Old Bexleians' Association

A Trip down Memory Lane

Jean Pratchett 12/8/2008

It was September 1962 when I first set foot in Bexley Grammar School. I had come from a small, 200 year old primary school of about 280 pupils, with 7 classrooms and a wooden hut for a hall. By contrast, Bexley Grammar was just 7 years old, light and airy - and seemed massive. There were about 600 pupils, and I was one of the smallest. It took me a while to find my way around - I had been there over a year before I discovered there were girls’ toilets on the upper corridor of the main building.

Most of the classrooms were in a tall block, 4 storeys high, with magnificent views across the fields and Danson Park. There was always something to gaze at, should the lesson not hold our attention.

I was particularly impressed by the library. The walls were clad with wooden bookshelves, and filled with books on every subject imaginable. The room was set with large, polished, wooden library tables, and commanded an attitude of reverence. At either end was a small teaching room, also lined with books, and divided from the main library by double doors. Once in the 6th form we would sit with our teacher round a large table discussing literature or current affairs. It was the only place in the school where this less formal setting was possible.

I was also struck by the gym - a huge room with a highly polished floor. We entered wearing outdoor shoes at our peril! One of my abiding memories is of Mr Jacques demonstrating his skills on the newly acquired trampoline, and wondering if he would hit his head on the ceiling! This was the room in which all our public examinations were taken.

By the time I left in July 1969 it had become a very familiar place and I took it much for granted. It had lost its freshness, many of the wooden, paired locker desks bearing inscriptions by students with wandering minds. I went without a thought for the ending of an era, and soon moved away.

Thirty-nine years later I was to have the opportunity to retrace my steps. I had made contact with John Collins, and he arranged for a private tour of the school whilst it was in session. It was with curiosity and excitement that I made my way back to the school.

My first impression as I drove along Danson Lane was of the congestion. What had been a quiet, empty street was now double parked, with parking bays marked on the pavement, bollards and traffic calming restrictions. I met John in the new staff car park at the Danson Park end of the school (what had happened to our tennis courts?) and we walked up past the front of the school. This was completely hidden from view by the hedge, now towering above our heads. Every now and then there was a glimpse of the building, as we passed the huge, blue, metal security gates. At the eastern end of the school was yet another large car park. We made our way to the main entrance, now firmly closed and fitted with an entry phone. This did not impede us as a group of pupils was there ahead of us. It was the first time I had ever used the front entrance, as it had been reserved strictly for the use of staff. Looking behind me I could see the former staff car park - a tiny circle, now containing two vehicles - and full!

The entrance hall was as I remembered, with the main staircase curving gently down, and the two corridors going off at right angles to serve the two wings of the school. Apart from the secretary’s office being renamed ‘Reception’, and the small, carpeted waiting area, with circular table and upholstered chairs, it all seemed very familiar. A large trophy cabinet proudly displayed its contents to visitors.

We were greeted by the Headmaster, Rod MacKinnon, who led us along the corridor to the right, and up the steps. He pointed out the school photograph for 1969 - I must be on there somewhere. The pigeon holes outside the staffroom, where we had to hand in our homework, have gone. But then, so has the staffroom. I was led through the door of the former Inner Sanctum to find an office - and not even a particularly large one. I got the impression that the staff were never living in the luxury we imagined behind that door! Another door led through to join the original offices, and we followed the corridor until we found ourselves in the Headmaster’s Office. This no longer looked a place to be feared. It was twice the size of Mr Le Feuvre’s office (a wall having been removed) and looked bright and welcoming. On the wall was the current school photograph - well, to be precise, three photographs. There are now so many pupils that they will not all fit on to one, so it has to be taken in three parts: lower school, upper school and staff.

John recalled the early days when on rare occasions the cane was administered. The only person permitted to use it was the Headmaster. The punishment needed to be witnessed, and then an explanatory entry made in the punishment book - to be signed by the Head, the witness and the unfortunate recipient. Generally, just the possibility of such a punishment acted as sufficient deterrent. I can recall no occasion when anybody was punished in this way during my seven years at the school.

We made our way back along the narrow corridor to the entrance hall. Ahead were the steps down to the old Dining Hall. I recall a long room stretching away, lined with a double row of tables, each seating 5 pupils plus a 6th former at the head, with an ‘L-shaped’ bend opposite the servery. Each day a member of staff would quieten the pupils, say Grace, read the menu (no choices) and then pupils would take it in turns to fetch the meals for their table. All very civilised! Off to the left, just before the kitchen, had been the Domestic Science room. To the right, outside the window, had been a paved rose garden.

At the top of the steps there is now a screen with a door - open during my visit, but a key pad reveals the possibility of closing it off. The room seems much smaller than I remember, and the small dining tables each with their anodised aluminium water jugs have been replaced by longer canteen style tables. The DS room has been swallowed up as a place to queue for meals, and offers two additional servery hatches from the kitchen. The rose garden has been replaced by an extension to the dining hall - or ‘canteen’ as it is now called. Walking down towards the hall we reached the right-hand bend, which previously led to the music room. The wall has gone, and the music room has also become part of the canteen.

The Hall is much as I remembered, though the organ has gone - the daily singing of hymns is no longer part of school routine. I am told that the Headmaster no longer makes a daily pilgrimage to the Hall wearing his gown and mortar board, either! Pupil numbers are now far too high to allow them all to fit into the Hall at any one time. The only physical change is a delightful stained glass window set high in the back wall of the Hall, commemorating the school’s jubilee in 2005.

We followed the corridor behind the stage to the gym where, sadly, time has not treated the floor kindly. Stairs still lead up to the girls’ changing rooms, but the doorway to the boys’ changing rooms has been blocked up; the entrance is now ‘round the other side’. At that point I expected to emerge into the fresh air - but no. I was entering a whole new world. There is now a magnificent, huge sports hall, complete with options and facilities that were not even dreamed of in my day. I recall, with envy, the days of shivering on a hockey pitch in biting wind and rain.

As we turned the corner at the back of the Sports Hall I gained my first glimpse of the ‘new school’. A huge amount of building has taken place over recent years, but most is not visible from the front of the school. It was truly breathtaking. From then on it became less a case of ‘What has changed?’, but more ‘Is there anything I can still recognise?’ In spite of the extensive building programme there still appears to be plenty of space on the playing fields, with newly planted trees and picnic tables lining the wide path.

The original tall classroom block has had a square tower added to the end nearest the field, housing a lift (much welcome, though pupils are not permitted to use it) and a staircase. We made use of it to reach the top floor where we found not the original classrooms, but a new library. The whole of the ‘delta’ floor has been converted, with the narrow staircase between rooms 1 and 2 now stopping at the third floor. The furniture is modern and functional, the shelves are metal and many of the books are paperbacks. It lacks the atmosphere of our old library, and is certainly no longer at the heart of the school. This is a sign of the times, with pupils preferring to seek information from the Internet - for which we were to see abundant facilities.

Descending via the main staircase we reached the upper corridor of the main building, up past the old library. This is now the staff room - no air of reverence remaining there then! Turning the corner at the far end of the corridor, stairs lead down to the ground floor, but now there is an alternative route: a new corridor stretches ahead. As we strolled along this corridor, we had an excellent view of the ‘old’ school.

Looking down into the playground (of which very little remains) the greenhouse is still there, and the old metalwork room (a complete mystery to me - girls just didn’t go there). The other familiar feature was a small, square, free-standing, brick structure. As a new pupil it was the place to meet my friend who was in a different form, and I always wondered at its true purpose. Now was my opportunity to find out. John had been there since Day One, and knew everything about the school. But no, my hopes were dashed. He had no idea.

From there on our tour was through the new buildings, eventually rounding a corner and finding ourselves back on the ground floor of the tower block, outside the old metalwork room. The new buildings each have a character of their own, but are all attractively designed and spacious. They are extremely well resourced, with colourful displays and art work of all kinds on show.

Each faculty seems to be housed in its own building. As a Specialist Language College the facilities for learning languages are amazing. There are two language labs, with enough computers in each for a whole class. No longer are pupils restricted to French and German. They have the option of Spanish, Russian and Japanese too, with trips organised to these places. Extra-curricular lessons are available in other languages, too, and Latin and Greek are also studied, though these are under the umbrella of the Classics Department.

We were welcomed into a 6th form maths lesson (having ‘Mr Collins of Collins House’ as a friend opens many doors) and I was struck by the pleasantness of the room. John was introduced to the possibilities of an Interactive White Board (every room has one) but was unimpressed. All he needed was a piece of chalk and a board rubber!

All the old desks and wooden chairs have gone; today’s students sit at spacious modern tables and each pupil has a smart, blue, numbered locker in which to keep those things they don’t need to carry with them. The ground floor corridor of the tall block used to house the girls’ cloakroom. This has gone, the area now being filled with lockers. Outdoor clothing must now be carried around all day.

The former medical room adjacent to ‘alpha 3’ has been merged with the tiny space (I hesitate to call it a room) where we were summoned to discuss our career options. This is now a reprographics room.

Arriving back at the main entrance, our tour was completed. I was left amazed by the changes I had seen. There are twice as many pupils as there were in my day and the school which had I had first perceived as so huge is now physically at least three times as big. How new pupils avoid getting lost is a mystery to me. It is clearly a busy, inspiring place to learn with many opportunities, and it is not difficult to see why it is heavily oversubscribed.

This is a very modern school, yet a sense of history is clearly considered important. Not only have the original houses, named after four of the original members of staff, been retained, but two new houses have been introduced, each also named after former staff (Miss Mabbs and Mr Wellman). One of the new buildings is named after Mr LeFeuvre, and another after Edward Heath - for many years the local MP.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and felt privileged to see the school ‘in action’. The pupils who showed us around were justifiably proud of their school, and far more appreciative than I was at their age. I am very grateful to John Collins for arranging it and to Rod MacKinnon for his warm welcome.