email encouragement

Post date: Jul 15, 2011 11:53:0 PM

It was emails like these that encouraged me to create this website:

"It really was a whimsical place! I can still regail dinner parties with HH stories: cold baths, swimming starkers in the lake at 0700, making a cricket pitch out of a hillside, cleaning 60 pairs of shoes, spouting a French phrase in order to leave after breakfast etc, etc.

I was interviewed for local radio here in Denmark last week-end and I realised that HH stories are so strange they are beyond comprehension! I now realise that HH was quite close to Gordonstoun and Bryanston and the whole educational philosophy of  that pre-war generation.  

How are we going to save all this? "

"You shamed me into getting my arse in gear. Here are some of the collection! You're in the Wetherlam one."

"As I have said to everyone…. I have a stronger connection to prep days people and the experience than to my secondary schooling.

The brothers Butler are still my guiding light, and I still tell people that the Lake District is God’s own country! I have travelled a lot, but that place is highest on my list of places to experience. Rugged splendour mixed with the pastoral idyll."

"Like any ageing fool, I’m in distinct danger of sounding like one….but one thing is clear in my mind. In those days…children were children, childhood was not treated like it was ‘carte blanche’ to be a rude and disrespectful purveyor of profanities and disrespect…..and there was a distinct air of optimism in the air."

"I have the same feelings about the Butlers as you and also Gordon Osmaston. The mixture of Hubert’s relaxed, artistic and visionary approach and Gerald’s kind but firm army approach to running the school were a perfect blend for the place."

"There does seem to be a developing ‘critical mass’. Each new connection provides new memories, and a burgeoning sense of a lot of middle-aged men out there, eager to re-live and make sense of our collective experience. The photos I received last night were particularly poignant. And a lot of fun to boot!"

"I have been pouring over various old photographs, and as I attempt to put names to faces, I also find myself putting memories to faces too.

I have put a bit of work into your ‘name the person’ exercise, and with our little network growing all the time it’s probably just a matter of time before we identify everyone.

I’m not sure if you are aware of the ‘Friends reunited’ website (I’ll give you the link) but it is getting an interesting set of photographs. I hope that if we all pool our resources we can possibly get ourselves a good archive which will give us all a window into the past.

My ‘Holy Grail’ is a photo of GVB. I’m yet to find one.

I’m now also thinking that we can create a Huyton Hill site that brings together photos, memories, procedures etc. etc. An archive that documents the life of a small Prep school and all that entailed. You may remember my story of return. Imagine if we all wrote pieces about our memories, our perceptions, and our psychology. It could be a very interesting ‘social history’ project."

"This is all suddenly so exciting! Having been 'simmering on a low light' for such a long time, and not really getting very far, the Huyton Hill subject seems to have suddenly 'gone critical' and started to produce connections and associations involving more and more people!"

"The last six months or so has been quite revelatory. A bit of a trawl on the web….and suddenly I’m in touch with people from over 40 years ago."

"God….it’s hectic around here. Suddenly I have emails coming in left, right and centre. I must admit that I have been neglecting my clients over the last 24 hours. I have spent my time emailing, poring over photographs, and feeling like Doctor Who."