SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
SCHOOL MEMORIES BY FORMER PUPILS (Page 12 )
Mike Fieldhouse
I relate the following story about myself and 'Bungy Young' or Baldilocks as he was of referred by those of us rebels in 3R. I was never a star pupil at the school and even developed calluses on my hands from the many times I received the cane, however, here is the true story of what took place that day.
Mal Waller and myself were walking along Ferensway one Thursday lunch time in early spring when John Fox rode past us on his bike and shouted something jokingly derogatory. I replied by shouting back 'I hope you get a puncture', or words to that effect.
Bungy was riding his green Raleigh bicycle, near to, but unseen by us and presumed that I was shouting at him. He leapt from his machine and began shouting at me in frenzy, refusing to accept my explanation that I had been shouting at Foxy, and almost as heinously, I was not wearing my school cap. He didn't take Mal Waller's word either, and he was one of the good guy's.
The upshot was that Bungy put me on detention for the afternoon. As you will all recall, Thursday was sports day, and this particular Thursday was our turn at swimming. I liked swimming and in view of the injustice, and because I was a rebel went to the Albert Avenue baths. No sooner had I got there and shared a cigarette with John Waite and Mike Ward, when Mr. Wallace told me that I had to report straight back to school and see Frank Mason.
Mr. Mason told me that the good Mr. Young considered that I had personally insulted him and requested my expulsion from the school. To Frank Mason's credit, he listened to my explanation and then sent me home pending his seeing Foxy to check this out. In those days of course we had no mobile telephones or other means of contact, so was relying heavily on John Fox's integrity.
Fortunately, the truth came out and I was reinstated at the school, much to Mr. Young's displeasure.
Fortune soon smiled on me however, and I obtained an engineering apprenticeship which enabled me to leave school at the summer term.
Some years later when I was out of my apprenticeship, I was in Osbourne Street, where I met Frank Mason, and he invited me into the staff room at the school for a chat with some of the old teachers. Fortunately Mr. Young was not there.....
What did I learn from the incident? Well, I joined the Police Service and eventually the C.I.D. where I became Detective Inspector. I often thought about the above incident when investigating crimes, the moral I learned was: Never condemn anyone without looking at all the facts.
Something else I learned from Mr. Young was what a load of nonsense the 'Phlogiston theory' was. Remember our chemistry lessons?