In July 1961 I approached the Coventry Education Committee in the guise of a Mr Stokehill who was the City’s Director of Physical Education to enquire if there was a P.E. Teaching vacancy in the City. After a short interval he responded that as luck would have it the P.E. Teacher at a small Secondary School called Copthorne, namely Des Lamb ( much later I discovered he was known to all and sundry as Daddy Lamb, and when I say later I mean 50 years later !!) had finally decide to ‘hang up his track suit’ and retreat to the classroom and teach geography for the remainder of his career. Would I like to take his place in the Copthorne gym? Naturally I jumped at the offer and on arrival on the first day of the Autumn Term discovered that ‘The Gym’ was in fact doubling up with the school hall but was blessed with an outstanding set of pitches amidst the most wonderful surroundings. On arrival Des requested that he be allowed to continue to coach the U-15’s rugby team and would I like to take over the coaching of the U-13’s squad who were in his words ‘a promising bunch of lads’,
The story of how that promising bunch of lads influenced the rest of my life in general and my teaching career in particular is well documented elsewhere, suffice it to say that the next eight months of working,training and bonding together which culminated in Peter Silvester climbing the victor’s steps at the iconic rugby stadium Coundon Road, Coventry, to receive ‘The Malcolm Cup’ having triumphed against some of the largest schools in the City was a life changing experience for me because it illustrated in bold relief that if a group of men can gather together with a belief and trust in one another and decide that they have a common goal, then nothing is impossible and anything is achievable.
But ,of course, my time at Copthorne was not just about rugby football. One of my first actions was to form an ‘Outdoor Activities Club’, camping gear was acquired and a small group ( including Christine my unsuspecting wife of a few months) ventured out to our first camping expedition to Corley Moor. This was followed at a later date to an extended camping trip to Lowsonford on the banks of the Oxford Canal, I recall that our camp was honoured by a visit by Mr and Mrs Hall who came down for Sunday Tea (of a sorts). The Outdoor Activities Club was also responsible for a coachload of Copthornians travelling to West Wales to scale the towering heights of Mt Snowdon with C.F. supposedly in charge but ably assisted by Charlie Evans and Jan Edwards. I hesitate to think what today’s ‘health and safety’ would have thought of that little venture!!
My time at Copthorne was also remarkable for the one and only time in my life that I organized a boxing tournament in the school hall. In came a full sized ring acquired by Mr Hall from one of his many contacts as he loved ‘The Noble Art’. It is with some guilt that I recall it was promoted as an Inter House competition, remarkable for the fact that no-one volunteered and every participant that climbed through the ropes was press ganged there by myself. I hang my head in shame.
In order to swell school funds, it is with much fondness, that I recall the Inter House lunch time competitions for headball and handball, one old penny entrance fee and screams of encouragement that I’m sure could have been heard in Broadgate. Happy days, happy memories, how grateful I am that my time at Copthorne from September 1961 to April 1963 was such rewarding one in so many ways. April 1963 saw me move from the City of my infant birth and nurture to take up a post as P.E. Master at Banbury Grammer School in the County of Oxfordshire, where I taught until 1971 at which time I left teaching to explore other avenues in life.
I would conclude by saying that Copthorne was very special to me as a school and perhaps more importantly it was special because of the people that made up the school, I’m sure that my feelings are shared by many as was evidenced by the wonderful turn out by members of that wonderful U-13 XV who turned out in force just recently to commemorate and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of their historic victory against overwhelming odds to secure The Malcolm Cup for Copthorne School.
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