Robin Rigby (FS 72-79) has shared some anecdotes of his time at school in the 1970s.

“On two occasions A.D. Johnston (SH 74-79) and I were granted an appointment with the Headmaster (G. W. Lees). These meetings were to discuss proposals which we believed would be of benefit to the school and its pupils.

The first meeting was to suggest that the school sanction a coach trip to Carlisle to see John Cooper Clarke. Our argument was that the works of John Cooper Clarke were on a par with Shakespeare, Keats, Shelly, Owen et al., and that Cooper Clarke would be remembered as one of the UK’s greatest poets. As a result, it would be beneficial for the school to arrange a trip to see him perform. The fact that Cooper Clarke was supporting Elvis Costello in Carlisle that night had little influence on our request.

Intrigued the Headmaster asked to see some of the poems the ‘Bard of Salford’ had published and said he would consider the request. Somewhat reluctantly we forwarded reviews of the ‘Punk Poet’s’ work along with some of his early writings. The response from the Headmaster came a few days later. It was a ‘No’!

It should be noted that in July 2013, John Cooper Clarke was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts, in ‘acknowledgement of a career which has spanned five decades, bringing poetry to non-traditional audiences and influencing musicians and comedians’, by the University of Salford. Clarke's works are now taught in schools and have been included on the syllabus for a number of examination boards.
Our second meeting with the Headmaster concerned establishing a St Bees School Morris Dancing Side.

It all began when we found an album of Morris Dancing tunes which included the basic instructions of how to dance. Our initial attempts were pretty dire as we called out ‘one, two, three, hop’ in one of the Foundation South dormitories. However, fortune smiled on us and we were introduced to one of the West Cumbrian Morris Men stalwarts. He took pity on us and not only began to teach us properly but also provide the music on his concertina. We bought the entire stock of cat bells from every pet shop in Whitehaven, made our costume and began practising regularly by the Priory. The Team mainly consisted of Joe Brierly (FS), Jamie Jamerson (FN), Bill Henderson (FS), Chris Evans (FS), Adrian Johnston (SH) and myself (FS).

Having become fairly proficient and with a repertoire of half a dozen dances, we began to perform in the school’s name. Our appearances at Speech Day and OSB Day were thoroughly enjoyed and, financially, embarrassingly rewarding. However, the ‘coup de grace’ was our trip to the Egremont Fair. With transport provided by the school and accompanied by the Music Master (Brian Howard), we not only danced in the streets of Egremont but also took to the pubs. The sight of several drunken West Cumbrian Morris Men taking one pub’s piano out into the street whilst Adrian Johnston banged out some ragtime tunes still makes me smile.

If anyone has any pictures of the St Bees School Morris Dancing Team, I would be extremely grateful to see them.”

 

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The St Beghian Society    
St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

         Tel: (01946) 828093      Email: osb@stbeesschool.co.uk      Web: www.st-beghian-society.co.uk