AS WE SEE OURSELVES

(The first of a series of three articles on the history of The Monovian)

There was no Monoux School magazine before 1895, but we are informed by Mr. H. R. Greenwood, who has been for the past fifty years a bulwark of the Old Monovians' Association, that, in that year, the Civil Service Form, so called because its members were preparing to enter the clerical grades of the Civil Service, produced a form Gazette. This magazine was handwritten with pen and ink illustrations: its career was short-lived and the number of editions failed to reach double figures.

The first attempt to produce a printed Monovian came in February 1909; this was due to the inspiration of Mr. Blake, under whose supervision three cyclostyled copies had already been successfully circulated. We are grateful to Mr. E. Bennett of the Old Boys' Association for this information.

The venture, however, did not last and it was not until 1919 that Mr. Rothery who had arrived at the School two years before, endeavoured to revive The Monovian. Under his editorship, three editions were produced, but lack of funds, a problem not unknown to The Monovian, forced publication to be discontinued in 1920.

The magazine was again revived in 1926, and this was due in large measure to the enthusiasm of Mr. H. Midgley, who had become Headmaster in 1925. Since that date, The Monovian, oblivious of financial crash and world war, has continued to appear with scarcely an intermission. Since 1926, too, the editors have always been sixth-formers, although Mr. Rothery continued to direct the preparation and production of the excellent magazine which appeared in the 'thirties.

On the roll of editors are the names of many who have distinguished themselves later in life. Dr. D. Thomson (editor 1928-30) is now, of course, Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and a governor of the School. A. E. Holdsworth (editor 1926-27) is a well-known barrister who has been London Editor of The Yorkshire Post and who stood for Parliament in 1951, though without success: Norman Pannell still has the honour of being the only M.P. who is an Old Monovian.

But Holdsworth is probably better remembered by Monovians for two other distinctions. He was the first School Captain, the Head Boy having been known by a variety of colourful names before his accession to office. He was also the only Monovian to become President of the Cambridge Union, this in 1932. This was a considerable distinction for Holdsworth, for as the Rev. J. C. Ellis pointed out at the time in The Monovian: "Famous men have sat in that chair. A quick glance through the list of past Presidents reveals great headmasters, Speakers of the House of Commons, learned professors, archbishops, bishops, deans, judges and cabinet ministers."

In those days, the goings-on of the Oxford and Cambridge Unions were of considerably more moment than they are today. The passing in 1933 of the famous Oxford Motion that this house will under no circumstances fight for its King and Country produced a spate of similar motions in debating societies throughout the world. In that same year the Oxford Motion was easily carried at the School Debating Society.

The editorials produced by Holdsworth, Thomson, and many other distinguished members of the School were unusual by the standards of present-day Monovian editorials, in that they had something to do with the School. The furthest any editor ever wandered down the path of digression was to include a few general remarks on the subject of education, a subject in which the magazine seems, quite naturally, always to have been interested. The Monovian gave considerable assistance to Mr. Simmonds, who, in 1933, issued to boys a questionnaire concerning their scientific interests and published the results of his investigation in the pages of the magazine. One of the results of the questionnaire was the recommendation that Biology be introduced into the school curriculum, and this came about in 1934, though there was at that time no Biology laboratory.

Attempts to reconstruct a picture of the School in former years have been made before in the pages of The Monovian. With the revival of the School Magazine as a permanent chronicle of school events in 1926, J. H. Payling (Editor 1927-28) wrote a series of eight portraits of personalities connected with the School, entitled 'Monovian Celebrities'. In 1928 there appeared, in the Old Monovians' Section, a series entitled Old Monovians of Importance. Finally, just before the opening of the new School building, A. E. Holdsworth produced, in the pages of The Monovian, a concise and informative Recapitulation of the history of the School in the High Street. Holdsworth's concluding paragraph runs: "And now having chronicled as best we can something of what the School has done, cramped and restricted as it was in the old building, we bid a last good-bye to High Street, and turn our eyes towards our new home and all the bright hopes it has in store."

At this stage in the School's history it is perhaps permissible to look back and see if these hopes have been fulfilled. A school building which was doubtless considered in 1889 to be the last word in modern architecture and educational desirability had to be closed down thirty-eight years later, after having been maintained for some years only by the addition of corrugated iron extensions. May we, therefore, look forward to 1965 when, at the end of another era of thirty-eight years, we may doubtless expect to be rehoused in a vast new temple of glass?

In the 'Recapitulation' which we are endeavouring to undertake in this series, we cannot do better than to avail ourselves of the excellent headings in Holdsworth's original article, confining our attention in this edition to the first eight years or so in the history of the School in Chingford Road and begin as he did, with the building itself.

It was a popular joke for several years before 1927 that the School was to be rehoused in a new building. When this was eventually confirmed to be the case, Monovian editorials became quite lyrical, with an editorial ecstasy only equalled when the School won the Inter-School Sports in 1928. In March 1927, The Monovian declared, now that it had become known that the School was to move house: "Let loud the trumpets blast! Let the bells ring out! Let there be martial music! Let there be flags and cheering voices!" By July a slightly sentimental note pervaded the atmosphere: "Goodbye, goodbye to High Street! Goodbye to corrugated iron and gravel! Goodbye to Messrs. Gillards, Purveyors to the King and makers of sweet scents!" But by November sentimentality had been overcome. The Monovian was still lyrical:
"To thee, drab ruin of High Street, farewell, a long farewell!" But now it exuded enthusiasm for the technological wonder in "The smiling meadows of Chingford Road, far from the land of stalls, decrepit gramophones, and quack doctors".

The opening of the new School buildings was probably the most important event in the history of the School, and reactions to this great step forward were varied. There was the anonymous spectator at the opening ceremony whose angry remark was recorded by The Monovian: "Fancy £40,000 for 400 kids. Wicked, I call it." The Monovian itself, whilst recognising that the buildings were indeed a "noble pile", was nevertheless disappointed. "No car park! No cinema! No cafeteria! Not even a lift!" commented the editorial in the fifth number.

Finally, there was the decision by several sixth-formers, who had intended to leave, but who succumbed to the allurement of the new buildings and decided to stay on. Even W. J. Acres, who became a student teacher, could not resist attending school one day a week. The 'Valete' section for 1928 concluded with the editorial comment: "There are also numerous others who say they are leaving, but we discreetly refrain from comment at present as we have been caught like that before."
Another heading in Holdsworth's excellent little 'Recapitulation' was 'Prefects', an institution dating from 1914. Loath as we are to submit to the sin of generalisation in talking of such a worthy group of personalities, the prefectorial body as a whole yet underwent important changes in the years immediately following the opening of the School.

In the first place provision had not been made in the new School building for a Prefects' Room. As a result of this unfortunate oversight on the part of the architect, the prefects actually had to inhabit the same rooms as "plebeian members of the sixth form." The deficiency was soon remedied b~ the ingenuity of the School Captain, W. N. Corkhill, who was able to secure official sanction for the installation of the prefects in that hole in the wall between the Art Room and Room 10, which had formerly been the School Tuckshop, and is now the home of brooms and brushes. "And that is why the former Tuckshop of Sir George Monoux Grammar School is now used not to keep sweet things in, but Prefects." Later still the prefects moved to their present room, but in spite of this, and the introduction of a new Prefects' Cap. The 'Prefect's Dream' quoted by The Monovian from Byron still was and is a dream :-

"Who, young, obeyed their lords in silent awe
Whose nod commanded, and whose word was law."

A further development came in 1932 with the institution of regular gymnasium instruction, soon after the arrival of Mr. Ninnim at the School. This replaced a wide assortment of picturesque activities, such as ephemeral hockey, paper-chases and cross-country runs (a run in 1920 lasted over a course from Chingford Station to the 'Robin Hood' and back).

Although swimming 'sports' had been held before, The Monovian tells us that in September 1932, at the Leyton Baths, the first Swimming 'Gala' was held, and we bow to this subtle distinction made by our predecessors. A further step forward was made on Speech Day, 1934, when Mr. Hewett, of the Essex County Council, put forward the proposal that the School might use the swimming pool in the new Technical College when it was built.

Under the heading 'Houses', Holdsworth tells us that the house system was introduced into the School in 1915, by Mr. Prowse, who was then Acting Headmaster. At first the four houses unnamed. But in 1926, the names 'Whittingham', 'Allpass'. Higham' and 'Morris' were introduced. The extension of numbers in 1927 made necessary the introduction of 'Spivey' and 'Mallinson' houses entirely composed of new boys.

The house loyalty of those days was phenomenal by modern standards. Not only were house notes contributed to the Monovian (the Captain of Higham House always concluding his notes with the
phrase "Hi-Hi-Hi-Higham! "), but house teas were a regular occurrence. In March 1933, The Monovian editorial glowered: "There seems to be little doubt the part the six houses are playing nowadays in School life is much less important than formerly. Even House Teas are now almost things of the past." The charge seems to have been disproved, however, on the occasion of the most magnificent House Tea ever, the Allpass House Tea of December 1933. This was followed by a concert featuring amongst other items, the Allpass House Band, and acrobatic feats performed by Mr. Ames and his son.

Holdsworth tells us that, so far as can be ascertained, there were no school societies before World War I. Then, in 1917, C. G. Smith proposed the formation of a Scientific Society: but it was felt at the time that such a society would cater for too exclusive a minority to have any chance of maintaining its existence. Consequently, a general School Society, known as the Literary and Debating Society, was formed and maintained an occasional existence until 1923, when it became defunct owing to competition from the Boxing Club. It was later revived and debated such stimulating motions as that gentlemen prefer blondes and that the talkies should be seen and not heard. Considerable interest was aroused in Belisha beacons at the time of their introduction, and The Monovian published articles by fourth formers describing at length how to 'pop' a beacon, whilst the motion that Mr. Hore-Belisha be removed from his office as Minister of Transport found its way onto the programme of the Debating Society.

Although there were then no Verse-Speaking or Inter-House Debating Competitions, a parallel competition for a Declamation Prize was held. Amongst the prizewinners we note one D. Thomson speaking on Soon They Won't Believe in Fairies.

Amongst other early School Societies, the Photographic Society, in spite of an initial annual subscription of 2/6, had a phenomena1 success, which was due in no small measure to the efforts of Mr. Broad.

Although the School Choir, the Instrumental Society, and the Chess Club were early in existence, the Dramatic Society did not make an appearance until September 1928, as a natural development of the Sixth-form Reading Circle. At first activities were still confined to play-readings, but later, under the guidance of Dr. Whitt, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Durrant and Mr. Brobyn, such memorable performances as Captain Brassbound's Conversion, The Fourth Wall, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Ghost Train, and Twelfth Night were staged. We also note the participation of twenty members of the Dramatic Society in a pageant Children and Fiction, organised by the Waifs and Strays Society at the Walthamstow Palace in March, 1930: the School's contribution in dumb show was a representation of Oliver Twist asking for more.

Other headings suggest themselves to us, under which to describe aspects of School life, which did not develop until after 1927. One of these must surely be the development of School visits. The traditional sort of outing to Burt, Bolton and Haywood's Coal-Tar Distillery works or John Knight's Soap Works at Silvertown continued to flourish, but the first School party to travel abroad was the party which visited the Rhineland during the 1931 Easter holidays. Easter, 1932, was the occasion of a Mediterranean trip with Mr. West in command (except in the Bay of Biscay), which took in Gibraltar, Algeciras, Ceuta, Tetuan and Lisbon.

A school party travelled to Spain during the summer holidays in 1932. The time was not long after a revolution had forced the abdication of Alfonso XIII and established the Spanish Republic. In an article K. Lloyd amusingly records the occasion on which the party fell in with a zealous Spanish customs official:

'After looking at a bar of chocolate rather more curiously than professionally, he pounced on a Monoux School cap. He stared at the badge, and for a while the possessor felt flattered and not a little proud at the attention it was receiving. Suddenly pride gave place to terror . . . the good Republican had mistaken a Monouxist for a Monarchist."

But if foreign visits were not then as commonplace as they are now, the succession of School Camps beginning in 1927 provided not only a holiday for large numbers of boys but a series of extremely amusing articles for The Monovian. A predecessor to the School Camp may be found as far back as August 1919, when the School Cadet Corps camped at Little Baddow. R. G. Sutton extolled the virtues of the open-air life in The Monovian: "Who of you that did go will forget the joy of that first moonlight night, of rising at five on Sunday morning and at five minutes to eight on Monday morning . . . ?"

Equally famous occasions were the 'Bust-ups' or annual Sixthform socials dating from 1922, to which Members of Staff and Old Monovians were invited.

But no heading we can devise will cover the great occasions and the notable events, and even less those occasional glimpses of school life afforded by Olla Podrida, From Our Observatory and other fascinating, even tantalising snippets of editorial information.

Some of these have a strangely topical ring about them. There was, for instance, the 'adoption' in 1929 of a school in a South Wales mining area, to which consignments of old clothes and shoes were sent: the School seems never to have been lacking in charity and the collection box and the act of self-sacrifice have never been far off.

In a lighter vein, there was the worthy person whose dictum was recorded in the 1920 edition of the magazine: "Why don't yer git ahtside? Yer think I've got no authority, don't yer? But yer mistook." His descendants still people the corridors of Monoux.

There was the anxious enquiry in 1934 as to 'Who drank the liquid soap?' Frustrated devotees of hygiene still reiterate this question. In 1931 there was the apt quotation from Tennyson on Sixth-form private study, which D.G.B., R.K.G. and company still warmly endorse: -
"Well were it not a pleasant thing
To fall asleep with all one's friends?"
There were the frequent quarrels over the pronunciation of our founder's name, represented in various controversies as 'Monnow', 'Monner', 'Monnoo', 'Monix', 'Mennow', and 'Menoun'.

To the fore also in the magazine was the hurly-burly of school politics. One particular theme running through these years was the Empire Free Trade controversy. Patriotism was then widespread in a polite sort of way: an Empire Day service was still held, with cheers for the King and the Flag in conclusion, but the feeling was growing, as a motion at the Debating Society in 1932 read that the British Empire is in a slate of disintegration. Lord Beaverbrook was very unpopular during these years through his efforts to depose Stanley Baldwin from the leadership of the Conservative party, and at a Monoux balloon debate it was decided that he should 'git the push' as a rival candidate, Al Capone, put it.

As the 'thirties were on, the shadow of war began to darken even the pages of The Monovian. In a 1933 debate, the speaker, opposing the motion that in the opinion of this house Science will destroy civilisation, said "that he did not believe that the youth of the world would again allow millions of lives to be sacrificed to satisfy the whim of the few." But by Speech Day, 1934, Mr. Goodall was able to report that the boys of the School "felt all round them the threats of another world war".

As yet, however, there was still a blind trust in the League of Nations to counteract the fear of war. A branch of the League of Nations Union was founded at the School in February 1935, articles on War and Peace appeared in The Monovian, and the motion that in the opinion of this house, the League of Nations provides the only Means of abolishing War between Nations was debated with the girls of the High School.

The Monovian was able to rise to a great occasion such as Charter Day in 1931, when Walthamstow received the status of Borough, or the first Founder's Day in 1932. Mention, too, was made of the erection in 1930 of "a most imposing board warning all and sundry that this building is the Sir George Monoux Grammar School (Founded 1527) and thus preventing them from the otherwise natural error of imagining it to be either the Town Hall, District Mental Home or Workhouse."

It has not succeeded in its purpose; some months ago, one of the writers of this article was standing in the vestibule when he was approached by an old lady who had just entered by the main door and who asked to be directed to the rate-paying office.

Nor was The Monovian incapable of producing a most moving tribute on the occasion of the sudden death of Mr. H. Midgley in 1931. Mr. Midgley had been Headmaster since 1925 and had carried the School over the very difficult period of the transition from the building in the High Street to that in Chingford Road; amongst the products of his great interest in the School was The Monovian itself, which, as we have noted before, he revived soon after becoming Headmaster. So, in closing the first article in this series on a fitting note, it is no empty tribute to repeat Wilderbruch's lines quoted by Mr. Rothery at the end of his description in The Monovian of Mr. Midgley's life and work:

'Du gehst von deinem Werke.
Dein Werk geht nicht von dir."

C.J. MARTIN
R.J. YORKE

N.B.-The editors would like to thank all those Old Monovians who answered the appeal for information on the history of The Monovian published in our last issue. We are only too sorry that we have been unable to incorporate in this article more than the sketchiest selection of material supplied to us. We should still be glad to hear from Old Boys, whether their letters are in the nature of admonishment or anecdote. In particular, we should welcome details of the dim origins of the School Magazine or memories of the period of World War II, which we propose to cover in our next article: later we may be able to publish a selection of correspondence received.