Hastings Forum

I wonder if any other forum members attended the Grove School (for boys) between 1956 and the late sixties when R. B. Hatfield (or "Topper") was headmaster. In those days, pupils were not expected to need to know the forenames of their teachers and I never did know what Hatfield's forenames were. Any offers?

I attended the grove from 1958 to 1963. I too remember Mr Hatfield (Topper)
I was trying to remember the assistant H/M, was it Mr Newton? Something like that.
I can remember PE teacher Mr Horne, and assistant Mr Mathews, there was Mr Selmon, Mr Selmes,Mr Barlow and Mr Spencer, I keep racking my brain to remember others.




All typing errors are my own work and subject to patents pending. Except errors by the spell checker. And that has its own patients.

Your attendance years were exactly the same as mine. The assistant Headmaster was Harold Bristow (who taught English and Geography). I recall the teachers that you mention. In addition there were Keith (Killer) Duly, Tom Marshall, John Inskipp, whose forenames I knew. Some of the other were Mr. Adams, Mr. Escott, Mr. Freebury, Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Horsefield, Mr. Arnstead (I think), Mr. Cooper, Mr. Dingwall, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Howard and a little wizened chap who seemed to be about ninety, whose name I can't recall. He was always writing letters to the "Hastings Observer". What's really bugging me though is Mr. Hatfield's forenames! Ah - Edgar Broadbent was the wizened letter writer.

Yes that brings it back to me now, a lot of years have passed since then. I remember all the names you mentioned now.
With regards to Mr Hatfield, I always believed his name was Robert, not sure if I heard that from someone at school at the time. I am not in contact with any of my old school mates now so I have no one else to ask.
BTW I emigrated to Canada in 1980.




All typing errors are my own work and subject to patents pending. Except errors by the spell checker. And that has its own patients.

"Robert" is ringing a faint bell somewhere, but I keep thinking, "Roy". I must do some research.

The information below is from a friend. I was not a Grove pupil

"His name was actually Richard B. Hatfield . My School friend Clive and I used to work in the school office during the last year we were there, assisting the school secretary, Mrs Lawton"

[quoted]
Gerry Glyde wrote:
The information below is from a friend. I was not a Grove pupil

"His name was actually Richard B. Hatfield . My School friend Clive and I used to work in the school office during the last year we were there, assisting the school secretary, Mrs Lawton"
[/quoted]

Thanks for that Gerry - you don't know how many years I've wondered about his name. Just as a matter of interest, what year was your friend's last year at the Grove - I suspect it was later than my last year as"Mrs Lawton" doesn't sound familiar.

He left at 16 so that would be 1969

_ _ _ which is six years after I left, hence the unrecognised secretary's name. That must have been right at the end of Mr. Hatfield's career. I understand that he remained after the normal retirement age to oversee the merging of The Grove (school for boys) and Tower Road School (for girls).

Derek Jempson wrote:Your attendance years were exactly the same as mine. The assistant Headmaster was Harold Bristow (who taught English and Geography). I recall the teachers that you mention. In addition there were Keith (Killer) Duly, Tom Marshall, John Inskipp, whose forenames I knew. Some of the other were Mr. Adams, Mr. Escott, Mr. Freebury, Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Horsefield, Mr. Arnstead (I think), Mr. Cooper, Mr. Dingwall, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Howard and a little wizened chap who seemed to be about ninety, whose name I can't recall. He was always writing letters to the "Hastings Observer". What's really bugging me though is Mr. Hatfield's forenames! Ah - Edgar Broadbent was the wizened letter writer.

I too was at The Grove from 59-64. My form master in the first two years was a very nice English teacher Kenneth Woodhouse and for the next three John Inskip. Woodhouse was very young and had taught in the USA and I think was a bit infuriated by us. He tried to teach us a poem " The Ice Cart " by WW Gibson, but we constantly pronounced it as wubble you, wobble you Gibson!! One thing he did teach me, that I can recite to this day, is the names in alphabetical order of every boy in my class. Instead of him calling out our names for the register we would call our names to him.

John Inskip introduced a very reluctant me to acting. I was a Christian in Androcles and the Lion. He (with Mr Carter) also took us to a residential centre in Surrey, Sayers Croft, which was the first time I had been away from home.

Mr Inskip lived in Springfield Road and often gave me a lift to school..but at a price, I had to share my sweets with him bought with the bus money I saved!

I have always felt quite smug regarding Ken Duly. He was a bit free with the cane and if you did not produce "pretty" maps for your homework you got a whack across the hand!
Yet I got a Grade One in my GCE.

Another couple were Taffy Morgan and John Staples who taught Woodwork.

One PE teacher, who I shall not name, was also very fond of the slipper, especially on the bare bum.

Hatfield was a bit a loof, in 5 years I probably only had one conversation with him.