Memories Index

The following September 1939 I started at The Brecon Boys Grammar School, at age 10 the youngest boy in the form by quite a margin and, as I quickly found, under prepared and very immature. I was also the smallest boy in the school at 4 ft.11½ inches. When I left School from sixth form I was still nearly the smallest boy in the school at 4 ft.11½ inchs but fortunately did show a spurt of growth in later years. The top pupils in our form were the two boys who had taken 1^st and 2^nd places in the scholarship exam; Llew Williams and Lyn Roberts. I was determined that before I finished school I would be vying for top spot with them. To myself I declared them to be my enemies though I envied and admired them ; within a few years they became very good friends. I found out quickly that I was behind only in Arithmetic, English and maturity. I was on level terms in new subjects like History, Latin, Chemistry, Algebra, Geometry and way ahead in Welsh

At the end of the first year (Form 2) I had improved to 13^th  overall but was top in Welsh and 2nd to Llew in Latin. Lyn was studying the alternative language, French. By the end of Form 3 I was 6^th and never worse than 3^rd for the rest of my school days. Llew, Lyn and I competed fiercely for those top three positions until we left school in sixth form but were the best of friends.

After CWB School Certificate in 1942 a few of us went on to 6^th Form. Llew, Lyn and I elected for science: Physics, Chemistry and Maths for Llew and Lyn; Physics, Chem and Biology for me. This latter was, of course, because I had decided on a career in Medicine. However, it posed a problem, in that the Boys' School did not cover Biology and Jacob Morgan and Miss Jarvis (Headmistress of the Girls' School) made special arrangements for me to attend the Girl's School in Cradoc Road. It was difficult organising suitable rosters and half the time neither school knew where I was, each assuming that I was at the other school or somewhere in between; it used to drive Jacob Morgan bonkers. "Sorry Sir, I have to be at the Girls' School in 15 minutes". Study was very important now with University looming and I could not afford to take too many liberties but it did give me a freedom not enjoyed by my schoolmates.

My concentration on science in Form 6 was liberating for me in another more important way. All the years from Forms 2 to 5 my work in Welsh, English. Latin and History had been conducted under the eagle eye of my father, a far worse taskmaster than any of my teachers. Science gave me my freedom as I now became the one with the knowledge and my father learned from me. He would ask my opinion regarding some fact or discovery that he wanted to include in a sermon. For the first time in my life I lost my awe and indeed fear of my dad. As a result we drew much closer to each other and many years later he was to die in my arms, standing up fully dressed with his boots on, as he always wanted, having carefully assisted him in one last walk around his beloved garden.

I started in the Girl's School by attending all Biology classes from 3^rd to 6^th form but Biology came easily to me and by mid-second term I was working only with forms 5 and 6. The senior girls gave me a pretty rough time especially when we were studying sexual organs and animal reproduction. I was a very naive and innocent boy with no sisters and little knowledge of such delicate subjects, while the girls were mostly farm girls with first hand knowledge of breeding and artificial insemination. They enjoyed my obvious discomfort at their frankness, encouraged I might say, by the Biology mistress. Miss Enid Luxton was convinced of the superiority of Biology over Physics and Chem and of the Girls' over the Boys' School and I was equally determined to take the opposite view which led to several tense, standoff discussions. I scored heavily in practical experiments, which the girls often could not get to work due to sloppy neglect of detail. After 5 years of John Sutherland's tuition in Chem and Physics and scrupulous attention to practical detail I seemed to have a charmed ability to made experiments work. Miss Luxton hated this but was forced to respect my ability. I was actually not the first boy to have made use of such an teaching arrangement with the Girls' School; a boy from my brother Iwan's form had preceded me some years earlier and had qualified as a doctor when I entered Medical School.

Sport became an important part of school in my last three years, particularly cricket. Being such a small boy I was not physically robust enough for me to make a mark at soccer nor athletics but cricket did not depend so much on size and strength and allowed more for individual performance. I played in the school team in forms 5 and 6, first under the captaincy of John King and then under Dennis Coombes, son of the "AA" man. Dennis and I were quite fanatical about cricket and after playing for the school on Saturday mornings would spend the afternoon hanging around hoping to get a place in the town team. Being war time the town was always hard pressed to field a team of eleven men and most were in their 40's and even 50's. They were glad of anyone to make up the number.

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