Written Archive Index

"Three Dozen Years" - a history of the school 1919-1955 by H. C. Davis, M.A.

Mr. Davis was a teacher at the school at the time this book was written, c.1954/5.

Reflections: the School Magazine, Christmas 1926

This early issue of the magazine (volume 6 number 2) presents a picture of the school that, in some ways, will seem familiar to later students. But there are also items that are very much of the time with language and references that are now obscure.

There must have been pupils at the school in 1926 who had lost fathers or older brothers in the Great War. The dead are remembered in a poem by Stephanie Wells. Olive Bracher describes some girls of the 1920s. Elsie King and 'One of Them' provide contrasting views of fourth year classes. Leslie Lambert reports on a Cake Sale and Olive Bracher (again) adds a footnote in verse.

Ernest Bishop celebrates Downhills folk in The Song of the Red Caps and 'Spectator' gives a short account of the school's seventh birthday celebrations. Competition between the houses is recorded in the results of the Shield Competition (for studies) and the Banner Competition (for sport).

The sports page could be from any time in Downhill's history and a poem by William Allen describes a football match that became a mud-bath, an event which would surely be repeated many times in later years. H. Kimmings describes the temptations (and disappointments) of the Cookery Centre. There is a section devoted to Old Scholars, including a report from India by Frank Cackett.

Also included here are some of the adverts which appeared in the magazine.

Our special thanks to Rita Read at Bruce Castle Museum for providing this issue of the magazine. - R.B.

School Magazine, Summer 1956

The retirement of the headmaster, Mr. Mercer, is marked in this issue. Francis Bailey contributes an article about being an actor, there's a review of "The Lady with a Lamp" and a letter from Mademoiselle Ricois. There are reports of sporting events, and of the parent-teachers and old scholar associations.

School Magazine, probably Summer 1959

This issue is actually undated and contains some ambiguous time references, but Summer '59 seems to be a reasonable guess. The retirement of Mrs. Martinez is recorded, together with reports of Prize Day, the school trip to Kandersteg and the activities of the Old Scholars' Association, the P.T.A. and the Chess Club (by M. Kelsey). Poetry and prose contributors were: Rita Leighton, D. Gray, B. McGarry, Barbara Moy, P. Cox, R. Wignall, Jennifer Norris, Sheila Piggott and Carol Murley. - R.B.

School Magazine, Summer 1960

*** The first page of this section also contains an article from the local paper reporting the 1959 Prize Day. ***

This issue began with an obituary for Mr A. L. Fiddick, who was fatally injured in a road accident. There are contributions which now have a distinctly period feel: Carole Murley's poem about the thick fogs that used to plague London; B. Tye's piece about a milkman, complete with horse-drawn cart and cobblestone road; and E.M.L.'s article about learning to drive. Other contributors are R. Taylor, D. Watts, B. Davis, J. R. Hanline, Christine Rudd, Joy Dowers, Haig Chimchirian, D. Watkinson, Anita Potter, R. Hollister, Ruth Britzler (writing in French), Ken Goring, Veronica Huffer, Pat Salmon, Iris Wise and A.S. (Mr. Shine?). Staff changes, Prize Day and sports results are recorded. - R.B.

School Magazine, Christmas 1960

The headmaster provides the introduction and A.S.J. (Mr Jaques) reports on Prize Day. The Christmas season is reflected in a short story and a report on the the school Christmas tree by Veronica Huffer, and in a poem by L. Hammans. R. Lockyer contributes a story about an old musician and coast and sea attract the attention of Vera Moxon, Haig Chimchirian and K. R. Noble. Other contributions are by Keith Dickinson, S. D. Wells, Janet Bloomfield, Michael Watts, P. Ryan, M. Houghton, T. Hanley, Robert Edmund, Elizabeth Shad and R. James. There are reports on the Film Club (Tony Dring), The Christian Union (Edna Walker), The Printing Club (A.J.S. - Mr. Shine) plus a footnote by the editor A.S.J. - R.B.

School Magazine, Summer 1961

This issue begins with the headmaster's letter, followed by an editorial by A.J.S. (Mr. Shine). There's a report on the Fête and a letter from Pauline Artis written at the start of her training as a nurse. Then, R. Hollister and H. Chimchirian write about the SS Beaverford. The first page of prose and verse contains items by Linda Youell, K. Phipps, Barbara Moy, Anita Martin, B. Clarke, Janet Baxter, Anne Murden and Patrick Thornton, whose description of fairs is accompanied by a lino-cut, perhaps by Miss Brooker. The next page has items by Valerie Blyth, "Modest" (does anyone want to claim authorship?), Brenda Foweraker, R. Mortimer, P.Lowman, Brenda Beeson, P. Lyons and L. Hammans. There's another lino-cut, this time by Trevor Burgess. The usual sports results are followed by reports of the Kandersteg trip, a journey to Gibraltar described by M. Brown, and reports from the Film Club (by Tony Dring) and the School Orchestra. The final page shows four adverts. - R.B.

School Magazine, Christmas 1961

Not a full issue of the magazine, this was called a "Christmas Collection" and contained only seven pages. It has a distinctly seasonal feel, with items reflecting winter by K. Neale, M. Houghton, R. Everest, R. Benbow, Rosemary Pajak and Mary Bardwell. Christmas features in pieces by M. Houghton (again) and, appropriately, Gillian Frost.

Other contributors were Janet Bloomfield, Colin Jarman, Raymond Mortimer and M. Peacock.

Thanks to Clive Hall for preserving this issue.

Also here is the Prize Day programme from November 1961. The prize day details were normally included in the magazine, but were omitted this time. - R.B.

School Magazine, Summer 1962

Vera Moxon describes a visit to a television studio. An anonymous poem tackles the subject of exams and other verse comes from Christine Rudd, L. Hammans, M. Houghton, Rachel Harris and B. Kellard. Three pieces of imaginative prose are by Peter Ryan, John Anderson and R. James. There's no editorial in this issue, but there are items about the Prefects' Social (Vera Moxon), the School Choir and Orchestra (David Johnson), the Christian Union (Ken Carveley) and the production of 'The Inspector Calls' (R.S.).

Another issue saved by Clive Hall. - R.B.

School Magazine, Summer 1963

There is an account of what was probably the last Old Scholars Reunion to be held at the old school building. Several school trips are described: a cruise to Leningrad (Janette Matthews); theatre trips (J. Astill, R. Morgan, H. Hagger and C. Jarman); and a visit to the Commonwealth Institute (Linda Bowen). Factual prose included pieces by Derek Hughes (Collecting Coins), Keith Baker (Fishing), G. Ellis (The School Orchestra and Choir), Ken Carveley (The Christian Union), Graham Smith (The Explorations of Doctor Livingstone) and E. Lock (Noise). Imaginative prose comes from M. Houghton, R. Lockyer and C. Anastasi. Poetry was written by Jeffrey Bamber, P. Barker, M. Bone, Gillian Cooper, M. Dudley, Gillian Frost, L. Hammans, R. Huff, E. Hull, Nigel Jeny, R. Lockyer, C. Martin, A. Willis and Linda Wilson.

Thanks to Christine Edwards for preserving this issue. - R.B.

School Magazine, Summer 1964

This was the last ever issue of the DCS Magazine, published just before the school joined with the South Grove Schools. Mr. Jaques looked back and forward in his piece, placed at the end of the printed magazine, but here moved to the top of the first page. An outing to the World Book Fair is described by Paul New and a voyage on the M.S. Devonia by Christine Rudd. Theresa Miles supplements the usual accounts of the sporting year and R. Few writes about fish - the Tench. There's an account of a production of HMS Pinafore (see the Photos pages for some photos of this show) and K. Diver contributes a poem about the 'Little Boys of Tott'n'm.' John Beasley describes the craft of pottery and Stephen Nyman charts the early careers of the Rolling Stones. Other contributors are L. Hammans, P. Beattie, Janis Marcu, Diane Whaley, Janet Anderson, Anne Murden, Elaine Chaubert, P. Sampson, J. Bigmore, Tony Garwood, Diane Atkins, Linda Stares, Jennifer Elam and John Hillier.

Once again Clive Hall preserved this issue. - R.B.

Please email us if you can add to this collection of documents and photographs.

It has obviously not been possible to contact all the writers of the articles on these pages to ask for permission to use their material. If you wrote any of the pieces featured here and do not want your work to continue to appear on this site, please email us and we will immediately remove the piece in question. Our thanks to all the authors for their contributions. - R.B.