After living in and around Watford my work took me to Bristol 15 years ago where I am now retired.
I was very interested in the stories from the Central and Chater schools. I went to both.
I was born in 1934, which meant that all children born in that year started junior school on or about the day war was declared in September 1939 and were transferred to their senior school on or about V-J Day in August 1945.
Those six years were very difficult years to maintain teaching staff, and school material, books, etc. became scarce. I remember there was a paper shortage while I was at Chater and we did our daily Spelling and sums test using chalk and slates.
At lunchtime, we all walked over to the soup kitchen on the corner of Harwoods Road and Whippendell Road for the bread and soup which cost tuppence.
The soup kitchen was, and still is I think, a church hall.
In my last year at Chater, we all look the entrance exam for the Watford Grammar and the ones that just missed out went to the Watford Central Grammar School.
That year seven from Chater went on to the Central, Roger Elmore, John Hard, Barry Miles, Wilf Mullaney, Norman Phillips, Terry Willis and myself.
At the Central, there was only one class per year consisting of only 28 pupils and we stayed together for the next five years. In fact when we left in 1950, the Central School closed down and the other four younger years transferred to the new Bushey Queens?(Bushey Grammar).
About 12 years ago, the same class of 1928??? started an annual reunion and for the last eight years this has been held in the Watford Conservative Club in Rosslyn Road. Each year about 16 to 18 are able to attend but we have the current addresses of every classmate. Unfortunately two are no longer with us including our head boy, Barry Miles, who died two years ago.
I enclose the 1950 class photo of 27 (one missing on the day), and Barry Miles is sat next to head Teacher "Jock" Hart and I am next to our form teacher, “Spud” Edwards.
Although only 28 in number, we were always able to field a strong football and cricket XI, which mainly played against other Grammar Schools such as Hemel, Harrow, St. Albans and Luton.
One of our proudest achievements was to enter the Watford and District six-a-side football tournament held at Kingsway School in 1948 where we were up against the might of the likes of Victoria, Leggatts Way, Durrants, (Croxley) and Crabtree (Hemel).
We won the final and the Cup was presented to me by Sir Stanley Rous and the enclosed photo was taken by the Watford Observer, and displayed in your office window for a whole week. I made sure I made a short detour on my way to Derby Road twice a day, going to and from school, to see that photo during that week.
When we hold our next reunion, in March 2000, it will be exactly 50 years from when we left school and 55 years from when we first started at the Central School.
All happy memories.
In addition, John Bangs and Frank Bean in the football photos were in the year below us.
When the cup was presented to me in 1948 it was not a time when new silverware was available and I remember the inscription on the cup was Winner Indoor Games 1937 but I was too proud to worry about that.
I also enclose the final year football team which includes all the six-a-side team. The season record looks quite impressive.
In that 1948 season, I was lucky enough to play for the Watford schools Under 14 and a half XI in the English Schoolboys Cup but unfortunately we lost in the first round at Vicarage Road 4-1 to Hendon School.
Click on these pictures to enlarge them.
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