Hastings Grammar School

[nosferatu]

Anybody remember Mr. Henshall, headmaster of the Grammar School? Not sure when he started_ _ _could it have been aorund 1960? I still owe him 2/6 (12.5p) for a haircut in 1962. Felt guilty about it ever since. He called me into his study and told me I had nice hair (ginger at the time) but it was a bit long. He gave me 2/6 to get it cut at Court Hughes in Queens Road who remembers them?). Told me to pay it back at some time. I never did. Sorry, Mr. Henshall But he got his own back perhaps by giving me the cane_ _ _twice! Once for chatting up girls at Mount Pleasant School where we used to have a couple of lessons and another time for letting off a stink bomb during a geography lesson. The bully!!

[nosferatu]

Talking about HGS, does anybody remember that we used to have Wednesday afternoon off and go Saturdays mornings instead? Wednesday afternnoons saw a crowd of us go up to the Girls' Secondary Modern School (now Hillcrest) in Ore. Around the back ran a publc footpath which took us past the netball courts at the rea of the school. We used to cling to the wire netting watching the girls with their t-shirts tucked into their knicker playing netball. The teachers used to try and chase us away, but, as it a publc footpath, not a lot they could do. Happy days!!

[diswhiz]

[quoted]
nosferatu wrote:
Anybody remember Mr. Henshall, headmaster of the Grammar School? Not sure when he started_ _ _could it have been aorund 1960? I still owe him 2/6 (12.5p) for a haircut in 1962. Felt guilty about it ever since. He called me into his study and told me I had nice hair (ginger at the time) but it was a bit long. He gave me 2/6 to get it cut at Court Hughes in Queens Road who remembers them?). Told me to pay it back at some time. I never did. Sorry, Mr. Henshall But he got his own back perhaps by giving me the cane_ _ _twice! Once for chatting up girls at Mount Pleasant School where we used to have a couple of lessons and another time for letting off a stink bomb during a geography lesson. The bully!!
[/quoted]

[diswhiz]

I remember Mr Henshall for the same reason - haircuts. Anyone remember the prize giving in 1963 at the White Rock Theatre? I was known as "Laughing Hyena!"

[Allen]

I remember "Chick" Henshall, and not at all fondly. "I won't have it at my school", he used to bellow at morning assembly in reference to bullying. In reality it depended on who the respective parties were, because he was a bit of a one for favourites. If you were being pushed around by an older and bigger boy, hit back out of fear, and split his lip, you were accused of being a "thug". And that is a true story. I hated the bastard! He's dead now.

[Wolstan Dixie]

Is there a Hastings Grammar School Old Boys Association? And if so how do I contact them?
Thanks

[whiffler]

Old Hastonians is what you should be looking for, but not sure if the football side can help you.

One lad involved had been in my year, and had gone on Mastermind or suchlike but had a horrible expert round. His name will come back to me. (Paul Emerson)

We did go to a dinner 10-15 years ago, me 69-76, Dad 43-46 ?. Host/Guest was the then head of Ark whatever, an affable northern type, but utterly insensitive to the school's history. To his death my Dad could remember all the verses of the school song, the nunc dimitus?, school collect and whatever used at Commemorations in St Clements and Carol Service in All Saints.

Neither of us renewed.

[whiffler]

As for Chick Henshall, he was a pompous tw@t.

When there was lots of football violence around the country he gave us a warning in assembly, and included the little gem that he had never considered getting into trouble over his team - Crewe United. The giggles and sniggers weren't exactly muted.

Another time he got upset that someone had subscribed to pornographic magazines in the name of Mervyn ?Clarke? (aka Meryl - there was another ??), using the address of the school for delivery. He was most upset that this was spelt "Grammer" - probably done deliberately, but he wouldn't think about that.

My performance at school was far from spectacular, and around exam time my Dad would sometimes be called in to be spoken down to - a couple of times on his birthday. When Chick died we learned he was an adulterer with a resulting daughter in town.