Rugby High School Old Girls’ Newsletter
Spring 2017
RHSOGS Reunion
The Reunion of RHSOGS will
be held on Saturday 13th May
2017 at Rugby High School.
The details are enclosed so
we do hope that many of you
can come. We try to sit you
with your year group, friends
and relatives. If you have
never come before please
think about attending, look
around the school, enjoy an
excellent lunch, and chat to
new and old friends. Our
speaker this year is David
Howe, a former school
inspector and a well-known
speaker in the Rugby area. He
will talk about his experiences
as a school inspector in an
amusing and insightful way.
hope you will be able to
support it.
Membership of
RHSOGS
As
of
January,
membership of RHSOGS
was
517
members.
Please
continue
to
encourage old girls of the
school
to
join
us.
Newsletters
and
information are sent out
by post or by email.
The new piano for RHS
You will have details of the
Reunion Lunch and AGM with
this newsletter and I hope we
will see many of you there. It is
a chance to catch up with old
friends and new, and it should
be an excellent meal.
We always have a
Bring
and
Buy
table, ably run by
Pat
Petrie and
friends.
Gifts
of
books,
unwanted gifts, homemade
cakes, biscuits and preserves
are always welcome. Please
bring some change to support
this stall. The raffle always has
plenty of good prizes and I
From
Aileen
Farrar
1970/77
The Class of '77 (A levels '77,
O
levels
'75)
will
be
celebrating 40 years of leaving
RHS at the Old Girls' Reunion
Lunch on Saturday 13 May
2017. So that we can seat
everyone together please can
you write "Class of '77" in the
"Seating Preferences" box
when returning your reunion
form. Can you also email
[email protected]
to confirm your attendance?
Music Concert at RHS
There will be a Music Concert
at RHS on Thursday 11th May
at 7.30. If you would like to
attend please contact the
school for tickets.
Reunion Lunch
From
the
chair
of
RHSOGS, Christine Wilson
(Harris) 1955/62
Reunion of Class of 1977
Memories as a member of
staff at RHS
The Music Department of RHS
was in desperate need of a
new piano that could be used
in the Music Room, hall and
other spaces. The Committee
of RHSOGS hopes that you
will support our decision to
use funds to give the Music
Department for the piano and
piano stool. We had a lovely
reply from Louise Fairbrother,
RHS Music Teacher, thanking
us for our generous gift. A
plaque has been fixed
onto
thepiano.
From Anna Phillips
Brain)
(Ann
In the Autumn Newsletter
2016, Anna wrote about her
time as a pupil at RHS, here
is Part 2.
After graduating and doing my
post-graduate year I started
teaching art at Bedford High
School, which was lovely, but I
couldn’t
find
anywhere
suitable to live – at one point
even
staying
with
the
headmistress – so eventually I
decided to come home, and
got a job at Barr’s Hill in
Coventry when it was still a
girls’ grammar school. I saw
an advert in the TES for Head
of Art at RHS, applied, and
much to my surprise, at the
age of 27, got it. Miss Linsley
was apparently impressed by
my enthusiasm for teaching
art history as well as practical
art and craft. On joining the
staff I was surprised to
discover that all the fearful old
dragons who had terrified me
as a pupil had turned into
charming middle aged ladies.
My first teaching assistant was
Mrs Weatherup who was a
great support in the early
years. In 1972 Miss Lindley
retired and Miss Chamberlain
came to be Head. She, in
turn, retired in 1978 and Mrs
Phillips took her place, again
retiring in 1988 to be
succeeded by Mrs Thornton.
Mrs Weatherup left in 1974 to
have a baby and Miss
Fountain took her place,
staying until 1978 when Miss
Marchant came for a year,
leaving to get married, and
was succeeded by Mrs
Threlfall. It was a time of
government cuts and we were
not allowed to keep her and so
in 1980 Mr Harvey came. In
1986 he went off to retrain as
a CDT teacher and Miss
Anderton came for a year but
after that I was on my own –
sometimes I found myself
teaching more periods than
there were in the week!
Teaching art was great fun in
spite
of
difficulties with
capitation, class size, single
periods,
government
interference and so on. It was
lovely to teach such keen,
enthusiastic pupils – far too
many to single out any
individually, but I often meet
up with those who have
stayed in the area and it is
always good to see them and
hear their news. The art
department flourished and we
were able to take many ‘A’
level groups abroad – to
Amsterdam,
Paris
and
Florence on many occasions.
Also we had ‘artists in
residence’ in the 80’s –
Cornelia Parker (1985) who
later became famous in the art
world, as well as Elsbieta
Lepa (woodcarving), Margaret
Williams (knitting) and Fiona
Bailey (photography), I had
managed to get a dark room
built in a corner of the art
room.
So many happy
memories. Who can forget Mr
Bindley dressed as a bunny
girl or Mrs Forsythe as Gary
Glitter or Mr Morell in danger
of losing his toga in the staff
entertainments?
Perhaps
some will remember Miss
Molyneaux and I dressed as
cats miming to Rossini’s cat
duet. I still treasure the free
sheet of loo paper that the
VIth form issued after Mrs
Phillips issued an ultimatum
that, unless pupils stopped
messing about with the loo
paper provided, they would
have to go to the staff room to
ask for some if they needed it!
What about the skeleton in the
Head’s chair at the start of
assembly on April Fool’s Day?
Or the ‘Miss Rugby High
School’ competition, or the
snowman competition that Mrs
Phillips organised on a day
when
heavy
snow
fell
unexpectedly
during
the
morning and pupils had to wait
for the buses to arrive to take
them home.
In 1986
I
was
lucky
enough
to get a
picture
in the
Royal
Academy
Summer
Exhibition, and again every
year from 1992-97. In 1994 we
had our first Ofsted inspection.
There were a number of things
I was not happy with in the art
department and the Inspector
agreed with me, so in 1996 I
took early retirement, going
back part time to be in charge
of the ‘A’ level courses for a
couple of years.
I finally
retired in 1998, but still keep in
touch at the Old Girls’ Reunion
every year.
Is my long
association with RHS a record,
I wonder?
Memories of the School
Photo.
How many of you still have a
copy of the long school photo?
One Old Girl asks, ‘Do you
remember the school photos
that scanned round us all? If
you were very quick and were
at the right hand edge, you
could run round the back and
be in the photo twice!’
Summer Extravaganza at
RHS
You are invited to attend
the Summer Fair at RHS
on Friday 30th June from
4pm – 6.30pm. RHSOGS
will have a stall.
Money raised will go
towards refurbishing the
Language Lab.
School Production
From Linda Allen (Nicholls)
1960/67
My husband and I went to the
school's latest production of
‘Oh, what a lovely war’ on
Friday and it was absolutely
amazing.
My granddaughter was taking
part so, naturally, we went to
support her and we were both
blown away by the very high
standard of the production.
As you can imagine, I was
extremely
proud
of
my
granddaughter and also of the
school and all it still stands for.
RHS New Sports Hall
contains 4 badminton courts, 1
full sized netball court, a
Futsal court *, cricket nets,
trampolines, basketball hoops,
electronic score board, table
tennis table, classroom, office,
male & female changing
rooms and parking for 25. It
cost £1.4 million and was
completed ahead of time.
*Futsal is 5-a-side Football, played
indoors on a hard court.
RHS has a magnificent new
Sports Hall. The Sports Hall
A Special Event
During the Summer Term of 1938, Miss Naylor
PE teacher joined the All England Hockey
Touring Team to go to New Zealand. This is a
photo of a Women’s Hockey Team in the 1930s
that I found (I wonder if Miss Naylor is in this
photo?).
Memories of a Health Visiting Course
From Jennifer Slee
(Memories that came from the donations for the
RHS projector) In the late 1960s, Jen and her
colleague, Alison, needed to show a film. In
those days the film was threaded by hand into the
projector. This time the collecting spool came into
contact with the wall and film cascaded in loops
all over the floor. Alison continued to improvise
while Jen scooped up the loops and rewound
them as carefully as possible. Jen reports that
they were always very careful to check behind the
projector after that!
Autograph Books
In the Autumn Newsletter, we had one memory of
an autograph book from Marjorie Gale (Jones).
Here is another autograph book from 1955 kept
from by Susan Thornicroft (Wigglesworth)
1952/59 from the 3rd Form.
Money donated for the
new projector for RHS
So far a total
of £850 has
been given
by Old Girls.
This includes a bucket
collection of £500 that was
given at the 2016 Reunion.
Jen worked for 30 years at Manchester
Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan
University), then taught First Aid with the Red
Cross all over the North of England. Recently
Jen has been working to get public access
defibrillators accepted in her area.
Head Mistresses of Rugby
High School
The fourth Head Mistress
1933- 1955
Miss
Alberta
Briselden
became
Headmistr
ess
in
1933 and steered RHS
through difficult times of war
and changes in education,
retiring in 1955. She had been
a student
at
Newnham
College, Cambridge and had
taught at three schools before
coming to RHS which at that
time had over 300 pupils and
19 teaching staff. RHS was a
two stream school with the
Preparatory Department and a
growing 6th Form. Miss
Briselden set up a Leaving
Scholarship Fund to help girls
who wished to go on to train
for a profession but whose
parents could not afford the
funds. Money was raised from
fetes, plays etc. The 6th form
enjoyed two holidays in the
Lake District before the
outbreak of WW2.
During the war, knitting for the
troops was organised and
many mittens, socks and
balaclavas
were
made.
Groups of girls cultivated
gardens in a corner of the
school field and vegetables for
school dinners were produced.
Miss Briselden organised First
Aid courses and staff and 6th
formers had a rota of
overnight fire watching. Fire
shelters were set up. In 1942
an elected School Council was
set up with suggestions made.
From 1943 5th and 6th formers
from RHS and the Lawrence
Sherriff School held InterSchool Dances.
After the 1944 Education Act,
the Preparatory Department
was no longer an option and
by 1949 RHS was a grammar
school for girls from 11 to 18
in age. At that time there was
a three form entry.
The time of change under
Miss Briselden continued after
the war with the introduction of
GCE O and A level. In 1949 a
link with a school in Clermont
Ferrand began with exchange
visits organised. There were
many changes in most subject
areas of the school, In 1955
Miss Briselden retired and
many gifts were given to her.
Each girl in the school was
given a small green square to
embroider and these were
sewn together to make two
bedspreads.
Miss
Briselden
was
a
remarkable and gifted lady
and RHS was very fortunate
that she became Head
Mistress at such a time of
change.
Memories of Miss Briselden
From Joan George (Taylor)
1939/46
Miss
Briselden
was
a
Cambridge maths graduate.
She took the Upper 3rds top
maths set in my year. Owing
to the 1944 Education Act she
had to oversee the dismantling
of
the kindergarten
and
preparatory departments and
the expansion of the upper
school.
One morning in assembly
Miss Randall announced that
Miss Briselden was now
the head
of
The
Headmistresses' Association
[A.H.M]
On Friday afternoons in 1946
we, the first cohort of post-war
6th formers, gathered in her
study which was heated by a
bright, warm coal fire and
there she would lead very
interesting discussions
on
a variety of topics; one on
religion caused consternation
when a Catholic girl suggested
that we Protestants were not
true Christians, an idea that
was new to most of us.
She arranged for a doctor
from London to give us two
sex education talks. He also
spoke to boys at L.S.S. and
possibly to boys at Rugby
School. This was quite
progressive for those days.
On a school trip to the Lake
District we were surprised to
meet her walking with some
friends. but she must have
arranged it with Miss MurrayJones. No mobile phones in
those days!
She owned a small black car-not all that usual in those
petrol rationing days. She had
a small white dog.
Although
she may
have
seemed rather awe inspiring
to us girls I'm sure she had
quite a sense of humour.
From Margaret Pollock
When I think of Miss Briselden
I think of a much revered,
gracious, dignified lady who
was always treated with the
greatest respect. She was a
lady on another plane and we
were her subjects. I suppose
what strikes me most forcibly
is the contrast with today's
Head Teachers. We knew
nothing of Miss Briselden's
personal
life,
even
her
Christian name was a subject
for discussion. I do believe
she was deeply dedicated to
her school but there must
have been another side to her
life.
I am glad that I had the
privilege of being at Rugby
High during the reign of such a
lady.
From
Pauline
Ratcliffe
(Herbert) 1947/53
I left RHS when Miss
Briselden retired, and was
always impressed by her
almost magisterial bearing. I
shall
never
forget
her summoning the whole
school into the hall to
announce the death of the
King.
She gave good advice on
what to do if we were angry;
we should go out and hit
tennis balls hard!
I remember sessions with us
sitting on the floor in the hall
when she played excerpts
from
Beethoven
which
sparked an interest in classical
music at an impressionable
age.
Girls from my era will recall
Miss Briselden decreeing that
older girls had to wear ghastly
lisle stockings instead of
socks; when we knelt down at
Prayers, many of us suffered
ladders in our stockings.
From Kathleen Worrall
(Loman) 1939/45
A group of us once asked
Miss Briselden if we could play
cricket. She said ‘Cricket is not
a ladylike game’ and would
not let us play it at Rugby High
School!
From Susan Thornicroft
(Wigglesworth) 1952/59
Miss Briselden was invited
back to the High School, after
her retirement, maybe for a
prize giving, I can’t really
remember.
What
I
do
remember though, is that word
went round, to clap loudly, and
stamp the floor, and keep on
doing so when Miss Briselden
walked down the hall to the
stage. We carried on clapping
and stamping, until with a
raised eyebrow (?) from Miss
Linsley, we stopped, and
decorum was established
once again!
From Sue Richards
My mother, Doris Hawker, who
was in charge of W.H. Smith
and the lending library was a
member
of
the
local
Soroptomists club with Miss
Briselden and spoke very
highly of her. She was
disappointed
that
Miss
Briselden finished at R.H.S
just before I started there in
1955.
From Pauline Young
(Berry) 1948/54
Her nephew once gave a brief
talk about her at an RHSOGS
meeting....something like 'I
know many of you found her
very fierce.
Believe me I,
her nephew, found her very
fierce too!'
We remember: Obituaries
Carole Miller 1951/58
Carole Miller,
treasurer of
RHSOGS,
sadly died of
cancer
in
early
December
2016. She became a nurse
and married Keith Miller( no
relative, as she would say)
and they had two daughters.
Carole was a reliable member
of our committee and took
over from Deena Payne as
treasurer.
Some of our
members were able to go the
service
at
Rainsbrook
Crematorium on Ashlawn
Road, Rugby.
Carole was a lovely warm
person, always with a smile on
her face, and even when she
was unwell, Carole was
always willing to help. She will
be sadly missed by her family,
friends and members of the
Old Girls. Our sympathy goes
to Keith and the family.
Ann
Margaret
Brown
(Cockerill) died in February
2017 aged 80.
Photos of Rugby High
School in the 1930s.
A little bit of History
Rugby High School in
Clifton Road
The foundation stone was laid
on 2 October 1924 and the
upper school moved in for the
Autumn term 1927, when
'Arnold' was dropped from the
name. At this point only the
main assembly hall and the
East quadrangle had been
built and was not really large
enough for the 168 girls using
it. Building of the West
quadrangle did not start until
1931 and was finished for
September 1932. There was
now room for the Preparatory
department to move to the
new site from Eastfield House.
When Miss Glenday left in
1933 there were 300 pupils
and 19 teachers at Clifton
Road. The new headmistress
was Miss Briselden. In 1944
the Education Act prompted
the closing of the Preparatory
Department. There was no 5
year old entry that year and in
1949 the last year of girls
reached 11. The spare space
let the upper school increase
its intake to 3 forms per year
from 1944. In 1955 Miss D.M.
Linsley became headmistress
and a month later it was
announced that the school
was going to move sites
again. The Technical College
was being split to form an
Engineering College and a
College of Further Education.
The latter college was to take
over the school buildings. The
High School moved to its
present buildings in Longrood
Road in Sept 1960.
The Joan of Arc plaque can be
seen high on the wall.
Please send in articles,
comments, photos and
news. For this edition, I
did not receive very much
for this edition of the
newsletter
so
would
appreciate more for the
Autumn 2017 edition.
Please put your name,
surname now & at RHS,
and dates (starting &
leaving).
Any and All Responses to
the newsletter
Barbara Farn
membershiprhsoldgirls@googl
email.com
23 The Cedars, Dunstable Str.
Ampthill MK45 2JZ