Open Writing

The school was divided into eight houses. Everyone on the register was allocated to a house irrespective of the class of which he was a member. This meant that the youngest to the oldest in the school would come together once a week in an endeavour to develop team spirit. This usually involved a discussion about how we could best win on the sports field.

The national secondary education structure was shaped in accordance with the hierarchical and competitive values of the time. Private sector schools generally only competed against each other on the sports field. Where such schools were thin on the ground the competitive spirit was kept alive by inviting grammar schools to field teams. Secondary moderns and other non-selective schools in the public sector competed against each other, never against children who had passed the 11 plus, and they were definitely not welcome on the sacred turf occupied by private schools.

Living in the East Midlands region known as The Dukeries each house was given the name of a well-known residence of one of the dukes or other prominent persons who lived in the area. I was in Welbeck House. This was the home of the original owner of Welbeck Colliery. Amongst others were Annesley, Belvoir, Clumber and Newstead.

Claremont School did not have any playing fields. The weekly games period saw us being marched the mile distance to The Forest. We played football during the winter months and cricket in the summer. I was pretty useless at either game and usually opted for the alternative which was a run around the perimeter path of the park.

Music lessons were also a traumatic experience for me. I was tone deaf. During one music lesson I was called out to the front of the class by Mr Bilson and instructed to sing a particular section of a song. Almost as soon as I had started he ordered me to stop. Addressing the class he told them, as if they needed telling, that I did not have a tune in my body and would never make a singer.

Despite my own personal shortcomings in the musical sphere, the school had a well-established reputation in Nottingham as a leading centre of music. In late spring every year a production of one of Gilbert and Sullivan's light operas was presented for a full week at one of Nottingham's city centre theatres. Most of the pupils, their parents and friends attended. It was one of the highlights of the school year. All productions were directed by Leo McGivern, a very amiable teacher who would have been in his 30s during my time at the school. In the absence of academic achievement the school was able to derive considerable pride from these annual shows.

'Failures' of the 11 plus were not considered to have any competence in academic subjects. More attention was devoted to providing tuition in the practical subjects. One day a week was devoted to such activities, the morning with Mr Bell in the wood workshop, the afternoon with Mr Taylor in the metal workshop.

Together they ran the Engineering Society. This was one of a number of societies on offer. Attendance was one hour each week. I cannot recall very much about these meetings, but I did have two interesting experiences arising from membership which have always remained in my memory.

One was Sunday morning descent down the mineshaft of Bestwood Colliery followed by a conducted tour of the workings. This was the mine mentioned many times in the novels of D.H. Lawrence, the famed Nottingham writer. The other was a midweek bus trip down to Birmingham to visit the BSA Motorcycle factory. Both have long gone, tokens of the demise of the country's industrial base.