Alec Bingham (G 49-51) reminisces about discipline:

“It is over sixty years since I left St Bees and there have been immense changes both in education and social attitudes during that time, so I thought I would try to illustrate this in a small way by setting down my personal recollections of the maintenance of discipline during my time in the hope that they may be of some interest to the younger membership and to bring back a few memories to my contemporaries.

There were a lot of rules, regulations and traditions and it was difficult to go through life at school without infringing some of them; punishments were dealt out according to the nature and severity of the offences and were carried out by various delegated authorities. Strict records were kept of all such punishments and the punishment books were closely monitored.
Although corporal punishment was available, it wasn’t used very often, nor were writing out lines or detention (these were regarded as non- productive), so punishments mainly involved carrying out compulsory physical activities in one’s free time; on that basis, I think it fair to say that those frequently in trouble became some of the fittest pupils in the school!

The commonest punishments were handed out by the house prefects and in Grindal House, for example, pupils had to be in their day rooms five minutes before meals; to be caught in the corridors within these periods warranted punishment, normally a requirement to carry out a run. There were a number of different runs available, the shortest of which was a triangle, which was roughly a mile round the village.

The miscreant was required to report to the prefect’s study in running kit in his own time and was duly sent on his way: I should point out that each run had a standard time for completion; however, there was one small snag, the standard times were assessed from the front of the house whereas punishment runs started from the prefect’s study. Pupils were not allowed to use the front stairs or front door so the runner had to traverse the back stairs and several doorways before exiting the building; on occasion the help of friends was enlisted to hold the doors open. On completing the run, the runner reported back to the prefects. If the run had been completed in a respectable time all was well, but if the runner was felt to have been slacking, he could be sent round again.

A different procedure was carried out for offences in the classroom. These consisted of the award of penal drills by the masters and mistresses. For example, to be caught talking or, perhaps, eating a sweet could incur a ten or twenty-minute PD as they were known. PDs were publicised on the notice board and, again, were carried out in the pupil’s free time. The pupils named were required to report to the gym in PT kit at a specified time where they were received  by the PT instructor, Bombardier Billy Morse, a fearsome looking individual whose appearance belied a firm but friendly personality. They were then put through a series of concentrated exercises and then released back to their own devices. The main deterrent here was the inroad into personal time rather than the exercise.

For very serious offences, corporal punishment could be invoked and the procedure in Grindal house was as follows:- Each evening, it was customary for all to attend evening prayers, after which pupils  had a period of free time to fraternise, clean their shoes etc. However, occasionally the order was given for pupils to stay in their day rooms until told otherwise. We then knew that someone was in for it! The housemaster would lead a procession of prefects from the room, the last of whom would pick up a dining chair on the way out. Bringing up the rear would be the hapless individual designated for punishment. The procession would proceed down the back stairs to the bathroom; this was a large cheerless gloomy room with an ambience well suited to the occasion. The dining chair was then set up and the individual had to bend over the back of the chair grasping the seat. The punishment was administered by a nominated prefect using a cane. The whole procedure was overseen by the housemaster.

On completion of the punishment, permission was given for pupils to leave their day rooms. However, as soon as the victim reappeared, he was pounced upon by his friends, who inspected the damage and assessed the quality of the work e.g. how close together were the weals! Considerable kudos could be gained by courageous acceptance of the pain and discomfort.
Nowadays things are very different but, looking back, I don’t think any of us were the worse for it.”

Alec would be keen to hear from contemporaries and can be contacted on: alecbingham123@btinternet.com.

 

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