Memories from Mike Haggett - The Early Days of THS
Teachers
When I arrived at St Georges Avenue in September 1949, there were
several teachers who left before the 1952 photo was taken.
Mr. Robb was a tall man with a fine head of silver hair who
taught Maths to senior pupils. I first saw him coming down the
stairs from ‘A’ corridor and, to a small boy, he seemed to be ten
feet tall. I think he was a Scot. He retired sometime before
Summer 1951.
Leo Mullinger taught us Maths and Music in Class 1B, and English
and Music in 2B. I understood that he had retired from some
other school and had come to THS to help out in a teacher shortage.
He finally retired in Summer 1951. He was a bald man with a kindly
but careworn face. This is understandable for a man who had to
listen to thirty adolescent boys torturing Linden Lea and other
masterpieces.
Glyn Jones was games master – one of a number who I detested over
the years - not because they were unpleasant people but because they
wanted me to be fit. Mr Jones played for The Saints in the
late forties. He was succeeded for a short time by Mr Collins
who I believe either came from, or went to, the Grammar school. Mr
Lewis followed him.
Art was taught us by Miss Hartwell and Mrs Cubitt but I think
they may have been on the staff of the Art School.
Taffy Newell was a kindly and well respected teacher who, in my
time at school at least, never awarded a detention—except one. For
some reason two forms had been placed together in one room -
probably the Science room B1 - with Taffy and another teacher in
attendance. Some minor misdemeanour occurred and the second
master cornered Taffy with the chilling words: “Mr Newell, will you
please award this boy a detention.” Was this, I wonder his only
time?
Science room B1 was a proper lab with benches, sinks and gas taps
although we pupils studying for GCE General Science only sat in
there on high stools and copied into our notebooks what Taffy wrote
on the blackboard. Nevertheless the spirit of experimentation was
there in all pupils and this manifested itself as use of the gas
taps. In consequence the atmosphere in the science room usually
reeked of coal gas and no doubt we all went home with extra carbon
monoxide in our bloodstreams. For variety, the nearby labs used by
the CAT students were home to real experiments and the evidence of
this was that, fume cupboards notwithstanding, the corridor outside
these rooms usually reeked of either hydrogen sulphide or carbon
disulphide or a combination.
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