KES Aston - Douglas House

Douglas House lives on!

Douglas House (on the right), circa 1962
(Photo by kind permission of the Headmaster)

The 'original' Douglas House was a double fronted terraced villa opposite the entrance to the main building in Frederick Road. It provided the school with desperately needed extra accommodation. The rooms on the left hand side of the ground floor had been 'knocked through' to create a Biology lab., shown left. Freshly decorated and equipped, this was the scene of gruesome dissections which helped me decide against a career in medicine!

Above it, similarly enlarged, was the Library. Outside working hours this was home to the 'Magpie and Chatter' Society. Goodness knows where that name came from, or what it meant!

The right hand side remained unaltered, with miniscule rooms that could only be used for small classes: upstairs the form rooms for Lower 6th Science (with its equally miniscule form master, Fred Fenton) and Lower 6th Arts. I remember taking French and German 'O' level oral exams in the downstairs front room with 'Ernie' Pickering, and taking a one year 'crash' course in Latin 'O' level with Stan Calvert.

Winter and summer the front door was always open. It must have been Bedlam for the neighbours. I can only hope that they were out at work all day!

One of the endearing features about Aston is its sense of continuity. After 40 years, during which the 'new' (1963!) building became the 'Science' block, it has at last - and finally - emerged as Douglas House! Apparently we have the Headmaster to thank for this: like the good historian that he is he had 'discovered' the name whilst rummaging through the school's archives. We could have told him!! Generations of biologists and Sixth formers will be delighted by its revival.

Even more fascinating are the school's current plans to extend it. I was particularly pleased because these include four (yes, four) new science labs. The four floor extension will be added to the western (Bevington Road) end. I hope they remember to put the chemistry lab. on the top floor. Chemists have a nasty habit of making smells and causing explosions. It won't matter if they blow the roof off, but it would be a pity if the physics lab. - and the physicists - were to go with it!

No doubt the chemists will want a lab. named Bentley or Hobson, and the biologists Robinson or Field (Don is still around). Already the Headmaster has very kindly consented to a Physics lab. being named in memory of my hero, 'Billy' Chivers. (How did you guess!)

So that the scientists don't get things all their own way, there's going to be a new Art Room and Ceramics Studio. Like the Woodwork and Dining Rooms of our era the present Art Room is in the dungeons. What is it with Aston's love of dungeons? All the torturing in our day was done quite well above ground level! The Art Room we remember was high up and had what the present one needs so badly: plenty of natural light.

Please contact Max Nicholls to find out more and to discover how we can help with this exciting project. Max is himself an 'Aston parent' and Governor whose son, Matthew (Manton house 1998 - 2005), is currently reading Law at Clare College, Cambridge.

Progress report (April, 2008): Nearly Ł230,000 pledged tax effectively to the campaign since November 2005. This means supporters of King Edward VI Aston have already been able to direct over Ł34,000 of the tax they have to pay to a cause held close to their heart, rather than going to a place of the government's choice.

Building work started at the end of November, 2006 under the watchful eye of the project's architect, Bob Heeks (Aston 1958). In December 2006 they dug exploratory trenches to find out what lay beneath. Some of our former tormentors, perhaps?

The size, number and distribution of windows in this predominantly West facing building make me think that the rooms, one of which is for Art, will be rather gloomy.

The Douglas House Extension was handed over to the school by the builders after half term of February 2008, and officially opened on 20th May.