During my time, which was similar to yours Shaun, the Art Room was on the 'Bottom 50's Corridor' - 54, 55, Art Room, 56, 57; directly under the 'Junior Chemistry Lab'.

I can remember the original treddle wheel but also, possibly at Oakbank, I can also remember at least one powered by electricity.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) david.baldwin@maverickeurope.com

Current location (optional) www.maverickeurope.com

Odd, I remember Bearded Willie Westalls Art room being up in the gods somewhere, but I only did Art in the first year (58 -59)

I'm amazed at how detailed is the memory of some of you.Even the numbers of the rooms and their locations. It's all just a haze to me. However, I do remember Mr Westall (failed SAS recruit) having a room downstairs somewhere, as I used to go in at lunchtimes sometimes to paint. Very vague memories. I have this odd feeling some of you have never left this school in your minds! But my memories are always selective.Perhaps I chose to banish most of the KBGS experience from my life : in all honesty, I didn't enjoy it much.

I've no recollection of any potter's wheel(s) but, then again, I was always keen to put as much distance as possible between myself and anything to do with Art, a feeling to which Westall contributed significantly. (I still can't dignify the bloke by the use of any nickname, affectionate or otherwise).

Like Brian Moate though, I clearly remember painting (which was all it ever was for us) being "taught" in an attic room which seemed to reflect the incumbent (or should that be recumbent?) Westall admirably - an appalling dump with holes in the walls and rubbish everywhere, accessible via either that back staircase which runs the full height of the building or a shorter one leading up from Snakey Emery's old room (the number of which I can't remember - 1st left on the corridor leading to the Biology/General Science lab.)

Are you sure you got out of doing Art at the end of year1 though, Brian? I remember having to contine with it after Westall had moved to the location accurately described by Dave Baldwin, which must have been for our 2nd year. If there'd been any alternative, such as doing maths or Latin until 7pm, I'm sure I'd have been up for that!

As for selective memory, Alan, well it looks like it doesn't apply only to the things one enjoys. You needn't worry that it's incipient senility making you forget my hanging around Art with you at lunchtimes!

Brian.I apologise for having no recollection of you also lurking around the art room.I can't quite work out the tone of your last comments.. John Haygarth I remember being there. Unfortunately one had to choose between art and Latin : I wanted to do both, but chose Latin.

"Too slick at times" was one Westall report comment for me : never really understood what he meant. Strange. I just have this memory of a big man with big beard with army type jacket dragging us over Malham crags in the wind and the rain. I think that was possibly the start of my agrophobia. The cold omelette sandwiches were most welcome that day.

Brian C, yes like Alan , I did Latin (Form 2L1). If I recall, you got either 2 periods Art + 4 periods Biology, OR you got 6 periods Latin with Gus Cullingford and his dreaded plimsoll 'Adenae' who didnt like people who failed to do their corrections.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) brianmoate@hotmail.com

Current location (optional) www.whitesea.co.uk

Just to add to that, I was terrible at drawing and painting. In the first year we always had to do a sketch for homework. My father, who is good at this sort of thing, invariably did mine. Bearded Willie put on my report 'I wish he could work at school as well as he works at home' !

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) brianmoate@hotmail.com

Current location (optional) www.whitesea.co.uk

I remember the Latin vs Art/Biology option too, Brian, but I'm sure that was for year 3. I did both Latin and Art, along with General Science (Malcolm Hardstaff), in 2L1 (or 2A as I recall it).
I'm glad your Old Man was some help with the art homework at least, - can't say the same for mine. (I always volunteered to bring a pile of smelly animal bones or scrap junk in lieu of a drawing. Sometimes you could earn up a homework mark up to 50/20 that way!)
It was meant to be a joke, me being found anywhere near the art room voluntarily, Alan!

Someone once brought in a sheep's head that they had found when walking on the moors [or it may have been what was left after a poaching expedition] and P A Preston was delighted. He boiled it up, making a terrible stench [the boiling of the head, that is] and, once the bare bones were left, we had to draw the skull.
Don't know what those who stayed for dinners had that week.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) sjspye@hotmail.com

Brian Craven's right. Latin and Art plus General Science in 2A. No such thing as 2L1.
Incidentally, why was Latin always about maidens and tables and boys?

I think the top second stream did start life as 2A, and changed to 2L1 (L for Latin) at Christmas when a second latin stream was created and was called 2L2.

As I mentioned quite some time ago, I took the register in 2L1 for a period and can still recite alphabetically the entire form list. I repeat again:-
Andrews, Bailey, Battarbee, Bennison, Binns,Bracewell, Craven, Foulger, Goodall, Hall, Hawkins, Haygarth, Holmes, Jones, Labrum, Lowcock, Messenger, Midgely, Moate, Pamment, Pearson, Pike, Pye, Sharpe, Shuttleworth, Sunderland, Tennant, Walton, Wearmouth, White, Whitley, Youngs.

You missed out Britten (Alan) from your list,surely Brian!

Absolutely right Brian. Its easier to recite them than type them out!. I think the rest is correct though.

Westall was a Northern 'beat'. He lived in College Street next to a dodgy Chinese restaurant called The Golden Pheasant, regularly being closed down by Health inspectors(anyone remember being gastronomically challenged?). Westall's wife had the look of Morticia from The Addams Family.
He went on to an FE college in Stoke, I think, and became famous as a writer of gritty teenage fiction usually involving motor bikes, violence, and furtive sex ('The Scarecrows' was banned in some libraries) He won an educational book award for 'The Machine Gunners' in the early 70's. I remember teaching the book to recalcitrant teens 20 years ago and the kids loving it.
I rather liked Westall's eccentric style!

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) gerizimm@aol.co.uk

How on earth did this get back to the top when nobody posted after 28th January?

Barry Lorimer made 2 postings on the 16th which have positioned themselves out of sequence.(See Dining Out in Keighley also).