Our life in Sheffield House
1956 to June 1962

In September 1954 I arrived at KHS. I was ten and a half years old and the youngest boy in the school at that particular time. I was, of course, placed in Plymouth House, which was the Junior House and situated down by the farm. The housemaster was Reg Durrant, who sometimes liked to be known as Uncle Reg, or, if in a good mood, "Pop". Mrs Durrant, or Aunty Ruth as we were encouraged to call her, acted as a matron and she was assisted by Aunty Lucy (whose name I can not remember, but who married an employee of the school, I think, whilst I was there).

Sheffield House 1961 (click to enlarge image)

Because I was under age, I spent two years in Plymouth, which was probably not a bad thing, as it helped me settle down and so gradually get used to the idea boarding full time. I remember crying myself to sleep every night for a long time and being physically ill for 48 hours before the start of every term!

Looking back on it, the Durrants ran quite a good reception house, with things that would appeal to youngsters: the Uncle/Pop and Auntie image, Disney paintings on the bathroom walls and in the common rooms, a friendly atmosphere, a large standard poodle called Suzette and a well-regulated routine. The only problem was the long walk up to the main school every morning and back in the evening - whatever the weather. I remember trudging through snow drifts which were as high as we were and arriving back at the house freezing cold and wet through, as we had to run through the hazards of the Planny and with short trousers, the threat of being ambushed by an army of snowballers and the over-riding thought that the ghost of the pilot of the Spitfire that crashed in the Planny during the War might appear all of a sudden, leant wings to our flight and no thoughts of dilly dallying!

From there I moved to Sheffield House - this would have been in the September of 1956, I suppose. Mr David Gooding was housemaster and it felt better and more grown up to be in a senior house. No more trekking to and from Plymouth, but simply a walk up the road past Clyde and Durham houses to get to the main school. I really do not remember much about those early days in Sheffield, except that I think I was reasonably happy.

Sheffield House at that time

I gather that I was quite ill on one occasion and Mr Gooding had to spend most of the night up to make sure I was OK. I seem to recollect that this would not have been much of a problem for him, as he was a bit of a night bird! If one gave him a book to read as he was switching out the dorm lights, he would hand it back the next morning saying that he'd enjoyed it!! Mr Tom Bowker came a couple of years later as housemaster and, with his young wife and two small children, got stuck in to the job, produced two more children and moved on after I had left in 1962. I remember David Gooding having a large Standard Vanguard and I was vastly impressed when Tom Bowker arrived driving an ancient, but superb looking Rolls Royce!!

Early photograph of Sheffield House.

Sheffield was fairly typical of the houses at that time, I think (although there was intense house rivalry and we all thought our house the best!). There were three dorms upstairs, each with about 10 beds, no carpets on the floor, no curtains at the windows and certainly no central heating. We polished the wooden floors and shone them up with bumpers as part of the morning housework. The beds were black iron framed with wooden slatted bases and we had to make them properly every morning, folding down the top sheet and tucking it in and making sure the top blanket had hospital corners at the bottom end. Only house prefects enjoyed the luxury of a spring bed!

Each dorm had a rope ladder tucked under a trap door in the floor by one window and, from time to time we had fire practice, which resulted in us all descending this precariously positioned rope ladder, one by one, if we did not fall off it from sheer terror! No Risk Assessments and fear of Health and Safety Regulations in those days!

The evenings were spent doing prep in one of the two common rooms, followed by free time and then bed. Once a week Mrs Bowker came into the common room with a large cardboard box full of socks. We had to locate our own and then darn the holes in them. As part of the required equipment for the school was a mushroom with needles and wool for darning socks!

We were assembled together as a house unit every night in the common room and had to stand in a circle in silence whilst the head of house summoned the housemaster who took prayers, made announcements and talked to the house about matters of importance. We also had a period of quiet in the dorms before lights out when we could read books and say our own private prayers if we wanted to.

One of the common rooms - I think we called it the library - had an open fire in it and this was greatly appreciated in the cold weather. It also had constructed in it small study areas for the sixth form, to give them some privacy, and also status. I don't remember discipline being particularly harsh, or the older boys being in any way threatening or abusive of their powers. Younger boys had a healthy respect for those who were older and the older boys encouraged everyone to play hard in games and win, if possible, in inter-house matches. The housemaster was respected as a person in his own right, but also because he was the housemaster and discipline was firm but fair!

I enjoyed my time at Kingham Hill and in Sheffield House and will always be grateful for the security it gave me at a time when I needed it. I think that I particularly enjoyed it when I was in the sixth form, as I did not have to do all of the things that I did not enjoy doing and could spend time on the things that I really did enjoy. There was an element of freedom, I had a bike at the school and could take myself off to places if I wanted to and there was not the need to be so regimented. Having said that, the routine, the discipline, the required standards of dress, haircuts, manners etc have stood me in very good stead for all of my life and I am grateful to the school and the staff for enforcing them.

Although I made some good friends at school, I have, sadly, lost touch with them all! It is really through writing this article that my mind has been forced to try to remember things, places and people and I fear that I have not done very well. I was always good at waffling though - as I seem to remember my English Teacher telling me once - and so it does not surprise me that I have managed to write all of this and with so few facts and figures contained in it! However, it might kindle a spark of nostalgia in some old boy's breast and this just possibly could result in a more factually interesting article - who knows!!

Philip Hildesley