Chapter 4
ST TRINIANS WITH BOVVER BOOTS
ISAIAH 53
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The St trinnian films of the 1950's tell the story of a girls school, that was completely out of control and caused mayhem, wherever it went.
Skerton School looked ok from the outside, the drive had beautiful apple blossom trees either side of it, it had hundreds of little cherubs running about, but scratch below the surface and you would scream.
The teachers were legends, these included Charlie Emmett, boys were sent to him, if they had done wrong, and he brought their bum in close proximity with a T-square, Our music teacher Sweaty Betty Willson, who used our lesson to give us a lecture on the state of the world, Ms Pallister our young French teacher and Mr Curnow our RE teacher, who met and married at school, Mr Waterhouse my history Teacher who did train impressions and MY Form teachers Mrs Warrington and Mr Scott.
School uniform was augmented by bovver boots and associated items, indeed anything that could cause grievous bodily harm, this was the 1970's, could you imagine, having students change sex or calling themselves homosexual, at Skerton, they would of been killed, although some of the girls did look a bit like men, again no names, but your name begins with S.
All those teachers did their very best under the most trying circumstances, we were a right bunch. But Keith was the school clown, he used to drive teachers and schoolmates mad with his antics, he was an attention seeker, desperately trying to grab people's attention.
Some of the stories about school trips are the stuff of legend, to fire extinguishers being set off on the Mersey ferry to buses getting stuck on Formby sands.
On other trips small swords were stolen in Keswick and items stolen from a small shop in Grasmere, the owner of the shop came onto the bus to identify the culprit, but couldn't as most boys had their heads under coats or under seats.. but we all who the culprit was. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
Grasmere was the location, were a group of students visiting and staying at the youth hostel, were locked out, so the smallest was ordered to shimmy up the drainpipe to climb through the open window and open the door.
Keith was placed in the lowest stream in 4th year, he ended up doing woodwork and metalwork, PE and no academic studies, my father fought to get me into an academic class, finally after missing two terms, he was moved into class 4S, but he still continues to act the clown.
We had to leave our bags outside our classroom, at lunchtime, ours was the art classroom, there was a little ledge just above the door, and how can I put this, some person, took great pleasure of lobbing my satchel onto this ledge, so at 1pm, everyone was kept waiting as Keith was running about retrieving his satchel, again we know the culprit. He still lives in Morecambe.. don't you?
The school had many famous landmarks, which included the toilets near our classroom, which was the only toilets with a chimney as this was the place for smoking. You know when a new pope is elected, white smoke comes out of the chimney, well it is was like that in the toilets, white smoke would be seen streaming out of the windows, as students were trying to in their words.. have a drag.
The school was definitely not very PC or woke, it was a throwback to a bygone age, but it was truly the best days of our lives.
Not only was there a place for smoking, there were places for snogging also, behind the bike sheds and the brass band room, were the best places, so I am reliably informed by a person, who spent lots of time in both places, indeed the bike sheds have been moved to Altrincham town centre as a souvenir. or a memorial, I don't know which.
Lunchtime was time for football in the playground, but it was not long before you heard the sound of FIGHT, and the sound of teachers running and saying, you two clowns get to Mr Emmett.
Skerton is now demolished, it is now a housing complex with flats, but it was for us a deep memory imprinted on our minds, life revolved around school, next time I return to the UK, we will have a school reunion with Russ, Wilf, Bruno, Gary and of course the legendary Sheri.
Other memorable occasions include the sports day, where Keith decided to do the hurdles and fell over the first one, creating the biggest laugh ever.
We played sports, we had to choose teams, in football, I was never chosen first, always last, the choice came down to me or a lamp post the lamp post was usually chosen first.
At school, Keith did finally buckle down, he got Grade 1 in both History and Geography and Grade 3 in English Language and Literature, he got the prize for History, well they had to give someone else a prize, the rest went to a certain genius from Mount Avenue, including the snogging prize.
Lifelong friendships have happened through school, my dear friend David Hobbs is still a great friend to me and my dearly beloved Andrew, who I can never thank enough.
Years later Mr Waterhouse and Mr and Mrs Curnow, came to my church, what a joy to know we will meet again.
One last story, our head girl in year 5 was a girl called Diane Stephenson, she was a vivacious girl with a very quiet friend called Deborah Ormerod, they were in my class and they were inseparable. Diane especially used to come and talk to me, she was a really nice person.
I remember our last class on Friday afternoon was Geography, one Friday I looked across to Diane's table, the boys were gathered around the table, she had them eating out of her hand, she had her whole future in front of her.
Coming in on the following Monday morning, we had our headmaster and other senior teachers in our classroom.
On that Friday night, the two girls had gone out with their seventeen to eighteen old boyfriends in a car, coming down the hill in their home village, the car lost control and crashed into a wall, both passengers who had no seat belts, were killed instantly, the two back seat passengers were seriously injured.
Diane was killed that night, Deborah was seriously injured.
I will always remember looking at them both on that Friday night, hours later, she was dead.
Life is so fragile, this has always stuck in my mind.
In Keith's last term at Skerton, something happened to Keith, but more of that in our next chapter.
Devotional thought
As youngsters, we go on our merry way, we laugh and cry together, school for us was not an academic lesson is was about survival.
I remember in RE class, Mr Curnow saying Jesus is the answer, I just mocked him. I wish I had listened, because he is truly the answer.
I didn't want to go to Skerton, but it was the place, where God had placed Andrew. Mr Scott our form master had said to Andrew " your wasting your time with Keith, he's beyond hope".
There are two wonderful words at the start of Ephesians 2:
BUT GOD
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
No one is beyond the grace and mercy of God, I am a living testimony to this fact.
CHAPTER 4A
SILENT KILLER
Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
I am writing this to be able to relate to the many people, who have suffered from bullying both in the home and at school.
Many people suffer from bullying at school and it can scar them for life, it remains an itch that you can't scratch.
My bullying story started at friends school, I met a boy there who was a year older than me and he took it upon himself to bully me, verbally and physically.
Now the first thing I would say is that, I deserved at least some of it, as I did irritate people, but that is not the whole story, although I did cause some of it by my actions, that does that mean that any bullying is acceptable.
Later on at Skerton, this bullying got worse, the more I was bullied the more angry I became. I remember years later meeting a girl in our class online and the first thing she said was " you were the one they bullied", that was her impression of me.
Into adult life and in my first marriage, this bullying has persisted, again some of it is my fault, but not entirely.
So how do you deal with it, let me share what I have learned, as getting over the pain is not easy.
Devotional thought
Having a deep and meaningful relationship with God is essential as this is the first step to healing, bullying is usually done in the shadows, no one else knows about it, except you and the bully.
Having this relationship with God allows you to heal, he is the great healer, because when you come to him, you come as a child and become his son or daughter and you are loved.
Also you are able to pray and forgive the person who has bullied you in the past or maybe who is doing it now.
The verse at the top should give anyone who has experienced bullying, real hope. The Lord sees everything, he has seen every word spoken against you and will hold that person accountable.
Another thing to do, is that if you are going through bullying, you must not render evil for evil, that is not the way to go. The cycle must be broken and one of the ways to do is to tell people you trust that bullying is going on, it may be a pastor, close friend or parent/extended family member.
Remember what I said earlier, in my case, I deserved a little bullying, but not the indiscriminate anger of another person, that is NOT RIGHT AND IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE.
Even joking is not acceptable, I got lots of nicknames at school, we indeed gave nicknames to some of our teachers, indeed I was not nice on several occasions to my teachers.
I write to give hope to people, I write because I have been where you are and now I rest secure in God's love, knowing that nothing can ever hurt me, no verbal or physical abuse.
I finish with the words of Romans 8, may they be as amazing to you as they are to me.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Chapter 4
ST TRINIANS WITH BOVVER BOOTS
ISAIAH 53
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The St trinnian films of the 1950's tell the story of a girls school, that was completely out of control and caused mayhem, wherever it went.
Skerton School looked ok from the outside, the drive had beautiful apple blossom trees either side of it, it had hundreds of little cherubs running about, but scratch below the surface and you would scream.
The teachers were legends, these included Charlie Emmett, boys were sent to him, if they had done wrong, and he brought their bum in close proximity with a T-square, Our music teacher Sweaty Betty Willson, who used our lesson to give us a lecture on the state of the world, Ms Pallister our young French teacher and Mr Curnow our RE teacher, who met and married at school, Mr Waterhouse my history Teacher who did train impressions and MY Form teachers Mrs Warrington and Mr Scott.
School uniform was augmented by bovver boots and associated items, indeed anything that could cause grievous bodily harm, this was the 1970's, could you imagine, having students change sex or calling themselves homosexual, at Skerton, they would of been killed, although some of the girls did look a bit like men, again no names, but your name begins with S.
All those teachers did their very best under the most trying circumstances, we were a right bunch. But Keith was the school clown, he used to drive teachers and schoolmates mad with his antics, he was an attention seeker, desperately trying to grab people's attention.
Some of the stories about school trips are the stuff of legend, to fire extinguishers being set off on the Mersey ferry to buses getting stuck on Formby sands.
On other trips small swords were stolen in Keswick and items stolen from a small shop in Grasmere, the owner of the shop came onto the bus to identify the culprit, but couldn't as most boys had their heads under coats or under seats.. but we all who the culprit was. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
Grasmere was the location, were a group of students visiting and staying at the youth hostel, were locked out, so the smallest was ordered to shimmy up the drainpipe to climb through the open window and open the door.
Keith was placed in the lowest stream in 4th year, he ended up doing woodwork and metalwork, PE and no academic studies, my father fought to get me into an academic class, finally after missing two terms, he was moved into class 4S, but he still continues to act the clown.
We had to leave our bags outside our classroom, at lunchtime, ours was the art classroom, there was a little ledge just above the door, and how can I put this, some person, took great pleasure of lobbing my satchel onto this ledge, so at 1pm, everyone was kept waiting as Keith was running about retrieving his satchel, again we know the culprit. He still lives in Morecambe.. don't you?
The school had many famous landmarks, which included the toilets near our classroom, which was the only toilets with a chimney as this was the place for smoking. You know when a new pope is elected, white smoke comes out of the chimney, well it is was like that in the toilets, white smoke would be seen streaming out of the windows, as students were trying to in their words.. have a drag.
The school was definitely not very PC or woke, it was a throwback to a bygone age, but it was truly the best days of our lives.
Not only was there a place for smoking, there were places for snogging also, behind the bike sheds and the brass band room, were the best places, so I am reliably informed by a person, who spent lots of time in both places, indeed the bike sheds have been moved to Altrincham town centre as a souvenir. or a memorial, I don't know which.
Lunchtime was time for football in the playground, but it was not long before you heard the sound of FIGHT, and the sound of teachers running and saying, you two clowns get to Mr Emmett.
Skerton is now demolished, it is now a housing complex with flats, but it was for us a deep memory imprinted on our minds, life revolved around school, next time I return to the UK, we will have a school reunion with Russ, Wilf, Bruno, Gary and of course the legendary Sheri.
Other memorable occasions include the sports day, where Keith decided to do the hurdles and fell over the first one, creating the biggest laugh ever.
We played sports, we had to choose teams, in football, I was never chosen first, always last, the choice came down to me or a lamp post the lamp post was usually chosen first.
At school, Keith did finally buckle down, he got Grade 1 in both History and Geography and Grade 3 in English Language and Literature, he got the prize for History, well they had to give someone else a prize, the rest went to a certain genius from Mount Avenue, including the snogging prize.
Lifelong friendships have happened through school, my dear friend David Hobbs is still a great friend to me and my dearly beloved Andrew, who I can never thank enough.
Years later Mr Waterhouse and Mr and Mrs Curnow, came to my church, what a joy to know we will meet again.
One last story, our head girl in year 5 was a girl called Diane Stephenson, she was a vivacious girl with a very quiet friend called Deborah Ormerod, they were in my class and they were inseparable. Diane especially used to come and talk to me, she was a really nice person.
I remember our last class on Friday afternoon was Geography, one Friday I looked across to Diane's table, the boys were gathered around the table, she had them eating out of her hand, she had her whole future in front of her.
Coming in on the following Monday morning, we had our headmaster and other senior teachers in our classroom.
On that Friday night, the two girls had gone out with their seventeen to eighteen old boyfriends in a car, coming down the hill in their home village, the car lost control and crashed into a wall, both passengers who had no seat belts, were killed instantly, the two back seat passengers were seriously injured.
Diane was killed that night, Deborah was seriously injured.
I will always remember looking at them both on that Friday night, hours later, she was dead.
Life is so fragile, this has always stuck in my mind.
In Keith's last term at Skerton, something happened to Keith, but more of that in our next chapter.
Devotional thought
As youngsters, we go on our merry way, we laugh and cry together, school for us was not an academic lesson is was about survival.
I remember in RE class, Mr Curnow saying Jesus is the answer, I just mocked him. I wish I had listened, because he is truly the answer.
I didn't want to go to Skerton, but it was the place, where God had placed Andrew. Mr Scott our form master had said to Andrew " your wasting your time with Keith, he's beyond hope".
There are two wonderful words at the start of Ephesians 2:
BUT GOD
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
No one is beyond the grace and mercy of God, I am a living testimony to this fact.
CHAPTER 4A
SILENT KILLER
Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
I am writing this to be able to relate to the many people, who have suffered from bullying both in the home and at school.
Many people suffer from bullying at school and it can scar them for life, it remains an itch that you can't scratch.
My bullying story started at friends school, I met a boy there who was a year older than me and he took it upon himself to bully me, verbally and physically.
Now the first thing I would say is that, I deserved at least some of it, as I did irritate people, but that is not the whole story, although I did cause some of it by my actions, that does that mean that any bullying is acceptable.
Later on at Skerton, this bullying got worse, the more I was bullied the more angry I became. I remember years later meeting a girl in our class online and the first thing she said was " you were the one they bullied", that was her impression of me.
Into adult life and in my first marriage, this bullying has persisted, again some of it is my fault, but not entirely.
So how do you deal with it, let me share what I have learned, as getting over the pain is not easy.
Devotional thought
Having a deep and meaningful relationship with God is essential as this is the first step to healing, bullying is usually done in the shadows, no one else knows about it, except you and the bully.
Having this relationship with God allows you to heal, he is the great healer, because when you come to him, you come as a child and become his son or daughter and you are loved.
Also you are able to pray and forgive the person who has bullied you in the past or maybe who is doing it now.
The verse at the top should give anyone who has experienced bullying, real hope. The Lord sees everything, he has seen every word spoken against you and will hold that person accountable.
Another thing to do, is that if you are going through bullying, you must not render evil for evil, that is not the way to go. The cycle must be broken and one of the ways to do is to tell people you trust that bullying is going on, it may be a pastor, close friend or parent/extended family member.
Remember what I said earlier, in my case, I deserved a little bullying, but not the indiscriminate anger of another person, that is NOT RIGHT AND IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE.
Even joking is not acceptable, I got lots of nicknames at school, we indeed gave nicknames to some of our teachers, indeed I was not nice on several occasions to my teachers.
I write to give hope to people, I write because I have been where you are and now I rest secure in God's love, knowing that nothing can ever hurt me, no verbal or physical abuse.
I finish with the words of Romans 8, may they be as amazing to you as they are to me.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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