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A nostalgic ramble
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13 Apr 1999 Bygones Article – Barry MUIR, pictured here in 1948.
I found the park just as grand as it was during my schooldays there, from September 1943 to July 1948, the only items missing being principally the house and the lonesome pine, which stood in the lower central area. We parked our car just below Lavender Row, where my great great grandfather Hezekiah Clarke had lived with his family in 1841, and approached the park from this rear Darley entrance. Little had changed and, as we approached the park, I remembered the dank and slightly sweet smell of the cedars in the autumn.
When we arrived at the Broadway Hotel, as it was then known, we proceeded to cross the road, walking down the drive to the Park gates, where a small Lodge was situated on the right. On entering the Park this somehow released in me a burst of energy and with a friend, Alan Pitt, after negotiating the two semi circular concrete steps, we would race down the park slope to the two Hawthorn trees that stood on the middle path leading up to the School. We seemed to do this every day, rain, snow or whatever and it can't have done us any harm I feel.
Our first classroom was on the first floor and I well remember that I shared a twin desk with Gerald Lowe. He was a left hander and I always remember his crab like approach to writing with his left elbow encroaching on my side of the desk. I never realised the problem, if such it can be called, until my daughter proved to be left handed, using the same writing action. I have since wondered why our form teacher could not have repositioned us, which would have made life easier for both of us but perhaps that would have been too forward thinking for the times. Leaving by the front, main door and turning to the right you passed under a covered way, then into a lean-to glazed conservatory, which gave way to the "music room" (now the Restaurant), which was an isolated room from the main building. Perhaps just as well as we used to sing away, in fine voice I always thought but, perhaps from a distance it wasn't quite so tuneful. Cherry Ripe, Westward Ho and like stirring tunes were all belted out. Over the fireplace was an oval oil painting of some grandee in a periwig and the sight of this always made my mind wander, thinking of how grand the house must have been in earlier times when occupied by the Evans family in such a different era. I remember that the kitchens, a prime area for developing school boys, were sited opposite the Secretary's Office and the Midday meal was taken in the old carriage house building, lying at the end of the block of outbuildings in the cobbled courtyard. It had double doors, just as it does now, although then they were glazed at the top. There were only two small windows set high in the side wall and the area was heated by "pipes". The first entrance door on the left was permanently closed as behind this was the area from which the serving took place. There were stainless steel heated cabinets for warming the plates and keeping the food warm. The fare was of the usual type, which I quite enjoyed, cottage pie and the like with potatoes and veg, plus spotted dick with custard etc - the atmosphere was a bit noisy as you would expect but a good social gathering place. It stood you in good stead for your time completing your National Service. The kitchen staff were varied in stature (aren't we all) and involved a rather plump lady (Betty, I think her name was). Then there was a lady with chiselled features, thin hair and red indian makeup (brownish sort of "rouge", with bright red lipstick), and there was Margaret (more our age, probably about 18 or so, and the boys used to try and chat her up). The cook was a grey haired lady and we didn't see much of her, being confined mainly to the kitchen.
The staff when we entered the school in September 1943 was under the guidance of Mr H. Hainsworth but within two years he retired and the Head was then Mr G.B. Swaine. Our teachers were 'Yitna' Bennett (woodwork), Ernie Coates (maths), Ron Cooke (English), 'Adge Elsey (Geography/PE), Miss V.M. Ferguson (English), Ada Foster (Biology, Algebra, Geometry), Jasper Jarvis (PE), Miss M.J. Selby (French), later Miss E.E. (Polly) Wood (French), Arthur Morris (Chemistry), Harold Simpson (Geography, Maths and Music), Katie Street (Art), and Squeak Weston (History). Our Physics master was Geoff Poole, known to us as 'one shot', referring to a familiar phrase that he used. It referred to our only having one shot at our School Certificate examination. After going through the experiment with us and then instructing us to copy down the theorem written on the blackboard, he would retire to his lecturer's bench where, placed on a tripod with Bunsen burner underneath, a beaker filled with water would be bubbling away. He would proceed to introduce something that looked remarkably like tea leaves. We soon worked out that this was his own experiment which he performed repeatedly, but never shared. Earliest memories were of the homework given by English mistress Miss Ferguson - one page of Midsummer Night's Dream to be memorised by the following day, some 40 lines, this also involving characters with odd names of Bottom, Titania and Lysander – what were they talking about ! Miss Selby taught us French in the early years, and would wander around the classroom, stop at your desk and, if your work was thought to be wrong, would call you a blockhead and hit you on the head with a book - normally a dictionary or encyclopaedia. This was designed to help your concentration! Miss Ferguson was a frightening character -- dominant personality, harsh crystal voice. If ever you did see her smile it was more threatening than pleasant. I can see her now striding down the drive, not the sort of person to suffer fools gladly, and not one that you would call cuddly. It was only when looking through School Log Books that I discovered that she left in Dec 1944 to take up a post in Devonshire, so we only knew her for just over 1 year, which seemed a lifetime. Katie Street our Art teacher, was a totally different person, very approachable and good natured--rather tubby and always seemed to carry a music case which was stuffed with papers. Jasper Jarvis was our Physical Education teacher--used to walk with a bounce to his step, as if he had rubber sorbo in his heels. I remember one time when we were in the area at the back of the school near to the school hall (block building on the right situated in lower scrub ground), doing our exercises, when I did something wrong (turned to the left when should have turned to the right - something drastic of that sort), when, with a bound, he appeared before me, thrusting his face only inches from mine, asking me to explain what I was doing. I suppose I can explain his proximity in that he had spectacle lenses which we likened to the bottom of milk bottles, very thick and doubtless giving extreme magnification. Suddenly, I thought, looking from the outside as it were, it all seemed so ridiculous, a bit like a cartoon and I must have smiled (smirked I suppose he would have called it) and I received a slap across the face and was accused of insolence. Obviously ABUSE by today's standards ! Squeak Weston taught us our early history which I enjoyed--medieval and the like--but the last year was taken over by the Head Master, Mr.G.B.Swaine, and involved modern history - corn law repeal, Gladstone, Disraeli etc. We were instructed to take notes, which we had never done before and, by the time that we had scribbled them down, I had no comprehension of what the subject was about. This was the only subject that I failed in the examinations and it was the one that I had found the most interesting. Harold Simpson taught us Geography and took us for Music. In this latter aspect his favourite trick was to wave his baton furiously whilst we were singing and when things were reaching a crescendo, would let it go, sending it sailing towards the ceiling. The first time it was amusing but, after that we became aware that it was rather a party trick, and lessened our interest. Ron Cooke was our English teacher in our later years and our form master in our final year. He was a good teacher and interested that you understood the subject being discussed. Sciences and woodwork were taken at the old school at Abbey Street and I well remember my first day when we were introduced to our form teachers in the lecture theatre on the first floor, which I thought most impressive.
Our Chemistry lessons were somewhat different things - explosive and smelly perhaps are the words I'm seeking. Arthur Morris was our teacher, who was most expressive in his explanations, although I did not always follow his meaning. One experience for our form was particular disturbing, when one of our class was badly hurt when he was in a form of collision whilst carrying some acid. [Vernon Parker said that it was in a beaker but, on reflection I wasn’t about at the time that it happened, so can’t be specific on this point.] Our Laboratory Technician "Gabby" Sharratt apparently was not available to take the acid to the Laboratory, this being the reason that a pupil was instructed to carry out this task. [Gabby joined the RAF becoming a junior Officer, returning to School on a visit, with a very unusual posh accent.] This was a sad event and I know that we all felt very concerned for Peter Richards who had many plastic surgery operations in an effort to improve the scarring to his face, neck and hands. I hope that all went well for him. This sort of thing couldn't happen today of course but 50 years ago, although it wasn't Dickensian, there were scary moments. [School Log Book states that Richards, Pitt and Lowe were involved in this incident] In the school Yard outside the Physics laboratory we used to take our "breaks" and more often than not have a game of football, using a tennis ball. To my knowledge not a window was broken and, it was only in later years, that I marvelled at this, particularly in view of the aggressive play that took place. We didn't have much by way of Sports activities whilst at school, apart from football and cricket which we partook, over the river, on Darley Fields. There was also the P.E. which we performed outside, as mentioned above. We took swimming lessons at the Queen St Baths on the allocated morning timetable and, on leaving unsupervised, we would cross the road diagonally towards the right hand entrance of St.Alkmunds Churchyard and just before reaching this, there was a Baker's shop, where we would buy a cob, if available, otherwise a small loaf and tear this apart eating the still warm bread all the way to school, via Darley Lane, North Parade, and then into the Park.
Into the Darley Grove and then the Park. Sometimes we would dawdle taking the river bank path, which then followed the small tributary stream where we would look for frog spawn and other like interesting wild life, before walking up to the School. Often in the early years some of us used to stay on after school and go down to play on the swings. Classmate, Gordon Humphries, would accompany me and we would see who could go the highest and then jump off . After we'd exhausted ourselves, we would walk through the park via North Parade/Darley Lane and into the town where I would catch the bus from Victoria Street. Occasionally we would call in at the Market Hall entrance where vendors sold pikelets. We would buy the odd couple and devour them - cold and raw ! The lonesome pine was quite a feature, situated in the open and, for some reason, during summer months, courting couples would sit, unaware that their movements were monitored by the schoolboys looking through the windows overlooking the park. It was an isolated spot and, as far as I can remember, occasionally, nearby, a wooden band stand was erected. In July 1945 we went to a school camp at Towyn, near Abergele in North Wales. It rained mainly all of the week with the exception of a couple of days. On one such day Ron Julians went to sleep whilst sunbathing and turned a near beetroot colour, having to receive medical treatment for sunburn. I have a photograph with Gerald (Ged) Lowe and Malcolm Bull and one with Peter Cotes, George Morgan and Richard (Nobby) Clarke taken whilst at this camp. I can still remember the timber shed like buildings (old Army types I would feel), with the bunk beds and the wet clothing giving off that memorable wet wool smell.
During our final year, 'Adge Elsey took a group photograph of our class and other shots of individuals. He sportingly brought his photographic enlarger to school and one small room on the upper floor was used as a dark room, where he allowed us to make copies from the negatives of the photographs that he had taken of us at this time. Very trusting I thought at that time and even so to this day. He was a good teacher and got on very well with everyone. I can only add to the sentiments already made of the pleasant surroundings in which we found ourselves for those school years, but cannot quite feel that they were such the Old Tom Brown schooldays of, "put another fag on the fire Flashy", as has perhaps been depicted by some accounts. Memorable days however !
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I
HAVE JUST returned from
visiting Matlock and Derby in persuance of my Derbyshire family history
research and called in at Darley Park on the way home to absorb some of
the nostalgia brought about by the entries in Bygones, of life at Derby
Central School during the 1940s. 
When first starting at the
school, my normal school day started by catching the school special bus,
from the open grassed area opposite the Normanton Barracks, and this
would take us via Newdigate Street, Derby Lane to the Cavendish, Warwick
Ave, Manor Road, Kingsway, Queensway and Broadway. Most of the school
specials started at this point and, after racing up the stairs of the
bus to the top deck we would then proceed to open the windows and wave
to the passing Homeland School girls, who were walking up to their
School in Village Street. 
We assembled in the cobbled
courtyard, at the rear of the House after passing under the archway and
I noted during our visit that this area was still much the same as it
had been in earlier days. Entering the school by this rear entrance,
you passed, on the left hand side, a room housing sports gear, the
Secretary's office, up a slight step and past the headmasters room into
Hallway, where there was a grand fireplace on the left and the staircase
to the upper floors on the right. 
The entry in your Bygones issue
of July 7, 1998, by Roy Cresswell (left), brought back memories, as a picture
showed contemporaries of the entry year of September 1943. I notice
from my old reports that there were some 36 pupils in our class at that
time, so things haven't changed all that much! 
Woodwork master "Yitna" Bennett,
after initial instruction of cutting timber, making joints (in old
terminology), turning wood etc., would find your special talent which he
would then exploit. Mine was of rip sawing lengths of timber - not so
much cutting whole lengths but of straightening out the vagaries of
those performed by others. They all started off as straight cuts but
eventually they veered off one way or the other, then tilted slightly -
so my job was to straighten them out. These days of course you would
just chop the offending piece out and start again but in those days
timber was expensive. Our expert for wood turning was Vernon Parker
and he used to turn out wooden bowls at spectacular intervals. This
workshop had a unique atmosphere with the gluepot always brewing away,
wood shavings on the floor and the belts driving the lathes powering
away. I feel that the Present Health and Safety people would have had
a field day if they had called to inspect. 
We used this walk regularly and
I can still see in my minds eye the buildings en route. The lovely old
St.Alkmunds Churchyard, then crossing Bridge Street where there was a
small single storey greengrocers on the corner where you could buy the
odd apple, again to eat on your way. Next to this, in Darley lane, was
the three storey high tenement block, with raised footpath and then, a
little further, on the right hand side the Graveyard, which had swings,
roundabout, seesaw and slide! Into North Parade with the impressive
Georgian terrace on the right - little did I know then that, when I
married in 1958, I was to spend some 12 months in the top floor flat of
number three - lovely houses.
The entry in the Bygones issue
of July 7, 1998, by Roy Cresswell (standing behind bending figure), brought back memories, as a picture
showed contemporaries of the entry year of September 1943. I too
remember the fire at the School, more for the reason that, as we were
taking our School Certificate examination that year we were not given
the brief holiday, as the rest of the School, but sent to the Bemrose
School extension on the corner of Albany Road, opposite Kingsway
Hospital, to continue our studies. I suppose it did focus the mind for
there were no windows in the building - I believe that it was built for
the Civil Defence during the war.