This is a response to Arthur (Seeley's) posting about Harry Harpin under "Where are they now?" Arthur raises the interesting concept of being afraid (or not)of members of staff. I don't recall being afraid as such - but I was definitely very wary of certain teachers. You picked up info on their peculiarities from the older lads and made sure you didn't fall foul of their "standards". Old Nick wasn't seen as a fearsome fellow but you kept clear of him when he swept along the corridor with his gown "trailing clouds of glory". As a second year lad, I used the cloakroom at the bottom of the "Old Man's Staircase". It was a black hole! Its few windows which opened into an internal quad were blacked-out (probably in 1953 still a hangover from the war). Most afternoons in winter at "school out", some urchin would turn out the lights as he left the cloakroom and leave his "fellows" to struggle in darkness to find their coats. One such day, having been caught in this trap, I decided I would return the favour, and threw the switches as I left, closing the door. Somebody to my right, grabbed me by the nose and pulled my head backwards. My left arm flexed ready to deliver a Henry Cooper left hook when I was released by none other than Old Nick (good thing for him too). He gave me a dressing down and told me to wait outside his office. What he didn't notice (I think) was that my full bladder evacuated itself in shock and filled my boots. He let me home at 1700 hours without penalty.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 52-60

I agree Terry, I was never scared of the Masters despite their propensity to physical violence, but I was very careful to try and stay 1 step ahead of them, not always successfully!
I was lucky I had the gift of the gab and frequently called on my thespian skills to the effect of - 'What, me sir? no sir not me'. With of course, the most angelic look of innocence and hurt on my face. It didn't always work though and I took plenty of clouts around the ear from Cruddy and pulling of hair by Vince! The thing is that those clouts never stopped me being a nuisance, they just made me more determined to get my own back by being even more devious.

Terry I take your point they were perhaps not so frightening although to me that first year was a culture shock. The format, the discipline, the time tabled days, the masters in gowns, the 'big' boys were all quite terrifying for me, as was the concept of homework, French,Geometry, Algebra. It was a quite terrifying time for me for a while. I had no mates from Eastwood to refer to, not in my class at least,and all was strange and dark and yet in retrospect quite wonderful and releasing. Arthur