From the Vigornian Vaults

For our first glimpse into the Vigornian Vaults, we’ll look at how the festive season was celebrated at the School in years gone by. It goes without saying that the Cathedral has always played a central role, not just in the day-to-day life of the School, but specifically in its celebration of all major and religious holidays.

None of these is more important at King’s than Christmas, which sees pupils of all ages participating in a range of events from classroom activities to music performances. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the latter, to see how music has been used at King’s to celebrate Christmas for centuries.

Where better to look through King’s history than in The Vigornian? As one of our most treasured collections in the Archives, the editions of The Vigornian offer wonderful snapshots of life at King’s, as staff, pupils and alumni all contribute to share academic and extra-curricular news. Many earlier editions, for example, featured ‘letters’ from major universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and London, providing updates on alumni studying there.

Our particular interest this month is, however, Christmas. In the December 1880 edition of The Vigornian, we see a detailed account of the first ever School Concert. This piece is particularly significant in King’s history, since it marks the beginning of a long line of School Concerts showcasing pupil talent at King’s.

The article, entitled The Concert, explains that the first School Concert took place at Christmas 1879 and featured not only pupils but staff and alumni (“old boys”) too. Most of the text details the programme of music, split into Part I, containing carols, and Part II, with other music. This featured Mozart, Rossini and others, before ending with God Save the Queen, conducted by Reverend Hall.

The piece includes praise of several performers and even comments about which pieces were the audience’s favourites, such as The Banks of Allan Water, which received an encore. The author’s personal comments, such as, “a severe cold prevented Jordan’s excellent bass voice from telling to advantage”, make us wonder who the writer might be. There are, however, no clues in this Vigornian as to the identity of the mysterious figure of “The Editor”, mentioned on the first page. Instead, their voice echoes through the different articles, which do not include the names of their authors. It’s interesting that the early editions seem to want to speak with one voice, rather than the collaborative approach which we see in recent Vigornians. These list all authors – pupils, staff, and alumni alike – to strengthen the sense of the King’s community in the publication.

Another unanswered question is the location of the concert, not mentioned in the article. Given the Christmas music, which King’s pupils enjoy every Christmas at services in the Cathedral, might we assume the concert took place there too? The theme of the preceding piece, Notes on the Architecture of Worcester Cathedral, might lead us to think so. Or, as there’s no mention, is it more likely that the location was College Hall, the present setting of our School Concerts? We do know that College Hall was used in the 1870s as a teaching space for the 200 pupils at the School. In archival studies, sometimes the gaps in our knowledge are just as intriguing as the facts we do know. Maybe, with further research into King’s history, we will find some answers to these questions.

Over the coming months, we’ll be making all editions of The Vigornian available on the Vigornian Hub, so you can trace the history of King’s and your time here. If you need help accessing the Hub, please contact the Alumni Office via alumni@ksw.org.uk.

Back in December 2023 we celebrated a fantastic King’s victory in the 2023 Modus Cup. The final score was a decisive 34-8, but King’s maintained strength throughout, as we held a 22-3 lead by half-time. You can read the full report covering the win in our News pages.

Since the win, we’ve been compiling photos and stories from the Archives of some of the most interesting games over the years between the two schools.

King’s and RGS were holding annual rugby games long before the Modus Challenge Cup. The game has been played at Sixways Stadium and colloquially called “Modus” since 2006, when the graphic design agency Modus began to sponsor the Cup. Since then, brightly coloured posters and flyers have advertised the game to pupils, staff, and the public, for what always proves to be an exciting evening. Here’s the poster Modus produced for the 13th year of the Cup in 2019:

This game, in 2019, was particularly successful for King’s, as we won 22-7 against RGS in front of a crowd of 3,200. King’s led the game 0-15 until the sixty-fifth minute, but RGS demonstrated perseverance in then executing a quick conversion, following a cover-tackle from King’s. In the end, the King’s team ensured victory when Willem H carried out an arcing run which led to a wonderful try converted by Ollie B. Worcester Warriors described the King’s side as “having a ferocious defence, which proved decisive in a fast and furious affair.”

We’re lucky to hold records of many different kinds in the Archives. Our rugby collection contains not only photos and newspaper reports, but also includes this wonderful record: a pupil’s diary of match reports across his time at King’s. The notebook, which belonged to D. W. Jelinek, was donated to King’s by Jelinek’s widow, Thalia Constantinidou. A professional copy has been made to preserve the book as well as possible, which contains wonderfully detailed entries. Records like this one are particularly valuable to us as they show us a pupil’s perspective on school events. Whilst it is useful to have the official reports and publications, pupils’ own words add life and colour to our collections.

Jelinek explains that King’s beat RGS 10-9 in the 1978-79 season. He describes the game as the best he had played in the First XV, writing that “it was great to beat the Grammar at home in front of our own crowd”. Here is the page from Jelinek’s diary about the game:

One of the strengths of our rugby archives collection is the vast number of records. We’re proud of all our pupils’ sporting endeavours and aim to maintain all sports teams’ photos. We have a vast wealth of rugby team photos, spanning decades at King’s. One of our current archival projects is digitising all of these so they can then be made available to OVs on the Vigornian Hub. Here are some highlights from the general rugby collections of the Archives:

King’s twins: We found a fascinating story from 2004, when the King’s first XV played Old Swinford. Although we lost the game, this event is particularly interesting, since the King’s team included three sets of twins! This unique situation was featured in the 2004 edition of the Vigornian. The photo below, featuring the Potters, Cullens and Fellows, has been taken from the Vigornian:

‘King’s win the school showdown’: newspaper cutting
A 1984 cutting from the Worcester Source reveals that King’s had “maintained their record breaking [sic] unbeaten season” after beating RGS 17-4 at the annual rugby game between the two schools. King’s had won 17 games and drawn one in the season, and were reliably strong in the RGS game. A particularly tense part of the game for King’s came early on, when Gareth Wilding kicked ahead following a mid-field breakdown but was obstructed. The captain, Robert Preston, then took the resulting penalty and achieved a nail-biting “successful kick that shaved the crossbar”. Here are the First XV from the season:

Oldest team photo: After looking back even further in the King’s Archives, we found our oldest photos of rugby at the School. These are from before any records we have of King’s v RGS games and show our First XV in a variety of settings, but remarkably familiar kit. Although the photos are in black and white, it looks like the King’s team are sporting the same white and blue stripes they play in today. You can see this in the oldest rugby photo in our Archives, of the First XV from 1929:

Action shot: Finally, here is the oldest photo we have of King’s rugby in action. This is the First XV playing the Dean Close School in the 1957-58 season, with a final score of 0-0:

We look forward to including more photos of current sports events into the Archives to increase our collections. As we grow the Vigornian Hub, we hope to upload sports team photos so you’ll be able to track your time on King’s sports teams over the years. If you need help accessing the Hub, please contact the Alumni Office via alumni@ksw.org.uk.

This month we’re looking back at the last decade of productions at King’s, which showcase the wide variety of pupil talent both on and off the stage. We’ll focus on ten plays which together feature pupils from across all years at King’s. The photos, publications and stories we have in the Archives are particularly useful for tracing the history of Drama at the School, since we have plenty of play reviews by the performers themselves! These often feature in The Vigornian, where pupils reflect on their favourite experiences during rehearsals and productions. See if you can spot yourself in any of the productions from your time at King’s:

2023 – Senior Production: The Madness of King George III

Our Senior Production last year, The Madness of King George III, required detailed costumes, wigs, and makeup. OV George Capell (Br 16-23) said he “felt very fancy” in his role as George III, as the wardrobe was “spectacular”. OV Sophie Pitts (S 16-23), who played Queen Charlotte, explained that it was a “brilliant journey” to look back on her progress alongside George, from members of the chorus in their Lower Years to the principal roles in the Senior Production. You can watch the full video of George and Sophie discussing their roles here.

2022 – Fourth Forms: Mary Poppins JR

Our Fourth Form pupils excelled in both acting and technical support in their production of Mary Poppins JR, a musical based on the famously endearing nanny. Flo S, who played the title character, explains, “I will remember Mary Poppins as a magical experience that brought so much joy into my life […] performing in front of the audience was ‘practically perfect in every way’… literally!”

2021 – Learning to adapt during a pandemic

The Summer Term of 2021 brought eased COVID restrictions after many months of the “rule of six” and limited household mixing. June saw the return of audiences to the John Moore Theatre after 15 months as our Removes performed Burning Bird, an intense play set during the 2011 London Riots. It was fitting that our pupils explored the themes of freedom and obedience to authority after such unusual circumstances, and many commented on how happy they were to resume developing their acting and speaking skills.

2020 – When the show can’t go on…

March 2020 brought a sharp stop to any dramatic performances at King’s, alongside so many aspects of normal school life. We did, however, virtually host OV Bella Merlin (Co 81-83), who is Professor of Acting and Directing at University of California, Riverside. Bella was kind enough to talk with our Drama pupils on Teams, despite having to get up horribly early due to the time difference!

2019 – Senior Production: The 39 Steps

In 2019, the Senior Production was the stage adaptation of The 39 Steps, although the stage version, being a comedy, is a far removed from its source material. OV Charlie Mackintosh (Cr 13-20), who played the leading role of Richard Hannay, commented in The Vigornian that the show was ambitious in the required rehearsal time, starting at: “twice a week for two hours […] the number of rehearsals increased quite rapidly.” The pupils’ hard work clearly paid off, however, as Charlie writes that over 500 people came to watch The 39 Steps, and “the hilarity of the show was the talk of the School.”

2018 – Senior Production: South Pacific

The previous year saw an equally impressive Senior Production, a musical based on James A. Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific. OVs Dani Brennan (Br 12-19) and Henry James (W 11-18) gave especially convincing performances as Ensign Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque, which is unsurprising as Dani went on to begin a dazzling acting career by studying Drama at Trinity Laban Conservatoire.

2017 – Fourth Forms: Shakespeare Fest

This year, the Fourth Forms took on a new challenge: presenting a variety of Shakespeare plays in one evening. Each Form put on an abridged version of a play, ranging from Hamlet to A Comedy of Errors. Whilst the performers excelled across the board, credit must also go to OVs Louise Turner (Br 11-18) and Isobel Unwin (K 16-18), who organised the Shakespeare Fest for their Gold Arts Award during their time in Lower Sixth. The idea brought “overwhelming” positive feedback from parents, as the pupils greatly enjoyed themselves as they found ways of creatively adapting Shakespeare’s plays.

2016 – Senior Production: The Sound of Music

The Fifth and Sixth Forms worked together to put on a stunning performance of the classic musical, with sensitive coverage of its themes of family, young love and political turmoil. The audiences were captivated by the voices of OVs Penny Ashmore (Cl 14-16) (Maria), and Isabelle Palmer (Cr 14-16) (the Mother Abbess), who also sang as Head Chorister at Worcester Cathedral. Our 2016 edition of The Vigornian even describes how Isabelle “almost stopped the show with her thrilling version of Climb Every Mountain.”

2015 – Fourth Forms: Animal Farm

Previous Fourth Formers from 2015 might remember their production of a stage version of George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm as one of the more hectic plays to stage. It required a tremendous effort from 45 pupils and involved lots of last-minute work: the eerie animal masks were still being painted the night before the play!

2014 – Removes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In 2014, our Removes pupils participated in the national Shakespeare Schools Festival, which brought over 750 schools together. After having performed Macbeth the previous year, we opted for the more light-hearted A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For the performance in the Artrix in Bromsgrove, we chose an abridged version of the comedy, which we set in the 1920s. It even featured “fairy flappers”!

The King’s Archives contain not only written records and photographs but artefacts too, and one collection which stands out when you enter The Archives is our display of school uniforms from various periods. In 2021, The King’s Foundation updated our uniform and sports kit, which have seen many variations over the years. In fact, aspects of uniform and sports team kits are very useful for dating photos and identifying individuals in The Archives. Let’s look at how the school dress code has changed over the last century:

In 2021, after lots of planning and positive feedback to pupil consultation, the uniform across the King’s Foundation was changed, alongside the various sports kits. The current uniform features a checked skirt or grey trousers, paired with a navy jumper and blazer with red trim. The change also saw the introduction of multiple coat options to suit pupil preferences whilst remaining smart. These include a navy overcoat, quilted jacket or fleece-lined jacket. The sports kit reflects the uniform’s focus on navy, red and white across the items used for different types of sport.

One aspect of the uniform at King’s which OVs might remember for the tradition it brings to school life in the summer is Shirt Sleeve Order. This practice is derived from the military and still in use today at King’s. It states that the Headmaster will decide when to announce the first day on which pupils are not required to wear their blazers: a decision always greeted with enthusiasm! The page above, which comes from a 2003 uniform guide, sets out the expectations for other parts of the uniform following the announcement of Shirt Sleeve Order.

This set of girls’ school uniform is on display in The Archives. It includes a white shirt, a straight grey skirt, a navy and white striped neckerchief, to be tied in a bow, and a thick navy jumper.

As you can see, the jumper has not only the School Crest but also the words “College House” embroidered on it, which tells us that pupils could be identified by their jumpers: this would certainly make dealing with lost property easier! This jumper dates from before 2000, as College House was closed in that year.

This is one of many beautiful old school records in The Archives. It’s an account of a pupil’s termly expenses from 1948, covering any costs which may arise from boarding and learning at the School. As you can see, this pupil may not have incurred any costs with the tailor and outfitter this term, but was charged quite a lot for other expenses, including 12 shillings and sixpence (around £22 today) for a breakage curiously listed as “Hamlet”, perhaps for damaging an edition of the play?

The pupil expenses sheet also shows that a large sum of nine pounds, seven shillings and five pence (equivalent to around £330 now) was spent in the School Shop. This would cover the costs of uniform and any additional clothing required for sports or to mark pupil positions of responsibility. You can see from the 1948 School Shop account sheet below that a pupil needed a rowing blazer, costing five pounds (around £170 in today’s money); see what else you can work out. Deciphering difficult handwriting is a challenge not only in the classroom but in archives too!

The Archives have many caps of different colours from across the 20th century, and the ones in the photo above are just a selection. The one on the left bears the initials W.C.K.S, which stand for Worcester Cathedral King’s School, as the School used to be known. The cream cap on the right clearly formed part of a rowing uniform, to be worn to outings and events. Behind the caps, you can see some of our school plaques in The Archives. The one on the left is for Hostel, a former House at King’s established in 1902, which makes it one of the oldest. These days The Hostel houses the offices of the King’s Foundation Support Staff.

To continue the rowing theme, this blazer, like the one mentioned above, may have been worn alongside the rowing cap. They share the same colour and a similar crest design, with navy crossed oars above the school crest.

This straw “boater” is interwoven with the navy colour of the School and bears the King’s crest on the front. It probably belonged to a rower in the 1960s, as eleven regatta tickets have been pushed all along the inside of the ribbon.

These showcase participation of King’s rowers at various regattas in the late 60s, such as Hereford, Marlow and Monmouth. It is likely that these tickets all belonged to the same boy, and they show us a dedication to rowing across his time at the School. We’re proud that our pupils’ commitment to the sport has only grown since then, with King’s recently being named a Top Eight School for rowing in the UK in this article from the Good Schools Guide. Here are some of the tickets tucked inside the hat:

3 am Tuesday 23rd March 1982; I nervously wait in the dark outside the Giffard Hotel (now the Cathedral Plaza) ready for a 3.30am coach departure to Heathrow. Never the best at languages, I was being sent, as a fifteen year old, on the School Exchange visit to Vichy in central France to be immersed in the language. I had been to France before on family holidays, but this was a trip into the unknown – living for three weeks with an unfamiliar French family.

After a tour of Paris we headed by train to Vichy to meet our host families.
I was paired with Stephane, a friendly lad a few months younger than me, and stayed with his parents, his nine year old sister and three year old brother in a house in a small village a few miles west of the famous spa town. From the first day I was welcomed into the family. I was a little on edge on the first day at the French school but was reassured as Stephane’s English was better than my French. After school we would go to his grandparents’ house nearby and have a cup of tea at 5pm (I was never sure if that timing was for my English benefit, being 4pm at home) and Grand’Mere would encourage me to “mange, mange” from the various cakes laid out for us.

Stephane’s father, was a photographer with a shop in Bellerive-sur-Allier, a smaller town across the river from Vichy (akin to St John’s compared to Worcester). He lent me one of the, then brand new, disc cameras for the period of my visit (technology that never really took off) which perhaps led to my future interest in photography.

On an occasional meeting with another King’s lad, I was astonished to be told, “We are at war”. This was testament to my immersion in French life, a family that watched less TV than mine and Nic Woodward’s superior French! I had never even heard of the Falkland Islands.

On the return visit in July, I took Stephane to watch, perhaps more cricket at New Road than he was interested in, alongside family trips about the county.

My parents decided that, whilst it might reduce my revision time for my other O Levels, I needed further immersion and, as we had got on so well, a return visit was agreed for the following year.

In the summer of 1983, Stephane again demonstrated his linguistic skill by showing good appreciation of the humour in the new TV series, Blackadder.

Following this and with a, perhaps unexpected B in O Level French behind me, we continued to correspond occasionally, primarily by way of Christmas cards. Without such modern luxuries as email, mobile phones and social media, Stephane and I drifted from each other’s consciousness until the subject of exchange visits for my own children (which sadly never materialised) led to a nostalgic thought or two and a google search for my old friend. I did not know whether his name was a common one in France or where in the country (if at all) he might live. Claude’s shop had clearly now closed (at least under his name).

So, forty years after we last met, I now was waiting to board the Euortunnel train at Folkestone en route again to Vichy. We managed to avoid too much traffic heading for the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final in Paris that day on our way south to stay overnight in Nevers. The next morning came the sad news that Stephane’s mother had Covid so our plan to meet his parents later that day was stalled. We headed on to Stephane’s current home town of Riom where we finally met up after all those years. Stephane’s career as an English teacher made conversation easier but he forced my wife and I to use as much French as we could, and the conversation flowed. After a couple of days showing us around Riom nearby Clermont and the magnificent Puy de Dome, we headed towards Vichy. We managed a brief masked up visit to his parents, still living in the same house before saying “au revoir” to Stephane with a resolution to meet up again and not leave it so long next time. After an overnight stay in a magnificent chateau in Bellerive we found Claude’s old shop, still a photography shop but now trading under a different name, before exploring Vichy, with me appreciating the imposing architecture more than as a teenager. After stocking up on a good supply of Vichy mints we headed home via a day in Paris and vowed to return as soon as we could.

The exchange visits definitely took my French to a ‘passable’ conversational level, which has helped in travels over the years in France and elsewhere, and I am pleased to have rekindled a friendship all courtesy of the link between King’s School and a small comprehensive school in the middle of France.

An inveterate hoarder, I still have ephemera from my time at the King’s School between 1964 and 1969. Leafing through calendars, fixture cards, play programmes and House photos, I came across the service sheet for a Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving 23 May 1969, and I was reminded of just how special an occasion it was. Not many schools in the country could have boasted such quality, in such a grand, impressive setting as that of Worcester Cathedral.

I had kept it partly as a matter of historical record but also for sentimental reasons for, being then in the Upper Sixth, it was to be my last Speech Day, and the end of the term would mark the end of an era. The first thing that struck me on reading through this programme of events was, naturally enough, the music. Even back then I could recognise that King’s was exceptional musically;  the late Sir Stephen Cleobury (Ch 58-67 and Old St Alban’s), who left two years, earlier had blazed a trail to St John’s Cambridge and would go on to be a legendary figure for more than thirty years at King’s Cambridge. I remember vividly one Sunday in Lent 1966 hearing him playing Wachet Auf on the cathedral organ and understanding how extraordinarily gifted and proficient he was as a seventeen-year-old schoolboy. He would be followed by his brother Nicholas (Ch 58-68 and Old St Alban’s), the conductor, by Roger Parkes (Cl 59-68), and by the three King’s organists in this service sheet: Stephen Darlington (Cl 60-70 and Old St Alban’s) who would become Professor of Music at Oxford and a distinguished Director of Music at Christ Church, Oxford, Andrew Millington (Cr 68-70) who would be Director of Music at Guildford and Exeter Cathedrals, and Christopher Tolley (S 61-69) who would direct the Quiristers at Winchester College for decades. I knew how good they were for they had performed the piano accompaniments for our School productions of The Pirates of Penzance (1967) and of The Yeoman of the Guard (1969); they did wonders to steer, and cover for, on-stage principals like me, and they were in truth the real stars of the shows.

They had two tutors and mentors: one is credited at the end of this programme, Christopher Robinson. He had forged for the Worcester Cathedral choir a national reputation and would go on to direct music at St George’s Chapel, Windsor and St John’s Cambridge. Those who sang for him recall his insistence on the highest standards, his uncanny ability to locate the source of vocal imperfection and the basilisk stare for the transgressor; demanding the highest standards produced a golden generation of King’s musicians. Yet just as important was Harry Bramma (Hon OV) – uncredited here, but an inspirational Director of Music at the school, and a lovable figure to boot. He regenerated the choral society at King’s and got the School choir singing “good stuff”, as he put it: none better than the anthem in this service. I can still clearly recall how exciting, exhilarating and spine-tingling it was then to sing Finzi’s wonderful God Has Gone Up with its trumpet sounds, joined by the Cathedral choristers. It has remained a favourite anthem of mine fifty-five years on.

If the musicianship was special that day, so was the sermon; I wasn’t to know that Rev’d Robert Runcie would go on to be elevated to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, but I do remember that he was livelier, more relevant, more interesting than the overwhelming majority of preachers we had endured every Sunday for five years as King’s boarders.

Historians love the exercise of comparing and contrasting, and this service sheet prompts me to reflect that much was different over half a century ago. This was a Speech Day, in May, not a King’s Day at the very end of term in July. We were a single-sex boys’ school half the size of today’s King’s. There was not then today’s theatricality and razzmatazz with extensive prize-giving (ours was short and sweet in the afternoon of Speech Day, reflecting the low-key and undemonstrative character of our Eeyorish headmaster David Annett) and with leavers applauded out of the Cathedral, all with the excitable feeling of a modern day ‘prom’; this was partly because there wasn’t the heightened emotion of an imminent ending to schooldays. Our A-levels were just about to get underway; not until the end of the first week in July would we finish. Term fizzled out with Athletics Sports, and boys who weren’t involved quietly disappeared. I remember July 1969 particularly well. On the last afternoon of term, I was sitting ‘S’ Level History in College Hall, and as Captain of Athletics I was keen to be involved in Sports Day and run in my specialist event, the 400 metres, programmed for mid-afternoon. Tim Hickson (Hon OV), that inspirational and kindly Master i/c Athletics, re-scheduled my event to allow me to race hotfoot down to New Road, once I had finished with the exam; whence, mentally spent, to my chagrin I was promptly beaten by my old friend Kit Ross (W 67-69). A bathetic end to my King’s athletic career.

Unlike this contemporary Upper Sixth at King’s Day, our last Speech Day didn’t necessarily signify our imminent translation to OV status; for fifteen or more of us the seventh, or Oxbridge, term (September 1969) in the Sixth Form had yet to be negotiated. Looking back now I realise I was part of an exceptional vintage, as the Honours Boards in College Hall attest. Seven of us would win Oxbridge awards that December; we would be followed on those Honours Boards by the self-same Stephen Darlington and Andrew Millington from this service sheet. But what is equally satisfying is this, that fifty-five years on in a pub in Oxford on a miserable February day, human relicts from 1969 re-gathered as one of a pattern of regular warm, collegial OV lunches: master-minded by Barney Burnham (Ch 59-69) (bass in the Bramma choir singing Finzi), there were also Nick Millard (Ch 64-69) (tenor that day), Peter Hewitt (Ch 64-69) (another bass), Andrew Millington and Stephen Darlington, our two organist stars from the service’s prelude, Stephen Tomlinson (H 63-70) with whom I would sit Oxbridge History papers and who was in the congregation, and Nicholas Cleobury, our revered senior. I would be lying if I claimed that we reminisced about this particular Commemoration Service, but it is fair to say that the King’s experience made its fondly remembered mark on all of us.

Andrew Reekes
(Ch 64-69)

Tragically, in the collective opinion of King’s pupils, in July 2000, the Tuck Shop in Edgar Street closed, after some thirty years of official school provision of carbohydrate and comfort, and in latter years completely clogging the pavement and corner into Severn Street at break times and after school. However, for many more years before that a bakery had catered for schoolboy appetites. Kelly’s directories in the Worcester Public Record Office indicated that one was on the site right back into the 19th century, and perhaps even before that.

Part of the development campaign of the 1960s, was to provide a tuck shop with a caretaker’s flat in Castle Place, but the building was found to be unsound and was demolished in 1963. The bottom of the Winslow Block, now an IT classroom, was then used, but before the area was properly enclosed so that the walls of the ‘shop’ did not reach the ceiling and cars could still drive behind to the garages beyond. Number 2, Edgar Street, was leased in 1963 from the City Council. The ground floor was used by the Science Club and the first floor occupied by staff, including the late Mr Keith Bridges (Staff 1964-2004) and his wife Jane, in 1964. By 1967, Ron Tomes, the first of the School Sergeants and also a CCF instructor, and his wife Sylvia, move into the new Tuck Shop to be followed by Len Moller, ex RAF Warrant Officer and his wife. Then came Dennis Grafton, Clerk of Works, and his wife, Laura, were followed by Tom Lloyd in 1977, School Sergeant, ex-Navy, ex-policeman and a force to be reckoned with on the school premises, while Mabel ran the tuck shop. Finally, from 1990, under Jean Rawling’s tender care, increasingly the tiny shop and tiny television room came to be seen as a refuge outside the reach of staff, a place the school thought of as their own.

And, of course, memories abound. Michael Craze (H 19-25) remembered Ma Lane’s, later to become Ma Bishop’s, where a pennyworth of broken biscuits could be bought for the same price as a fresh hen’s egg, much frequented by the boys, while the Fishermen’s Cottages at the end of Severn Street where food was cheaper were strictly out of bounds. Basil Eckersley (H 30-37) also remembered “the tiny shop where Ma Bishop and her daughter administered to the needs of youthful thirst and appetite. The cost of fresh white bread roll with a whole bar of chocolate inserted in it sideways was an old penny.”

Boarding boys depended on extra rations at all times, but perhaps more so during the rationing of the forties and into the fifties. Noel Richardson (S 34-41) began at King’s in the Third Form, conveniently sited in the Edgar Tower, which meant “us little boys could get to the shop before the big ones.” Although the sweets were not very inspiring, there was “the excitement of sniffing sherbet up liquorice straws to induce sneezing fits.” Andrew Hambling (S 38-48) also remembers war time with sticky buns and “the occasional stampede when sweets were rumoured to be in stock.” While Richard Griffiths (S 41-53) writing of the Choir School, when aged seven, mentions “a very friendly and motherly woman” in the bakery and the “delicious small crusty loaves of bread, still warm, and without marg or jam, the best bread tasted before or since.”

Mike Wall (Cl 43-52) remembers Mrs Tipping and buns, “a splendid affair with dusting on the top which was split for cream to be inserted and pop, at 2d or 3d a glass.” He describes the tiny interior with the counter to the right and hard wooden chairs at marble topped, round, cast iron tables, which scaped the floor noisily. “It was a haven of peace, even if there many of us in there at one time. The appearance of Mary Tippings was also very welcome to jaded boys” escaping the rigours of 1940s school discipline.

David Canin (H 48-83) writes, “Bread was rationed at one time and we used to go into Mrs Tipping and buy a penny hunk of bread and take it back to the boarding house, to spread with Marmite” and Graham Hardman (Ch 52-59) echoes the sentiment that the Tuck Shop was “essential to boarders with continued existence as school meals were microscopic to the point of being life-threatening” with its loaves and Chelsea buns “the smell wafting outside when the pangs were strongest” and the anticipatory exchange of coupons for Mars Bars and Rowntrees Fruit Gums, despite the competition from old Ma Mason who had cut rates in Corona Dandelion and Burdock sweet laden drinks. Her business was bought by a Mrs. Seager who developed a roaring trade in delicious sandwiches. Menus began to change with the times as A.G. Williams (Ca 55–60) testifies with the appearance of “delicious hot dogs, an English banger in a squashy roll, with fried onions”.

In the 1990s, Mrs Jean Rawlings introduced more hot food at morning break. She enjoyed the feelings of well-being and camaraderie amongst pupils, in particular, the fun during world cup rugby and football. Tizzi the dog, sadly passing on earlier this year, also became very much part of the scene and then there was the memorable time an RGS boy turned the ‘T’ into an ‘F’. Volunteers from the Lower Sixth helped out behind the counter when it was very busy. Jean was very touched by the enormous support from pupils and parents and their protests and banners at the news of the closure.

Into the second millennium, the pupils saw the Tuck Shop as a source of total sustenance, not just the food, but also warmth and shelter if waiting to be picked up by parents, a cosy social centre for the Lower Sixth, in particular, to watch television together. It was also seen as good value for money vis a vis the vending machines in the Dining Hall and the most popular items were the penny sweets. However, conditions were not perfect; the older and heavier pupils got to the front of the queue and controlled the TV channels. It ‘was necessary for the smaller ones to hang on the counter physically to avoid being elbowed aside’, but most thought it was worth
it. Jean’s final comment was, “The ten years that I worked there were probably the best of my life. I met so many interesting and very likeable pupils and their parents”.

However, the writing was on the wall. With changes to the catering system in the Dining Hall, combined with more ever stringent Health and Safety edicts, the Tuck Shop was sold as private house. Consequently the whole snack industry moved to the Dining Hall where approximately 300 pupils crowd in to buy chips, pizzas and chocolate cookies at morning break each day while vending machines deal with the sweets and drinks and Mrs. Heather Witherick oversees the whole slick military operation, while three staff and three monitors linger on duty. A far cry from
Ma Lane’s some ninety years earlier.

By Caroline Roslington (Teacher of History and School Archivist, 1986-2011) with help from OVs James McCreath (W 94–04) and Lorna Shaddick (Ch 99–04) and then current Lower Sixth Leanne Sheen (W 99-06) and Alice Kirrage (K 99-06).

Addendum: Currently, food needs are catered for in the school dining hall, with snacks available to purchase at Morning Break and after school, along with breakfast on offer before Morning Registration with anything from a bowl of cereal to a “Full English”! The vending machines are no more!