"I started in 1945 and finished as late as 1954 because I failed School Certificate and the first year of O level which initially barred me from the Sixth form. Not being an able academic chap I floundered in the 'x' and 'b' streams for most of my existence. Aston did not do much for those in my situation; many of the staff took the line that if you didn't understand something, 'you were thick boy!' I tried not to follow their example when I became a schoolmaster and deputy myself.

I was in 'Fergie' Tye's form (1x) and he took us for Maths. He was not a good or inspiring teacher but had a calligraphic hand which was employed to write the year dates on the rugby footballs when photographs of the teams were required. He tried to kid us that he put the last rivet in the Sydney Harbour bridge. I don't think he lasted as long as you suggest - I'm sure he had left by the late 40s. What a sad end.

Joe Pinder took us for English and he marched into the first lesson asking what a sentence was. 'Know-all' gave an answer and was squashed straight away. I did not think much of him until he took us for English in the sixth where he was brilliant. There was no exam syllabus so we did a variety of interesting things. He managed to get us to read classic fiction which I had never done before. I owe him a great deal for those two years.

'Hairy' Hothersall took us for history but imparted very little knowledge. Lessons often took the form of opening the book at page 'y' and reading until the bell went while he just sat, or dozed. He was liberal with the slipper and on one occasion chastised the whole class in this manner for some misdemeanour or other.

Watcyn Thomas took me for History and English at various times. I am pleased to see some enthusiastic reports of this man for I disliked him intensely finding him a bully.

'Buggy' Mayers was deadly dull and had a monotone voice. I had always been keen on the theatre and in my primary school years became a devotee of Shakespeare, often listening to radio broadcasts and being taken to the theatre by my parents. Thrilled at the idea of doing the bard at school, 'Buggy' Mayers succeeded to kill my love of Shakespeare stone cold dead over a two year period.

There was also a 'Buggy' Bridgeman the Art master. We spent years learning how to draw the letters of the alphabet and only latterly were we permitted to begin creating pictures in pencil. I never remember seeing paint there. What a change when Alex Pearson came although I had ceased to do art then. Alex was a wonderful chap and I became a member of his marionette theatre group. One evening he invited this group (about six of us) to his house for a meal. Unheard of in the 50s. He, along with Mike Robinson, did more to bolster my self esteem than all the others put together. I recall his Pirate King in 'Pirates of Penzance'. I was 'stage manager' for that and the Mikado.

Unfortunately Francis Mace arrived too late for me to benefit from his music lessons. We had 'Daddy' Harris, a cripple, whose twice weekly lessons consisted of hymn practice for the following weeks assemblies. Once or twice we ventured into English Folk songs but nothing else. Occasionally we asked him to teach us some music but nothing materialised. I have spent a lot of my retired life dealing with music (running a couple of orchestras, playing the trombone and being a parish organist) but Aston gave me no foundations in that field.

We had three women on the staff when I joined. One was 'Dotty' Ray who taught Geography; the names of the other two I have forgotten. One taught English and married Joe Pinder, the other taught Biology at the lower end of the school.

The main Geography teacher was Mr Sampson. He was a fierce looking man whose hare lip did nothing for his appearance and his reputation turned ones knees to jelly, yet I liked the man. He was an excellent teacher and inspired me to take a geography O level correspondence course while doing my National Service.

The photographs of Stan Calvert make him look more serious than I remember. He was quite a jovial fellow with a north country accent but failed to teach me any Latin - my fault not his.

I never had Joe Enwhistle. I think he married the 'beak's' secretary.

Like you I found Len Brandon aloof.

I elected to take the sciences in my fourth year onwards and had Frank Bentley for Chemistry. He was probably an ill man then but, again, was lacking in inspiration. His place was take by a Mr Jones, a very different character who actually smiled and cracked a joke or two. He played the organ once at Aston Parish Church when we all went down there for some event or other.

Billy Chivers you have covered brilliantly. What a man and what a teacher. He kept a pile of detention cards but only used them for scribbling on or for an experiment; I never knew him to issue one officially. Then there were his cyclostyled notes and a fund of personal stories. I didn't hear the one you mentioned but he did tell us about his time at sea - using a cut throat razor to shave with and once when his ship towed another through heavy seas which made the tow rope 'sing' with the varying tensions. He knew what would happen if it had broken! His works visits were a joy. I hated games. This was partially due to what I considered were the absurd attitudes of those taking them (Mayers, Thomas, Sharp) as much as anything else, so when 'Billy' arranged visits to the Black County factories on a Wednesday afternoon many of us jumped at the chance. He was wonderful at wheedling equipment from those firms. He would say 'Oh. isn't that wonderful? We haven't got one at school' only to receive the prized object with a beaming face. Latterly in my career I taught physics and tried to emulate his principles when doing so.

We had Fred Fenton for one period of physics in the sixth. He would have his back to us throughout and scribble formula upon formula on the board. One by one we would put down our pens for we had no notion of what he was talking about.

I had George Painter for one year. He was always dour and gave the impression he preferred to do something else. He wrote on my report that my work was 'mediocre', which was no doubt true, but I didn't even know what the word meant.

Ernie Pickering's bark was worse than his bite and he could be quite witty without letting his face crack.

Harry Tyson took me for Maths several times. Another dour man whose favourite expression was, "You'll fail!". The only time I saw him as a human was the occasion he organised some event at the Children's Hospital in Ladywood and some of us went to help. Didn't he have a handicapped daughter?

Theo Fox failed to teach me any woodworking skills, again my fault - but he was relatively human.

I never had Billy Lumb but remember him. There was one occasion when some wag stole his hat (he always wore a soft trilby to cover his bald head) and placed it in a glass fronted cabinet with the price tag of 7/6 on it, reminiscent of Tenniel's drawing of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in 'Alice in Wonderland'. He was red with rage and all around him were in hysterics.

Geoff Price never taught me but we had contact over various stage productions. He was another human face on the staff.

I have obliquely mentioned Mike Robinson who took over from Mr Dawson. The Biology department then moved from the mezzanine room beneath the Art Department to Douglas House. Mike was only eight years our senior and a splendid teacher. He always wanted people to bring in dead cats and dogs so that he could demonstrate dissection. He had a genuine gypsy caravan and took a group of lads, with his wife and child, away on a touring holiday in Norfolk. I think the lads slept in tents. I couldn't go. He boosted my self esteem a lot. He left shortly after I did and went to Great Barr Secondary Modern but reports came back that he didn't like it. We exchanged letters for a short while but then lost touch.

I was not a model pupil but have always felt Aston did not help to bring me out especially in the early years. Obviously the immediate post war period meant that the younger staff were still in the armed forces - I think Stan Calvert was the first back - so most of the teachers looked and behaved as though they ought to have retired long before. Having been in the profession I know how they felt.

Another teacher in my second year was a Mr Arthurs. We called him 'Daddy' although he was only a young man who travelled daily by train from Coventry. With hindsight it seems strange he was not in the armed services although this never crossed our minds. He taught General Science in the Lecture Theatre almost adjacent to the Chemistry Lab., and in our last lesson of the summer term (probably 1946 or 7) we were not doing much while he was clearing out the drawers in the front bench. I said to my neighbour, 'I expect he is leaving'. This lad, with more courage than I, then asked him if he was going, and he was! No detention or clips around the ear for being nosey.

I did not mention Mr Sharp who taught PE and Games. What a dreadful place the Gym was and the changing facilities were no better. I suppose he did a good job under the difficult circumstances although PE was not my favourite subject. I detested the window ladder as I was afraid of heights at that age although I outgrew it. I recall at the end of one afternoon walking along Victoria Park Road to go down Upper Portland Street for my tram home when I spotted Sharp on the other side of the street. I walked on. The next day he ticked me off for not touching my cap to him!

The Art Room was an impossible place to reach without either disturbing a geography lesson or risk getting mangled by those charging around the Gym. I understand the two blocks were originally separate schools, one for boys and the other for girls. The mother of my friend John Smith, who was at Aston with me, had been a pupil there.

We have had a spell of cold icy weather which turned my thoughts to the playground and the giant slide which would be made from the top end to the bottom. It was like polished glass and the ground slope accentuated one's acceleration. I ventured on it only once or twice. I don't recall any accidents - not serious ones - and those in authority took a healthy disregard to it. Today the Health and Safety Brigade would have apoplexy.

A number of lads used to cycle to school and because there were steps from Frederick Road up to the playground, a wooden plank was provided for getting bikes from one level to another. One lad, Burton by name, was prancing around on the plank to make an impression, fell off and broke his leg. The board was removed after that.

In my first year, Shaw, a boy in my class, died - of what we never knew. He lived in Witton Lane opposite the Villa Ground and had been off school for some weeks before news of his death came through. One by one, classes were called out to file past the school wreath which was laid out on a table in the foyer nearest the head's office. We must have been asked to contribute I imagine. I believed Shaw was buried in Witton Cemetery but no one from our class attended. Unlike today's generation, we hardly ever referred to anybody by their Christian names. I can think of many contemporaries but only by their surname.

The sixth form room was in the attic of the 'science' block. A flight of wooden stairs ascended from the top of the main staircase. I don't remember using the room much.

The basement of the same unit housed the dining hall. Chas, and his wife and daughter, used to cook the dinners initially and I can see Mrs Hudson, bathed in sweat as she ladled something or other from a steaming vat. She used to make what was called 'roll', a kind of suety concoction with dates and sprinkled with sugar. I couldn't get enough of it. Chas used to sell dinner tickets from a roll for what might have been 9d but no doubt increased with time. Some catering group took over from the Hudsons while I was there.

A number of staff used the slipper on various occasions but the cane was also employed but not so frequently. Sometimes it was administered in the 'beak's office - my friend Terry Bourne had it for valiantly skipping Games afternoon at Hawthorne Road - but there were two occasions when the head came into the classroom to deal with the miscreant in front of the class. I don't think it was about misbehaviour; more likely to do with work, or the lack of it. The drama of the 'beak' removing his gown and coat and the lads at the front pushing back their desks to make more space certainly created an electric atmosphere. Chastisement in this fashion did not meet with our approval and this must have shown on our faces for Harry Tyson (one occasion was during his lesson) derided us for it. The cane was abandoned during my time although slipperings and Saturday morning detention continued.

I did not experience Longdon Hall although my name was down for a week-end which was cancelled for some reason or another. At the time of setting up the termly treks to Staffordshire, I remember listening to a radio broadcast about the venture in which some members of staff took part. Billy Chivers spoke against the experiment for there was no provision for science at the time. I am fairly sure Frank Bentley spoke in favour. It must have been part of the BBC Home Service devoted to local matters. I always think of the connection between Longdon and Aston when driving by on the way to North Wales or Bridgemere Garden Centre.

In 1947 I had my one and only experience of a school trip. A consortium of Birmingham Schools gathered into a huge exodus to Paris. A special train took us from New Street Station to Newhaven and then on ferry to Dieppe and another special train to the capital. We were shocked to discover that we could not understand the French and they certainly could not comprehend our attempts at their language. So much for learning screeds of irregular verbs! We resorted to sign language most of the time. The itinerary sounded very grand with promised of many visits. We were taken to Invalides and Notre Dame but largely we were left to our own devices negotiating the city by foot or on the metro. Little did I think that seven year later I should be serving my Queen and country in that country as a National Service Man. Of the staff who came with us I recall 'Tiny' Winton, Ernie Pickering and another who had a soft Scots accent. I think his name was Ingram - he was a decent fellow unlike some of the old brigade. We occupied a large French boarding school and slept in long dormitories with a master's cabin at one end. 'Tiny' Winton was in charge of our dorm. One night, he, Ernie and others went to the Folis Bergere, so we took the opportunity of making him an apple pie bed which contained personal items like his hair brush and so on. The following morning all these had been thrown over the partition although it was some time before he emerged.

The school ran on a prefectorial system. There were two categories: Full prefect and sub prefect. The former was mainly allocated to those who excelled in sports. This was another reason which did not endear me to this 'god' for nothing else that went on in the school was held with the same degree of esteem as rugby, cricket or athletics. The Arts counted for nothing yet chasing a bit of leather around a field counted for everything. One of my weekly duties was to patrol the grounds of Aston Hall, a rather pleasant occupation in the summer months but less desirable in winter. Prefects were able to run their own punishments which either entailed giving lines or a detention, a feature which was organised and run by the prefects themselves.

I mentioned Mike Robinson. He was not shy about revealing his left wing politics. He was a communist which, at that time, shocked us somewhat even though we liked and respected him. He invited us to a political rally in the Kings Hall, Corporation Street, one Saturday and where he was one of the speakers. He did not sway any of us - who says teachers have influence over the young?

Talking of Mike, not only was he left wing but an atheist as well although he had once belonged to a church. The head was definitely a churchman and used to take my sixth form class for RE. Once he asked how many of us did not attend church. A few of us raised our hands. He was horrified and talked as though the end of the world was nigh. Perhaps the others were like me but not so brave and I sometimes wonder how many of them continued supporting their local churches whilst I have been an organist for forty years. In one lesson the head and Mike spent the entire time discussing religion from their respective points of view. Mike definitely won on points.

The original Biology teacher was 'Gerry' Dawson - I am sure he retired before Mike arrived for 'Gerry' died in the early 50s. There was also 'Tiny' Winton whom I have mentioned. He taught English and was, needless to say, tall and thin. When slippering any unfortunate he would move back a few paces and run towards his victim before landing the blow.

I recall Harry Tyson returning from active service. I don't know exactly what Harry did during the war but once or twice he mentioned something that might have been connected with anti-aircraft measures. He promised to mention the mathematics at some time but never did. We tried to get him talking, more as a diversionary tactic (maybe there would be no homework at the end) but we were always unsuccessful.

The lunch breaks were quite long and in my first year I was able to get home just off Marsh Hill, have my dinner and get back in time for afternoon lessons. From the second year I stayed to lunch and several of us would go out afterwards and have a halfpenny glass of pop at a shop on the corner of Albert Road and another that has now disappeared for the Aston Expressway. We would then move to a cake shop in Victoria Park Road and have a penny iced bun and all this was in addition to lunch and Chas's Tuck Shop at morning break. As I progressed through the school I often ventured farther afield to try and look round Miller Street tram depot or stand admiringly outside Aston Hippodrome at the bottom of Potter's Hill.

You mentioned Billy Chivers and his car. I recall him driving a fairly large vehicle and it looked so odd because being short, his head only just appeared above the steering wheel. He told us that he had re-bored his car engine, possibly that one, to get an extra half horsepower out of it. I can believe it. Staff who came by car parked in Albert Road outside that dreadful toilet block. If I remember correctly, Billy lived on the Walsall Road out of Perry Barr. He had a cat which, when it wanted fuss, would mount the table and sit on the homework papers he was marking. I assume his back garden as on a slope for he told us of a gearing device he had rigged to lower his lawnmower, or such, from one level to another. He must have provided endless entertainment for his neighbours. He ran a Science Club in his lab and each session would be taken by a pupil presenting a 'paper'. It was an excellent opportunity for boys to talk about their pet subjects. Mine was the steam engine for which I took two, old and dilapidated stationary machines (they had belonged to my father), one of which burst its valve and sent a spray of steam and hot water into the room, much to everyone's amusement.

It used to be the custom for older boys to take 'freshers', on their first day, into the toilet block and ask them if they wanted to see the goldfish. Such an exercise involved the unfortunate lad's head being pushed into the bowl while someone else pulled the chain.

Who was the assistant caretaker? He was a pleasant chap, always bearing a smile when he handed out the milk at break.

I only ever returned to visit the school once and that during my first National Service leave in 1955, almost twelve months after leaving. Hardly any of the staff knew me. Harry Tyson, whom I had assumed thought me stupid and innumerate (probably not far from the mark) took me for someone else. The 'perk' was that I was invited for lunch at the staff table. How does one become more socially advanced than that?"(Ted Bottle, School House)