St Bede's Magazine
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ST BEDE'S MAGAZINE BRADFORD VOL. VIII. No.8 SUMMER 1966 CONTENTS page FROM THE CLASSROOMS I SCHOOL NOTES--ROUND THE YEAR I CAPTAIN'S REPORT 6 OFFICIALS 7 EXAM SUCCESSES, PRIZES ..' 8 OBITUARY--MR J, CREEDON II FROM THE PLAYING FIELDS. I3 RUGBY NOTES 13 FOOTBALL NOTES 14 ATHLETICS 16 SWIMMING 18 CRICKET 20 CROSS-COUNTRY 22 ARCHERY 23 RIFLE CLUB 23 CANOEING 24 SKATING 24 GOLF NOTES 24 JUNIOR EFFORTS 25 SOCIETIES 33 LADIES' COMMITTEE 33 SIXTH FORM UNION 33 GERMAN DAY 34 PUBLIC SPEAKING 35 MORAL LEADERSHIP 35 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 36 K.B.S. 37 VISIT TO STRATFORD 38 CHESS 38 BRIDGE CLUB 38 MUSIC NOTES 39 HALLE ORCHESTRA 4I SCOUT NOTES 41 THE GHOSTS OF HAG DYKE 44 OUT AND ABOUT 45 GEOLOGY FIELD TRIP 45 GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 46 GEOGRAPHY SOCIETY 47 NEW TRENDS IN TEACHING 48 UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES 51 MISS MARY HAYES, B.A. 55 MR E. A, DOUGHTY, B.A.. 56 OLD BOYS' NOTES 57 OLD BOYS' JOTTINGS 59 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 71 STAFF 72 ST BEDE'S MAGAZINE VOL. VIII. NO.8 SUMMER 1966 FROM THE CLASSROOMS SCHOOL NOTES, I~~~ ROUND THE YEAR JUNE-JULY Normally we start our survey in September when our school year begins, but your indulgence please for going back to June to an event the last Magazine had perforce to omit, it then being a-printing. On 26th June Cardinal Heenan solemnly blessed and officially opened the Cardinal Hinsley and Margaret Clitherow Grammar Schools at Tong, and as you may not know Cardinal Hinsley was St Bede's first Headmaster sixty-six years ago. Neither may you remember as far back as September 1961, way back in the eleven plus days, when a bevy of blue-blazered Cardinal Hinsley boys struggled to a disused Thornton Council school there to be nurtured like foundlings by St Bede's masters until their rightful father was found, and whisked them off to the delectable mansions of Tong. Now, that those same youngsters are on the verge of the Sixth Form, all set to fire the world, we feel we have a small stake in their future, and we wish them and their school well. A group of actors from the Restoration Arts Theatre Company of Detroit visited us on 16th July to present to our senior boys excerpts from Shakespeare. During the holidays Mr Creedon sadly died but not unexpect edly, and most of the Staff went to the Requiem Mass and funeral at Ampleforth, where he had lived in retirement. Mr Branigan writes an appreciation elsewhere in these pages. SEPTEMBER To give last year's simile a decent interment or at least a long internment, a larger shoal of staff circulated around the staff 2 ST BEDE'S MAGAZINE room, the old trout still avoiding the teeming waters by taking refuge in their armchairs, yet nodding gracefully to the new comers Messrs Blundell, Copp, Fryer, Hodgson, Holmes, McPartland, Walker and M. Ligny, this year's French assistant. Messrs Ackroyd and Rowe we welcomed back from their courses. The lesser fry including a few wriggling eels and all the tiddlers to the tune of about II3 eagerly gathered in the big pond. No streaming now in the Junior School, so the Norths, Souths, Easts and Wests blew in from their compass points, later in the month to be fortified against Polio and have skin tests. Mr Hayes, Deputy Head, is still making changes in the complicated Timetable of a big Grammar School. He's talking about a computer to help him make it next year. OCTOBER Have you ever tried to remember what happened over the past year? I sought the help of the Office Diary, but that does no better than record some Cycling Proficiency Tests by the police in the school grounds. The School Rifle Club had its A.G.M. (Aim good, man !), and Fr Burtoft took his chemistry students to glimpse the dwellings of Mammon at I.C.I. During half-term the engineers completed the speakers for the new organ. NOVEMBER November 4th an ominous day-significant for Monsignot Sweeney who did himself a mischief by falling into a broken shoulder. He made no bones about carrying on, and can now wield his shaving strop or any other strop perfectly effectively. The November Fair amazingly productive of parents' generosity, boys' willingness, smart ideas from Form VI for raising the wind in the Gym and hard work by the Ladies' Committee and their helpers, produced a profit of well over £700 which was still in our private vault next morning. University students on Teaching Practice have come to St Bede's for many years. They are here for a month or so, and seem to enjoy their stint with us. The Lord Mayor Ald. J. Wilkinson and his Lady had an informal look round the school on 9th November and saw the more glamorous facets of our advanced learning techniques whilst the workers at the coal face of education went solidly on-at least those on the day-shift did. November 15th G.C.E. '0' level supplementary exams began. 'How interesting!' you mutter, but very important for some boys they are. ST BEDE'S MAGAZINE 3 An expert Canoeing Coach gave lectures and demonstrations in the Bath-canoes are quite the rage at St Bede's. Was it in November we had a Klondyke winter with blizzards and drifts? November 24th Speech Day-the usual two sessions. In the afternoon Mrs R. E. Kelly, the wife of Old Boy Councillor 'Bob' Kelly made over sixty younger boys happy by giving them prizes. In the evening at the Senior Speech Day the guest speaker was His Honour Judge H. Suddards. Mr Joseph Fattorini, Chairman of Governors and of this meeting commented on the present trends especially in the spheres of Maths and Science, and the Headmaster in his Annual Report made Sixth Form Evolution or Revolution his central theme with implications and practical problems you may read about elsewhere in this Magazine. DECEMBER The ceremony in the School Chapel, with parents and friends present, at which a dozen Senior Scouts were made Queen's Scouts was very impressive. December 8th. The Immaculate Conception-two sung High Masses today and some good singing of the Common and the Proper. In the afternoon fortune smiled not upon our efforts to stage that elusive match of the year, Staff v. Boys. That English weather! Even Ascension Thursday was atrocious even for anglers! But it didn't wash away the Christmas dinner on the same day; we had gallons of orange juice and a modicum of wine to do that. Christmas Raffle has in the past done better than this year, but it is still very good at £140 clear profit. The Carol Service has settled into a regular feature of the last week of term, and so to the Christmas holiday. JANUARY, 1966 Monsignor Sweeney conducted the Lunch Hour Prayers at Bradford Cathedral for Christian Unity. The Ecumenical spirit is gathering momentum-has worked down to Form I where one boy puts a new slant on the old quip of St Gregory, 'Not Angles, but Anglicans !' Mock Exams for Forms V and VI. No mockery here! FEBRUARY My aide memoire, the Office Diary has its third identical crypic entry, 'Fr Burtoft-Chemistry Trip'-gives a wrong impression since Fr Burtoft is not all that keen on Chemistry or Trips-he is keener on the Faith. 4 ST BEDE'S MAGAZINE Half-term and with Ash Wednesday, the long Lenten haul to Easter with Lent devotions mainly outside school hours. Form III parents come to school to glean information about their sons' future. Form VI have changed the venue of their Dance to the Queen's Hall. MARCH The other groups of forms had their Parents' Meetings on three evenings. Most parents who make a point of accepting these invitations find them valuable in keeping up-to-date with their knowledge and understanding of their boys' school life. 'Noye's Fludde', Benjamin Britten's musical adaptation of the Chester Miracle Play, saw some lively, ultra modern sets, dramatic effects, audience participation, and first rate singing and acting from Staff and boys and girls of St Joseph's College and St Bede's. It was a new experience for good houses on three nights before Easter. Since he came to Bradford, the Bishop of Bradford, Dr Parker, who lives almost next door to the school, has made a happy habit of sitting informally in the stalls at our school functions. He obviously enjoyed the Scouts' Gang Show and seemed entranced at 'Noye's Fludde'. Many fire-engines at the school but only a minor outbreak. The Glasgow Match at Park Avenue, with St Bede's boys prominent in the narrow victory, was on 28th March, with the Match Dinner in our canteen the day before. Mr Forrester would have been happy at both. APRIL April 1st. Schoolboys and Staff always seem to be gadding off somewhere these days-trips, visits, expeditions, theatres, exhibitions and field work. It's all part of their education you see, and they pick up things such as bits of rock and fossils and specimens and lots of information. Seriously though, they all do a good job! They used to put a pile of books on the door's top edge in my day, but beaks kick the doors wide open now and dust their chairs-spoil sports ! They're at it again! Mr Hirst takes Form L.VI to see Manchester University Botany Dept, Mr Fee off to Park Gate Iron and Steel Works with IVA/B, Mr P.