Wednesday 22 February 2017

Growing up in Eltham in the 1950s ......... stories by Eddy Newport No 2 School and things

Another  in the series by Eddy Newport taken from his book, History of a War Baby.

After my spell in the infants I moved onto the primary school. At this school my reading improves and things started to make sense. I received my first caning from the headmaster. He was a formidable man very tall and had a bald head. He took the morning assembly and we all had to stand and listen to him making his announcements.

During this time, a boy in the row in front broke wind and I and two others thought this to be very funny and started to giggle.

Mr Froom stopped speaking and pointing to us three and were told to get out and wait outside his office. Off we went, very embarrassed, and waited with a sense of fear, as to what was going to happen to us.

Soon he came along and called us into his office and proceeded to tell us off for making a disruption in assembly. He then took out of a cupboard a long thin cane. He asks us to hold out our right hand and with a quick swish and a pain I shall never forget, got a full strike on the palm. Then he did the same to the left hand.

When we got back to our class we started to cry. I went home that night and told my mum and she sent me to bed as a further punishment. I learnt then, that if at any time I got into trouble, I did not tell Mum or Dad about it.

I was punished a few more times whilst I was at that school. One teacher was very fond of the slipper across the backside, and that was really painful. I made some very good friends at Ealdham Square.  My reading was improving and my education started to gel."

© Eddy Newport 2017

Location; Eltham

Picture; from the collection of Eddy Newport

The Newport’s 1951 at No. 58 Rochester Close Kidbrooke SE3.................

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