About me

The Teachers

Memories of the School and other adventures

More Pictures

	School Photo  Circ : 1962 Click on Any Image to see a full size version
Lower Half of School Me - 3rd from the left, back row Click on Picture to more details and pupils names		All the School  With the wife of Mr Gooding and the Matron Click on Picture for more details and Pupils names

Although I has very little to do with the car, I did get a ride when it was towed around the grounds by a tractor. The car was stored behind the new class room and shows the empty fields to the side of the school, (By sheer coincidence the 'FK' Registration is the local registration where I grew up.)
The new school class rooms The wooden building was used as a class room when I first arrived but with the construction of the new class rooms it became a play room for the pupils, As flying model aircraft both gliders and powered were all the rage, it quickly became a workshop, with a strong smell of glue, and dope  Notice the empty fields around the school grounds, (What's it like now?) The workman's hut's were sited on the school tennis court
		Left to Right Harris (me) and Reeves Adams Unknown ( Nick name Bones )
		From Left to Right Unknown (Nick name Bones). Knowles and Fisher. Rollings.
		From Left to right Sprauge. Sprauge Humes and Rollings. Hyde and Warder with Teacher Mr Parkinson.
		Guess Where ? The head masters dog - Sambo - Very politically correct!
		The school Plays
		In the winter of 1962 it snowed! and snowed! and snowed! The photo below shows me (in the background) and others clearing the main drive way, The snow had drifted and the hedges had become invisible, within a few days the show has frozen, and walking over the hedges became easy, and of course digging ice caves etc proved too much to resist. Mr Gooding couldn't resist getting the tractor out and towing the sledge around the ground

Teachers

The head master was Mr Gooding, Seen here at the opening ceremoanary of the new class rooms, It was rumoured that Richard Hearn was to be present. For those old enough to remembers he was the children's actor "Mr Pastry" and a patron of ICAA, as it was I am unable to remember who actually performed the opening. 

There was story that Mr Gooding flew spitfires during the War ( Only 15 years earlier ) and having exceptional night vision often flew at night, (perhaps this was true he certainly caught me on a dormitory raid one night!)
Science was taught by Mr Gooding and he managed to instils a hunger for knowledge in me which has stood the test of time

When I started at the school we had a new teacher Mr Parkinson seen here next to me, he was excellent in helping me with English my worst subject. We were all very impressed when he purchased a new car ( A Mini ) They had only been making these for 18 Months and even more so when he got married. ( to a local girl I believe)

Mr Stonehouse was the maths and PE teacher, ( to the left of Mr Gooding in the school Photo ) he played rugby for Seaford town and I saw him play on several occasions, One memorial moment was a game of rugby at the school and he had the ball, I was chasing him and he held me off saying "take the ball off me and I'll pay for your tuck shop " well it worked as I just managed to grab his track suit trousers and hung on for dear life, the trousers came down!, he fell, I got the ball, He paid for the sweets!

During my first year at the school Mr Bean was in charge of the younger kids, he was great and it was a shock when he left, however some months later he treated the whole school to a trip to Brighton to see the newly released film "El Sid" staring Charlton Heston,
Taking over from Mr Bean was someone, I forget his name but he is in the centre of the left hand picture above, He was a right B*.. and left after about a year, (Under a cloud I was lead to believe).

Photo of Woodwork teacher, Photo taken during the opening of the new class rooms

During my first year my dormitory was on the top floor (a number of rooms about 6 or 8 ) with 3 bed in each. being on the top floor gave us a great view at night, Mr Parkinson shown me many constellations and encouraged an interest in astronomy. Then a new teacher arrived to teach Geography, he started by covering the planets, this enthralled me and to this day can state all the planets, distances from the sun etc. Although much more has been learned about the planets with the Voyager and Viking space crafts his lessons still remain fixed in my memory.

At the end of my first term at pilgrims one of the teachers left ( was this a coincidence?) I'm unable to remember his name (Mr Brinly/Brindly ,Bridly ?? ) however he did play the piano during Assembly each morning, with his leaving  there was no one else to play the piano, so various hymns and music were recorded onto tape and played during assembly for the remainder of my time at pilgrims

About me

Education : Before I went to Pilgrims may asthma was such that I got a Gold star just for attending school for 3 days in a row!, My asthma used to restrict me to bed, (this was before the day's of Inhalers and the super drugs of today). When it came to the 11+ exam my teacher asked me if I wanted to sit the exam!. ( I actually has a choice!).
My education improved during my stay at pilgrims, undoubtedly to the commitment of the teachers who assigned me to various classes depending on my ability (I had my own individual time table) A higher class for maths, a lower for English and extra classes for spelling! and almost individual tuition for technical drawing, it must have paid off as I became a draughtsman and a chief designer in later years.

Health : My health improved when a I was given a new type of inhaler, I was to remain on this inhaler for 35 years when the manufactures ceased production (Quick panic!) My Local Doctor although prescribing the drug for years needed to 'Lookup the drug' to find out about it, Anyway he moved me onto 'ventolin' and this has proved successful.

My time at Pilgrims was a happy time, I became very good on roller skates the photo above is not of me but a competitor (Bones), always trying to achieve, higher, longer jumps and acrobatics, I've still got the scars to prove it! I was no angel, getting the cane at least once, Coming back to the school late and many occasions soaking wet!

Memories The following are some of my memories of my time at pilgrims

Bomb clearance on Seaford head
Seaford Head was a very common place to visit on Saturday afternoons, visiting War time outlook posts and trying to find anything to do with the War, However during 1961 this part of the Downs was closed while the Army did a bomb clearance, finding several UXB's, Yet only a few months later another was found!. Great play ground for kid's!!

Storms at sea are not uncommon and Seaford took its share of damage on the sea defences, this of course was a tremendous attraction to us, seeing waves crashing and exploding into spray. Clambering over broken sea defences and inspecting the damage to many of the building on the sea front, many times I returned to the school soaking wet! 

Football An entry here from Chris Knowles from 28th February 1962 about playing soccer against Bowden House.
I still after all these years have to suppress laughter when remembering the game. High gale force winds making it virtually impossible to kick the ball. Pilgrims players puffing desperately on their inhalers having difficulty running, whilst B.H. players (being partially sighted) having great difficulty locating the ball and identifying their team players. I think that my selection for the school team on this occasion most likely indicated my level of talent. I did very occasionally make it into the inter-house matches when the kindly house master (Mr. Burnham- T.D and woodwork teacher) managed to twist the arm of George Smith the then 'Knights' house captain.

Saturday Afternoons Saturday afternoons was the time to explore as we had lessons on Saturday morning the Downs, were a popular place with access  only 1/2 Mile away, crossing a  Golf course which lead to higher ground, on one occasion two of us walked to the high ground and could head a noises in the distance, we followed the noise and eventually came upon a Hill Climb race, Arriving at the Top as we did there was no one asking for an  admission fee so we enjoyed the event, Just as we were about to leave we were discovered by Mr Gooding (the headmaster) who could hardly believe we has waked so far, any way he allowed us to join his family picnic and stay for the rest of the event and provided a much appreciated lift back to the school. On the way back he stopped at the nearest phone box to inform the school we were with him and would be back late, (Aren't Mobile phones useful) then took us to a local pub. ( lemonade only !)

Fishing trips During my last year at the school I became friends with ?? who had a interest in Fishing and with suitable permission we were allowed out all day on some Saturdays (with a packed lunch) to pursue the activity, Bus trips to Newhaven were not uncommon. ( Bearing in mind this was the 1960's was this normal practice at schools? It's it normal practice now ??)

Assassination of Kennedy
Everyone remembers where they were when they heard of a particular event, (Where were you when you heard about the events on September 11th 2001) Well I was at Pilgrims when this event took place, I was Going upstairs when a prefect said "Have you heard the news "President Kennedy has been shot". Now for the embarrassing bit at the age of 13 I had no idea who Kennedy was, however I soon learned,!

Neighbours
The building next door was a Holiday home, Not as we might think of a Holiday Home today but a place for Nuns' to spend some time away from there normal places. How much rest they got with 50 kids next door is unknown but very little was ever seen of them!, The schools grounds were bounded mostly by fields, and the adjoining grounds of a orphanage, The orphanage was a mixed sex place as there was always interest between the older boys and the girls next door, on many occasions at assembly strict instruction were given "No Fraternising" During my time the school was all boys, with the girls schools elsewhere (however we did visit it once)

War time relicts
Like any school, equipment was stored away and sometimes forgotten, Under the stage one day looking for suitable scenery I came across a folding canoe, The single seater was stored in a ruck sack which could easily be carried on your back, the wooden frame was assembled in a leather skin then when the seat was fitted the whole assembled became ridged, It was a designed and build during the War but who owed it we never found out!

Bonfire night,
Kids being Kids many attempts were made to keep the fire burning long after the night, One pupil managed to get some magnesium tape which after much effort we set on fire, However we were unable to put it out! --- In Trouble again!