WATTS BOY JOHN SUTTON

I have fond memories of Watts and learned lessons that stood me in good stead during my working life.

A few memories. Bert Busby. He and I had a great relationship. I refused to take him seriously and he ensured that I was aware of any punishments that were available. I had an intimate knowledge of the running track in winter and became adept at hanging off the wall bars. My heels probably still bear the scars of his bicycle because I was usually last in the runs we used to take. These were the ones were he used to say” today we’re all going for a nice run. So and so, go and get my bike”

No doubt many of you will remember the work parades when he asked” who can ride a bike?” The unwary would raise their hands thinking that the job of post boy was going, which entailed a visit to the village on the school bike.” Captain of the heads”. If no mug fell for the ruse I inevitably got the job

People I remember. Sid pointer, sixty years on I can still remember some of his aid s for remembering Morse code and flags and L had a fight .F(fight) said did it dard it(did it hurt you).L (lose)dit dar dit did,(of course it did)

Slogger Harrison who made it his job to make sure the young boys got a decent tea by making us a turn left after grace and march around the table until the younger boys were at the top of the table and the seniors were at the bottom, we had to eat what was in front of us on pain of captains report.

I can remember the young lady who used to ride through the grounds every morning and we were all convinced that she deliberately showed more leg than was necessary but she probably didn’t know we existed .We had vivid imaginations.

Watts taught me to stand up for myself and gave me the skills to do so. Some of the jobs I did in my early life demanded the ability to throw a punch, and avoid one.

One memory I have is teasing the night officer. Someone thought up the idea of stuffing a pillow into some clothes, tying some string to it and throwing it of the top deck and screaming, he ran down from the quarter deck in a panic but by the time he got to the spot the dummy had been hauled back to the top deck. These are just a few memories I have of Watts .

I didn’t go to Ganges as even at that age I didn’t fancy signing a 7yr contract. Instead I went into the MN and in May 1950 I joined the Capetown Castle from PSTS with a boy called Buzzer Bysouth.After 7yrs at sea I went to Canada doing various jobs including roughneck on oilrigs.Sloggers boxing lessons certainly stood me in good stead then. After that I spent 2yrs in Germany selling encyclopaedias then cars to American troops. After that I decided to start settling down so I returned to UK to build a carrier. I was lucky enough to have a bent for selling and for several yrs sold insurance before opening my own brokerage. My son has that now as 7yrs ago I got remarried and retired to Spain .

If there are any old boys over here or visiting I live near fuengirola and can be contacted on 0034952475443.

There you are. A few memories of Watts and some of the things I’ve done since leaving.

Hope you enjoyed it.

John Sutton, Sturdee 204 aka dopey.