The Scholarship Examination was held on "Neutral Ground" across town at Gerard Street School and there were five possible destinations for boys subsequent education depending on how well one had done. They were in descending order of academic merit:-

• Derby Grammar School

• Bemrose Secondary School

• The Central School

• St. James' Central Classes

• Nottingham Road Senior School

Some of the specific recollections of The Central School in Abbey Street are described in a letter written to the Editor of The Derby Evening Telegraph's "Bygone Derbyshire" in Spring 1991, and which is reproduced here for completeness. 

(The above information was extracted from a letter Arthur wrote to Ken Goodhead. The full exchange below.)

14th February 1991 The Editor Derby Evening Telegraph PO BOX 33 Northcliffe House DERBY DE1 2DW

BYGONE DERBYSHIRE 

Dear Sir, 

An old friend has recently given me some cuttings from your paper in which the above column has given air to recollections of the old Central School. As an old pupil of what I considered to be the halcyon years, 1935 to 1939, some of your readers may be interested in trying to allocate some of the then teacher's surnames to the nicknames by which they were then known to the pupils.

 The Boss; Pasty; HAJ; Polly; Squeak; Slogger; Froggy; Ginger; Robbo; Dickie; Treth; Moggy, Tufty and Piggy come to mind as a mostly young, very dedicated staff, several of which were Old Boys of the School. Of course, it is only in later years that one realises how their enthusiasm rubbed off on us and how lucky we were to be there.

 During my years pupils were prepared for the Northern Universities School Certificate Examination in seven subjects in the space of four years (Most other schools took five years) and if one obtained five subjects at Credit standard this would give Matriculation exemption and open the way to commencing a London University External Degree Course at Derby Technical College. Here one would fall into the guiding arms of the late Archie Avery, a wonderful character, mentor and a legend of his time.

During these same years I recall Reg Wibberley as School Captain (and pianist), Eric Nutt as Vice-Captain (and super swimmer) and with no help from me because I never took to water, "HAJ" as the chief coach, trained swimming teams which regularly won the Bromham Shield, competed for, I believe, over the whole Midlands area. 

'Ginger' Pritchard was a typical pallid faced 'redhead' who bore a freckled bald pate surrounded by a fringe of ginger hair. He was good humoured and an excellent maths teacher who would set knotty logic problems around the end of term and award a prize of 6d for the first correct solution. It worked for me and sharpened my interest.

Our School Emblem became a Centaur and a bookplate was designed by the Arts master, Mr. Hawksby, for insertion in books given as prizes on Speech Days in the Co-op Central Hall. The bookplate featured both a Centaur and the School motto "Celer and Certus". My books are still valued possessions, as is also a crested spoon which was a prize from a Sports Day held on Littleover Cricket Ground. 

The School Song was written by "Pasty" around this time and the Old Boys, known as Old Centaurs, had a strong football team, which I have since learned had long tactical discussions at "The Bell", and a Dramatic Section, motivated by Frank Winfield, which during War years achieved many notable productions at the Railway Institute. I was proud to have been associated with the Drama group backstage because at one point it achieved six plays in a season. Frank eventually went to teach Drama professionally at Blackpool. 

As has previously been told, when the War started the Abbey Street School was evacuated to Mrs. Evan's old house in Darley Park and after two weeks of chaos there I, along with numerous other fellow pupils, started work at Rolls-Royce and further education at Derby Tech. But that is another story! 

After the War I started the Old Centaurs Cricket team and for many years we played friendly matches in the Derby area with a "Home Ground" at Darley Playing Fields, which had also been our school sports ground. The school in Abbey Street did not have its own Sports Ground and Sports Periods commenced by us walking the few miles from School to Darley Playing Fields. What, no bus! 

Those of us who used that playing area will never forget the risks of fielding deep where one was more likely to find danger from a ball at one's rear from an adjacent pitch, rather than from the game in which one was taking part. 

A photograph of the Old Boys 1946 cricket team is enclosed along with a picture of an Old Centaurs social gathering taken by your photographer around the same time  and in which I can identify "HAJ", Geoff Critchlow, Roy Adamson and Cyril Peake. A further photograph shows a scene from the Old Centaurs production of Edgar Wallace's play, Saloon Bar, at the Railway Institute about the same year. 

They were very happy days and if my recollections are faulty I have no doubt that some of my old school pals will rush to you with corrections.  

Oh yes - I had better give you the answers to the teacher's nicknames. They were:- 

I have given my recollection of the main subjects they taught but most could double up on other subjects if the need arose. I cannot positively remember the names, or indeed nicknames, of those who taught Geography or Art but I think they were Messrs. Ridgeway and Hawksby respectively. 

As a parting shot I will append my recollection of the words to the School Song. Perhaps someone else will come up with the music! 

Yours in reverie, 
Arthur Redsell.

Thursday, March 10, 2005 12:49 PM

The boys 'packing up' picture
That picture I think was taken at Darley Abbey and in all probability either shows boys preparing to settle into Darley in August 1939 (when I was there for just three weeks before starting work although I do not recognise anyone) or perhaps preparing to move to Henry Cavendish School (which was in your own period). What do you think? (I think the picture was a set-up by the Telegraph photographer to make it look like boys were packing up ready for the move. They are only putting books into their own satchels! mcb)

There was no packing up by we boys from Abbey Street when we broke up in July 1939. The decision to evacuate the school to Darley Park was taken during our summer vacation as the inevitability of war became apparent and all the school contents, desks etc. were shifted by removal people who broke the lock on my desk and lost the contents as well.

The 'Dickie' Bryden clip brought contemporary memories back for me. 'Dickie' was a sturdily built autocratic figure who although in charge of Physical Education was too old to be athletic and took no part in fostering sports games or swimming as did 'Haj' Elsey, 'Slogger' Westwood and 'Pasty' Astle. In summer he directed our exercises in the school playground but when P.E. was indoors the main Assembly Hall was used for mats, benches, various vaulting horses and, would you believe it, boxing! Three rings could all be in use at the same time and I lost at least one tooth! No, there were no wall bars but there was a climbing rope.

A burly figure in neat blue trousers, white shirt and blue bow tie with white spots, that was 'Dickie'. He carried a short leather strap which he used sparingly and his catchphrase was 'Don't you dare talk to me until you are twenty-one'.

I do not recall him ever making the transfer to Darley Park but around 1941, when I was an RR engineering apprentice working at a satellite factory down Sinfin Lane, I found him working as a Park Keeper at some playing fields. I was then 17 but, yes, he spoke to me and let me speak to him. But 'Dickie' played the banjo and commanded a respectable mini orchestra which performed odd concerts here and there but especially performed alongside the school choir on Speech Day in the Derby Co-op Central Hall.

Speech Day was really something. The majority of the teaching staff were very well qualified graduates who wore gowns during school working days, probably to protect them from the clouds of chalk wiped from the blackboards during lessons as much as anything, but it did add an air of professionalism. But on Speech Day the transformation was striking. The dusty old gowns would be replaced by new ones, each of which would be adorned by the most colourful hoods which proclaimed the wearer's university allegiance and discipline - but only if you knew the code. There were never any Mortar Boards though. An extraneous worthy would be invited to say a few words and present the prizes and parents would applaud their recipients as they were marshalled from the wings across the stage to receive them. It was always a grand and memorable 'Show Day' when the Boss, the Staff and the school played to the gallery with pride.

Extracted from an email Friday, March 11, 2005 3:25 PM

I ... am searching for pictures of the Abbey Street school and of course will let you know if and when I succeed  in finding one. The letter I got from Ken Goodhead indicates that the Central School started in Hastings Street and moved to Abbey Street when Bemrose School vacated Abbey street and moved to their new building on Uttoxeter New Road.

Incidentally, my younger son Robert (now 43) went to Bemrose School at Uttoxeter New Road before it became a comprehensive around 1978, in which guise in recent years it has and still is classed as a failed school!!!

Back to Abbey Street - how, when and for who it was originally built I do not know but there were two entrances  and if my memory serves me right, they had cap stones over each entrance labelled BOYS and GIRLS. As you know there was no playing field anywhere near the school so for games of cricket and football we would leave as individual boys after lunch to walk across town to Darley Playing Fields, the other side of the river from where the school moved to in Darley Park. No bus, no organised crocodile escorted by a teacher, just a bunch of individuals.

To attend the labs and woodwork you must have had the opposite journey.

The amusing thing was that the lower entrance was closed and locked after school has assembled so we left by the upper entrance/exit and Boss Hainsworth would stand watching us leave to ensure that every boy wore his cap. Of course some did not have caps or had lost them and they would wait at the lower school entrance for caps that had already passed Boss to be pushed through the letter box . One cap would grant exit for sports to several lads.

As I recall other memories I will pass them on to you but, if you have not already done so, I think you should let the DET know what you are creating as a school website so that the publicity will bring you more stories. I will do that if you would like me to but as the originator it is your call.

Cedric (Pasty) Astle, B.A. This is a not very good picture of my old Form Master, Cedric (Pasty) Astle. I believe he left the Central School very soon after the move to Darley Park in 1939 when he was appointed Headmaster of another Derby school. I think it was either Sinfin or Mickleover. He was probably the most popular master in the school during my time. He was himself an Old Boy who took part in all of the school's activities and he also wrote the Merry Old Centaur school song.

For some thirty years between 1950 and 1980 he was a lay preacher on the Derby Methodist Circuit based on Mickleover Methodist Church and although I had by now left Derby, if I returned there for a weekend, as I sometimes did, I would look up to see where he was preaching and try to make a point of being part of his congregation in order to meet up with him. Not  surprisingly for an English Teacher his sermons were often laced with literary connections.

In the 70s to 80s I twice called on him at his home in Mickleover and on two other occasions my wife and I took Cedric and his wife out to lunch at the pub at Kirk Langley.

Sadly, the last time I called his wife she told me that he had developed Alzheimer's and that she had had to let him go into a home because she could no longer cope.

More on School Curriculum in Abbey Street Days April 11th, 2005

Ken Goodhead's letter: I can only guess that his 'REMOVE' was probably a senior 'Holding Class or Fifth Form' for boys who for some reason did not leave school at the end of their Fourth Form year. It did not exist to my knowledge during my years and normally our boys left school soon after their 15th birthday.

Thinking back I would estimate that the yearly intake to the Central School was about 110 boys who on entry were divided into A, B & C forms of about 37 each. At the end of each school year the top and bottom 5 would be promoted, or relegated as the case may be, so that by the end of year 3 the A and B
forms would contain those deemed to be capable of passing  the Northern Universities School Certificate Examination in 7 basic subjects.  These two forms would contain 25 to 30 pupils. And it must be remembered that 'No hopers' and those bent on getting a job could leave at 14 years old.

These subjects were:-

English Language
English Literature
Geography
French
Mathematics (Arithmetic, Algebra & Geometry)
Physics
Chemistry

We were tutored in 13 subjects but History, Art, Handicrafts and Physical Education were not examination subjects and the target was to obtain at least a Pass mark in all 7 and if possible, 5  credit passes so as to obtain Matriculation exemption. This exemption was the gateway to following a University Degree course after leaving school.

Form 4C  then consisted of those not selected to take the School Certificate examination, those who had not left at 14  and included those who personally wanted to pursue a commercial career for which 4C would include subjects such as book-keeping, shorthand and typing. Even German could be a selected 'commercial' subject.

In contrast, in those same years both Bemrose Secondary School and Derby Grammar School also took the Northern Universities School Certificate Examination but only after 5 years study, a year more than us, but their curriculum included extra languages like Latin, German &/or Spanish along with History.

Surprisingly they took a generalised Science subject which allowed for these extra languages and as a result they did not cover Physics and Chemistry as we did at Central.

When I started at Derby Technical College in Autumn 1939 to study for an Engineering Degree there were several ex Bemrose scholars in my class there, who were a year older than me, and who were disadvantaged because both Physics and Chemistry were necessary subjects for the London University Intermediate Engineering syllabus. Their generalised Science subject had not been as detailed as my Central School Physics and Chemistry. One could view this as a very early move in the Educational system away from Classics and towards Scientific and Industrial careers.

	Old Boys 25 years later May 21st, 2005
From left to right the names are: Don Congreve, Eddie Foster, George Hewins, Cyril Adams, Arthur Redsell and Roy Adamson.

I have found this old photograph taken at a Rolls-Royce celebratory dinner on 3rd April 1965 to mark 25 years service with the company. When I left school in September 1939 I would estimate that twelve of my 4th Form were accepted as apprentices at RR. We continued our education at Derby Technical College to become engineers and inevitably a few spread their wings and left. At the time of the dinner 25 years later nine of us were still at RR and the picture shows six of us chatting over old times.  Most of the six stayed on until retirement by which time I had completed 43 years service.

Comments on other contributions June 23rd, 2005

The pictures, recently supplied by Nick Clark, are very interesting and there a few comments I feel I should make which may help to add to their identity. Let me say straight away that I have no recollection of having before seen either the commemorative plaque or the stained glass window. 

My years were 1935 to 1939 at Abbey Street and I would have thought that not only should the plaque have had a respected place of prominence in Abbey Street Assembly Hall but that on Armistice Day there would have been some kind of memorial service held at it. Sure, it's a long time ago but I think I should have remembered so I spoke with one of my contemporaries, Ken Herbert, who is not on the net but who still lives in Allestree, Derby. He too had no recollection of having seen such a plaque or heard of any memorial tributes being paid to it. Looking hard at the photos I cannot see any direct reference to the Central School but I think I can discern the initials 'CS' at the top.

If it really is a Central School 1914-1918 memorial is it possible to find out where Henry Cavendish School got it from? Could the names of the fallen be traced to Hasting Street registers? Or maybe I am just too decrepit to remember!!

Now about the stained glass window. I have not seen that  before,  neither can Ken Herbert recall it, so we suspect it was produced after we had left school. During my years the Art Master was Mr. (Joe) Hawksby and it is my recollection that it was he who laboriously produced a lino-cut name plate from which prints were inserted into books presented as prizes. I say laboriously because these were the dark days before Xerox copy machines, computers and even photography as common aids to copying. 

One such bookplate print as used by 'Boss Hainsworth' is in Michael's Central School website Virtual Museum, alongside a revised bookplate later used by 'Boss Swaine'.

There are two significant differences; the centaur is facing to the right and carries a bow in the later version, as is also the case for the stained glass window. Now I wonder..............? Did Joe Hawksby produce the window using the original sketch from which he made the lino-cut? His sketch on the lino would be facing to the right as does the window, but lino-cut prints would be facing left. All the lettering on the lino-cut had to done reversed in order to print correctly and the addition of the bow, for whatever reason, meant that the lettering also had to be repositioned and revised to non-reversed for the window. Are there any clues as to the maker which we cannot see in the photographs?

After the war, until I left Derby in 1951, I was active in two Old Boy's 'fields'. These were Cricket and Amateur Dramatics. I think there may have been an Old Boy's Football Team but no other clubs that I can remember. Even Old Centaur gatherings were very sparse so over this period too I have no recollections of the Old Boy's donating either a lectern, organ or anything else but others may know differently. Remember, return to normal life took quite a while and some food rationing was still applied at least until 1952 when I  had moved up into orkshire.

For the record, since then the county boundaries have been revised and Barnoldswick was moved from Yorkshire into Lancashire and the protests have still not subsided. Neither have the cricket clubs taken any notice but nowadays anyone can play for any county.

I hope these comments will not appear to be negative. They are intended to be helpful to the best of my memory and I am keen to support the memory of my old school in any way I can.

Arthur Redsell. ( Definitely not CELER and not so very CERTUS).

Exchange of letters between Arthur Redsell and Ken Goodhead - the oldest Centaur contributor to this site. Great information here!
	Arthur writes: Tuesday, 3rd September 1996
Dear Ken and Doris, It was a pleasant surprise to find out last week that you, Ken, were an Old Centaur. It is amazing what a barrier two or three years is during school life but of course you would either be leaving or had left when I was starting in September 1935. My years at the Central School were all in Abbey Street but I was at the school's wartime evacuation premises, Mrs. Evan's old house in Darley Park, for only a few days before I started work at Rolls-Royce as a 15 year old Engineering Apprentice on 20th October 1939. For me the Central School was a time of great enjoyment and a few years ago, occasioned I believe by "Haj" Elsey's death, Joyce drew my attention to a number of letters of reminiscences which were printed in the Derby Evening Telegraph. As a result I wrote a letter to the Editor and a copy of that letter it is enclosed for your amusement. Until about five years ago, when he died, I had kept in touch with my old Form Master, Cedric Astle, and I still have contacts old form mates, Ken Herbert and Norman Frost, who were older than me but who stayed on an extra year to improve their School Certificate results. We then all started at Derby Tech. together after joining Rolls-Royce. I also knew Sid Twigg and Cyril Peake through their tennis and cricket Old Boy allegiances. You will gather that I am now a Computer addict but in truth my arthritic hands cannot write legibly so the Word Processor come to my aid and provides you will a tidy, readable result. Since the letter to the Telegraph was "saved" on a disc, it is no real effort to reproduce it. It is always good to see you two especially when the grandchildren are involved and of course, I now view you, Ken, with increased reverence. I hope you have a good laugh! Sincere good wishes from, Doreen and Arthur
	Ken Goodhead replies: 18th September 1996 (Sadly, Ken died in 2004)
Dear Arthur & Doreen,  Thanks you for your interesting letter; I haven’t replied before because we’ve been away on holiday.  I haven’t seen your letter in the Derby Evening Telegraph – so it was all new to me. My memory isn’t as good as it was but I certainly remember all the teachers. You name their nicknames. I didn’t realize Mr. Elsey’s initials were HAJ, as we used to call him ‘Adj’ Elsey, not knowing we had dropped our aspirate. Mr. Weston we used to call ‘Cissy Weston’, though Squeak was probably used as well.  It makes me realize how young some teachers were when I was at school. People like Cedric Astle could only have been in their twenties during the period I was there (i.e. 1929-1933) but of course that didn’t mean anything to us – they were teachers & we were their pupils.  Your detailed knowledge of our old school is remarkable – it’s made me turn out my old school reports – Yes, I still have them! I was a Corinthian by the way. I notice looking at the reports that there were 35-38 pupils in Forms IA to IVA, though less in the fifth form (27) as I suppose some left at fourteen or went into the Remove form.  Teachers complain today about classes of over 30 but didn’t realize we had them then in my day. By the way, my last report from St. Chad’s School in 1928 shows 43 in the class – all in rows facing the front!!  I note you started the Old Centaurs crickets team. I wouldn’t have been any use to you had I known about it – my game was football which we used to play somewhere down Sinfin Lane, now a huge housing estate. I once played on the Baseball Ground & had a trial for Derby Boys – unsuccessfully!  When I first started at Hastings St. in 1929 it was overcrowded & we often used a Sunday School in Walbrook Rd., in forms I & II. When the new Bemrose School was completed in about 1930 or 31 we moved into their old school in Abbey Street (so we were no longer called Hastings St. Bucket Bangers”). Don’t ask me the history behind that.  Well that seems to be a lot about our old school, but what I wanted to say was that it was nice to see you both at Mel & Chris’s – we do share three lovely grand children don’t we?  Anyway here’s wishing you both all the best – Doris & I send our regards & look forward to meeting you again.  Ken

Thanks to Arthur we have most of the Bygones articles from the D.E.T. on this site, and also a good number of photographs in our Virtual Museum and elsewhere. - Ed.