THINGS WE DID GOOD AND BAD
These are some of the little day to day things we got up to,also snipets of memories.
Do you remember scraping a plate against a mug to see the sparks?
What about the noise of the "Rookery" in the mornings? ?
The Blue Bells in the spring?
Crystal radios that never seemed to work?
Damming up the little creek at the bottom of the playing fields?
Making butter with the cream from the morning milk ration?
Sneaking over to Dunsfold air field to watch the planes?
Collecting Bubble gum cards with movie stars pictures?
Watching the Cranliegh snail (train) and looking for slow worms by the tracks?
Model plane construction in the room near Mr Jacksons dark room, the smell of glue and dope. What did we know about getting high? We thought we were just happy because we were building model planes.
Hanging around the kitchen door and trying to sweet talk the ncc staff into giving us some potatoes or bread, to be taken to the dug outs and cooked (burnt more likely)?
Do you remember when you were up in front of Mr Blowers (Bert) for punishment, the kind where he used his basketry cane it was wiser to be first in line as it took him a couple of boys to limber up and get into his stride?
Did any one ever see the Steam Roller that we were sure was brought in at night to compact "Plot 8 " the garden that was used for detention digging, because it was just as flat and hard the next time?
Does any one remember the name of the boy that sprained his ankle when he stepped into a hole dug in Plot 8 and carefully covered with twigs and earth? Next day digging again.
Who was it took an evil delight in closing the cover to the escape ladder on the air raid shelters when the scouts were cooking on a fire inside? For once I was an innocent victim!
The exitement and panic caused when on visiting Sunday a sister or mother would discover the pet grass snake in your locker. My sister would not go into our back yard at home after she found out that I had let my snake loose there.
For pictures click on photo of slowworm
The dicovery of the fiber glass insulation from the water tower at the abandoned air force camp. That made such wonderful itching powder.
THE CRICKET MATCH
I remember watching a cricket match where our First Team were playing another school.
Our team were not doing very well, our star bowler could not hit his stride. This match
was being played up near the Young Farmers field by the bee hives. all the running backwards and forwards by
our bowler at that end must have upset a couple of bees, suddenly he let out a shout that he had been stung
once in the mouth and then above the eyes! The change in his performance was dramatic. He bowled the opposing
team out in quick order so winning the match.
For a few days afterward until the swelling went down he was a source of amusement to us juniors
as he looked like a neanderthal man. What lovable bunch of brats we were
One of the great pastimes at school was to send away for free samples, once in a while you could hit lucky and a company would send you something.
A favorite was the cheese companies, we would write telling them that we were collecting the labels that they put on their small cheeses, if you were fortunate they sometimes sent you a sample of the cheese.
Well if it worked for the cheese companies why not try Cadbury chocolate?
So putting pen to paper and investing in a stamp I wrote to them explaining that we were studying the making of chocolate at school during our geography lessons and was it possible they could send me any literature that would apply.
Now began the expectant wait, (boy I could already taste those free samples! Think of the possibilities,if this worked )
Nothing happened for about a month, then one day I was informed that Mr Day wanted to see me in his office, ( now what had I done I wracked my brains but could not come up with any serious indiscretions that I might have committed).
With a bad case of the jitters I knocked on his door.
"Come in" was the utterance from inside the office.
With knees knocking and sweating brow I entered.
"Ah! Savage did you write a letter to Cadbury"?
In a very small and quavering voice I answered "yes Sir"
"That explains this letter I have received"Mr. Day exclaimed,"this just arrived this morning. Cadbury does not send this kind of item to a boy but does send it to the school."
With this he showed me a beautiful wooden display case containing small sample jars of all the ingredients that go into the making of a chocolate bar,also a booklet about chocolate.
These samples went from the coco bean to the finished products.
Mr. Day was very pleased with this gift and my efforts to acquire it (whew!)
But where oh where were my free samples of chocolate bars?????
THE BOXING MATCH
The Great Chocolate Bar Caper
