Reminiscences

These comments were sent in by various people including the following:-
AJH = Tony Hare, DN = David Neil
MC = Michael Claridge, RCW = Roy Jones

The Masters

"Pilgy" - P. L. Jones

GOODBYE, P.L.J. (1916-64) [Wycombiensian, Sept 1964, p616]

We were all a little saddened last term when it became known that at last P.L.J. had decided to retire completely: for the last three years he has been helping the Maths department during the mornings.

What can one really say about someone who, for the best part of fifty years, has been a friend to all of us—boys, masters, parents, Old Boys—that is not already known or has not been said before? To be connected with a school such as ours for half a century, to make countless friends, to be counsellor and critic to generations of schoolboys, to preserve a warm place in the hearts of his colleagues, is to ensure a memorial—not in bricks and mortar but in the inmost heart. We all know his qualities. His completely unrelenting thoroughness in the classroom made him a most successful pedagogue: he was sometimes successful even in teaching those who didn’t want to learn, the supreme accolade in his profession! More than that, he brought to his relationships with younger people a warmth and friendliness which encouraged them to develop as personalities and people, to their lasting benefit in later years. To further this interest he kept up his contacts with Old Boys all over the country, and in the world without, by acting as secretary to the Old Wycombiensians, following their fortunes with a keen and human interest. One of the first questions a returning Old Boy inevitably asks is, “Old P.L.J. still here?” It must be one of his everlasting rewards that so many people bear him so much goodwill. To us, in the Common Room, he was always a fountain of wisdom. We could always feel that his replies-sometimes scandalous, sometimes facetious-to our queries, contained the essential germ of truth we were seeking.

P.L.J., we couldn’t let you go without assuring you once again that all you were to the R.G.S. will abide in our memories through the years to come. We wish you and Mrs. Jones many years of health and happiness. - S.M.

F10 “Boss” Tucker (Headmaster)

You can read the Obituary here.

You may remember that the The Boss used to march into Morning Assembly, capped and gowned, carrying his Bible, followed by the School Captain.
One winter we had a heavy fall of snow. As was the custom, a snowball fight took place on the rugby field between the school and the prefects. As was predictable, the prefects were heavily outnumbered, and soon beat a retreat to the Prefects' Room. However the affair got out of hand, windows were broken and the Prefects' Room was slowly filled up with snow.
The following morning, The Boss called all those involved at midday to the
hall for a caning, probably expecting a poor turnout.
The morning after that he marched into Morning Assembly as usual, but with one small change - the School Captain bore the Bible and placed it on the
lectern. It seems that The Boss and Sam had carried out the canings on in excess of three hundred boys, and developed serious cases of tennis elbow.(DN)
Comment on the above anecdote:
I remember your snowfight story well and remain embarrassed to this day about it. I was involved in the fracas, as was probably 90% of the school, When the headmaster asked all involved to own up and get aned I'm afraid I chickened out and kept stum. Not only did the honest ones get caned but I believe they got fined sixpence each. I felt very guilty about that. (AJH)

John Saunders also has great memories of "Boss" Tucker:

Re Boss Tucker: as you guessed, he died in harness.
It happened just after the Summer term ended in July 1964. I've attached a MS word file with the obituary which appeared in The Wycombiensian in Sept 1964.
This was the formal obit written by the chairman of governors, but I always remember a teacher giving us a bit more background later on.

Boss Tucker had been greatly affected by the sudden death of his wife in (I think) 1962. But he carried on working right to the end.

I think he had been planning to retire in 1965 but in the end he didn't make it. I was lucky enough to be one of the last people to be taught by him. I was in the 1963 intake, and in the youngest stream (2E - there were five streams by then, there would have been four in your time).
Traditionally, Taffy Davies was our form master and Boss Tucker took us for Latin (he didn't teach any other class as I recall). He was very good
and quite good humoured when he appeared, but he missed a very large number of lessons. I recall handing in some homework in the first term and not getting it back until the Summer term.

At the end of the Summer term, we first years sat exams to decide which stream we would go in.
I managed to get into the 'X' stream and, along with all the other smartarses (!) was summoned to the headmaster's study to be congratulated and then given a pep talk. I wish I could remember something that he said but I was overawed in his presence. All I can recall is that we all stood in a circle round his desk as he spoke.

It may have been the last thing he ever did as Headmaster as a few days later he was dead. My mum insisted that I go to his funeral and I dutifully obeyed, although I had never been to one before and I remember I was scared of seeing a coffin. It was in Wycombe Parish Church and very well attended.

I am so glad I at least had one year of Tucker otherwise I would have spent my schooldays wondering what this Olympian figure was really like. I don't recall ever speaking to him or being spoken to by him, but he seemed a very good-humoured teacher and introduced us to Latin quite gently (much nicer than Holly, who put the fear of God into us from day one!).
I recall Tucker once threatened to cane someone, but never did so (more than can be said of Holly, who carried out his threats more than once - not me, fortunately, though I thought my number was up on one occasion - he contented himself with a full- blown Gestapo-style interrogation instead).

My brother (1957-64) had a less favourable opinion of Tucker - on one occasion he was told by some boys in his class that the headmaster wanted to see him. He duly trooped off to the head's study and knocked on the door. He should have checked a calendar first - it was 1 April!

The significance of the date was not lost on the Boss and he gave my brother a couple of strokes of the cane, just for being gullible.

Picture No 2
F8 Jock Evely. Taught Maths, but had a big problems controlling the class. Some horror stories here. At Uplyme we could often hear the tumult coming from his lessons. ( DN)
F11 Mr Chapman, taught Physics; actually a very nice man. In spite of my ineptitude in the subject, I surprised him by getting 65% at 'O' level. They happened to ask the right questions. ( DN)
F15 - Monsieur André Bur, taught French and played the violin occasionally
in class. (DN )

Picture No 3
F2 “Dewdrop” Sladden Chemistry Once, during a chemistry lesson with Dewdrop, we all blew down our bunsen burners to back up the gas and thereby extinguish his burner on the master's bench.
Unfortunately, we also put out the cookers in the canteen. It was a complete mystery, we could have gassed the cooks ! Lunch was late that day (DN)
F5 T.V.Shepherd “Tus” (Geography) He used to go home early on Wednesdays. His car, an open Morris 8 was always parked on the Parade Ground in front of the school. Some lads had chocked his car up on bricks so that there was just a small gap between the tyres and the gravel. Tus hopped in, switched on, engaged gear, and nothing happened. Quite amusing for those in the know who were watching from the classrooms. (DN)

Tus Shepherd: we all used to hiss tussssss as he mounted the geog block stairs - that always elicited a strong reaction. He never used notes and it was said if you got hold of a leaver's exercise book who had been taught by Tus through the school you need never write another word in his lessons. Sadly I never put that to the test. (RCJ)

F12 G.A.Grant “Gag” (Art) As I recall ‘Gag’ never actually taught. I don’t think he ever drew anything on a blackboard or explained a technique. It was more of ‘Here’s an old plimsoll or half a cabbage, spend the lesson drawing it’, after which he would award a mark.
He had a small, shiny penknife and was very adept at sharpening pencils – an art form itself.As we scribbled away, he would stroll the aisles slapping the side of his leg with a wooden ruler.
When it came to marking he had a unique method. Nobody ever got less than 5 out of 10.. Put a smudge on the paper and you were guaranteed a minimum of 5. He method was to give a mark according to a scale of words he would use thus:‘Very Poor’ would be 5, ‘Poor’ would be 6, ‘Fair’ -7, ‘Fairly Good’- 8, ‘Good’-9, ‘Very good’-10 and wait for it…. ‘Excellent’-11. No other master marked work like this. He walked round at the end of the ‘lesson’ inspecting the work. If he liked what he saw, the higher the award the harder he slapped the side of his leg and the huskier and more strained his voice became.
Now I wasn’t academically inclined, being more of a pragmatic person. Not one to boast but more often than not I got ‘excellent’ for class and homework. This was a great confidence booster and I have to say I enjoyed art class more than any other lesson. The footnote to this reminiscence is that my entire working life since 18 to date has been art orientated. I’ve earned a living (just about) from graphic design in advertising and publishing and latterly also set out to establish an art materials shop in a town that didn’t have one.
If you’re up there ‘Gag’. EXCELLENT! (MC)

Gag Grant: one summer Gag asked our class to draw our hand as part of his exam. The less artistically inclined, me included, plonked our hands on the paper and simply drew round them. Job done. Gag was furious and beat us all vigorously with his heavy ruler. (RCJ)

F13 - Hawarth / Howarth (?) - lots of latin bells jingle faintly at the back of my brain. (DN)
F16 “Blanco” White English Teacher Blanco was the senior officer of the RAF section. He had been a fighter pilot in WW2, and was a delight to see in full uniform, medal ribbons and pilot's wings. He also flew the school glider on occasions. One day he summoned a squad of about thirty boys to launch the glider. The glider was firmly pegged by the tail to the ground; a huge elastic band looped to the front; the boys marched away with the band until it was at full stretch; Blanco pulled the handle and soared into the central blue. Unfortunately, he landed on the first XI cricket square and gouged out a huge rut across it. This was fenced-off, hallowed ground, waiting for the next important inter-schools match. Almost before Blanco had stopped skidding across it he was confronted by an irate groundsman. Poor Blanco, he really got torn off a strip.(DN)
Comment on the above anecdote:
I remember being on the rubber rope team when the glider first arrived at the school. The first flight was a demo with a real glider pilot and I seem to remember him doing a complete circle of the playing field. Subsequent to that all anyone managed were a few swift takeoff & lands before the glider started to fall apart and finally got burned in its hut. To this day the ease with which we walked out clutching the rubber rope has been an example of the physics of stored energy to me. (Years later I met a chap who claimed to have taken part in burning the glider hut, but fortunately I don't remember your name David) (AJH)

Picture No 4
F5 - Gareth Jones - taught and spoke latin like a native. How I hated Caesar's Gallic Wars. (DN)
F6 - Mr Benson - CO of the Naval section; looked very smart in his RNR uniform. (DN)

The Boys

Picture No 5
F18 Ian Dury
Mike Davis (1970 - 1977) sent the following link for the Ian Dury webpage
http://www.iandury.co.uk/
He also recommends the biography available from
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0711986444

Obituary for E.R.T.

THE WYCOMBIENSIAN [Vol. XIII, No. 10, September 1964] (sent in by John Saunders)

MR. E. R. TUCKER

It is with the deepest sorrow that we have to record the sudden death on July 24th, 1964, of our greatly loved Headmaster after only a very short illness.
The funeral took place on July 30th at the Parish Church, High Wycombe, conducted by the Vicar, the Rev. Eric Hague, and the School Chaplain, the Rev. John Skipp. A tribute to the life and work of Mr. Tucker was given by Mr. C. Howard Ensor, the Principal of Newland Park Training College.
A Memorial Service will be held at the School on Friday, September 18th, at 2.30 p.m.
The Chairman of the Governors, Alderman R. P. Clarke, has written the following appreciation.

EDMUND RONALD TUCKER

A little more than two years ago Mrs. Tucker’s very many friends and admirers were shocked and saddened by her sudden and untimely death, but they will all remember with admiration the Christian fortitude with which Mr. Tucker, the Headmaster, bore his overwhelming loss. His courage like much else in his life was an example to all who knew him. It was abundantly clear that in his religious faith he found a limitless source of strength and comfort. This faith enabled him on all occasions to maintain a cheerfulness which was of inestimable help to his family and friends.

And now a few days after the second anniversary of Mrs. Tucker’s death her devoted husband has died. Ronald Tucker, “Tuck” to many of his friends, in no priggish sense was a good man. Great strength of character, invincible determination, patience, good humour and great personal charm added to his scholarship, his ability as a teacher and administrator were the chief qualities which enabled him to become one of the great post-war headmasters, and it was as Headmaster that most of those who read these lines knew him.

Chosen without difficulty—for he was an outstanding candidate—from very many applicants for the headmastership of the Royal Grammar School in the Spring of 1933, Ronald Tucker very soon showed how right and how fortunate the appointing Committee had been in their selection. At the comparatively youthful age of 31 for a headmaster he soon proved a very worthy successor to Mr. G. W. Arnison.

At that time it was a comparatively small endowed Grammar School of which he became the head and though the next few years up to the last war saw some expansion, particularly in the sixth form, it has been during the post-war years that the school has grown so rapidly in numbers and academic distinction until it is now one of the great Grammar Schools of this country.

Ronald Tucker would have been the last person to take all or even most of the credit for this achievement, for amongst his many admirable qualities were real modesty and humility. But his inspiration, his personality, his zeal, his ability, his strength of purpose and his strength of character were the main forces which brought the Royal Grammar School to its present high position. He would have given a large measure of the credit for this achievement to the members of his staff, but his was the judgment which enabled him to chose that very able staff and throughout the 31 years of his head-ship every member of that staff would testify to their admiration and affection for the Headmaster, as would that multitude of pupils who have had the good fortune to pass through his hands and his many other admirers far and wide.

Though he had many activities outside the school he was always accessible to masters, boys and parents, and his many friends will always remember with gratitude that it was to Tuck they would turn if they required any help and that his generosity and seemingly boundless energy enabled him to give it so willingly.

In this brief tribute it is not possible to mention all the Headmaster’s activities. These are very well set forth in the History of the Royal Grammar School 1562 to 1962 such as his becoming a member of the Headmasters’ Conference in 1943, the time and energy spent in “making the School known to the Universities, to the Services and to commercial and industrial employers all over the country” and in “finding places for his boys at colleges and universities”. But no tribute, however brief, should fail to mention his many public activities outside the sphere of, though in some cases connected with his headmastership. His restless energy and vitality enabled him to perform the onerous duties of a Magistrate, to serve on the Buckinghamshire Education Committee and many other Committees connected with education, and on a number of occasions at the invitation of the Foreign Office to visit West Germany and assist with teachers’ courses in that country. On these visits he gave invaluable service and made many friends, as he did wherever he went. Indeed his capacity for friendship was unbounded and those—and they were many—who enjoyed his friendship, will remember it with pride and gratitude for the rest of their lives.

Having early in his career as Headmaster joined the Church of England, he later became a licensed lay-reader, and during the latter years of his life it seemed that rarely did a Sunday pass on which he was not preaching somewhere. His eloquent, forthright and stimulating sermons were an inspiration to many. His only critic was his wife who, though no one was more proud of him than she, sometimes told him he was too long! So much in demand was he as a preacher that some of his friends urged him to take Holy Orders when he retired. His sermons, though eloquent, had a quality of “man to man” which commanded the attention and thought of his congregation.

In 1960 one of his dearest ambitions was achieved by the conversion of a large laboratory into a beautiful and dignified Chapel. The school was indeed fortunate in the Headmaster’s conception and the skill with which the conversion was carried out. The consecration of this Chapel in November 1960 was probably one of the happiest events in his career as Headmaster. Probably the happiest of all was the visit of the Queen in 1962, and for those who were present it is a joy to remember with what pleasure and aplomb his wife Bertie Tucker took the part of the Queen at the rehearsal for that memorable occasion.

Whatever demands his outside activities made upon his time and energy, it was the School that occupied most of the Headmaster’s thoughts. It may be truly said that his life was the School and the School his life. He lived to see all his ambitions for the enlargement and improvement of the School realised save one, the construction of the swimming pool. But that this was not achieved was through no fault of his.

No tribute to the Headmaster would be complete without mention of the abundant and delightful hospitality enjoyed by so many at the Headmaster’s house. The Headmaster was firmly resolved that 31 years in that capacity was sufficient and that a younger man should take his place. The Governors, however, persuaded him to agree to remain another year, but that he has not been allowed to do.

Ronald Tucker has left us at the very zenith of his career after a life of great usefulness and influence which will be long remembered with admiration and gratitude.

R. P. CLARKE,
Chairman of the Governors.