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THE COVENANTER
breakfast I used to sit in this haven reading, served us with sherry and went through the
looking or just thinking about my good pipe smoker’s ritual of leaving doubt in our
fortune to be there. Bordering this quietness minds if he would ever light his pipe. He
were buildings of different ages from 1691, had served as a major in the war; he always
Georgian, Victorian and modern. The most enjoyed talking to me about the army as
impressive was the Georgian House occupied well as about the social situation in the East
by the principal. At the side of this house, End. He once said to me: “You are always
dating from the 1800s was the beautiful smiling Bill, but deep down you know there
Hamilton Room, whose main feature was is little to smile about.”
a grand piano, awaiting the many recitals, Frank Coles decided that I should do all
chamber music and the more intimate my teaching practices in leafy Surrey and
lectures or discussions. A frieze, in the Croydon. It was a cushy way to qualify,
background colour of Wedgwood, displayed for I knew I could sail through my lessons
the original casts of the Elgin Marbles. with an almost certainty of success. I was
On our first day, having been welcomed by well prepared, had maturity on my side, the
the principal, we met and had briefings from ready availability of humour and my army
the staff. We were reminded that we would service allowed me to recall extra items of
be required to wear jackets and ties until interest. However, I did have to put one boy
4pm and to dinner at 7pm on weekdays. in his place by telling him he had enough
We would have three meals a day plus tea; mouth for two sets of teeth. Having had no
dinner would be served formally four times secondary education myself, I was amused
a week and preceded by a said or sung Latin at the absurdity of teaching in a secondary
grace. Although the study bedrooms college school. Whenever I filled in job applications
would be cleaned daily, we were requested I must admit I felt some delight when I have
to be tidy and considerate to the cleaners. written NONE in the section named ‘Details
Years later when I returned to the college of Secondary Education.’
for a function one of the staff told me the The excessive use of “Sir” by the pupils gave
later direct entrants from school were not me a feeling of what might have been had I
as interesting and tidy as the ex-servicemen. stayed in the army. Whenever my supervisor
The ex service element did introduce over came to assess me my classes were on my
the years a reluctance to wear blazers, college side. One day the supervisor mistakenly left
ties or gowns: a minority did so. the classroom by the wrong door and found
I was not the odd man out because the himself in a broom cupboard and felt too
majority of the men had done National embarrassed to come out. We all had a good
Service while the staff, in some form or laugh. I remember one little girl saying to
another, had done war service. Alongside me:” Were we all right Sir?”
the students were the postgraduates who My savings and my vacation work allowed
qualified in a year and serving teachers me to leave college without debt. Although
taking courses in music and science. I knew I would be earning more, I correctly
Although the women were a small minority, estimated that the overheads of civilian life
other women came to us on the inter- would make me 20% worse off. I began to
collegiate courses, perform in our drama, do travel work in the school holidays to save
music, came to dances and so many other some money. Was the study worthwhile? Yes,
things. Girlfriends were everywhere at because it paved the way for me to become
weekends. the person I wanted to be. I was able to enter
The National Service era and the wartime Birkbeck College to read for an honours
conscription had created the good effect of degree, leading to a higher degree. I wrote to
social mixing. It was evident in the seminars Alex Evans to thank him for giving me my
that the NS men had gained sympathy and chance. I am grateful to all the people who
understanding for the less well off Frank helped me but I must also give thanks to
Coles, our tutor and a former drama teacher all the known and unknown taxpayers who
at the Cooper’s Company School in Mile contributed to my success.
End, sometimes invited me to speak about Bill Coughlan
my childhood in the East End and how the
ill effects of the war led me to joining the
army at fourteen. I told them I was among
The Harvard Trainer
them as a mature student because I believed
(A recent sighting at Shoreham Airfield,
my circumstances made it impossible for
Sussex, of a beautifully-restored Harvard
me to qualify at eighteen. Frank sometimes
Trainer sparked off the recollection of a
24
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