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“LIGHTS OUT, NO TALKING”
THE SCHOOL

In order to clarify any future references to parts of the school and their relationships to other parts, I shall try and describe the layout of the school and grounds, and their relationship to each other and the surrounding area.

Roughly, the school faces North. It is bounded by the Nore Road to the South, and the Bristol Channel to the North. Eastwards from the school is the Golf course, and the village of Portishead. To the West lies Redcliffe Bay and Clevedon.

The Eastern boundary of the school was marked by a steel railing which was about five foot high. From South to North, the railing ran from the corner of the school grounds on Nore Road, right down to the Boatshed on the shores of the channel. On the outside of the railing, a walking path ran from the Glenwood Cafe on the Nore Road, down to the corner of the Boatshed which was adjacent to the Mariners Path at that point. About half way down the path, and going toward the sea, the woods ended. The land, which sloped from the railing upwards, and toward the school proper, was all cultivated. It was all used for growing vegetables, and was known to us boys generally as 'The Valley'. It probably consisted of about two or three acres. North of the valley, was the swimming bath and boat shed. These constituted the North eastern most corners of the school grounds.

Looking West from the Boatshed, the Northern boundary which is also the school frontage on to the Bristol Channel, consisted of a continuation of the five foot high railing, with the Mariner's Path to seaward, and the school playing fields to landward. The fence continued West to a point where it crossed the Northern end of The Drive, which as far the boys were concerned, was the Western boundary of the school.

The Drive runs from Nore Road on the southern boundary, almost down to the Mariner's Path in the North. It was the main pedestrian and vehicular entrance to the school. Although the school owned much land to the West of the Drive, apart from the Chapel and some more vegetable gardens, it was all out of the bounds to boys in general. The land to the West contained the Chapel, some acres of market gardens, and the Chaplain's house. Fronting on to the Mariner's Path, were some dwellings we generally called 'The Cottages'.

The first house of the Cottages, with access from the Drive, was a more modern, semi detached house. During 1938-42 at least, this was occupied by Mr. Wellman and his wife. I was their garden boy for some time. Mr.Wellman was the head Gardener, and taught gardening to the boys. I'm not sure who lived in the other half of the semi, but I think it was Mr. & Mrs. Littlejohn. Further on, and away from the Drive, but with access from the woods in the rear, and in the front from the Mariner's Path, was the row of cottages proper. This consisted of a row of about four terraced houses, somewhat older than the semis. The only two occupants which I could be sure of were Mr. Tebbit and family, and Mr.Bishop and family. I'm not sure if either had children. Both were Seamanship Instructors, in addition to these duties Mr.Tebbit was the 'Regulating Officer', which was a sort of 'hands on' administration of the day to day school matters which directly affected the boys. Mr.Bishop's other duties were those of a Physical Training Instructor.

Walking up the Drive from the Mariner's Path. To one's left were the playing fields. The first and largest was known as the Lower Field. It contained two football pitches, one known as the 'Senior's Pitch' and the other, the 'Junior's Pitch' Each pitch also contained a length of concrete laid flush to the surface, and with edges well tapered. These were the cricket pitches during the summer months. When in use, we laid a length of cocoa matting on them to give a better bowling and running surface. Stumps were inserted in to pre formed holes in the concrete. Some feeble attempts had at various times been made to grow grass on the pitches, but with constant hard use, it never really grew save for a bit at the edges. In the summer, they were dust bowls, and in winter, mud baths.

Further up the Drive, the next level of playing fields consisted of - looking east from the drive - the Officer's Tennis Courts, a piece of land in which the mizzen mast from the ship Formidable had been erected, and the 'Cub's Pitch'. During all the time I was at the school, the mast was unsafe, and boys were forbidden to climb it. From the mast to where the land sank away into the Valley in the East, was the 'Cub's Pitch', a grassless piece of land which was used in summer for cricket practice - practice nets were erected - and in the winter for football. It was generally designated for the use of the younger boys. It was flat, red clay, and it too was very dusty in summer, and muddy in winter.

The next level up was the 'Lower Road'. The Lower Road ran from the Drive to that end of the school which was just below Captain's House. Probably ten feet or so higher than the Cub's Pitch, it was bounded on the playing field side by a very high and dense privet hedge, and on the school side by huge stone arches which had been turned into workshops, class rooms, and the boiler rooms, known as the 'Stoke Holds'. The Lower Road was level, and covered with large size stone chippings. About a hundred and fifty feet along the road, and central to the length of the school, were two sets of steps leading up to the Main Terrace which ran the length of the school

At the point where the Lower Road branched from the Drive, a huge stone parapet had been constructed, forming a containment for the driveway and presumably, the foundations of the school at that point. It was on this parapet that we had the Air Raid Siren mounted during the war. Further up the drive, one reached the Western end of the school building which contained the Head Teacher's house, and the Sick Bay. A little further on was the service area and the rear entrance to the school. This area contained the incinerator, the scullery, the galley, and the officer's mess. The Gymnasium was also here, but there was no access from this area to the gym. This area was out of bounds to all boys who didn't have specific duties which would cause them to be there.

Beyond this point, the Drive continued upwards to the Nore Road Entrance to the school. On the left was lawn, and beyond the lawn lay the 'Captain's Woods'. These woods were also 'out of bounds' to the boys. They stretched right across the school property to the Eastern boundary, and from the back of the school to the Nore Road. Somewhere in the woods was the Captain's Tennis Court. I never visited that. Right at the top of the Drive was the Main Gate and the school Secretary's house. On the right of the Drive were woods, and a gently rising footpath to the Church. This then is a general overview of the school's major external boundaries. The whole school grounds covered about fifteen acres Views across the channel are breathtaking, and the grounds must consist of some extremely valuable real estate.

Inside the school, the layout was quite uncomplicated. Facing the school building from the Terrace, the building can be divided into three sections - excluding the Captain's House. The central block contained the gymnasium, and general administration offices on the ground floor; more administration offices on the first floor, then the linen room on the second floor, and atop that the clock tower. The eastern end of the school was, on the ground floor; four school classrooms, the library, with staff flat over, and matron's flat. First floor, No Four dormitory, second floor, No Three dormitory. Both of these dormitories were the 'Junior' dormitories. The western end was; ground floor, dining hall, galley, officer's mess, sick bay, and Head Teacher's House. First floor, number one dormitory, second floor, number two dormitory. These were the 'Senior' dormitories.

From a point on the terrace opposite the main entrance, looking at the central block, one could see on either side of the main entrance, the Captain's Office to the left, and to the right, the Regulating Office.

To the east of Captain's Office was a side entrance. This consisted of two or three steps with brick walls either side, and a large, double door, one side of which was hardly ever used. Directly inside the door, and to the right, was a flight of steps which led to the stokehold. Access was denied by a large steel bar gate which was always kept locked. To the left, was the Eastern end of the Main Corridor, stairs which led to the junior dormitories, and an entrance to the 'Red Corridor' which led to the Library and Classrooms.

Back on the terrace, and looking to the west of the of the Regulating office was a side entrance similar to that on the eastern side. In our uncomplicated manner, they were just known as 'the side doors'.

Two or three steps, brick walls, and a large double door. On entering here and to the left, was a stair well leading to the stoke holds, similarly guarded by a large steel barred gate. To the right of the stair well, the start of the Western end of the Main Corridor, and a continuation of the stair well up to the senior dormitories. To the right of the stair well, and a few paces into the corridor, was the cinema projection room, and a small workshop. During my time there, these were strictly the domain of Mr. Sawford who was a school teacher, and who projected the films for us during the winter months. Further into the corridor, on the right, was the entrance to the Dining Hall.

Entering the school from the terrace, and through the main entrance, one first went through the large, double wooden doors. The doors were probably made of oak, but I never knew for certain. Each was about eight foot high, and was hung on three large brass hinges. The foyer was not very large, possibly ten or so feet square. From the foyer, another set of about three steps with plaster balustrade on each side led to yet another large pair of swing doors which in turn, led into the Main Corridor proper. The top half of these swing doors was a glass panel, and they were painted green. On the left of the balustrade, and still in the foyer, was a glass show case, in which was kept the log book of the 'Polly'. The 'Polly' had been the tender to the ship 'Formidable' when she was moored at Portishead and used as a training ship. During the time I was there, the log book was kept open on at the page of August 4th 1914, which was the day the 'Great War' broke out.

Immediately in front as one entered the main corridor, was a large glass fronted display cupboard, mounted at about head height on the opposite wall. In this cupboard were kept the school perpetual sporting trophies for all to see. On the same wall were the annually presented shields, also presented for various sporting prowess. Above these show cases was the school clock.

To the left and right were sets of steps leading into the gym. Each set of steps consisted of about six steps, and had plaster balustrades. Climbing the steps on either side led to the gym. The gym was fifty feet wide, and about eighty feet long.

The gym was large and high. The walls were of brick, and painted green to about four foot high, then the rest was whitewashed. The ceiling had a central skylight, which ran like an inverted 'V' at the apex of the roof, and for the length of the gym. This - skylight - had to be painted black when war broke out as there was no means of erecting movable blackout shutters as we did with all the other windows in the school. The floor was of wooden blocks laid in a herring bone fashion. In each corner of the gym were fifty two green painted 'pigeon hole' open and numbered lockers, in which each boy kept his boots or 'daps' according to what was the dress of the moment. Along the walls on the left and rear of the gym were smaller wooden lockers, each numbered and with a key. These were the private lockers of each boy, and were identified by his 'linen number'. Locker keys were usually kept clipped to one's cricket belt as being the safest place to keep them. There were two hundred and eight lockers around the left and rear walls of the gym. On the right hand wall of the gym were the wall bars. These were for physical training classes. Many boys used them just to climb, or even to sit atop, and possibly read during leisure times, just to be out of the way of the more active boys running about.

Directly overhead as one entered the gym was the 'Balcony'. This contained the Secretary's Office, and other administrative offices. Being part of the first floor, it was also a link between numbers one and four dormitories.

Suspended from the longitudinal ceiling beams were several climbing ropes. Some with knots in them to assist climbing, others with rings on for gymnastic purposes. When not in use, they were gathered together, and tied back to one wall, out of the way.

Back in the main corridor, and to the west of the gym was the 'Main Latchey' - the school name for the toilet. This contained about twenty cubicles - no doors, and a urinal which ran the length of the wall. To the east of the gym was the 'Wash Hand Latchey', and a store room for all our cleaning materials, brooms, buckets etc. The Wash Hand Latchey contained a double row of back to back wash hand bowls, probably about twenty four bowls in all. No individual taps, all water was controlled from a single valve. Both of these conveniences ran parallel to the walls of the gym, and were about forty to fifty feet long.

To the left of the entrance to the Wash Hand Latchey was the entrance to the Red Corridor. The Red Corridor ran the full length of the ground floor of the East wing of the school, from the central block to the stair well at the extreme end of the building. It was about one hundred feet long. All doors and wood work was painted red. The floor was also a red polished cement floor, giving the corridor its name. On the left of the corridor were the classrooms: Forms Four, One, Five, and Two, in that order. On the right of the Red Corridor, first came an external door which led up to the store room at the rear of the gym. Next was a small hatch in the wall. This was our 'Canteen' or 'Tuck Shop', opened every Saturday after 'Bank', when we could buy sweets with whatever money we had. Beyond the tuck shop was the entrance to the Library. As a library, it was not a very exciting place. The few ancient books that were in there never seemed to be in demand by the boys. Instead, we would take our own reading material or indoor games in there, in order to have a bit of peace and quiet. The library was also used for Officer's Staff Meetings. It was the venue for the 'Defaulter's Parade' or 'Captain's Report' at which offences which were deemed to be serious were dealt with, and appropriate punishment - sometimes the cane - was meted out.

The Western wing of the school ground floor consisted of the Dining Hall, Galley, Sick Bay, and Head Teacher's House. The dining hall was entered from the main corridor. It was about 90 feet long and thirty feet wide, as were the dormitories above it. As in the gymnasium, and indeed, all the rooms on the ground floor of the school, the floor was of herring bone laid wooden blocks. The wall on the left side was broken by a door to the officer's mess, and a hatch into the galley, through which all the food for the boys was served. Another door led to the galley and sculley - this was our name for the scullery where the washing up was done. At the furthest end of the hall was a double door leading to the stair well which led to the dormitories, the Sick Bay, and the head Teacher's House. The right hand side of the hall was the front of the school, and had several large windows in it. On the wall immediately to the right as one entered, was the bust and memorial to Mr. Henry Fedden, the man whose efforts largely made the school possible. The bust was of a bronze like colour. His somewhat glazed, but ever watchful gaze seemed to follow every mouthful of food we ate. The dining hall was heated by a double row of steam pipes which went right around the hall just above floor level. The Classrooms and Library were heated in a similar fashion. The dormitories were not heated

Dining tables during most of my time there consisted of many smaller tables arranged into four long tables, which effectively divided the hall into quadrants. Each long table accommodated up to fifty two boys, or one division. We sat on benches which were as long as the side of a smaller table. As the tables were laid end to end to accommodate fifty odd boys, so the benches were laid end to end along each side of the long tables.

When the majority of the boys were on home leave, and only about fifty boys left in the school, the tables were kept as individual tables, giving a much more de-institutionalised feel to the process of dining. At some time before I left there in 1942, this idea - of smaller tables - was adopted for the whole school at meal times. It meant more table cloths, and more work in laying out the tables and serving up the food, but the end result was a more 'civilised' atmosphere in the dining hall at meal times - the meal content remained about the same.

The Sick Bay was entered from the western end of the dining room and consisted of a waiting room, and a small surgery where Matron or Sister attended our day to day medical needs such as medicine doses, and dressings. Beyond the surgery was Ward number one, which contained four beds and a separate bathroom and toilet. Beyond Ward No 1 was the Isolation Ward which was about the same size as the previous ward, also containing it's own bathroom and toilet. Each ward had it's own fireplace, and was the nearest thing to home that one experienced at the school.

The head teacher's house was, as one might expect strictly off limits to all boys except the house boy and others who might have specific business there. In all my time in the school, I never entered it, nor did I enter the Captain's House at the other extremity of the school, until I visited there as an 'old boy' in the late forties.

All the dormitories were carbon copies of each other so I shall only describe one. My dormitory, number four, was directly above the school classrooms, and number three dormitory was directly above that. All dormitories could be entered either from the central stair wells, or the eastern (or western) stair wells. Before entering the dormitory from the central stair well, or number four landing, there were two 'Cabins' one on either side of the main dormitory double doors. The cabin on the right was used by - in our case - Mr. Chadwick when he was on duty overnight. The cabin on the left was known as the 'Blue Room'. This was where we kept our 'Best Blues' - sailors' uniforms. Each boy had a cubby hole in there, and his Best Blues were kept in there neatly folded up in a very precise manner. Blue Rooms were kept locked at all times except Sunday mornings when we dressed for Church Parade, or when a boy needed to wear his gear for a trip to Bristol, Home Leave, or Parental Visits.

The dormitories were very light and airy, having windows on both sides. They were ninety feet long by thirty feet wide, and contained fifty two beds. As one entered, there were three beds on each side of the double doors and the same at the other end where there were also double doors leading to the 'latcheys' - ablution blocks. The remaining forty beds were distributed along either wall, and in a line of beds up the centre of the dormitory. The boys who wet the bed were always put in the first few beds - nearest to the latchey - in the centre row. This was so that the duty officer could easily wake them at about ten PM to go to the toilet. The beds themselves were simple steel framed single beds. At each bedside was a wooden locker in which we could keep non valuable items overnight.

Immediately through the doors at the other end of the dormitory were two more cabins, one on either side. These also were occupied by duty officers when it was their turn to stay overnight. In No Four dormitory they were occupied by Mr. Sawford on the left, and Mr. Watkins on the right. Beyond the cabins, on the left were the stair wells, on the right was the 'latchey'. First there was a 'drying room' where our towels and toothbrushes were hung after use, in order to dry out before they were required again. There were two small mirrors on the wall where we could comb our hair. Beyond the mirrors were two rows of wash basins, back to back, and containing about twenty four basins in all. All the water - hot and cold - was regulated by single master taps. There were also about six showers, which were used mainly in the summer months on bath nights. There were also two or three 'sit down' toilets for use during the night.

Directly above number four dormitory was number three, which was exactly the same. These were the Junior Dormitories. In the Western wing of the school, number one dormitory was directly over the Dining Hall, and number two dormitory directly above number one. These were the Senior Dormitories. Although one could move from the West wing to the East wing via the Gallery on the first floor, this could not be done on the second floor, as the linen room was situated between the two wings.

With reference to the naming of the dormitories and or Divisions. My own recollection of their names is as Numbers One, Two, Three, and Four Divisions and Dormitories. Boys of a later era called them Anson, Benbow, Hood, and Howe. These names are not entirely 'foreign' to me, but at the same time, neither are they completely familiar. I note in the Punishment Book that the earliest use of these names when referring to dormitories or divisions is April 1942. Before that date, they were all referred to by number. It would seem we were in the process of changing over when I left the school.

It was about this time that the messing arrangements were being changed in the Dining Hall. We moved away from the long tables which sat fifty two boys each. They were broken down into single tables, each of which seated about eight boys. It was a significant change, indicating (I would think) that at that time, some thought was being given to raising the quality of the level of social interaction amongst the boys. Speaking for myself, the smaller tables were much nicer, giving a much less 'institutionalised' look and feel to the Dining Hall.


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