Bath Tec School

Hi Anth.

Yes I've heard this quotation before, but don't know from whence it came, so come on David enlighten us.

Why stop with Bill Hayman though, most of the masters had names that were used by pupils that may or may not have been their true names. The only ones that I can think of that were anything like accurate were Ray Jones and Harry Mower, as for the others well I mean was Wally Hammond his real name, and what about Killer Keaton, Jack Lyshon, Jimmy,Jessy or Jammie James, Jimmy Edwards, Stan Stennett, Spider or Pop Webb, Herr Ault, Joe Cannon, well I ask you?

If anyone can throw any light on any of their true names then it would be interesting to see just how far adrift we really were.

I guess once given a name these were passed on from year to year down through the generations, but occasionally evolved a little.

There was a kid in our year that also lived at Corsham, but unlike the rest of us was not in the P stream, but was an X or Y, anyhow, his real name was David Mc Neil, obviously he was called Mac for a while until some wag one day called him Macus Marcus Maximus the Second, for short, this stuck for a bit but was eventually shortened to Macus and remained so thereafter.

A really good friend at school was a lad from, Colerne called David Trotman, as far as I can remember from day one he was called 'Bomber' for obvious reasons, and it never changed.

Anybody else got any nickname anecdotes?

Have fun.

Sticky. 

Hi All,

There must be tons of nicknames flying about. Mine was Tank. This was due to the fact that being a big lad I was very fast over 100 yds  and won it for my house 4 years out of 5. The nickname came when playing rugby in the 2nd year at Glasshouse against the nice boys from King Edward's School. I picked up the ball just in front of our 22 and set of as fast as I could and one of their brave centres stood in front of me and attempted a tackle. I just carried on and knocked the poor blighter out cold. So one of the female teachers from KES was heared to say "he ran down through there like a tank!!" The name stuck for the rest of my time at the Tech.

 

I think Killer Keating was really Peter and it was Raymond Joseph Cannon. Although he was W W J Hammond and may have been Walter, he was probably named after the cricketer Wally Hammond. Before my time anyway. I always used to laugh when they called Mr. King "Pimple"

 

Let's have some then lads!!

 

Rich

Nice one Rich, but who the hell was Mr King, must have been after my time.

Just thought though, what about Bevvers Lloyd, how the hell did he get stuck with that one?

If you answer this question you must follow it with the question, 'Is that quite clear, lad?'

Sticky.

Hi John, As far as I know his name was Beverley Lloyd, hence Bevvers. " Don't provoke me lad, it is foolish to do so !"

 

"Pimple" King taught us Biology in the 1st year.......or tried to.

 

Rich

We used to call Fred Naylor "greaser" as he was a bit swarthy looking. Of course there was also "Spike" Miniken,so called for obvious reasons and who we also called Twitching Lord Min, as he was always fiddling around in his clothing during lessons.

 

Rich

Hi Guys.

Never was aware of any nickname for Naylor, but then he was not in charge for that long before I left. Sometimes these things take a year or two to evolve. Likewise I do not have any recollection of a Milikin.

I guess Dickie Harbor was probably Richard?

What about Pete Moore, was Peter his real name? I think his initials were PPM.

As far as I know the Williams' never had nicknames at all, strange aint it?

Sticky.

Did I comment on Pub Pals, Tony? I've been locked out of the site for some reason so I can't get back in to check. He was always known as 'Bill' Hayman although his name was Colin. Don't ask me why or how he picked up 'Bill' (or 'Billo' if we were feeling really aggrieved). I don't think he knew either. 'Jammy' James was an obvious one, relating to Jamesons Jams. And 'Killer' Keating came from Keatings Fly Killer, a product of the time. 'Bevvers' was, as someone said, a matter of Beverly Lloyd. Herr Ault was known as 'Ozzie', Mr Nicholas was 'Old Nick' for obvious reasons, and I am sure a few others will come back to me in due course. Ray Jones was his real name, I believe. Didn't he play the organ in the Abbey? 'Spike' Millican had it's roots in The Goon Show. 'Jimmy' Edwards had its roots in Professor Jimmy Edwards on radio and tv. Dear me, my mind is running blank now. Who was 'Sid' Minchin. That name, or something similar, rings a bell,

Hi David, nice post and lots of info there, I have been into PubPals and you are still a member as is Rich who also had a problem getting in the other week, if you try again and fail let me know and I will drop Brian a post to let him know some of the guys are having problems,I know he is trying out some new anti spam software and that may be causing the problem, I am about to delete your double post if you hav,nt got to it before me.

Thanks, Tony. Don't know how the double post got there. Must be the shaky hand of age! I haven't been into Pub Pals for months since it started locking me out. I'll have another try. Other names begin to filter back. 'Jock' Frew was the RE teacher. No prizes for guessing why he was Jock. Pete Moore was my hero. Maths in 4th year was taken by Bill Hayman and I didn't understand a word he was talking about. Came bottom of the class. In the 5th year we had Pete Moore for maths and suddenly it all made sense because I understood what he was saying. Got the school prize for maths that year. Wonder if he's still alive? Wonder if any of them are still alive?

Another name origin just came back to me. Stan Stennet. He was a Welsh comedian who had a comedy spot on the Black and White Minstrel Show. Modern day kids won't know about that show, it's now considered very non PC. I read somewhere recently he's still alive ... the comedian, not the teacher.

Hi all,

Stan Stennett, the comedian is still alive and I believe he owns or has something to do  with The Rose Theatre in Tewskesbury, where Eric Morecombe did his last ever performance. I think the geography teacher was Henry Alvis, and indeed, as the advert of the day  told us "Keatings Kills." I don't remember John Pappin having a nickname or (Sir) Elgar Jenkins.

 

I still can't get on Pub Pals. Brian changed my password etc and I still can't get in. I reapplied with another e mail address so I may get on as a new boy !!

 

Rich

 

 

Hi all.

Yes, Rich, the bald geography master was Mr Alvis, known to us as Archie.

You were right about Pete Moore, David, but Bill Hayman was not to be underestimated, both men were brilliant mathematicians and I had great respect for both, although I agree with you that Pete had a certain way of teaching that made the subject more interesting and understandable, he obviously did a good job on you! 

I'd forgotten all about Jock Frew until his name was mentioned. The mind was a complete blank!

Nobody's mentioned Gummy Freeman, though.

The only Sid I can remember was the music teacher with the blue lips, but can't recall his surname at the moment.

I think someone mentioned that Ray Jones played the organ in the Abbey, he was in fact assistant organist.

Have fun all.

Sticky.

PS Thanks for the link to references Stan Stennett, Anth.

I remember seeing him in the B & W Minstrel Show, quite well.

Hi All, I remember the music teacher described by Chris. He must have been close to or looked 80 years-old even back in the late 50's/early 60's.  Don't know if I mentioned this before. I played in the same football team as Killer Keatings son Howard. Howard attended St Brendan's in Bristol/Brislington and was a year old than me.  He hit the big 65 this month.   Anyway I ask Howard if he would do an article for this website re his father and the school. I don't think he will but he did tell me that his dad passed away in 2001 at the age of 89.  So he did live to a very good age and although he could be tough at school, I know on a couple of occassions when I got injured playing football and he was in attendance he was very good and helpful to me.  On the Windows problems read in the papers here that hackers are causing problems with Windows world wide.  Cheers Ken  

Hi

 

Don't forget Sammy Seale and Councillor Jenkins was known as Jinxie.

 

Cheers

 

Steve

Hello all,

Fag ash "Sid" Hingley with the nicotine stained fingers taught us music (or something like it) on the piano in the main hall. He did look very "blue lippy", I put it down to the battle going on in his lungs between the oxygen and tar from the chain smoking. He never did hand out  any fags to us boys though, just a few coughs between verses.

 

I cannot remember many teachers nick names other than those already mentioned but Dougie Gray always refered to the late Mrs. Williams (RIP) as "the cleavage". Mike, (I think), was nicknamed "Basher" Williams by a few boys, after his love of physical discipline.

 

Pub Pals, if you go to the site & it bans you .. log out, or use the "delete all board cookies". You`ll then get to see the boards (but won`t be able to post / read anything). Just log in again with your original user name and chosen password. Tony is correct, Brian (admin on Pub Pals), has been applying a few spam and I.P. address filters to keep out the wallies. Hope it helps .. c.u. later on

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't denegrate Bill Hayman, John. I'm sure the problem was mine, being a bit thick. But I did admire Pete Moore for being able to get through the solid bone and actually get me to learn. It was like someone pressing a switch and suddenly there was light. I can remember it all these years later as an example of a teacher able to achieve success where success had seemed a forlorn hope only a year before. Sorry to hear Bill is no longer with us, Ken. It would have been great to see him again at a reunion. Talking of sons, Mr Alvis's son was called (to the best of my recollection) Brendan. I came across him as a boy scout in the fifties.

Sid Hingley! Yes, it comes back to me now, Francis. He taught us music in the basement room at St James's Hall.

Hi all.

Yes David, you and I have similar recollections of Sid, he taught us music in St James'Hall also, but we must have been nearer our maker as ours was upstairs. I seem to recall that if he played something we all knew then we would sing with gusto, but if it was new then the result was a lot of out of tune mumbling. Bill was right about Sid liking his fags, I guess that his lungs were like a couple of empty coal sacks, probably got him in the end!

I think he may have lived out Chippenham way as he sometimes caught our bus home, but no one ever saw him get off.

I think that Gummy Freeman lived that way also.

Can't imagine why they didn't catch the train as it left Bath after the bus and arrived at Chippenham a long time before the bus, its first stop after Bath was Chippenham and it was usually hauled by a Castle. The train used to overtake the bus between Bathford and Box.

It was about the same point in the journey that Macus was often to be found throwing up on to the road from the rear of the open platform of the bus 'cos he'd been smoking Barons again. Oh yes, whilst this was going on the bus continued on its merry way.

Health and safety, Bah humbug!

The kid knew that Barons made him ill but he continued to smoke 'em, maybe he had a free supply, who knows.

Got to go, tea's ready I think (hope).

Sticky.

PS. Nearly forgot, sometimes Pete Moore was known as Pissquick, I knoweth not why.

PPS. Thanks for all the information on Killer, Ken, nice to know that he lived to be a ripe old age and that he lived to see the new millenium.

PPPS. Can't remember who taught us to use a slide rule, Chris, but it definitely was not Pete Moore. I recall that the school advised us that we should invest in a  model known as 'Unique Universal 1' I think they must have had a job lot or something 'cos they were rubbish compared to the Faber Castell one, I still have mine somewhere.

Incidentally when I first started work and college slide rules were fairly universally known as 'Guessing sticks'. 

Hi All, I expect you all remember the maps that were drawn on the revovling blackboards by Mr Alvis. They were really good when you consider that most teachers could hardly write on one , let alone draw a map of Asia and show what grew where etc.

 

When it comes to music I recall that in 64 or 65 some bright spark got a guy called John Oxley, who sang on the radio, to come to assembly and try to teach to sing instead of mumble. He didn't succeed because the groan that went up each time he got on the stage, far outweighed the singing !! Then, of course, was Mr Clohessy, who was in charge of the school band. Now that was an experience. I could already play because I was taught from the age of six and played in the People's Mission Band in Corn Street. It was really hard work hearing all the phutting and farting noises from the new guys. I think that in the end it was a fair attempt at being a band and I'm still trying to recall some of the members.

 

Rich