Much as I still do today, but for different reasons, I always enjoyed weekends at School during which there was less emphasis on the academic side of life and more time for sport and recreation. Back home in Haslingden, a small Lancashire cotton town nestling in the foothills of the Pennines, our friends were horrified to hear that we had lessons on a Saturday, but having explained that we also spent the whole of Wednesday and Saturday afternoons playing sport, depending on the time of year, they became more receptive to the idea.

Circa 1956 I became involved in First XI Inter - School matches, and every other Saturday, particularly during the cricket season, we seemed to be competing against a school from Shropshire. If bad weather made normal football or cricket prohibitive we would often go for a run around the Triangle or Steeplechase.

Every now and then on a Saturday, to celebrate a special occasion, Headmaster Ralph Williamson would organise an impromptu visit to the local cinema, and the whole of School House would walk " in croc " through Oswestry town to The Regal cinema. I recall, in particular, going to watch " The Coronation ", a film made to commemorate the 1963 coronation of Queen Elizabeth 2nd, and we were all thrilled to see on the big screen  " The Conquest of Everest " by Hilary and Tenzing, which had taken place the same year. 

The Regal Cinema, Oswestry.

In complete contrast to this, when Major Frankland became Headmaster, there were film shows most Saturday evenings in the Memorial Hall, many of which were wartime related and based on true events such as The Dam Busters, The Colditz Story and Reach for the Sky. On one occasion I recall, somewhat ironically, that The Major surprised us all by showing " Tom Brown's Schooldays ", a popular movie in the fifties. My brother Bernard and I chuckled as we remembered that our mother, with heartfelt best intentions, had bought us the book on which the film was based shortly before we started school at Oswestry. We did not find it very reassuring at the time !! 

Reach for the Sky was the true story of legendary, legless RAF pilot Douglas Bader who, having been shot down during the war, was captured in occupied France, and even attempted escaping from Colditz Castle which was considered to be escape proof.

  Diary entry for March 19th,1960   

My mention of the " Colditz Story " reminds me that there were several absconders from School during the 1950s, and weekends were the favorite time for effecting an escape. My Diary reminds me of one such episode from March 1960 involving a boy from Holbache House, and the extracts below are self explanatory.

 Diary entries for March 4th and 5th 1960.

Ralph Williamson, Headmaster at Oswestry School when I arrived in 1952, was a man of great religious conviction and he constantly encouraged day boys to attend Sunday evening chapel, the only time of the week when we all wore a plain white surplice. On other special occasions we would attend morning service at St Oswald' Parish Church.

Sadly, by and large, these exhortations to dayboys fell on stony ground but he persisted with his mission throughout my time at School. 

Sundays, I found, were the most relaxing day of the week, particularly under Mr Williamson's less stringent regime, when we could pursue individual interests, and more readily escape the confines of School boundaries, surreptitiously, for personal assignations.  Visits to local coffee bars and record shops were popular venues for such meetings, but care had to be taken not to be seen by authority. On one occasion I recall that " Stoker " Lewis walked in and subsequently reported me to Headmaster Williamson who issued a severe warning.

Each Sunday morning time was set aside for Juniors to write letters home, which took place under supervision in one of the classrooms, and I have to confess that on one occasion I sent home a blank sheet of writing  paper, concentrating instead on a letter to a girlfriend.

Boot and shoe cleaning also took place each Sunday, to the accompaniment of a radio and I recall that it was in the boot room that I first became addicted to  " The Archers ", an everyday story of country folk, which I still listen to today.

Boarders who were friendly with dayboys would regularly receive invitations for Sunday lunch and/or tea, and my brother and I were regular visitors to Ty Canol Farm, Trefonen, home of classmate RA Hughes. Michael Charles, Edward Goff, John Evans, and the Moore-Bridgers were others with whom we enjoyed Sunday outings.

  Invite from RAHs mother 

  Visit to Ty Canol Farm 

JF Tilley, a Master who arrived at Oswestry from university in 1946 lived in Whittington where his parents had a bakery. He spent much of his free time at Schoolhouse and regularly invited to his home a coterie of boys, seperately or together, for Sunday afternoon tea. This gave rise to those of us afforded this special treatment being singled out as " Tilley Boys " in a mocking manner by those excluded from the group. I just ignored these derisory taunts, dismissing them as jealous envy, as the food provided was of the highest quality and far superior to that served up at School. 

When Major Frankland was appointed to take over the Headmastership in 1958 many changes were made. My memory tells me that Sunday morning visits to St Oswald's Parish Church became the norm, and many references in my Diary such as the one below confirm this

Diary entry for February 28th, 1960. 

Winter and Summer, every Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, Dai Lewis would muster Schoolhouse together and lead us on a couple of hours' walk. My two favourites as a Junior were a treck up to the nearby racecourse and a visit to Llanforda woods, where we would let off steam, running wild and free. Only very Senior boys were excused this, and I recall hot, balmy Summer afternoons when, as Seniors, a group of us would sunbathe in between taking the occasional dip in the open air swimming pool which was fed by a stream running down from nearby Oswald's well.

Open air pool.

Oswalds Well

This was also an ideal opportunity to slip unnoticed out of School bounds via the Dingle, and meet up with friends and visit the fair or some other attraction in town. In those far off days we did not have the luxury of mobile phones, and I recall that on one occasion my brother Bernard was waiting for me in the Dingle as I returned from a clandestin sortie into town to warn me that Headmaster Frankland had been looking all over for me. As I walked back onto the playground several other boys confirmed this, so I thought it would be better to go and see " the Old Man " with an excuse for my apparent disappearance from sight. The Major became a little hot under the collar as I tried to convince him that I had inadvertantly wandered out of bounds whilst photographing pheasants on the outskirts of the Dingle, which was partially true, but he did not fall for my " Cock and Bull Story " as he called it. 

"This is not the first time I have had reason to doubt your loyalty to me as a Senior Prefect", he bellowed at me, "so I am putting you under a final warning...one more strike and you are out !!"     

Oh Happy Days  !!!!!!!!!!!

The END.