Nicholas Comprehensive School

     In September 1977 I started Nicholas Comprehensive School which was a big step up. Despite Nicholas being in my catchment area it wasn't my first choice. I had nothing against Nicholas but had been to see Laindon School from the outside with my school friend Donna and as most of my other closest friends were going there it was my obvious first choice, even though it meant a longer walk. My mum though had other ideas and against my wishes put Woodlands down on the application form. She liked the idea of me going to an all girls school although by 1977 for most lessons the pupils were now mixed. Thankfully when the letter arrived back I found out I didn't get in at Woodlands but she wouldn't let me go to Laindon either for some reason so that just left Nicholas.

     It was a very big school compared to Bluehouse and took a bit of getting used to. Like Bluehouse, the school had opened in the 1960s, only a few years earlier in 1963. The school was barely more than five minutes away in Leinster Road so I was able to continue to go home during the dinner break, which in those days was an hour and a half. Getting into the school was a bit different from what it is now. The first and second years had their own entrance gate close to the beginning of Leinster Road that led through to the first year playground (now a car park) alongside St. Nicholas Lane. The third, fourth and fifth years entered by the entrance now used by a children's nursery. The current entrance for all years in my day was used by the teachers, parents and visitors. I mentioned the first year having their own playground. The second year also had their own near the gym alongside St. Nicholas Lane while the third, fourth and fifth years all shared a larger playground bordering the school field. For each year my form class was 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A. There was a sixth form in those days for anyone who wanted an extra year but I chose to leave at the end of the fifth year.

     There were some good teachers at Nicholas like Mr. Jeff Smith (English), Mrs. Porter (Childcare and Head of Lower School with Mr. Trollope), Mr. Moynihan, who was Mr. Smith's brother and taught English and Drama, Miss Johnson (1st Year Form Tutor), Mrs. Johns (European Studies), Mrs. Miners (English, especially Poetry), Mr. Wozniack (Maths?), Mr. Macsporran (History), Mr. Insley (Geography), Mrs Madge (Geography - who left to have a baby), Mrs. Cherifi and Mrs. Buckland (Home Economics (cooking)), Mr. Willman (Social Studies), Mr. Layton (Art and Crafts as well as being my 5th year Form Tutor), Mr. Speller (Head of the Upper School) and Mr. Douglas Vitou who although not a teacher as such; more like machine technician, would always be present to assist during metalwork or woodwork lessons. There were also a few that I didn't get on with like Mrs. Collope, who always seemed to be after you for something, and Mr. Iyer, a maths teacher who would delight in throwing the blackboard rubber or chalk across the room such was his temper! Fortunately I only had him for a year before being transferred to Mr. Knott's class.

     The headmaster during those years was Mr. Greener who I thought was firm but fair. I was once sent out of the class to him for 'back chatting' the Science teacher. He was quite surprised to see me as I was probably considered one of the quieter ones. He listened to my explanation and then sent me back with the words "Don't do it again". That was it!

     Not long after I started my music teacher gave me the chance to join the school choir. I couldn't sing very well but it meant we all got to go to St. Nicholas Church to practice which gave me a break from normal lessons. This lasted a few terms until they started looking for soloists which is when I decided to give it up!

School Trips

      I went abroad on two school skiing trips organised by Mr. Knott (our Maths teacher). The first of these was to Sportinia and the Jovenceaux slopes above Sauze d'Oulx in Italy from 2nd February to 7th February, 1979, where we also went on a day trip to the French Alps. The second was to Spain from 6th March to 11th March, 1981 where we stayed at the Cerler ski resort in the high Benasque Valley. My sister, who was also at Nicholas, accompanied me on this second trip. To get in practice for the trip we all had to take lessons at a man made ski slope at the Aquatels Recreation Centre in Pipps Hill. This is now the site of the Festival Leisure Park.

     I also went on quite a few day trips. One of these was a third year art trip in 1979 to an area of Suffolk associated with the famous landscape painter John Constable. We went to two locations, these being: St. Mary's Church, East Bergholt with its impressive stained glass windows and unique wooden 'Bell Cage' at ground level, followed by Flatford Mill on the River Stour, where some of my schoolfriends went out in a rowing boat.

     Another trip was to London on Tuesday March 24th, 1981 to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre for the annual Ideal Home Exhibition. The venue was enormous and we barely had time to get round all the attractions. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go in any of the exhibition houses which was a shame but I still enjoyed the trip.

     Another one from 1981 was on Thursday June 18th when the class visited the impressive 17th century Audley End House, near Saffron Walden in Suffolk.

     Two more trips were to Eynsford in Kent on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th July, 1981 near the end of my 4th year to study the geography of the land. We spent most of the trips studying the landscape, drawing pictures and learning about how fields are ploughed and what crops are grown on a farm. These were always fun events with plenty of singing on the coach journey back.

Film crew in the classroom

     In the third year on Wednesday 5th March, 1980 our Biology class was invaded by a television film crew. This was pre-planned as we had been briefed about this on February 27th. We did various experiments using bunsen burners etc. as the film crew went round the class filming the pupils at work and our teacher at the front, who I think was Ms Lyons. We were told to act normally as if the cameras weren't in the room which was quite difficult and some of us got the giggles. They sometimes had to do retakes in order to get the right shots. Sadly I didn't get to see the finished result which presumably would have been shown on either BBC or ITV.

     I remember a few memorable classroom incidents that took place. The first was in the 2nd year when our Science teacher, Mrs. Cavaroli, the wife of Dr. Cavaroli who worked at Laindon Health Centre, told the boys to stay behind at the end of the lesson due to their misbehaviour. A number of them had been purposely disrupting the lesson and giving her a hard time. Break or lunch followed the lesson, I'm not sure which, but one boy, who was sitting in my group, came up with an audacious plan to leave the room without the teacher knowing. He asked me if he could borrow my coat, which had a hood, so he could leave along with the girls. I said yes, so we quickly swapped seats and arranged to meet on the ground floor where he would give me the coat back. As soon as the bell went he put on my coat and covered his head with the hood and walked out with the rest of us girls and as planned met me downstairs to return the coat. It worked a treat and Mrs. Cavaroli and the other boys were none the wiser he'd gone. The second one was when I was a third year and again concerned the boys who decided it was a good idea to let off a 'stink bomb' during Mr. Smith's English lesson. It wasn't long before Mr. Smith got a whiff of it and asked the class who let if off. The class was silent so then Mr. Smith said if someone owns up we can all leave the classroom together but if no one does then the boys will have to stay in the classroom to think about it and the girls can wait in the corridor. Well again, no one owned up, so all the girls and Mr. Smith trooped out to wait in the corridor for the smell to clear. We could see into the classroom through the glass windows and some of the boys were covering their noses which we all thought was very funny!

     I was never that great at sports with the exception of swimming so if we were ever doing athletics I would often run round the hurdle rather than over it, often along with my friend Pamela C. In Hockey, which I quite liked, some of the girls could be quite aggressive by attempting to hit your ankles rather than the ball so you had to keep your wits about you! Miss Davies and Miss Rolfe were my groups P.E. teachers. I did well at swimming and quite often there would be swimming races in which I often finished first, particularly when we did backstroke, or second to Lesley B. when doing front crawl. The thing I didn't like was after every P.E. lesson we were made to shower in groups of three in small open cubicles, effectively packed in like sardines whilst the teacher watched and wouldn't let you out to dress until each one of us was totally wet, which was very embarrasing for us girls.

     Once when I was on 'office duty' I was sent to deliver a message to the staff room. I knocked on the door and when it opened you couldn't see anything except a thick blanket of cigarette smoke. Fortunately today's students don't have to put up with that!

Getting the cane!

     Through good fortune or otherwise I had managed to steer clear of any serious incidents, that is until January 1980 when I was in the third year (year 9). I decided along with a few others to play truant during a P.E. lesson. We were doing 'cross country running' and were supposed to go up to St. Nicholas Church via Leinster Road and Markhams Chase but when we were nearing Chowdhary School some of us crossed Markhams Chase and disappeared into Lee Chapel North where we stopped at the house of someone in our group. After some time had gone by we all returned to school to face the consequence.

     The hearing was held after school the following day where we all waited in the corridor to be called individually into the year tutor's office. When it came to my turn to explain to the female year tutor, who shall remain nameless, why we had gone off, I didn't have much to say and wasn't going to reveal whose idea it was. My form teacher had to be present and she spoke in my defence as I hadn't been in any trouble before but to no avail and I received a stroke of the cane across the palm of each hand. I nearly hit her back!

     When my parents found out they were furious with the school because although the tutor had told me she had rung my home to explain my wrongdoing, it was my sister who had answered the phone; who then pretended to be my mum and gave permission for me to be caned! I was angry because I didn't feel the tutor was prepared to consider an alternative punishment, although as a side effect I ended up feeling quite good about it as it seemed to elevate me amongst my peers. Thankfully the cane is now banned following the abolition of corporal punishment in state schools in 1986.

A few more school memories

     One Christmas there was a cooking competition where we had to make a Christmas log roll and decorate it. Mr. Greener was the judge. He came into the class and after looking at everyones he chose mine as the winning log.

     The school had a few demountable classrooms at the end of the main block where for one year my English lessons were held. Behind those was a big greenhouse where I learnt a little about plants. A children's nursery now stands close to where these used to be.

     Around the third year onwards I quite often went after school to the Nicholas Youth Club. It was held every Tuesday evening during term time. I used to go with my friend Michelle, mainly for the disco to listen to the music or to watch some of the boys fooling around and acting like idiots which we found very amusing!

     A bit later in the third year I took part in a 20 mile sponsored walk. This was on Friday 23rd May, 1980. Mum collected some signatures from friends of the family and her work colleagues and I walked, along with my friends, about 20 times or so round the perimeter of the school grounds and playing fields. After completing the walk, for some reason a teacher only marked me down as having done 19 miles, which I was a bit annoyed about.

     The teachers would also organise an annual fete to raise money for the school fund. This was held on a Saturday outside on the playground and playing fields and was a very big event with loads of stalls, games and other attractions. I remember one year me and my friend volunteered to run a stall. We came up with the idea where you had to guess how many marbles were in a large glass jar. The winners were the ones who guessed either exactly or closest and they got a large tube of Smarties as a prize. We made quite a bit of money for the fund that day.

     On November 12th, 1980 a few of us went in the evening to the school to watch our drama groups production of "Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat". It was so good I took my sister as a birthday present the following night.

     I remember the school had a 'bomb scare' on Monday June 15th, 1981. When the bell sounded the teacher told us to leave the classroom immediately in an orderly fashion. Me, not thinking it was only a hoax took my coat and bag just to be on the safe side in case we wern't allowed back in. A few others had done the same! The evacuation routine was different from the fire drill in so much as we had to line up in our form class on the school field rather than the playground until we got the 'all clear' to go back in. Finally, another memory was occasionally leaving the school by the field entrance that led to Markhams Chase. This was allowed in those days and even had the school's nameboard erected next to the gate out. It has now been blocked off.

     I took my final exam; cooking theory, on Thursday May 6th 1982 and that was it - no more school!

     Some pupils in my year include Reggie A., Paul W (1)., Chris W., Maxine N., Julie L., Kim J., Ann S., Jane B., Jane C., Jayne W., Paul B., Paul G., Lorne P., Brian S., Brian K., Wendy S., Karen F., Michelle C., Lisa F. and Lisa P., Pamela C., Sandra A., Dave M., Michelle R., Peter T., Darren J., Tristian ?., Michael H., Donna F., Paul W (2)., Steven H., Leslie W., Angela ?., Gillian T., Karen H., Sandra J., Lesley B., Guy ?., Tracy J., Debbie P., Chris H., Joanne T., Stuart A., and many more. Work those out if you can and apologies if I forgot you.

Activities

     When I lived at Rising Grove, in 1973 at age seven I went to Bluehouse Brownie Group, then the following year joined the 2nd Lee Chapel North Brownie Pack who met at Janet Duke School and lastly in 1976 switched to the Laindon Manor Mission Brownies where I stayed until I was too old and became a Girl Guide.

     During much of this time me, my sister and brother also went to Manor Mission Sunday School. Here we learnt about Christianity through stories from the Bible taught to us by the husband and wife team of Horace and Olive Remmington and others. Manor Road in those days was unmade and there were still a few bungalows left where Lidl's supermarket now stands. Also during this time me and my sister joined a Woodcraft Club at Laindon Park School which often involved walks around the area studying nature.

     In May 1978 my brother invited me to watch him train with the British Judo Council Judo club that met at the Nicholas School gym hall. I liked what I saw so decided to learn self-defence and became a member for the next few years. Sometimes Nicholas gym was not available so we would train in nearby Chowdhary School with another Judo group.

     Another activity took place in St. Nicholas Lane near the Northey overbridge on a fenced off piece of land where some bungalows had once stood and not that far from the back of the Christadelphian Hall. Here an organisation that escapes my memory ran outdoor activity sessions where they would prepare a fire for cooking jacket potatoes and led various activities where rope ladders where attached to the trees with a swinging bridge that linked one tree to another. They kept their equipment in an on-site caravan. Me and my friend Nicky A. used to attend; probably around 1976 or 1977 against my mums wishes who thought it might be too dangerous for me. I went anyway and think there was an admission fee. The properties of Copperfields were later built over this area.

     I mentioned earlier my interest in swimming. Both my parents were keen for all of us to be strong swimmers so they enrolled us at the nearest public pool to Laindon which was Gloucester Park where we had early evening lessons every Saturday. I remember the first time I jumped off top board into the 12ft 6" during my A.S.A. Gold Standard Award exam. It was very frightening and felt like I was flying and in the air forever! As a family we would use the same pool on the popular Sunday afternoon 2 till 5 session. Sometimes on the same visit we would hire a boat on the lake in front of the building.

A few more memories

     Every November 5th or thereabouts my family would go to the firework displays held at either Markhams Chase Recreation Ground or Manor House Recreation Ground in Laindon. The ones at Markhams Chase were held at the lower end of the field nearest to Janet Duke School with the fire being at the top end nearest Bluehouse School. That part of the field was sadly lost years later to a housing development. There was always a good turnout with stalls where you could buy jacket potatoes and hot dogs etc. in the run up to the main event. I used to stand and watch the roaring fire with Guy Fawkes sat atop before they let the fireworks off. We must have seen about four displays here before Basildon Round Table, who were the organisers, moved them to Gloucester Park. I went to other events on the Markhams Chase field including going to see the Wombles in July 1974 when they were the special guests at a two day summer fete. I'd seen them on the television and liked their music but I was a bit disappointed as they just walked amongst the large crowd but didn't actually perform (mime) any of their songs. Travelling fairs would also set up there and I can remember as a teenager hanging around the Waltzer and getting free rides with my school friend Michelle. I also went, along with my sister, to a Christmas party event at the Bluehouse Community Centre. Father Christmas turned up and gave everyone a present.

     Another local attraction we visited was the Aquatels Zoo and Ecology Centre. It was part of the larger Aquatels recreation complex off Cranes Farm Road. This would have been around 1976. Amongst the animals I remember were some chimpanzees, penguins, exotic birds and plenty of snakes in the large reptile house. I also remember seeing a Llama along the side fencing on a few occasions when we went past in the car.

     In September 1978 the Ford Tractor Plant came to a standstill when the workforce joined the other Ford plants on a national strike. These were hard times as the strike seemed to last forever. My parents had to watch every penny spent and there were no special treats, and we even had our pocket money suspended with the promise of a bonus when it was all over. I was 12 at the time and remember cycling with my sister up Cranes Farm Road to take dad plenty of sandwiches and a flask of tea to share with his workmates whilst standing on the picket line. We stayed for a short time and he showed us their oil drum which was filled with burning wood to keep them warm. He thanked us for the food and drink but said we shouldn't come again as things could sometimes get heated. It was finally resolved in late November and we were able to get back to normality.

     Around 1979 as I got older I would sometimes go with some friends to the disco at the Roundacre Youth House near the Town Centre. They held a 'teen scene' night every Monday. We used to sit at a table with a fizzy drink and some of us danced to the records and flirted with the boys.

     Despite not being very far from Laindon I didn't get to go to the main Town Centre at Basildon very often. Most of my visits were to the original Arts Centre (Towngate Theatre) or the A.B.C. cinema. Mum took all of us to see the Sooty Show at the Arts Centre in November 1973. This was with Harry Corbett before his son Matthew took over. Other shows included 'Play Away' with Brian Cant, Christmas pantomines like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Saturday morning pictures watching Children's Film Foundation films while mum went shopping in the Town Centre. Sometimes we went opposite the theatre to the art and crafts building to make models or draw. I saw lots of films at the A.B.C. like Disney's 'Escape to Witch Mountain' and 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' plus 'Grease', in 1978 which I watched a few times despite having to queue up as far back as the multi-storey car park as it was so popular with my age group.

     In early November 1980 me and my mum and sister started going to the Temple of Light Spiritualist Church in Bedford Road, Laindon. It was there at one of the services that I first saw my future husband whose family had helped with the construction of the building, which took many years to complete! We looked at each other a few times and I felt an attraction developing. I thought about him over the next two weeks when I next went and he was again sitting with his friend near the back but although he purposely whistled something to get my attention we didn't talk after the service; just looked across at each other knowingly. Nearly a week later and quite by chance I saw him at Laindon Shopping Centre where I'd gone with my sister for something and this time we got talking. He told me his name was Bill and we agreed to meet again at the following night's church service. We started dating from then on and have been together ever since.

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