Life at Aston
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“Life At Aston” – hear your masters’ voices once again!
Most of us who attended KEGS Aston in the 1950s and ‘60s remember what our masters looked like, but with the passage of time it’s difficult to remember exactly what they sounded like. Now there’s an opportunity to hear once again the voices of some of those who taught us, thanks to a new CD produced during the school’s 125th anniversary year. All profits from the CD will go towards the KEGS Building Fund.
“Life At Aston” features actual recordings of a typical day at King Edward’s over forty years ago. It starts with form registration, followed by morning assembly (the day’s notices, a scripture reading and a hymn accompanied by A. J. Cooke on the piano). Headmaster L. G. Brandon explains how the King Edward’s Foundation was first established and Stan Calvert (Deputy Head in 1965) outlines how the school was administered and managed. We then eavesdrop on a succession of classes, complete with pupil participation: Don Checkland (geography); Joe Entwistle (French); David Collins (English Literature); J. Stark (Biology); Hugh Crosthwaite (Russian); and Derek Hobson (Chemistry). We hear once again the repartee in the tuckshop queue, plus the sonorous tones of the school handbell – rung until 1960 by porter Charles Hudson (Chas). After 4pm we call in to a quiz night under the auspices of the Sixth Form Society with girls from King Edward’s Rosehill Road; listen to a play rehearsal and a musical medley from a school production; and there’s more music from the boys at a Parents Association Folk Song Evening. Harry Jessop describes the rules of rugby football and Joe Entwistle summarises the rules of cricket. There’s a powerful poem written by previous headmaster Joseph Manton in 1933 to mark the school’s 50th anniversary - and no such recording would be complete without a couple of verses of the School Song, sung with gusto by a subset of the choir in Big School. All in all, a very nostalgic reminder of the time we spent at Aston.
AOE Ian McDonnell (1959) made the original recordings as a private-enterprise project to send to exchange master Melvin Merzon from Michigan (USA), who spent a year with us in 1965. The idea was to show Mr. Merzon’s American pupils how a British grammar school was run compared with their own educational system. This re-mastered version with linking narrative has been produced by Stuart Hall, who is the son of Old Boy Christopher Hall (Aston 1964-70). It is priced at £8 including post and packing*, of which approximately £6 will go to the King Edward’s Aston Building Fund.
To obtain a copy, contact Ian McDonnell, titling your e-mail ‘KEGS CD request’.
King Edward’s always has a buildings improvement project in progress and this is a great way to give a little support to our successors at the school, while gaining some pleasure from hearing the sounds of Aston once again.
Testimonials for the CD are flooding in. Here are a few examples:
“Gareth Leyshon has just listened to “Life at Aston”, a day in the life of KE Aston in 1965, and thought it was brilliant.”
Facebook, 11 Sep 09
“I was moved back in time some forty years while listening to the recordings in the wee small hours this morning. To hear again the voices of Dave Collins, Stan Calvert and Jack Entwistle was a splendid experience, but to hear the measured tones of Len Brandon speaking on one of the historical subjects closest to his heart was just quite amazing. I was also impressed by the link commentaries which offer such concise and fluent explanations of the recordings.”
J.T., 22 Sep 09
“I've just listened to it - it's a real gem. The highlights for me were Mr Checkland's geography lesson (did these boys ever pass their exams?) and hearing again LGB's measured words - everything that's said about him on the commentary is completely true. And how I wish I'd been able to go to Mr Fenton's talk on ‘exposure’!”
Best Wishes
P.F. 25 Sep 09