FROM THE ARCHIVES
ARCHIVES
Our annual delve into the past looks at what was in the magazines 75 , 50 and 25 years ago .
1945 – 1946
With the advent of peacetime , benefits were beginning to be seen in school , like the sight of a day boy arriving on his motorcycle and the thought that a car park may soon be added to the school amenities and the growing number of welcome visits from Old Boys .
The school was keen to show its thankfulness to all those Old Boys who had given their life in the war effort and launched an appeal to establish the Pocklington School War Memorial Fund , with an original target set of ‘ no less than £ 4000 ’. At its outset , it was deemed that ‘ there could be no fitter memorial to those who died for freedom than a new Library where the freedom of the mind can be cultivated and the boys of today seek the companionship of the great minds of the past .’ However , later in the year , thoughts turned to the building of a new pavilion as an alternative form of memorial .
The Governors purchased “ Lyndhurst ”, for use as a Junior Boarding House with plans to open it in the autumn with Mr Allen as Housemaster .
The Day Boys were provided with a common room and changing room in what then used to be the Scout Hut or in still older times , the Sanatorium . It was envisaged the space between the two huts would be converted into a shower room , with hot and cold water and facilities for drying clothes . The old Day Boys ’ Hut became the Carpentry Shop and the old Carpentry Shop was redecorated as an additional classroom .
The 1st XI cricket team got off to a promising start with five full colours in the team and the scoring of 680 runs in the first four matches , facilitated by Peter Michael C Bradshaw ( 38-46 ) who scored two centuries in school matches , an achievement that had rarely been equalled . The fielding and wicket keeping reportedly did not meet the same quality and left the team powerless to drive home the advantage gained by the batsmen . They finished the season with a scorecard of Played 14 , Won 4 , Lost 4 , Drawn 4 , Abandoned 2 .
In the House Cricket Matches , Hutton beat Gruggen and were awarded the Senior Trophy . In the Junior Trophy , Wilberforce were victorious against Hutton .
There was a noted ‘ indifference and lack of keen competitive spirit ’ during the House Rugby matches due to an apparent ‘ uneven distribution of talent ’ in Gruggen ’ s favour . Gruggen indeed achieved a notable double : their seniors were victorious for the fifth successive time and their juniors emerged triumphant .
The annual Athletic Sports were held at the end of March , which included two new events , the U16 Hurdles and the U10 70 yards . The highlight was the Senior Quarter Mile , which produced a magnificent duel between the two favourites for the Senior Challenge Cup , D H Hodgson ( 42-46 ) and Malcolm G Robinson ( 43-46 ). The latter just won with a time of 57.4 sec , the best since E H Dodds ( 20-22 ) held the record of 55.5 sec in 1922 , but in the end , Hodgson and Robinson drew for the Senior Challenge Cup .
The Fives Individual and House Championships were played during the Easter Term . In a contest for Senior Champion , Arthur G I Wood ( 39-49 ) and Jack B Wilson ( 39-46 ) battled it out in the final , but Wood ’ s inexperience gave way to a win for Wilson . Arthur J Hill ( 43-50 ) was victorious in the Junior Championship with Michael R Dales ( 42-49 ) a close runner-up . The House Cup remained in the firm grasp of Gruggen , although the other Houses fought hard in a close competition .
The end of war saw the return of the annual swimming contests with Ampleforth College . It was a close fought battle , with the result of the match decided on the relay race . Peter Lofthouse ( 43- 47 ) obtained a new school record of 90.4 sec in the 100 yards breaststroke .
In the Michaelmas Term , an official music society formed , which began with support from a small portable gramophone and a handful of records . By Lent , the society had acquired a radiogram and a much larger collection of records , using members ’ subscriptions to purchase new records to populate the library .
Commemoration saw so great a number of visitors attend that the speeches were relayed to the Swimming Bath and the School Quadrangle . Later at the Headmaster ’ s Garden Party , nearly 750 teas were served , and about 400 guests and members of the school watched The Dramatic Society perform ‘ She Stoops to Conquer ’. The day ’ s events were reported in the ‘ Yorkshire Herald ’ and ‘ Yorkshire Evening Press ’:
“ Presenting the prizes at Pocklington School Commemoration Day , the Lord Middleton said boys were sent to school to train them to take their place in the life of a democratic people , carrying with them the great traditions they had been taught . He reminded those leaving school that they had not finished when they left ; they must look forward to putting the theory they had gained into practical use and schools such as that at Pocklington were wonderful training grounds , especially in their last year , to fit them to take part in the life of their country . They would find the world they went into was a larger one , with unlimited scope for public service .”
1970 – 1971
The school continued to evolve and grow with a longer Michaelmas Half-term holiday now a permanent change to the school year and growing pupil numbers prompting a move to holding separate assemblies for different parts of the school . Praise and thanks were given to Mr and Mrs D Nuttall , who were responsible for many of the developments in the Sixth Form Unit . This included a successful application for a licensed bar where members of the Unit could invite guests over the age of 16 years , which attracted national and local press . There was also a rule change , which permitted all boys aged over 18 to go to certain specified public houses , by arrangement with the licensee .
The school said farewell to Mr J B Birch ( English ), Mr D C Ferrier ( English and Latin ), Mr T K Herring ( Mathematics ), Mr E J M Williams ( History ) and Mr M D Aubrey . Mr Broadhead and his wife retired after 23 years ’ service as caretakers at the school .
The following staff were remembered following their deaths : Mr P Buckland ( Mathematics ); Mr A Fairweather ( School Doctor ); Mr W E Whitehouse , known as ‘ Slip ’ due to his slim and wiry physique ( Art & Woodwork ) and then not two weeks later , his wife , Mrs Whitehouse , who was nurse and matron of the Sanatorium .
At the end of the Michaelmas Term , the good news came that two pupils had been awarded Open Scholarships in Classics at Oxford ( Leonard S Deas ( 63-70 ) – New College and Peter C Meredith ( 63-70 ) – Trinity College ) and a further six pupils gained places at Oxford .
The CCF formed a new Police Cadets , designed to offer ‘ training in citizenship ’ and insight into the role of the police force within the community . Pupils attended films and lectures as well as visits to the regional headquarters at Northallerton , the Assize Court at York and New Scotland Yard , London . At the end of the year , Chief Constable , Mr H H Salisbury , inspected the cadets and all participants were presented with a certificate for passing the course , which was in great demand and aimed to run again the following year .
In contrast to the previous year , the Rugby 1st XV had a disappointing season , with only three wins recorded against very weak opposition and ten defeats . Only twice , did the team reach double figures and on four occasions the team failed to score at all . The young , small and very light nature of the squad was offered as an explanation , along with numerous injuries – most of them occurring off the rugby field , such that the same team were never fielded for consecutive matches . William E Henderson ( 64-71 ) was thanked for his excellent captaincy and support of the team , who showed great versatility as they shuffled positions to put out a credible team . The 2nd XV , admirably captained by R W Duncan Jack ( 63-70 ) had a more successful season – Won 10 , Drawn 2 , Lost 5 . Special congratulations were given to Thomas RIchard Mair ( 65-74 ) who was selected to play for the county and David Carter ( 69-74 ) who reached the final county trial .
Hutton House were victorious at Sports Day , winning the House Shield for the second year running , aided by memorable performances from senior athletes , especially Ralph Brader ( 65-72 ), Jeremy Coulson ( 66-71 ), Peter Kaye ( 64-71 ) and Howard Britton ( 64-72 ). Between them , these four pupils won nine of the twelve events . In the junior section , Michael J Lees ( 64-73 ) won the 1500m , setting a new school record of 4min 42.6 sec .
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