It is true to say that by and large, Headmaster Frankland has been given a bad press, mostly from boys in School House, and whilst I can see their point of view, as I was never a great fan of the Major myself, I feel that it is important to give him credit where credit is due. 

Soon after his arrival at Oswestry, hoping to encourage competition at School and create more of a sense of camaraderie, he made sweeping changes within the three House system. Looking at the School through fresh eyes Mr Frankland had spotted the need for change, and this and other innovations introduced by the new Headmaster are outlined in the report below, taken from the Editorial of the Easter edition of The Oswestrian of 1959.

Extract from The Oswestrian.

I should also point out that welcome changes were made in the games organisation. The unsightly and hazardous barbed wire fence surrounding the cricket square was removed, the Sets were incorporated into the House system, School and House colours were now awarded for success in games, and standards were introduced to improve overall performances in athletics. As a result of several younger boys having been trampled under foot and injured on the road outside the entrance to School, including myself many years earlier, for the first time the start of the annual Triangle was moved over to the Maes y Llan.

Traditional starting point for The Triangle.

The Triangle race gets underway in the mid sixties. Photo of Maes-y-Llan start.

Exiting the Maes-y-Llan just beyond Broomhall Lane.

Lastly, through his connections with Brigadier Block, Major Frankland was able to secure Park Hall Army Camp Stadium as the venue for future athletics finals on Sports Day, which leads me nicely into perhaps the Headmaster's most lasting legacy to the School. The introduction of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) which, although not universally popular at the time, went on to thrive, and flourish into the organisation it is today.

Before moving on to athletics it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that one of my friends was full of praise for the Headmaster's teaching abilities. Most boys looked upon these as an unmitigated disaster but, according to my friend, he and several other pupils were given extra evening cramming lessons by the Major in mathematics. Having already failed O level maths several times he believes that without the intervention of the Headmaster he would never have passed.

Headmaster Frankland and 'Stoker' Lewis comment in my report.

As a sixth-former I was taught A level French by DGW Felton and History/Geography by JF Tilley, but several times per week we were given a general lesson by the Headmaster, discussing a wide range of topics. In the above end of term school report both WL Frankland and David Lewis took me by surprise with their complimentary remarks, in light of my ofttimes rocky relationships with them.

Diary entry for 29 February: Radio usage is restricted, and The Triangle looms.

Although by the end of February, 1960, it seemed like the Headmaster had largely put behind him the memory of Valentine's Day, he was still imposing some restrictions on the use of radios which we studiously tried to ignore. The final Triangle would soon be upon us and I went to see Dai Lewis, our Housemaster, to explain the racing strategy for Oswald House. As part of the final preparations for the coming race the whole School, consisting of 173 boys, took part in a last minute practice,starting for the first time on the Maes-y-Llan to avoid injuries and congestion on the road.

Wednesday, 2 March, and our race strategy works well during practice.

On the morning of the final Triangle, perhaps not a fan of running, a Holbache House junior, PS Jones, did a runner via the fire escape at Holbache house, but was soon picked up by the police at Gobowen station as he waited to make good his escape by train. I joked with him later that perhaps he had been reading too many prisoner of war books, which were very popular at the time.

Oswald House won The Triangle very convincingly, and it was very gratifying to note that although it relegated me to 4th place, young John Woolrich and Roger Morgan came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. John and Roger were making rapid progress towards becoming athletics stars of the future, and I relished the prospect of their competition on 2 April.

My brother Bernard disliked long distance running intensely and, being extremely competitive, he was disappointed with his performances, but I tried to reassure him by saying that he would shine like a true star on Sports Day in the shorter distances, as indeed he did. He just grinned at me with a knowing look.

Diary entry Saturday 5 March, 1960: An easy victory for Oswald.

The Triangle result, taken from The Oswestrian, Lent term, 1960: Woolrich springs a surprise.

During the morning of Wednesday 9 March, it snowed very heavily and we all expected that the steeplechase final would be postponed. It did proceed, however, but the water jumps were eliminated in the interests of safety. Once again School House performed well and we were awarded The Shield, having won the Senior, Intermediate and Junior competitions. After the race I jokingly told Tony, RA Hughes, that I was tired of seeing his backside disappearing into the distance as he pulled away from me effortlessly at the end of long distance races, leaving me trailing in his wake. Like Bernard, he just grinned cheekily, and said that Iris was probably taking my eye off the ball.

The day of the steeplechase finally arrives.

As reported in The Oswestrian: A clean sweep by Oswald.

Sandwiched amongst all the sporting activity our mock GCE A level exams had also been taking place, and Headmaster Frankland eased up in his attitude towards School House by allowing us to watch two films. Much to my surprise, and in a rare moment of congeniality between us, he confided in me that he thought Oswald House would do rather well on Sports Day.

On 12 March we receive an invitation, and more stadards take place.

Oops, I spoke too soon about the Old Man. Not surprisingly he became hopping mad when, for some reason, several boys, and I knew who they were, let all the tyres down on Mr Schofield's car as it was parked on the playground, and he threatened to involve the police. Mr Schofield was Head of Holbache House, and why School House boys did this as a prank I will never know. Major Frankland also went to town on Parslew for having a beatnik hairstyle, but Poshy, who was already under a cloud along with me and my brother for possible involvement in the Valentine card affair, just took it all in his stride. I cannot recall this, but according to my Diary entry for 16 March I had to go and lie down in the pavilion after a strenuous afternoon spent running in the standards only a couple of weeks before Sports Day. Needless to say, I was relieved that it did not happen again on 2 April when the competition was much more intense.

Diary entry for 16 March: I overdo it in the standards.

Next time I will be describing events at Park Hall Army Camp Stadium as they unfolded on Sports Day, 1960.