Beauvale Juniors was a brilliant School to be at for any number of reasons, as had been the Infant School before it. Mr Wooding, the then Headmaster of the Junior School, had a Vision for his Pupils. Every child that attended during his tenure seems to have awarded him some kind of legendary and mythological status. To us, firm, fair and fun must have been his watch-words. Unfortunately, it seems that those who taught under him don't necessarily share those views and are still stunned even now to hear of the reverance 'Wooding Children' accord him.
However, due to Mr Wooding, we're the children who grew up to sit amongst our contemporaries at Pub Quizzes and own the Classical rounds that come up (for example I've yet to meet someone from another School in the locality who can pinpoint 'Carnival of Animals' played on electronic tools at 50 paces). We knew more about the planes that saved Malta and the "night they bombed Coventry" than we did about what happened to the Bakery in Sneinton. We painted the Sorceror's Apprentice on the dining hall walls, wrote our own plays and rode on the Oregon Trail. We also had kick-ass Football and Netball teams. Mr Wooding's Vision was to give us a world view and to encourage our creativity but with a good basic educational grounding.
For all their bemusement at how we view Mr Wooding, his Teachers (whether they realised it or not) imparted that Vision well. Mr Kay had his own class, but was also the School Music Teacher and on the side he was a bit of a rebel. Four days a week he sat under the School Prayer, in the corner just by the Team Flagpole, and played the piano in Assembly. Wednesdays however, were very different. Wednesday Assembly was his. He'd start with the agreed Hymn, the large-print words to which would be up on a stand at the front. We'd have a go at that for a bit and then a few children would be nominated 'on watch' as they sat on the curtain side. He never said why. Then he would turn the largescale hymn-sheet down to reveal something that wasn't sung in Sunday School and got out his guitar. With that we were off on a musical journey of folk and protest but we didn't know it. To us it was Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Peter Paul and Mary, The Byrds and some other bloke. That other bloke was Pete Seeger and going by tonight's programme on the radio, we must have soaked up a fair chunk of his and Woody Guthrie's back catalogues.
And the 'Curtain-side Gang'? If there was any movement from the Admin corridor running off the Hall to the left, the signal was made and the Hymn went up. It was all conspiratorial at the time and much as we loved him, being in on a "little secret" from Mr Wooding was harmless fun. He must have known about it - we couldn't have been singing any quieter than usual - and anyway he was probably planning world domination for the Choir that was being created.
So back to the programme. I wanted to actually put a link to Jackie Oates' version of 'Where Have All the Flowers' gone as played on the show but unforunately that doesn't seem to be possible, which is a shame. So, instead enjoy the following:
Where have all the flowers gone - Marlene Dietrich
or the more familiar version by Peter, Paul and Mary
Now imagine this lot in full voice and just about to compose the best version of the Twelve Days of Christmas anyone had ever heard - and if you can find a three-pronged pickling fork anywhere, do let me know :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment