The Play's the Thing

A MEMORY OF BOURNE GRAMMAR SCHOOL

by Janice Leonard

Half a century ago, I was a pupil at Bourne Grammar School. As I reflect on those times, a great pile of images rush into my mind. Jostling for position in that pile are classrooms and hallways, outside toilets and bike racks, teachers and subjects, prefects and playing fields, familiar and half forgotten faces. On top of the heap sit remembrances of plays. And playing. 

I was fortunate to play in the school hockey and tennis teams. We were coached by Miss Aspy, Miss Pollard, the headmaster Mr Foster and others whose names I cannot recall. We practiced at lunch times, during P E periods and after school. Every Saturday morning, I was anxious to board the Delaine bus to represent Bourne Grammar School in matches against schools in Grantham, Sleaford, Spalding, Peterborough, or Stamford. We played to win, and often did. And we had fun! I remember the rides on the bus, seeing other schools - some even had showers - and checking out their refreshments as well as the boys on their soccer or cricket teams. 

We enjoyed our home games too, especially when we could show off our new hard tennis court, the pride of the neighbourhood. I played my most memorable games there, including the annual school singles and doubles championships. I clearly remember being beaten in the third set of a singles final and, in the same year, winning the doubles with Mr. Foster as my partner. 

There were those exciting trips to Wimbledon, with reserved seats on Court 1. I remember the thrill of watching Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Louise Brough and Doris Hart, among others. And then to be selected to go to a coaching session in Lincoln taught by the immortal Fred Perry - well, that was the ultimate tennis experience. As I now watch the likes of Tim Henman and that Canadian-Brit Greg Rusedski, I think my homeland still has a way to go to find another great champion. 

Parents and friends dressed up to attend the annual Sports Day and the headmaster's cricket match. I remember once being the official welcomer at the latter event and being advised on how to address the Chairman of the Governors, the Honourable Mrs Nesta Trollope-Bellew. This imposing woman drank her tea with gusto and confided to me that she did not really enjoy watching cricket - "But there are certain things in life that you just have to do, my dear!" We certainly learned how to play the game at Bourne Grammar School. 

Then there was the other kind of playing that I remember so well, that of participating in the annual school play. I recall acting in five or six productions. These major dramatic efforts were directed and produced in alternate years by Miss Aspy, the English teacher, and Mr. Foster, the headmaster. We rehearsed after school for months prior to the spring performances. Authentic costumes were rented and stage make up lessons provided, including for me the proper way to stick on a beard, hair by hair. I remember the low stage in the school hall and the sets of Shakespearean simplicity. The rear entrance to the stage was up a high step from the museum. We tripped on many an occasion. We performed the play during the week before Easter. Mr Foster and his guests sat in armchairs on the front row, so close that we could see his reactions to our efforts. The audience filled the rest of the small hall, sitting for hours on hard chairs. I know distance adds enchantment, but I think we were good. 

My most vivid memories are of roles during my last three years at Bourne Grammar School, playing the Earl of Gloucester in King Lear (David Day was a wonderful Lear), Androcles' wife in Shaw's Androcles and the Lion (opposite Peter Wyles as Androcles) and in 1954, playing the title role in Hassan by James Elroy Flecker with my friend Judith Hughes as Pervaneh. I remember my fellow thespians so well. Where are they now? Being a part of these plays and all the experiences involved had an abiding effect on me and particularly on my later participation in many community theatre ventures in both England and Canada. 

The year after I left the school to study at the London School of Economics, I was honoured to be invited by Miss Aspy to review her latest school production of St Joan for the school magazine. It was thrilling to be back in that old school hall, this time on the other side of the (metaphorical) footlights. I was so proud to be an Old Brunnian. I wonder if there are still annual plays at Bourne Grammar School. Of course, studying for O, A and S levels was ongoing at the same time as all the plays and playing. My school memories would be incomplete without mention of the men and women who taught me then. Mr. Birkbeck was a brilliant history teacher. Miss Aspy brought the English classics alive, and Mr Foster's Latin tutorials, held in his office, will never be forgotten. The headmaster also taught economics, philosophy and art appreciation to the upper sixth. I now realise how fortunate I was to be taught by these experts. 

Every September we paraded from the school to the Corn Exchange for Speech Day. In front of proud parents and friends, form and subject prizes were presented and polished speeches delivered. I wonder if anyone else can remember our annual renditions of Jerusalem and Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken? On a typical day, at 8.15 a m I'd put Mario Lanza on the record player in the Prefects' Room and have a quick game of table tennis, before patrolling the school corridors. Then it would be time to ring the bell to signal the beginning of another school day. Morning assembly, a few classes, milk deliveries, more classes, hot lunch in the cafeteria at the prefects' table, play a little tennis, discuss the affairs of the day, play rehearsal, catch the 6 p m bus home to Thurlby 

Without a shadow of a doubt, all of these experiences at Bourne Grammar School formed the foundation for my own career as an educator. And for my life. Now that I have retired, I have time to look back and dwell on the memories for a while. 

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