NO.121
T H E T R U S T Y S E RVA N T
Whale for tea – life in Austerity Winchester
Breon Rawlings (D, 48-53) writes:
In Kenny’s, we were blessed with
Freddie Goddard as our Housedon – he
was senior Housedon and a believer in
letting the prefects get on with running
the House. However, nothing seemed to
escape him and although he did not
appear in the House more than a few
times a week, it could be at
any time. One could always
see him about absolutely
anything at all in his study
after lunch – and he always
had time to discuss things.
in the morning. The ground floor was
kept reasonably warm and there was
nearly always plenty of hot water for baths
after ekker – a real blessing. Also the
bathing arrangements of eight galvanised
tubs round what would now be called a
wet room, each with hot and cold taps to
top up, were great. Towards the end of the
afternoon the tubs would
have a good greasy scum on
the top, which was no
doubt unhygienic, but
nobody minded at all – one
just topped it up and
splashed vigorously – the
more water flying around
the better.
We rarely saw his wife,
but she managed the staff
and the catering with
There was little corporal
extraordinary skill and
punishment, although of
effort. We were never
course the threat was
hungry, although rationing
always there to restrain
was still tight and menus
arrant bad behaviour. On
monotonous. Meat ration
average
there was a beating
Freddie Goddard
was 1/2d a week (about
authorised about every
£1.20 today) – so all depended on finding
three weeks and I can say from experience
the cheaper cuts of meat whilst saving
of being on both the receiving and
enough for one joint on Sunday. Butter
administering end that they did not
varied between 2 and 3oz a week, eggs
amount to very much. All beatings were
one a week, sugar a comparatively
administered by prefects. After evening
generous 8oz. On one occasion I
prayers every day the prefects gathered to
remember seeing a muddy Land Rover
discuss the day’s happenings with Freddie
outside Kenny’s and two whole lambs
Goddard and, in the case of a beating, a
being carted into the House to be
prefect had to explain his case in front of
welcomed by the cook – it emerged that a
everybody before Freddie made the
member of House had parents with a large
decision.
local farm! The only real culinary failure
We were only allowed newspapers on
was one day soon after I arrived when we
Sundays – I am sorry to say there were
were served whale – it was not fishy and
many more orders for News of the World
was richly meaty, no doubt full of protein.
than for The Sunday Times. There were
But it was horrible and the experiment
only two radios in the House, one in the
was not repeated!
games room, with a record player, and
Fuel was short and there was no
another in the prefect’s common room.
heating in galleries, where one could see
Transistor radios had not arrived and
one’s breath in clouds in the winter. We
there was thus no music or radio at all in
used to keep our clothes down the bed so
Hall.
they would be warm when getting dressed
15
Sweating was by no means as onerous
as it is often made out to be. Prefects had
their clothes attended to by one junior in
his second year – no mending, just
brushing jackets and ironing trousers –
and their shoes and boots cleaned by
another; another had to clean and polish
his CCF uniform – everybody then had to
belong to the CCF. However, at the end
of a half prefects were expected to tip
reasonably well – I know this could pay
off nicely since the Wykehamist, who
cleaned my shoes when I was a prefect,
remembers I apparently tipped him well
and has very kindly invited my wife and
me to stay at his villa in Portugal for
years!
More of a bore was being summoned
by a bell to the prefect’s sitting room to
carry out some menial task – whoever was
junior in Hall at the time had to answer at
the double. I never heard of it being used,
but there was a splendid notion: ‘Toll
round fitzcaps and sport me a hairy
bastion’, which meant run down to the
School shop and buy me a penny cream
bun!
There were only two telephones in
Kenny’s – one for Freddie Goddard and
his wife and the other for the housekeeper
and cook. We were not allowed near
them. There was a phone box sometimes
working up the street, but you could only
dial for local calls: trunk calls were via the
operator – to call my parents in Cornwall
one went through Southampton, London,
Bristol and finally Plymouth. It was also
very expensive – I seem to remember that
trunk calls were 1/6d for three minutes.
This meant that in practice the only way
to contact the outside world was by letter
and this contributed to the slightly
monastic feel about the place: although
we were in the middle of a fine city, one
felt somewhat isolated from the world.