I would probably count him as the best teacher Wennington ever had (not that he wasn't without serious competition). His wide ranging interests and his uncanny perception of people were unmatched. In the course of 'wandering about' he would usually find me practising something musical and would offer words of encouragement. Over the years, some of these words would come back to mind and would have me wondering 'which close and intimate friend could have spoken them?.' I'm sure that I wasn't being 'singled out,'-it was just evidence of the way he cared for his pupils.
It wasn't unknown for him to 'blow his top', usually during lessons. Roger was one of the very few people who I could easily forgive for doing so. Actually, his tendency to contradict himself on these occasions only made some of us 'egg him on' in the hope of hearing some 'Roger Logic' (a directly contradictory, or otherwise illogical statement). The phrase 'Bloody Hell'-for which he had been known for years, was contracted into a sort of 'buzzer' sound- 'BRRR' under our watch -- and pretty soon it became a 'catch-phrase' - or at least a 'catch sound' that the whole school would identify with him. Roger must have been aware of all this 'Brrr nonsense' but I never felt any resentment from him over it.
His approach to teaching French was to put the 'spoken language' first. He made good use of tape recorders and much other equipment which were 'high tech' in their day. If I was to have any complaint, this sometimes seemed to be at the expense of 'written work' which seemed 'strangely naïve'-employing coloured crayons etc. When O-level finally came around, I really had my work cut out to keep up with the written (but not the spoken) language, - in fact at one time he was talking about kicking me off the course. However, diligent hard work (for which I was not known at the time) would save the day.
Roger was responsible for many of the cultural trips the school took. He once took two of us to hear an Orchestral Concert at Leeds Town Hall. Twice he organised trips to hear Duke Ellington (I only heard one of them) and once I remember going to York University to hear Roland Kirk whose greatest accomplishment was to play three saxophones simultaneously;- but when you have that much in your mouth, and only one pair of hands, the musical result is nothing memorable…...
I am aware that a great many of the more literary-minded pupils had a very high opinion of Brian's teaching. Without wishing to sound too 'philistine,' I was not one of them. In a strange sort of way, I did enjoy him as a Fifth Form teacher, more than I had anticipated at any rate. However, I thought that his teaching would be more suited to a University than anything at 'secondary' level.
Brian was an extremely deep, slow-burning and reflective thinker. If a question was asked at Sixth Form level,( I made the big mistake of taking A-level English,-just about the last thing I should have studied) the response could sometimes take as long as it would have taken him to ignite his pipe,-anything from five to twenty seconds.
I didn't warm up to him personally as much as the other staff and from this vantage point I wonder if I didn't just learn to 'go through the motions' of what he taught, rather than gain any deep understanding of the subject. However, his contributions to school life were considerable. There were the 'Den-camps'-one of the high spots of the school year-and he also had considerable talent, judging by the results, as a Drama producer. As the Fourth Form teacher, he would usually produce a three act play (in our year we did 'Arms and the Man' by George Bernard Shaw ). I was always completely absorbed by his plays which, for my money, were the best ever produced during my time at the school. The only production that would have surpassed Dennis's was-at the end of my time at Wennington. Michael Campbell-fresh from Drama College and a new theatre at his disposal-produced an 'epic,'-largely based on class improvisations and involving practically the whole school-called (if I remember) 'Man, Myth and Magic- Death and Rebirth'.
I remember Frank as outwardly calm, patient, highly knowledgeable and capable of working his pupils to exacting standards while maintaining a relaxed atmosphere. I was also impressed by his apparent ability to draw a straight line 'freehand'-without the aid of a straightedge. He would often be whistling a classical music theme ( Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto probably was his first choice) as we worked. We would sometimes joke that he didn't 'change the record' often enough, but, since I have spent a good part of my adult life in workshops of one kind or another, I would vote for Frank's whistling over the blaring radio any day of the week.
The fact that the school did Pottery had been a big 'selling point' with me before I came to Wennington, so, for two or three years, with Louis's help, I endeavoured to throw the largest pots I could on the wheel. Many of my efforts remain, but a few have been broken over the years.
As far as Art was concerned, I tended to do my 'own thing' in his class ("He has a forthright style….") and wasn't necessarily ready to receive comments or advice. While painting was usually a 'hit and miss' affair for me, I did once produce a painting that was surprisingly good, and hung up at my home for a few years -on its own merits. However, generally speaking, I did not develop very much as an artist at Wennington, in fact I probably deteriorated and have never touched it since.
David came to Wennington newly qualified (save for a year's voluntary service in Antigua) only to be confronted by a somewhat lively, motley group of A-level History students, which included me. He treated me very fairly considering that my aptitude for the subject was only average and that I was challenged by the vast amounts of reading involved., sometimes on topics that might not have particularly interested me.
His predecessor, David Rothwell had had a 'flamboyant' style and was undoubtedly a difficult act to follow. Although comparisons would have been made, there is no doubt, in my mind, that his knowledge was sound, covered a wide range and that his lessons were well thought out and prepared.
A-level History was not a good choice for me (though not as unfortunate as A-level English). I just 'scraped through' the exam which - in those days - was all I needed to get into University (to study Music). I don't think that it would be that simple now….. Many have been the times when I have wondered how different my life might have been had I failed and - let's face it - if the Examiner had been sneezing as he/she was going through my paper, I may well have done. It was that close…….!
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