KBGS Old Boys' Forum
A place to discuss Keighley Boys' Grammar School.
Tom,
You must be trying to take the Mickey.
Preston was a little Hitler and a sadist. It seemed to me that he was a very unhappy individual who derived mean petty pleasures from bullying helpless kids. It is my opinion (judging from his purple and vein shot nose) that he was an alchoholic and being hung over certainly wouldn't help his disposition in the classroom.
Please, let's cut the "be kind and tolerant" crap. I didn't have to "know" him to peg him as a pendantic thug.
Tom, I don't know you either but you certainly don't appear to be someone I would like to know. Your pietism is sickening.
I have just read my latest post in the cold light of morning.
I must confess that I went a little bit overboard.
Tom, I sincerely want to apologise for attacking you. It was completely unwarranted.
Regarding K. Preston I want to stress that my comments reflect my opinion of him only. I can only say for certain that he caused me intense emotional distress and treated me most unfairly. I shouldn't assume that anyone else had the same unpleasant experiences with him, and consequently feels the same way about him. I want to retract my comments and in future keep my bile to myself.
I extend my apologies to anyone else who may have been offended by my post.
Sincerely, Bernard Johnson.
Unusually, a thought has occured to me.
My father won a scholarship to KBGS around 1922. This was more than passing the entrance exam, when school fees were normally funded by one's parents. My grandparents didn't have the income to pay for his grammar school education. His fees were paid by the body that awarded his scholarship - rather like the bursary that Chris Firth's dad was awarded.
Before the Butler Act (Education 1944) whose implementation was part of the post war Labour reforms, children were entitled to only elementary education. As the Act came gradually in to force (in Keighley according to my experience after 1947)more and more free 11 plus (non-fee paying) pupils would have entered the Keighley Grammar Schools and have worked a significant change on the school populations. The nature of the school and the tenor of the classroom would have changed.(The school picture of 1946 has a different feel to that of 1954) And as with comprehensive education in the late '50s/'60s, no doubt many teachers accustomed to a more receptive middle class pupil became disgruntled with the rougher edged working class kids that passed the 11+ or gained admission to the Comp.
Does this account for the different perspective that Tom had of Kenneth Preston and we had of Prut? Or that Kenneth Preston had of him or Prut had of us?
I haven't said he was a bully have I? That was Trevor - no relation that I know of! I did have the doubtful honour of being in Prut's class for one term when I was killing time in the lower sixth prior to leaving to earn a shilling or two. He never bullied me, but I think he must have enjoyed my company because whenever he handed back a paper he'd marked he used to invite me to 'Bring your tea tonight Pickles'. I then usually spent an extra hour or so at school in 'unofficial' detention.
Perhaps it might have been 15 years after I'd left school, I was driving through Utley on my way to visit my parents and I saw Prut in his garden. Don't know what made me do it, but I stopped and went and had a word with the old chap. I suppose I wanted to show him that I hadn't gone completely to the dogs as a result of my inability to get a reaonable mark in English. He remembered me and seemed genuinely pleased to see me. I was invited in for a cup of tea and he chatted for a while about his family - I think that he had a son who was a tax inspector. Not all bad was he?
Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1945 - 50
Current location (optional) Norfolk
