School "Sports"
My first school
was All Saints Church Infants Oakleigh Road. A tin hut and a small playground
attached to the church, about a two-mile walk every day rain or shine, snow
or fog, it was 'shankies-pony' mostly everywhere those days.
Then I went on a little further afield to the junior school in Frien Barnet Lane, eventually graduated to Holly Park Senior School at New Southgate which was a further two or three miles walk. But when funds allowed, in wintry weather I could catch the single-decker bus from Oakleigh Road but then perhaps only one way to get there in reasonably dry clothes for the days session.
Recollection mostly of insubordination with teachers, canings (six of the best) for offences varying from being caught with others on the school roof, having climbed through a sky-light and then throwing firework 'bangers' down the main stairway to scare the pants off the teachers in the hall below, to being caught smoking in the games store room.
On the journey to Southgate we had to walk through an under-pass footpath that went under the main railway line, which went from Kings Cross to the North. One day my pal Bill Marlow and I were so fed up with school we decided to run away if we could manage to jump on one of the slow moving goods trains with open trucks in those days. Fortunately for us, at 12yrs old, the attempt failed as by the time we climbed the embankment to the railway track we found the clanking and noise of the iron wheels frightened the living daylights out of us and so we abandoned that idea!
But previously I had a small encounter with the law when about 7yrs old. One Saturday morning on a bright summers days I decided to pay Grandma a visit who lived in Salisbury Road, Barnet. I had been taken by tram on previous occasions mostly, but having no funds I decided that a straight steady walk up the Great North Road would get me there just the same, I had all day to do it so off I wandered without saying anything to anyone at home. After a long hot haul I got to Barnet High Street, and having never negotiated crossing a busy road unaided before I got a bit windy so waited till I saw adults about to cross and quickly nipped behind without trouble. Grandma was surprised to see me and after a meal and a bit of cross questioning found that I had dodged out of home without disclosing my plans, after a stern lecture hauled me off back home on the tram. The result a hiding from father who said he had reported me missing to the local police station, and so I was duly taken round there to report back. The added 'roasting' from the desk-sergeant regarding 'causing unnecessary' worry to my parents and wasting police time cured me of that little episode!
Later on a favourite sport was on hot summer days, train-spotting laying out on the grass embankment of the L.N.E. Railway that passes through Oakleigh Park. From fast Pullman Express trains with the 'Flying-Scotsman' etc; belching steam, to slow 'Goods' with maybe 50 or more open sided cattle trucks bound for London Smithfield Market, all very exciting to us young-uns.
Down the bottom of our road and across a couple of fields of the footpath came to a foot bridge across the line this was known as the 'monkey-bridge'. It was a wooden bridge on iron supports and surrounded by wire cage netting, a great place to stand and be engulfed in clouds of steam as the trains passed underneath. But it was also a challenge for the local lads to do a 'dare' You could with a bit of courage and egging on by other, just manage to climb along the outside of the bridge by hanging on for dear life to the supports and cage-wire. But if unfortunate enough to be half way across when a train came by that was trouble and you had to just stay still and hang on for grim death in a choking steam and sometimes soot. Not an easy trick, and looking back I wonder someone wasn't killed in the process of trying to look big in front of the rest of your mates who would be laughing and jeering from the sidelines.
Further down the road was Oakleigh Park Station where you could get a penny platform ticket and close quarters to the hustle and bustle of trains coming and going and smaller engines 'shunting' goods wagons back and forth in the sidings.
Also available were 'penny in the slot' machines where you could purchase, if lucky enough to have finds, a thin bar of Nestles chocolate or two 'Woodbines' in a paper packet. Mostly us boys scrounged discarded 'fag ends' which might be only half smoked and thrown away by some of the more wealthy passengers! These would be stowed away in trouser pockets until a later time of quiet solitude for a crafty draw or two perhaps under a hawthorn bush on the embankment or some other out of the way place.
I purchased a 'tuppeny-clay' pipe in which the 'baccy' from the fag ends was gleefully puffed.
