No . 125
The Trusty Servant introduced himself , and came in for tea and a nice chat . It was a kind gesture which I appreciated greatly and led to much further friendliness and help from this splendid man , soon to become a great headmaster . Otherwise , it was in at the deep end , though PEC was a wonderful mentor from whom I learnt so very much ( and to whom I have paid richly deserved tribute recently in this publication ). And while mentioning significant influences on my Winchester life , I pay tribute too to Ralph Townsend , who initially steered us all safely away from impending rocks , then provided secure , deft leadership and , on a personal note , very considerable kindness .
At the start , in the early 80s , dons were paid but three times a year , at irregular intervals . On mentioning my slight surprise about this arcane practice to a colleague he said , ‘ Oh really ? I have no idea how much I ’ m paid .’ There were such dons then , ‘ gentlemen teachers ’ in no apparent need of what Joyce Grenfell called ‘ the sordid topic of coin ’.
I say ‘ gentlemen ’. There were only three full-time female dons : two splendid biologists and a young mathematician who stayed for just a year .
The boys ( rather , men ) wore , up to books , tweed jackets , and straw hats (‘ strats ’) were compulsory . In the early 80s the boys were clearly becoming disenchanted with the latter and too many either ‘ forgot ’ to put them on or somehow the top came off , leaving a sort of an open cylinder which looked vaguely ridiculous . The ever-charismatic John Thorn wisely discontinued them .
Nowadays you scarcely see a tweed jacket and dark suits hold sway . Typical of boys : when you don ’ t have an official uniform , they all end up looking exactly the same , which , in a roundabout way , brings me to my main point , perhaps my only point . So often I was asked by prospective parents what makes Winchester so special . That ’ s easy . It is the absolute delight of the boys , their irrepressible humour and their friendly , frequently effervescent , nature which immediately struck me on joining and remains just as strong today . Welcome smiles and a ‘ Good morning , Sir ’ as you walk down the paths and ‘ How are you today , Sir ’ as they enter the lab ( and I have had boys running in to ensure a front-row seat ), then ‘ Thank you , Sir ’ as they leave . This , I submit , does not happen in many schools . Indeed , a teacher at another school said to me , ‘ I wish someone would ask me how I am once in a while .’ Such mutual respect , boys to dons , boys to boys , and dons to boys , is the kingpin from which all else flows . Almost as important is their powerful intellect . Luckily , they do not know everything : note the first-year boy who attempts to connect his Bunsen burner to the water supply ; another who asks , ‘ Sir , where do you keep the flaming splints ?’ ( one explains patiently that they don ’ t come ready-flamed ); and , fairly frequently , ‘ Sir , my litmus paper isn ’ t changing colour ’, to which one points out politely , ‘ That ’ s because you ’ re not actually using the litmus paper , but rather the cover of the booklet that the litmus paper comes in .’ I can confidently say I enjoyed my teaching every bit as much on my last day as I did on my first . All credit for that goes to the boys . That is not to say I did not appreciate my incredibly knowledgeable and friendly colleagues - I most certainly did .
Just as much fun as the teaching was being the Housemaster of Toye ’ s . I have been frequently asked , ‘ What ’ s it like being a Housemaster ?’ I remember on my first Saturday afternoon three boys appearing at the study door . The first asked if I would help with his Oxford application , the second said , ‘ Please Sir , have you got a piece of string that long ?’ and the third said , ‘ I think I can smell gas coming from the kitchen .’ Being a Housemaster is like that . It was , however , an absolute joy and an enormous privilege to be there for the Toyeites and to guide these wonderful , delightful young men through that vital progression from the nervy 13-year-old to the 18-year-old university-entrant . That is not to say it was unalloyed delight . They gave me a hard time when my team , Spurs , lost ; and they could , as was only to be expected , occasionally be naughty . I remember once when some of my top year decided it would be fun to go up to St Swithun ’ s at five in the morning and throw pebbles at the girls ’ windows as an enticement to get them up . I am not certain how unerring their window selection was , for well before breakfast I had a phone call from the Headmistress . ‘ Andrew , did you know your boys have been throwing stones at the windows ?’ We decided something would need to be said but frankly we were both saw the amusement value . A good job the boys did not hear the joviality for they might have come to the conclusion that we were taking the matter a little too lightly . Nonetheless , they received a suitably serious , grim-faced dressing down and that was that . It was the brilliant , wise and much-missed Geoff Hewitson who , ages ago , had taught me , amongst so much else , that sometimes it was better to do nothing rather than something . When appropriate , it is an approach that can reap rich rewards ; it is overreaction that can be the more damaging . How lucky was I to have Geoff as a House Tutor even when he was at the same time a busy Second Master .
Over three dozen years there have inevitably been changes ; many have even been improvements . There are now getting on for 20 full-time female dons , which is without doubt a huge progression . The distribution of many more bursaries , all now based entirely on genuine need , has also been an important step forward , as have been vast enhancement in the houses . But whatever changes are implemented , the heart and spirit of Winchester remains unaltered : the pursuit of excellence , in the most beautiful setting imaginable and in the company of the most splendid of people , is as alive and recognisable today as it was over 600 years ago .
I did like it there . The Common Room was awfully unstuffy . And after a while we got paid regularly every month .
2