Throughout the time that Mr & Mrs Lancashire ran Southfield House, a written history of events was maintained. At the end
of each academic year, it was the duty of the Head Prefect to write up the chronicles of the past twelve months. When the
Lancashires retired, the Southfield House History ran to three volumes.
During the 2008 Southfield House Reunion, these three volumes (along with other memorabilia) were presented to Dr Iain Melvin,
Head Teacher at The Thomas Hardye School, for retention in the School archives.
I was lucky enough to read through these historic documents before the handover, and below I have reproduced just a few of
the more amusing anecdotes and important happenings. In case the copies prove difficult to read in places, I have followed
each reproduction with a transcript. I hope you enjoy reading these extracts as much as I did.
1 - Above is the first page of the Southfield House History, Volume 1, dated Christmas 1943. It reads:
"HISTORY CHAPTER 1
Michaelmas Term 1943
Monday November 15th 1943
Stanley John Quilter Robinson, Richard Quilter Robinson and Michael Albert Alexander Brodie enter this History.
Existence at this time is as follows:-
The 'Big Dorm' is used as the Recreation & Prep Room.
The Sleeping Quarters are the 'East Dorm'.
Washing Facilities are Very Primitive and take place in the 'Boot Room' under the Supervision of Miss Joyce Ayling.
Breakfast, which is at 8.15am, takes place in the Kitchen as do the other meals.
Eleven and a half hours (from 8pm to 7.30am) are supposed to be spent in sweet slumber."
In 2009, John Robinson writes:
"As Chapter 1 of the history indicates, things were pretty basic at first. This was exacerbated
by rationing which did not end until several years after the war, and cooking for us must have been a nightmare. At mealtimes we were
each given a small portion of butter and our pot of jam which had to last the whole month. We were also restricted to one bath and one
change of clothes a week. To maintain some semblance of hygiene under these conditions, prefects had to inspect juniors after washing,
particularly behind their ears."
And now, what I think is one of the funniest stories in the Histories:
2 - From Spring 1948 we read:
"At the end of last term, Mr Lancashire acquired a 1946 Austin 8. Mrs L
inserts him with the help of a shoehorn & extracts him with a tin opener. Mr Lancashire is a good example
of a back seat driver (he has dispensed with the front seat altogether).
It may also be recorded now that one Sunday last term an unusual incident happened. Messrs McDonald, Robinson S
& Jacob were at the tailend of a Sunday walk with Mr Lancashire. They met Miss Hill on her autocycle. She
explained it had just run out of petrol. As she wished to hold a tete-a-tete with Mr L, the three gentlemen
previously mentioned offered to push her autocycle home. She accepted their noble gesture. On getting 1/4 mile
in front of Mr L and his new found companion, McDonald & Cat [Robinson SJQ]
installed Jacob on the
autocycle with instructions how to start the noble machine. Robinson S & McDonald then pushed the autocycle
(with its nervous & heavy passenger) - there was a few sickening gurgles & a shudder - then !! McDonald & Rob S
saw the autocycle weaving its way along Weymouth Avenue with ever increasing velocity and taking with it their
(not so) beloved friend David Hamilton Jacob. Messrs McDonald & Robinson then realised that they had not informed
their not so learned friend Jacob how to stop the runaway machine. So being noble creatures at heart, they set
off in pursuit of Jacob & his mechanical steed. Meanwhile, Jacob was riding like a man possessed; he had taken
a rightangle bend in a shower of dust & was now rapidly approaching the front of the walk. However, unlike John
Gilpin, he did not carry two bottles of wine, but he did however receive the contents of a water pistol in his
eye from one Phillips (a wretch from our other institution [South Walks House]
). (The weapon was confiscated
afterwards & gave much amusement to the prefects.) At last he reached a steep hill by that pleasant place the
sewage farm; here the machine stopped and so the noble (the last adjective is an example of the artificial diction
which is inclined to creep into these pages of history) rider slid to the ground. Five minutes later, two
perspiring gentlemen, by name McDonald & Robinson S, reached him. After that, they both tried their hand at riding
the unwieldy machine, until at length it did run out of fuel. So the machine was returned to its owner in the
condition she thought (or what she said she thought) it was - out of fuel.
It is with regret we announce the departure of our most esteemed matron 'Bubbles' (Miss M Tearne) and Mrs Tewson.
At the end of term the prefects, under the direction of DH Jacob (Master of Ceremonies), gave one Revans
instructions how to propel himself through the water. The time: 9.30 pm, the place: the fish pond. Unfortunately
the water is only 9" deep. --- !!
Jacob departed in a small car with much luggage and McDonald. Term ended 24th March - D McDonald."
In 2009, John Robinson writes: "The incident of Miss Hill's autocycle still lives in my memory and Douglas McDonald's account of it is hilarious.
However, I think that the escapade started in Herringston Road, rather than Weymouth Avenue which would have been much too dangerous.
In hindsight, we were lucky not to have found ourselves in court for riding without a driving licence or insurance.
(In this story I am mentioned as 'Cat', a nickname coined by our French master from the cat's whiskers used in the crystal sets I made.)
This was not the only exploit Douglas and I got up to. To these WL showed a blind eye never manifest on the cricket pitch, a game he
played to county standard."
Now Southfield House doubles in size:
3 - From Summer 1950 we read:
"CROSSWAYS (the new premises next door).
This term marks an important milestone in the career of Southfields. On June 18th Crossways was vacated, and
Southfields, after a mopping up party, is preparing to annex said territory. It is hoped by all and sundry that
we shall be installed well and truly from the beginning of next term.
At the moment, various boys are cleaning up the garden, and it has been announced that the Ministry of Housing is
considering granting permission to use a little paint to cover up opium stains on the walls."
Parents Day:
4 - From Summer 1955 we read:
"The next day saw frantic tidying up being done throughout the house - the reason - the Parents
Day. The weather was boiling. Parents turned up in a variety of clothes. The Little Shoe Maker arrived in Morning
Dress, while Mr 'Hillsea-Dingle' came in an open-necked shirt and his working trousers. 'Their Majesties' talked
to all the parents who were then escorted around the house by their offspring. Mrs L had said the day before
'Matron's flat - there is nothing to go up there for'. This statement produced roars of laughter to those who are
students of anatomy."
Another amusing anecdote:
5 - From Summer 1956 we read:
"It was about this time that C Etherington, his days as a 'Southfielder' fast running out, found
it necessary to seek solace at the [Half Moon - now sadly defunct] at more frequent intervals than had up to then been necessary.
He was just letting himself out the side gate one Sunday evening, when who should he see 'trickling' down the other
side of the street - the relatively new Headmaster of Hardye's, Mr H [Hamilton]. Their brief conversation
was as follows:
CE: Good evening, Sir.
ANH: Ho! Ho! Etherington - off to the Pub?
CE (George Washington firmly in mind): Yes, Sir.
ANH: Ha! Ha! Don't drink too much!!
Exit characters - one along the well worn path to North Square."
The Finale:
6 - From Spring 1961 we read:
"On the last Sunday of term the T's ['Tums']
were surprised by the arrival of a large number of
Old Boys. These had come for a farewell party arranged in honour of Mr & Mrs T. This was very successful; more
successful in fact than the organiser had foreseen. The L's were presented with a silver tray, suitably inscribed and
a cheque for 50 pounds, which speaks for itself. The evening concluded with refreshment and much nostalgic conversation.
The presentation was made by SJQ Robinson, one of the first boys at Southfield.
I should like to record in writing our thanks to 'Bessy' for the extremely good job she made of the refreshments, and
we can only hope that she got as much enjoyment out of making them as we did out of eating them!
On the following Monday we made a presentation to Matron [Miss Elizabeth Garrett]
. She is also leaving. Again
I should like to make a note of our sincere gratitude for all she has done for us in her twelve or so years at Southfield.
The presentation took the form of a silver teaset.
By now it is known that Mr Hamilton is taking over Southfield and we can only hope that it has as much success under him
as it has done during the eighteen years of Mr & Mrs Lancashire's stay. We owe them a debt for which their reward will be
the knowledge that they have put over a hundred and fifty boys on 'the right track'.
I should also, as my predecessors, like to thank Mr John, the prefects and sub-prefects, and, of course, the boys for
making my last year so especially enjoyable as well as the previous seven.
TJ Reiss - Southfield House 1953 - March 1961, Senior prefect 1960 - March 1961.
Valete - Mr & Mrs Lancashire, Miss E Garrett, R Knight.
Presentation and Farewell party in Honour of Mr & Mrs Lancashire - March 26th, 1961.
Old Boys and Prefects."
There follows the signatures of:
Michael Hardie, DR Perry, SJQ Robinson, GLC Browne, WG Webb, Alan Sully, Brian J Rees, PJ Saville, Chris Etherington,
Ian Birch, GF Allen, Roger W Birch, Richard Hole, DAR Beaton, Ronald Enestrom, R Ballard, Eric Taylor, ARG Wallace,
DW Taylor, TJ Reiss, AN Lewis.
Photographs of this occasion can be seen in the section showing the Southfield House photo collection.