Neville Foster remembers Feb. 14th, 2005

How kind of you to drop me a line. I must confess that I had almost forgotten about my ex-Pat entry in the Derby Evening Telegraph, but I still go there to read the "Bygones" section. It's quite interesting, and occasionally contains some Centaur news.

I was at Central School from 1946 to 1951, after which I moved on to the employ Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce.  I enjoyed going to your new site and reading your comments about Hawksby. I detested that man who berated me regularly because I couldn't (and wouldn't) draw a bloody tree freehand. On the other hand Pop Hanson was a dream master. I think he took us in the first two forms for geometry and it was well known that his eyesight wasn't all it should have been. Therefore, if a certain circle constructed in a certain triangle didn't quite fit, it could be made to with the judicial use of a soft pencil at the tangents.

I also enjoyed your panorama (don't anyone dare move!), and I was amazed at how much it resembled the one I have. I guess one bunch of kids look pretty much like another. It's just us that think they we were unique.

Since I have lived in Canada for almost 40 years I, like you, am not exactly "au courant" in the land of the Centaur.

In April 2005 Neville supplied us with the School Photograph of 1948. Many thanks!

April 24th, 2005: Squeak Weston taught history and in particular the Stone-Age. We all assumed he knew it so well because he was actually alive then. Poole was certainly there teaching physics while I was there but I have difficulty in remembering how he looked or how long he stayed.

Mr. Rawson taught P.T. He seemed rather young and we thought he was a returning serviceman (ca. 1948). He carried a piece of bamboo about one inch in diameter and maybe a foot long with which he was prone to whack one's head; that is until it was taken from him by a pupil by the name of Claude Shadlow!

Perhaps someone else recalls more details about him.

Another light bulb has gone off !! Do you recall Mr. Bennett, known to all and sundry as "Yitner"? He taught woodwork at Abbey street. I think we only had woodwork for a couple of terms in our first year, just long enough to make a bread-board from 3/4" plywood. Although my recollection of him is obviously hazy he may well be next to Coates in the 1948 staff picture. I also feel that Mr. Poole may well be the tall man to the left of Topliss in the same picture.

June 26th, and Neville sent us this picture with this reflection:

It was often said that Central School boys were somewhat deprived in not having their own laboratories, gymnasium and exercise equipment. Although I must concede the first two points, I can categorically state that the Derby Board of Education spared no expense in providing us with a unique device to develop our bodies! The photographic evidence here was kindly provided to me by Derek Jones.

The picture shows (from front to rear):
Rob Wain, Danny Rogers, Neville Foster, Hugh Minnion I believe, and Cliff Garrett.

The School Choir of 1948
July 20th. A further email on the subject of the School Choir of 1948. The text is with the choir picture.