Courtesy of John Warner 1961-1966

Some random memories of Wycombe Technical School (1961-1966) and after, from John Warner

I started at the Tech. In Sept 1961 having come from a small village school and my first impressions were firstly, the number of boys milling around and the fact that many of the older pupils were men! They actually shaved!

We were next shouted at by a muscular person with a Welsh accent, Mr Bissett, and told what to expect and given immediate instructions to obey.

Mr Lee was my first form teacher and he also took the class for geography lessons.

Fellow pupils that I remember were, Alan Brooks, Paul Birdseye, Phillip Chandler, John Davies, Phillip Purcell, Brian Nicholls, Andrew Todd, Ian Lacey, Andrew Younger, Graham Youngman, Charlie Ford, Keith Prouton, John Gurney, John Hopkins and Ian Kerswell. I seem to remember that there were around 23 boys in the class so apologies to those I have forgotten.

The first year, for me, was an immensely steep learning curve and I don’t mean just academically. Most of the teachers were fairly frightening and I was unfortunate (as far as I was concerned) to have Harry Ward as a maths teacher. I fell foul of him within a few weeks, over me possessing 5 shillings which he thought was either unpaid dinner money or that I must have stolen it. In his study he threatened to cane me. and in his words, “If I cane you no one will hear you cry boy, this room is sound proof”. I asked him to phone my Mother to verify that the money was for the purchase of a duffel bag after school. A further phone call from my Father, in the evening, settled that matter.

On that occasion, I was spared the cane, but "my card was marked" and Harry Ward was able to cane me on two subsequent occasions for misdemeanours that would barely raise an eyebrow of a sane person, and once for a misdemeanour that I did not commit.

Corporal punishment was the ‘norm’ in those days and I was used to far worse at home. A lot of the teachers used corporal punishment, and the weapons of choice ranged from Tee squares, gym shoes and even a length of rubber hose.

I enjoyed playing Rugby and cricket. I played for the 4th and later 5th Year rugby teams. The game that stands out in my mind was when we played Slough and the game was abandoned because of fighting. Several of our team (not me this time!) were brought before H. Ward, and punished.

I remember Harry Ward coming to school wearing dark glasses and sporting a black eye. Rumour had it that an older boy had inflicted it on him when Harry had tried to cane him. I don’t know the truth of this - but I did try to find out who the boy was - so that I could shake his hand.

School progressed and I succeeded in disappointing a fair few people with my lack of academic success, although I did manage to be in the “B” streams for years 2 and 3. Years 4 and 5 found me in the classes that were considered academic although my real interests were Physics and Woodwork.

My choices were based on how I perceived the teachers and whether I liked them or not. My continuing

interest in woodwork was in spite of Mr Barlow, but was encouraged by Mr Clarke.

I went on a school trip to Germany in 1965 led by Messrs Panter and Bateman. Also for part of the time we were accompanied by teacher called Mr Conway. I remember that he was Irish and rather full of himself. Henry Panter proved to be a totally different person as to how he appeared in school. He was very lenient regarding our behaviour. I had a stomach upset and he gave me a glass of brandy which seemed to settle things nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed that holiday and perceived Henry in a different light.

I also went on a couple of sailing/ camping holidays chaperoned by Mr. ‘Shindy’ Boyd and Mr. ‘Gonfra’ Burton. I wasn’t much good at sailing but nevertheless enjoyed the experience and freedom.

In retrospect, I think I wasted a lot of time at WTS that could have been put to better use, if not by me, then by someone else.

There were, in my opinion, some good teachers in the school. My experience at WTS was that it was ‘like the Curate’s egg’, that is - "good in parts". Perhaps that’s the best we can hope for.

I drifted away from school with a sense of relief, but few qualifications, and started work as a Trainee Telephone Engineer for about a year. For a while I worked under Roy Stringer (ex WTS, alas no longer with us) and got on well with him. I then did a combined apprenticeship in Electrical, Refrigeration and Air- Conditioning Engineering. I have been in this line of work since 1967 and retired a couple of years ago. I have worked as an electrician, engineer, design engineer, lecturer, and various managerial positions and as a consultant, in Britain, Germany and Australia (briefly).

I am married to my second wife and we have been together 21 years.Between us we have 8 daughters, 1 son (plus three children who didn’t reach adulthood), 19 grandchildren (another due August 2020) and 1 great grandchild.

We are kept busy; enjoy being together and pursuing our hobbies. We live in a village in Worcestershire

I am enjoying being retired, and doing things for my wife, daughters and grandchildren.