conspicuous by his absence on the 1958 photo of the CCF in Radford. Additional Material- May 02
from Les Simpson
simpson0403@fast24.co.uk Centre 7th from left : Roland Matkin was rather an unobtrusive sort of boy, I think his interests were in journalism and I believe that he joined Burton Daily Mail, as it was then, on leaving school. Centre 8th from left : Gordon Pritchard, probably the first friend I made at the school who didn't come from Grange St. Junior School. I sat with Gordon in 1A in D Room, we were at the back, I remember he was always particular about his appearance and never looked dishevelled. He lived in Bretby Lane which was, and probably still is, a posh area of Burton. His father was a Manager at one of the Co-op shops in Borough Road, the shoe shop I think. They lived in a bungalow on the left hand side of Bretby Lane going in from Ashby Road end. I went there one time for tea and a mess around with Gordon's chemistry set afterwards. It was the first time I had ever been in a detached property let alone a bungalow, it was really something to not have to go outside to the toilet and to have hot water on tap! Gordon was not mentioned in Radford as regards academic achievements, but I'm sure he must have gone to University. Centre 9th from left : G. Anthony (Tony) Yarranton, the baby of the form, like myself had taken the 11+ a year early (at 10+) but unlike myself was well able to keep up with top echelon in the form all through the school. He was always the smallest boy in class standing not much more than 4ft 6ins in the first year. He had a wider than average mouth which gave rise to his nickname of 'Os' (Latin for mouth), later to become 'Ose'. Tony and I became mates for the time we were in the same form and for a while after when he progressed to the LVISc while I remained in 5A. He lived round the corner from me so he called for me each day and we cycled to school together. He was in the CCF(RAF) where he reached sergeant or even flight sergeant. He played 1st XV rugby in 1957/58. He gained a BSc at London and PhD from Exeter. Seated 4th from left : Roy Perry, an extremely accomplished pianist, played at Morning Assembly at the school after Dickie Starling left around 1953. He lived in the Lichfield St/Branstone Rd area not far from the Bond St. School. Rather surprised that he is not listed in Radford, I would have thought that he must have been awarded a music scholarship somewhere. Seated 5th from left : Rodney J.V. Hardwick, son (or nephew) of Hardwick the Jeweller whose shop used to be at the bottom of the Station Bridge in Station St. now moved to High Street near to the Market Square. His (RJV's) uncle Reg? was teaching at BGS when I left in 1957. Rodney gained a B.Eng. degree at Sheffield in 1963. Seated 7th from left : Bert Copestake, another accomplished musician, this time on the violin. I remember quite early on in my school years, possibly 2nd form, Dickie Starling, who took us for music and also PE, getting Bert to give the class a recital on the violin, accompanied by the aforesaid DS on piano, and the poor lad's bow broke! Master Copestake earned the nickname in later years of Horizontal Bert for reasons that we'll not go into. Bert gained a B.A. at Cambridge on an Open Choral Scholarship in 1961. Seated 8th from left : Yours truly, nothing to write home about. Known as Bim, Bime, The Bime and L.A. Bime - origin unknown, but R.H. Fletcher and I suddenly acquired the nicknames Bom and Bim respectively (rumour has it that Toffee Neal had something to do with it!). Together with Tony Yarranton we were Bim, Bom and Os, later Bime, Bome and Ose etc.,etc.I was a staunch supporter of the Albion as were Toff Neal and Bob Fletcher from the photo. I enjoyed playing most sports including classroom sports such as table tennis and shove ha'penny which we played on a league basis at lunchtimes in 'R' Room, using the form master's (Bill Read) table as the pitch for shove ha'penny and with a couple of others pushed together for table tennis and text books for the net. In those days we had around an hour and a half for lunch, so we would bring sandwiches if we were down to play or rush back from home to get a game in. Several of us were keen Trainspotters and I remember one particular half term holiday when about eight of us cycled to Lichfield to spend the day spotting and expecting to get a glimpse of the newly named Coronation Scot Princess Anne - which we did. We all took our satchels full of sandwiches - mostly jam or meat paste I reckon together with some home made cakes and a bottle of water or if you were really lucky tizer, dandelion and burdock or lemonade. Luckily as I remember it only showered a couple of times and I reckon we all had an enjoyable day. After gaining only 4 O level subjects in 5A I lingered in 5X and LVISc getting a couple more and making friends with Norman (the Norm) Odam before leaving in 1957 to become a laboratory trainee with BTR in the labs at their Horninglow Site. Other BGS Old Boys who accompanied me were the aforementioned Norm and John Scattergood. Already at BTR were Colin Norris (Nogger) and Monk Mortimer. Skiffle was all the rage at the time and Norm, Nogger and Monk together with another works colleague formed a skiffle group, competing in local talent contests they made quite a name for themselves, helped by the fact that Nogger looked a quite a bit like the King of Skiffle, Lonnie Donegan, they performed all his numbers and got such a following that they opened a club at the back of The Star in High St. calling it The Eight Bar Rest and themselves The Trent River Ramblers. Our association was brought to an end when in the Summer of '58 my parents moved to Cambridgeshire and I moved with them. I got a job with British Sugar in their laboratories and remained with them until 1991 when I took early retirement. I have subsequently worked as storekeeper/despatcher for a small scientific glassware manufacturer. I married in 1963 (a Stapenhill girl) and have two daughters, a son and five grandchildren. Seated 10th from left : R.(Bob) H. Fletcher, sat with me in 5A, Bill Read obviously let us sit where we liked and I had been mates with The Bome for some time, (he was in Drake House as was I and shared the same love of footy and the Albion - he was one of the lads who bunked off from watching the Old Boys v The School rugger match to watch The Albion replay the game with Halifax which they won 1-0 and he got the whack for it). He lived at one time in Wetmore Road and we used to visit one another's homes during the Summer evenings. I recall at the back of his house there were several coal tips (for the gas works) and a large flattened area close to them where most of the kids from Wetmore Rd. played. It was great fun but we were as black as night when we came in! Bob was a Cross-Country runner for the School and played 1st XV rugby in 1957/58 as did Tony Yarranton and Rodney Hardwick. He was in the CCF remaining in the Army Section where he reached the rank of CSM. He graduated from Manchester on a State Scholarship with a B.Sc. in 1961. I last saw Bob at his wedding in the early sixties.
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