Bath Tec School

School riot?

10/26/2009 1:47:36 PM
Blesssynngges Alle
 
False memory is an accepted fact, but I am convinced that I was present at a near riot at the school.
 
The year would have benn about 1964. I know this because I had been promoted belatedly to vice-prefect (yellow & black badge which I still posess).
 
Anyway.... as I recollect it was the end of year (but not 1965 cos I was in Germany hepling to supervise kids on a language trip) or at least a term and some of the 5th formers etc were leaving.
 
So..... there were a couple of very large scary brothers possibly twins (??names)...wore glasses and used to terrorise the corridors in break. (Wisely I used to limit my attempts to remove them, as was the rule).
 
Anyway these 2 and others incited the rest of the juniors to some sort of insurrection. All gathered in one of the playground ands began revving themselves into a fury. Part of the cause seemed to be a personal vendetta against a boy called Bristow who used to sit in the librarians chair. He was unpopular as he never played games (health issues), had slicky black hair, was very pompous as librarian and was purported to be especially friendly with  Ray Jones. Bristow had a CAR! A brown Morris 8 I think.
 
Anyway! News of the insurrection reached the Head and also the threat to Bristow.
 
So! Whilst the other prefects and some staff contained the rioters and tried to defuse the situation, I was part of a group of 5 prefects stationed in the car park between the gym and the railway line. Our job was to protect Bristow or at least aid his escape. Bristow spent the time stting in his car whilst the rest of us waited nervously as we heard the increasing din from theplayground. Members of staff would ocassionally emerge lookig scared and asking if we were all right. I must admit we probably would have thrown B to the horde had it come to that.
 
The whole enterprise was overseen by Bill Hayman...don't know what part Naylor played.
 
Anyway! after about 1 or 2 hours of high tension for those who could only hear what was going on, all went silent.
 
We later learned that Bill H had confronted the leaders of the horde as they stormed down the corridor towards Naylors office. Apparently he simply informed them that they would not get a school reference .....and the whole thing collapsed.
 
Does anyone else have any memory of this or what happened to the ringleaders? I sometimes wonder if it really happened but it seemed VERY real at the time.
 
THese days I suppose the police would be called.
 
Yours heroically
 
Chris
 
 
 

Comments

- 10/26/2009 4:14:05 PM
Hello Chris,
I can have no memory of this event (left march 1963), but Dynes (Dines) could be a possible for the ringleader, there were several sets of twins at the school in 1963.
 
I`m hoping that you will post a photo of your old Prefect Shield some day, that`s why I`ve answered the thread. I can recall that Black & Yellow .. diagonal stripe top left to botom right ( I think) and the the Head Prefect had a different badge? ... bigger perhaps? ... There also was another badge with green & red on it, not sure if this was a prefect badge, may have been a house badge?.
 
Hope you can throw a bit of light on this one for me Chris.. love the memory though, sounds a real event.
 
Catch you soon guys....
- 10/26/2009 5:16:27 PM
'lo Francis
 
twern't the neckless Dines....thank goodness he had left in 63....these were 2x his height and had necks and their knuckles were clear of the floor.
 
Chris
- 10/26/2009 5:33:10 PM
The badges...forgot to answer you!
 
Yes vice prefect yellow with black diagonal...full prefect all black and head prefect (Dave Wilce from our year) I think black with Head Prefect on it.
 
I will append pic in near future.
 
Wylltte
- 10/26/2009 7:42:13 PM
Hi Chris.
Love the story, also the later comment a couple of hours ago. Had a real chuckle!
I had left a long time before these events, but it's nice to know that life went on.
Have fun.
John.
- 10/27/2009 1:12:11 PM

Chris et al,

I don't remember the insurrection (I shuffled off to pastures new in July 1964) but do I remember a dark haired Brylcremed individual sporting black NHS specs who ruled the Library as his fiefdom.  We were strangely keen on pouring over the doings of Johnny Halliday and Brigitte Bardot that were rehearsed weekly in Paris Match.  He would patrol the central aisle with a particularly oleiferous smile looking for the entire world like a junior bank manager of the time. Any attempts to extract the racier pictures of BB from the said mag (we didn't have access to Spic and Span and sundry other delights) were met with incandescent indignation expressed (as I remember) in a somewhat condescending tone.  He struck me as being the sort of fellow who might have found a more comfortable and perhaps permanent existence in the 6th form of a minor public school.

Mike




- 10/27/2009 6:12:06 PM
Yes Mike  et al 
 
sounds like Bristow in the library but he didn't wear glasses BUT the other person who did duty, Jerry Hurn did, and we were  and still are friends. I suppose he could have been officious too.
 
What I remember about the library was that the naughty parts of ladies in Paris Match and esp Amateur Photographer had been edited by the simple process of laying  a strip of sellotape over the offending "part" and removing it together with the print layer. Somewhere I presume there was a drawer full of ladies reprehensible bits for the delectation of the Librarian....whatever his name was.
 
The other tome of interest was on a top shelf at the far end and part of a 3 volume anthropological treatise on "The Woman" by a 19th /early 20th C  German Herr professor doktor. Volume 2 was 2x the thickness of the others because it had been so HEAVILY consulted. Needless to say it explored the sexual aspects of world woman kind. There was even a splendidly illustrated chapter covering penile add-ons clearly designed to help things along. The Japanese as usual were in the vanguard with piercings of well wrought very ambitious bamboo items.
 
Wonder what happened to it.
 
Wylltte
- 11/1/2009 2:41:21 PM
Chris, your reference to a near riot triggered a memory cell buried deep somewhere in the recesses of my grey matter, as I remember it the incident took place very close to the end of the 64 Summer term, I don't remember the details, or indeed the outcome, but if my memory serves me correctly Bristow, he of the sneaky countanence and brylcreemed hair owned a black Austin 7, which also stirs up a memory concerning a bag of Tate and Lyles finest, mind you that could be wishful thinking.
 
Stu
- 11/2/2009 8:37:55 AM
Morning Stu and Chris
 
Welcome back Stu, this site has been crying out for a bit of sanity!!!! Looking forward to seeing pictures of China trip. I suppose you will now put on your uniform that is reminiscent of a Chinese soldier!!!
 
I often related the tale of the 'riot' My now fading memory is that a gang of us paraded the school corridors chanting for the blood of the said Bristow. My recollection is that this all took place on the last day of school year 1964 and we were prevented from achieving our goal by teachers and prefects that put a gaurd on Bristow. He was sat in the middle of a locked gym and surrounded by teachers and prefects!!! Finally the 'riot' petered out and most of us wandered off to our new careers in the big wide world!! I am sure some of this is true your honour.
 
Still in shorts and tee shirts here with plenty of sun shine and temps of 30C.
 
Have a good day.
 
Cheers
 
Steve
 
- 11/2/2009 10:42:12 AM
'lo Stu & Steve
 
Thanks for the corroboration. ( and the return to more seriuos matters)  If you see my initial description of the event I thought B had a Morris 8. I presently have a A7 and his wer'nt one of they.
 
Also the wretch B was "held" in the car park by a cohort of us prefects for a quick escape should you lot have stormed the barricades.
 
Funny to think we might have had to fight for our lives but for the heroism of Bill Hayman.
 
Wonder what became of Bristow? And why was he so universally disliked?
 
Canals and transport seem to be very popular at the moment don't they.
 
Blessyngges
 
Wylltte