I was at Plymstock school from '59 to '64, leaving after GCE's to join first of all the dockyard, then the RAF, where I served for 23 years until '88.  I now work in Saudi Arabia for British Aerospace, supporting the Royal Saudi Air Force.  I was last at the school in '94 for the 30th anniversary of 2339 Sqdn. ATC., when I obviously noticed a lot of changes, notably the swimming pool which was built during my time there and was in a state of disrepair, and the fields at the back of the school which had been built over.  However, a lot of the buildings were still as I remember them, and I'm sure that my mother, who went to school there before WW2, would still recognise them.  One thing I did notice was that the sports field seemed a lot smaller than when I used to have to run around it during PE and sports lessons. Please pass on my best wishes to everybody there now, especially those from my era if you are in contact with any of them.   Kindest regards, Peter Eslick

pjeslick@sahara.com.sa

A Thought For Christmas
Do you know what would have happened if it had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?
They would have asked directions,
Arrived on time,
Helped deliver the baby,
Cleaned the stable,
Made a casserole,
Brought practical gifts and There would be Peace On Earth.
(Not sure I really support the thinking behind this! The local Balti would be a better option than the casserole I think!)

Alex

Shallow end ! What Shallow end ?

I joined Plymstock school in February 1969 and having arrived from warmer climes in Australia I loved swimming and was quite good at it. So full of confidence I had my first race in the Pool..however, no one told me that it went from the deep end to a very shallow end in one corner !! No prizes for guessing which "shallow" end I ran aground in and being 6' plus it HURT !!!. A few months later Pete Rollo arrived at the School from Harrow in London and made a huge leap into the very shallow end before anyone could warn him...the pool turned red and poor Pete had split his lips and nose on the bottom !!. Dave Babb was not impressed with either of us. I am sorry to learn that the pool is now is disrepair because it brought Pete and I together as friends through mutual experience and pain , a friendship that lasts to this day.

" OZ" Read

A little story from Grenville:

Whilst as a somewhat bewildered first year not long into the first term, I
was making my way from what was the new block across to the old quadrangle
and our classroom. There wasn't many people around and I walked across the
roundabout, when I was about level with he flag pole a loud voice boomed out
from somewhere above ' you boy get off the grass and come up to my office'.
I turned around to see a figure gesticulating angrily from a window none
other than the Headmaster Mr. Busby.

With some trepidation I went up to his office and knocked on the door, I
waited for a while and knocked again the door was flung open and a red faced
figure yelled "didn't I understand what the damned lights meant, indicating
he was busy and that I was to wait until he called me into his office".
After a further wait the buzzer went off and the light changed to available
unfortunately I wasn't quick enough in entering and was met at the door by
an even redder face. After a fairly long haranguing on my misdemeanours I
was instructed to carry on back to my class where I received a further
chastisement for being late !

However, a few years later I was to encounter him again at a Metalwork
Evening class that was being run by Dennis Geary and found him to be a
charming and interesting person to coverse with.

Hello My Friend. ( For Plymstock School. UK)

Through being a contact on the old School site I have had many e mails from ex pupils some I knew and remember others I don't! A few weeks ago I went back to Plymouth and met up with 2 'girls' over from Canada Denise and Sandra Lavers . They were both at Plymstock at the same time as me, but we did not actually know each other then. We have for some time been chatting on the internet about mutual school friends and 'places of interest' Majestic ,Plymstock Youth club, Ballards waiting outside the GPO in Plymouth! etc So, we finally met up in person had a great time at Plymstock Inn and MountBatten centre on different days chatting over a few 'lemonades ' and coffee(!!!!!!!!!!) discussing the people we knew and the places we used to go. . I would not have made these friends with out the Plymstock site. Strangely enough I never actually liked school very much, but have spent a lot of the last year or so discussing it ! Now looking forward to the reunion later in the year and will meet up with a few more email pals!

Tina Southgate (Folland)

A Few More Memories

Most of my memories of Plymstock are good ones. For the first few years we seemed to spend a lot of time running around in plastic macs squirting 'jif' lemons full of water at each other. The older huts used to smell of smoke and soot - we would often throw bits of coal around while the teachers had their backs turned. The quadrangle had a nice atmosphere, while many of the huts seemed to be long past their 'sell by' date, even then. Our form room was Hut 6 for the first couple of years. Geography was in Hut 15 and I also remember spending a lot of time in B2 and B6. The teachers were OK in the main. Many were pretty eccentric, some very good, some indifferent, some just vicious - much like the pupils, in fact. I found it a pretty good school, and if you were prepared to work, you could do well there.
I still remember some of the teaching staff whose behaviour would these days land them in court and probably end their career. Hopefully things have changed now. Then there was the teacher would eat his sandwiches before falling asleep in the driving seat of his mini every lunch time - suspended by his seatbelt and completely indifferent to the noisy kids milling all around it.
A hero of many was Tony Burnell, whose death was such a shock to everyone that it nearly caused a riot among the grieving pupils. Maybe he wasn't the best teacher, but was a lovely bloke. I particularly remember Miss Horner (who I once addressed as 'Mum' by mistake, much her to her horror and my classmates amusement), Mr Underhay, Dr Singer, Mr Cornish, Mr Price, Mr Gross, all of whom I got on with very well. And who could ever forget characters like 'Bimbo' Edwards and Mr Deacon? Our French teacher was the dandyish Mr Vickery, complete with cravat and red M.G. roadster. Then there was the unfortunate R.I. teacher who we tormented mercilessly for years. Children can be cruel and we were no exception.
We all said we would keep in touch and probably agreed to meet in the year 2000, but we never did (or maybe they did, but just didn't invite me!) Years later, I occasionally bumped into old friends but most of us just got on with our lives and disappeared into obscurity. I occasionally wonder what happened to Geoff Spiller, Ian Collier, Ian Withell, Chris Dawe, Hornby, Gerbil, Hankin, Monty, Walker, Ping, Truscott, Fewings and all the others? Where are the plastic mac brigade now?

Nick Darsley

Happy Days!