SCHOOL SOCIETIES
6A BADMINTON CLUB
The club was formed early in the Spring Term and weekly
meetings have been held since then. Members pay a small subscription,
some of which is spent on shuttlecocks, which begin to look somewhat
"crushed" after just one evening's game. We would like to thank the
staff for advice and loan of equipment. Without their help the club could not
have been established.
W.J.
COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY
The Society continued with the regular fortnightly dances
for the 5th and 6th Forms during the Spring Term except for the period
immediately prior to the School play.
These dances were very successful and always well supported
with an average attendance of forty-five.
Thanks to our Secretary and Treasurer, R. Wiggins, who has
organised the regular dances and arranged programmes.
MUSIC
AND DRAMA CLUB
Last year we discovered a severe drama critic in the Sixth Form.
Unfortunately, Butcher is no longer with us and is now paid for writing such
comments by a Buckinghamshire weekly paper. It is a great pity: if a pair of
tights in "St. Joan" could produce such indignation, what would have
been the result of a tail in "Toad" ?
Several members of the cast could answer this question.
Reaction to the play when it was selected last September was considerable,
becoming more outspoken as details of tails singing, costume and make up
were gradually revealed. Nevertheless cast was ultimately selected and more
than 1,300 people enjoyed the completed production in February.
Many were surprised by our settings and costumes, modern and
completely different from the traditional settings normally associated with
"Toad". Many wished that the music could have been given greater
prominence. On the first night, many were deafened by the thunderstorm, but
this was easily remedied.
Despite criticism, however, the production can be considered
as a complete success, not just because the audience seemed to enjoy themselves
or because individual performances were excellent. Over eighty people staff
and pupils were associated with the play and the majority of these were working,
unseen and mercifully unheard, behind the scenes. The continuity achieved by
speedy scene shifting, lighting and costume changes and by the skilful handling
of a tape recorder seemed miraculous on the first night and was taken almost
for granted as the week went by. Teamwork was the success of the play. For this
reason I name no one when reviewing it, but thank all these who associated themselves
with the production, however large or small their part. Such a play could never
have been staged without such cooperation.
HOBBIES CLUB - BEEKEEPING SECTION
All five School stocks wintered successfully as did
Mr. Walker's three stocks in the School apiary. The two smallest School stocks
were united at the beginning of May to two of the larger ones, the “spare"
queens, with one or two combs of bees, being put into small hives on which
members could practice.
Mr. Walker's absence on holiday from May 24th to June 8th
happened to coincide with one of those occasional periods in which all
the stocks in an apiary decide to swarm at the same time. Luckily (?) the poor
weather held back all except one stock. The swarm was seen by the groundsman,
and was very effectively dealt with in the usual way by Mr. Johnson, Win Jones
and Jarvis.
Previously, Jarvis and Lunnen had examined the presumed
parent stock and confirmed the supposition.
Two other swarms emerged on Mr. Walker's first day back, and
several members had an interesting time while each was dealt with in a
different and less usual way.
At the moment (June11th) everything in the apiary seems well
under control but - "you never can tell with bees”.
MODEL
RAILWAY CLUB
Throughout the Spring Term meetings took place four times a
week. Quite good attendances helped the progress of the work: a girder bridge
is being made, tunnel mouths are being installed and electric points wired in.
Running was rather spasmodic owing to expansion of the track and trouble with
the club engine, but we managed to do a little.
The membership total reached an all-time high of 47. This was
mainly due to pupils joining in order to go on the trip to J. S. Fry and Son's,
works at Bristol, a report of which appears elsewhere in this magazine.
The main event of the Summer Term was the purchasing of a new
locomotive for the club: the Hornby-Dublo "Bristol Castle". Membership
fell off badly but the work still continued on three days each week. The track
has been put in charge of a permanent "track-gang" and is being re-laid
in places. A stretch has been straightened in order to install a new passing-
station and the girder bridge has been fixed in position.
A few faithful members have kept the club alive, but they
cannot do all the work and new members will always, be welcome.
On May 22nd a small party went to hear Prof. J. Simmons
lecture on Railway Competition in the West Country at Exeter University.
FILM
CLUB
The film club has been inactive during the Summer Term, but
a number of meetings were held in the Spring Term. A wide variety of films,
both comedies and documentaries, were shown.
Attendances, good at the opening meetings of this recently
formed club (they reached 90 at one show), dwindled towards the middle of term.
At the end of term, house matches kept the audience at the concluding show down
to 17.
All being well, meetings will be held again in the Autumn
Term and, if we get your support, a larger screen will be installed.
A film of the Hobbies Club trip to Fry's will be shown
later, but there is still much work to be done on it.