Life in Mumbles Church School 1935-1946

The head masters in my time were Mr Pressdee, Mr. Fuge, and Mr. R.O. Smith. The male teachers were Mr. David Price, affectionately known, in the Welsh tradition, as Di Price, Mr. Jack Saunders, affectionately known as Jacky Saunders and Mr Morgan, who maintained a tight ship! The female teachers were Miss Woollacott, Miss Bailey, Miss Morgan, and Miss Jones the Welsh teacher. I thought I hadn’t absorbed much Welsh but many years later I was attending a funeral at Coy church Bridgend when some Welsh hymns were sung. To my amazement when the music started I began singing in Welsh, even after all the years that had passed I had remembered Miss Jones’s Welsh lessons. The pupils as I remember were Peter Turnbull, John Berry, Colin Hoppy, Terry Lynch, John Draper, Dennis Conibeer, Ken and Colin Kift, Karl Kostramin, Ken O’Brian, Peter Hartwell, Raymond Vaughan, Maurice Samuel, a Jewish lad by the name of Borgan who also had two sisters at the school, Oliver Mc‘glaglan [Jock]. I became friendly with Jock, who lived with his mother in Claremont Villas. His mother was a lovely lady, who used to take us for days out, swimming in Limeslade, ice-creams and having our photo taken on the dummy white horse at Bracelet. For this article, I have only listed the boys in my particular intake, but there were many boys in the classes below me.

Jacky Saunders, Art lessons I found particularly interesting as he loved Calligraphy and lettering. I remember him telling us about the Roman alphabet to be found on the Trajan’s column in Rome and their characteristic seraphs at the base of the letters which gave them their unique style. He also instructed us in the importance of perspective and vanishing points when composing sketches or paintings. Most pupils enjoyed Jacky Saunders Art lessons.

Di Price among all else took the music lesson. He was also the choir master at All Saints’ Church. One occasion that sticks in my mind was him trying to teach us to harmonize. He split the class up into two sections, Countertenor [I think], and for the boys whose voices had broken, Alto. What with our timing and abysmal lack of talent it was a disaster, after many attempts Di became very irritated and was fast losing patience, which he was inclined to do. Time and time again we practiced this song, but each time it was not quite right to Di`s keen ear, but by some miracle, and to the great relief of us all, it all came together. Incredible! We then sang with gusto “Hark the blackbird on the hillside scattered music everywhere” in perfect harmony. We made our music teacher very happy that day.

Playtime was always a lively affair, the games were footie, cricket, and rounder’s also there was a game called Weak Horses it went as follows---two boys took up a leapfrog position against the pine end of the houses at the bottom of the school yard, boys would then leapfrog on to their backs, the aim was to get as many boys piled on top of the first two without the whole thing collapsing, if it sounds dangerous, it was, especially for the boys at the bottom of the pile. Mr Morgan kept a wary eye on us and would intervene if it got too boisterous. Oddly enough injuries were rare in this crazy game. Football and cricket took place at Underhill Park. I remember Mr Fuge introducing Rugby, but it didn’t last long, football and cricket were the most enduring. [Don’t mention this in Rugby circles they may take offence whoops!] I did not excel much at sport [not for the want of trying] but I did shine once, when playing cricket at Underhill park I fielded the most phenomenal catch I leapt up and snatched the ball out of the air even Fred Truman would have struggled with that one. I swaggered around Norman Wisdom style for days after that.

Mr. Morgan who took several subjects, set us a task to write a story on any subject we chose. In the playground later, Ken O’Brian suggested, “How about this for an opening line to my story, “A shot rang out and echoed around the canyon “ I remember thinking, that’s brilliant! I think most of our stories had similar themes, because the cinema played a large part in our entertainment. On assessing our stories later, I don’t suppose Mr. Morgan thought there were many H.G. Wells in this present intake. Most former pupils will remember Miss Maud Woollacott who was getting on a bit in my time. I remember her to be very strict and a bit Old Testament when delivering her R. I. lessons. She did scare me a little particularly on matters of the afterlife, because I had committed the odd misdemeanour in my time like knocking down conkers on the Mumbles Road for example. Mr. Southall and Mr. Ted Shears the police constables had occasion to caution me several times. Miss Woollacott in spite of the fact she could be a touch severe, was very much respected and held in great esteem.

You may be thinking there were no girls in the school, but there were of course, as I remember the classes were mixed in the juniors, and segregated in the seniors. Miss Morgan and Miss Bailey took

the girls.

Sometimes, we would have a visit from Miss Davies, the nurse, nicknamed the nit nurse, who was a quietly spoken lady and very caring. She would call us out one by one and examine our locks for unwanted guests.

We would also from time to time receive a lecture from a lady from the Alcohol Abstinence Society. Usually she recommended total abstinence. Not having witnessed any of my former classmates being supported by Mumbles lamp posts, I presume her message had been effective.

Ascension Day is an important point in the Christian calendar. Being a Church school the occasion was marked by the pupils attending a service at All Saints’ Church .We made our way in orderly fashion, [sometimes] up Park Street and entered the Church via the back entrance into the Church. The service was usually conducted by the Rev. Wilkinson and Mr. Price conducted the Church choir. This gave we tone deaf pupils an opportunity to learn harmony.

I left school in 1946 with no qualification’s and an uncertain future. My own fault entirely, because I sometimes stared out of the window at the clouds floating by. This caught Miss Woollacott’s eye and she would glare at me say “I will be asking questions after mind! But in spite of not being attentive occasionally, it turned out OK eventually.

Also concerning the Church School-