Summer Times is the Journal of the Old Scarborians Association

and dipping into the memory banks. I raise a
glass or three to all the organisers, who are
doing a tremendous job. Long may it continue.
WALTER ROGERS
REMEMBERS (1945-52)
I passed 11+ at Northstead Junior School, and
attended SBHS 1945 ‐1952. In 1950 I met my
wife to be, Mary Gooch, who was doing her A
levels at Scarborough Convent.
I won a National Coal Board Scholarship, and
went to Leeds University 1952 ‐ 1956, obtain‐
ing a BSc (First class honours) in Mining Engi‐
neering. I worked for the National Coal Board
1956‐1960, leaving to take up a post of Lec‐
turer in Mining Engineering at Cannock Chase
Mining and Technical College, until early
retirement in 1994. Mary also took early retire‐
ment at the same time from her teaching post,
but in 1998 was diagnosed with Slceroderma,
an incurable disease, from which she died on
Christmas Day 2000. We had four children,
who so far have produced six grandchildren.
I was always very keen on sport, playing for
the school Under 12 football and cricket teams,
and occasionally for the under 14 cricket team.
In later years I was unable to play in out of
school hours sport, because of taking on a
Saturday job to enable me to stay on at school.
One vivid memory I have is playing in a
cricket house match, Ruskin v Arnold, and
having to face the fast bowling of Pete Robson.
Unfortunately nobody had told me of the
benefit of wearing a box, the outcome being a
total loss of interest in the playing side of
cricket.
Of the subjects I studied for School certificate,
German, taught by Bon Clarke, was the only
one I disliked. Names I recall as being Bon’s
‘good’ boys were Gordon Naylor, Peter Berry
and Ron Hutchinson, who all sat on the front
row. If my recollections are correct, translation
was done sentence by sentence, starting with
the best ‘good’ boy’. Invariably, the translation
would break down when it got to Rogers on
26
the second row. Many minutes would elapse
while I tried to sort it out. If I had not got it
correct by the end of the lesson, I and the lads
after me would have to return when school
finished for the day. None of us ‘bad’ boys
were ever invited to Oak Road.
I think a first for the school occurred in 1950,
when a girl from Scarborough Convent joined
the A level Chemistry class. I recall her being a
redhead, and my being her partner in the
practical chemistry sessions.
One of my hobbies was making model aero‐
planes for flying. A number of us used to meet
in the hall after school, when we would attach
our planes by means of a long, fine line to a
modified music stand placed in the middle of
the hall. The competition was to see who
could achieve the longest flying time, as our
planes flew round the music stand.
Sport afternoons on Oliver’s Mount involved a
lot of cycle pushing on the way up, but what
fun on the return journey. Some of us would
have a race, but with no pedalling allowed.
One aim was to try and freewheel across the
Valley Bridge and make the school entrance,
but that last small incline always defeated us,
even if we had had a favourable wind.
ANOTHER APPEAL
By Lyndon Wainwright
(1928-38)
Dear Old Scabs:
I write to ask whether
anyone can help me trace a
number of cricket bats that
I had autographed each
year at the Cricket Festi‐
vals in the 1930s. Being an
enthusiast I had the bats
autographed by any player
or ex‐player who I could persuade so to do.
The collection ranged from 1928, when I was
eight, through to 1936, and the range of names
included such famous ones as Don Bradman,
Hedley Verity, Lord Hawke et al.