Added 2nd August 2000
The following appeared in the " Cockney Ancestor", Number 81, Winter 1998/99
Exclusive! Boy Attends Girls' School
Arthur Townsend
YES, IT'S TRUE and, no, I haven't had the sex change operation. Let me explain. In 1942 I was a war- weary 11 year old from East Ham, privately evacuated with my Mum to Paignton, where I sat the Scholarship Examination. I passed and was offered a place at East Ham Grammar School for Boys. The war having entered a quiet phase (well, it had in East Ham), my Dad, who had been patiently fire watching in Bishopsgate for two years, decided that it was safe for us to return home so that I could start at the Grammar School.
A week before the beginning of term, my Mum and I reported to the school, next door to the Town Hall, where I received my uniform, which consisted only of a cap with an enamel badge depicting the coat of arms of the Borough. We were told that the staff and pupils had been evacuated to the West Country for some years and that their return, although imminent, was not yet complete. Because the school was not ready for full occupation, the new boys were to spend their first year at the Girl's Grammar School, in Plashet Grove, where I duly reported the following week.
The situation was unusual, to say the least. There were about 90 boys and 500 girls - paradise if we had been 5 years older. As it was, we were, aged only 11, believed to be no threat to the girls. Little did they know!
Our favourite occupation was to arrive early at the Gym for PT, whilst the preceding class of girls were taking their showers. We would then either jump up and down vigorously, or climb on each others shoulders, so as to look through the windows at the girls in the showers. The older the girls, the better. By the time our PT lesson began, we were too exhausted to take part. Another activity which took place in the Gym was the molesting of the prettier of the boys by our PT master (who must remain nameless). He preferred plump blond boys so I, being skinny with dark hair, was safe from his attentions. Some years later, at another school, he went to prison as a result of his hobby.
Our Senior Master was Wally LOCK and we were taught by elderly Bernard "Daddy" PAYTON , who had come out of retirement for the duration, and by women teachers of the Girl's School. These included Miss Katie ANDREWS, daughter of the Headmaster of the Boy's Grammar School and Miss Noreen FLETCHER.
I again became a pupil at the Girl's Grammar School some 5 years later, under different, but still memorable, circumstances. Our tyrannical Headmaster, Dr. WHITELEY, decided that our non-existent social skills needed improvement. He ordered the entire Upper Sixth to attend ballroom dancing lessons at the Girl's Grammar School, after school each Friday. Many of us were unwilling and a fair proportion, who had neither a sister nor belonged to a mixed youth club, were frankly terrified at the prospect of meeting real girls.
But we dared not refuse. Speaking for myself, and others, we hated having to take hold of the girls, and they seemed as petrified as we were. The teacher, a tarty redhead from a dancing school in Manor Park, insisted that we dance so close to our partners that we could grip a gramophone record between our bodies. This, combined with grasping a warm, soft girl who smelt of Knight's Castile, made learning the Whisk, Weave and Backward Passing Change a virtual impossibility.
I remember Doreen HANNAY (who still sends me a Christmas card), Shirley BROWN (School Captain), Brenda LYON, Sheila BALDWIN, Gwen CLARKE and petite Mavis SMITH, who used to wear fur gauntlets between dances because the hall was so cold. A year younger were Diane SCHEFERSTEIN, Joyce CAVALIER and Rosina REES. And special mention must be made of Marie SAUNDERS, whom we loved to distraction. She was in the Vth Form and was only there to change the Victor Sylvester records on the gramophone. She was not permitted to dance, unless there was a surplus of boys (a circumstance for which we prayed). She had a blonde June Allyson pageboy bob and danced like an angel. There was never any hesitation or embarrassment when there was a chance to dance with Marie. Where are you now, all you glamorous Grannies?
So, what am I left with from my happy days at the East Ham Grammar School for Girls? I have memories of nubile female forms giggling in the steam of the showers; my first year report, issued on a Girls Grammar School report form and a very mediocre ability in ballroom dancing. Hey-Ho.