The HGS Noticeboard (2)
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Updated 11.01.2026
A cool HGS Heats day in 1967?
Table of Contents
1. An email from Keith Oliver
2. Jack
3. Faces known and unknown from 1963
4. An email from Ian Townsend
5. The HGS website viewing trends 17.11.2025-16.12.202
6. 1940: Dark times
7. The Moor and Mountain Club 1966
1. An email from Keith Oliver
2. Jack
3. Faces known and unknown from 1963
4. An email from Ian Townsend
5. The HGS website viewing trends 17.11.2025-16.12.202
6. 1940: Dark times
7. The Moor and Mountain Club 1966
1. An email from Keith Oliver
Hi, Dave.
You probably don't remember me at HGS but I remember you well at school. I have only just discovered the Grammar school site. I have a few photos and maybe some answers to queries. The Form photos have brought back many happy memories of the lads and lasses I had the pleasure of meeting there. I have seen one or two over the past 49 years but not recently. I can only reiterate what has been said by so many others about the teaching staff and how they made life so enjoyable. They helped form and inspire inquisitive minds to go on to adulthood with confidence. After HGS I joined the Hilmians Rugby Club and have included 3 photographs of some of the teams. There are some other photographs which I will also send. I hope they can be of help to someone. They have many happy memories for me.
Keith Oliver (HGS 1954-59)
8 April 2016
You probably don't remember me at HGS but I remember you well at school. I have only just discovered the Grammar school site. I have a few photos and maybe some answers to queries. The Form photos have brought back many happy memories of the lads and lasses I had the pleasure of meeting there. I have seen one or two over the past 49 years but not recently. I can only reiterate what has been said by so many others about the teaching staff and how they made life so enjoyable. They helped form and inspire inquisitive minds to go on to adulthood with confidence. After HGS I joined the Hilmians Rugby Club and have included 3 photographs of some of the teams. There are some other photographs which I will also send. I hope they can be of help to someone. They have many happy memories for me.
Keith Oliver (HGS 1954-59)
8 April 2016
Form 5G 1958-59
Back Row L-R: Kathleen Frost, Beryl Clegg, Eric Eden, Keith Oliver, Ron Coggins, Philip Picken, B. Ramsden, Irene Peet.
Front Row L-R: Nicholson M., Ron Hooley, Donald Pennock, Miss M. McGlade, Pat Adcock, Christine Haigh, Marcia Bradley.
Form Prize awarded to Irene Peet.
Front Row L-R: Nicholson M., Ron Hooley, Donald Pennock, Miss M. McGlade, Pat Adcock, Christine Haigh, Marcia Bradley.
Form Prize awarded to Irene Peet.
Hilmians Rugby Team
Back Row L-R: 1, 2, Keith Oliver, 4, 5, Peter Cooper, 7, 8
Front Row L-R: Mick Illingworth, Matt Findlay, Sid Kenningham, Phil Thorpe, Les Banks, Ron Wilby, Dave King
Front Row L-R: Mick Illingworth, Matt Findlay, Sid Kenningham, Phil Thorpe, Les Banks, Ron Wilby, Dave King
Hi, Keith.
Thank you very much for contacting the site. It is great to hear from you. I certainly do remember you from HGS. You were only one year above me at school so I had quite a lot of affinity with your year as a whole. House and School Teams were often comprised of your Year and mine. Great memories. Thanks for the photographs. Our visitors will really enjoy seeing them. Enjoy the site.
Very best wishes,
Dave
Thank you very much for contacting the site. It is great to hear from you. I certainly do remember you from HGS. You were only one year above me at school so I had quite a lot of affinity with your year as a whole. House and School Teams were often comprised of your Year and mine. Great memories. Thanks for the photographs. Our visitors will really enjoy seeing them. Enjoy the site.
Very best wishes,
Dave
2. Jack
Dear HGS folks,
I stumbled upon your site during some family tree research. What a great community you have, and have had. Jack Rhodes the groundsman is mentioned fondly by some of you in the Forum (1.3), especially for cricket. When I was a little boy in the 50s and early 60s he was my Uncle Jack, married to my Auntie Sadie (nee Mahoney). As I recall, everyone had only good things to say about 'Jack and Sadie'. They were kind and gentle. They came to stay and visit at our house in Grantham before and after moving to Guernsey. Uncle Jack gave us all a Guernsey 3d bit, which I found exotic with its frilly milled edge and different metal to the English 3d bit. I also remember us always having two aged but real cricket bats in the shed that I'm pretty sure came from Jack; and most likely surplus from HGS. They eventually disintegrated from years of use on the street wicket. Whilst I am from Grantham, my grandparents Timothy and Rose Mahoney lived in Hemsworth from about 1920-1950. Anyway, there you go. I'll have a drive through Hemsworth and HGS next time I'm back home.
Regards,
Stephen Mahoney
6 May 2016
I stumbled upon your site during some family tree research. What a great community you have, and have had. Jack Rhodes the groundsman is mentioned fondly by some of you in the Forum (1.3), especially for cricket. When I was a little boy in the 50s and early 60s he was my Uncle Jack, married to my Auntie Sadie (nee Mahoney). As I recall, everyone had only good things to say about 'Jack and Sadie'. They were kind and gentle. They came to stay and visit at our house in Grantham before and after moving to Guernsey. Uncle Jack gave us all a Guernsey 3d bit, which I found exotic with its frilly milled edge and different metal to the English 3d bit. I also remember us always having two aged but real cricket bats in the shed that I'm pretty sure came from Jack; and most likely surplus from HGS. They eventually disintegrated from years of use on the street wicket. Whilst I am from Grantham, my grandparents Timothy and Rose Mahoney lived in Hemsworth from about 1920-1950. Anyway, there you go. I'll have a drive through Hemsworth and HGS next time I'm back home.
Regards,
Stephen Mahoney
6 May 2016
Hi Steve,
I'm Sheila from the HGS website, and I just wanted to thank you for your recent mail. We have been longing for news of Mr. Rhodes (as we knew him), because he was such an important cog in the Sports life of our School. He was a popular chap who seemed to be an enduring feature of our lives. He and Mr. Wycherley gave us all such pleasant memories of the grounds - pitches, flower beds, trees and shrubs were all tended with such care. I'm sure that few schools in Yorkshire, or for that matter in the country, would have had such beautiful grounds as ours. He left behind some treasured memories. Do you have any photos of him which you would be willing to share with us? I think from memory there is only one image of him on the site - not enough for such an important chap. I wonder why he chose Guernsey for his retirement? Having been in the Hemsworth area for so long, it seems a far distant choice - unless he had family there? Did he and Sadie have any children? I believe they lived on Holly Bank. Questions, questions! I'm not wishing to pester you, but you are the only person who is able to fill us in. We are attempting to capture as many memories as we can before they fade away.
Looking forward to hearing from you again,
Sheila
I'm Sheila from the HGS website, and I just wanted to thank you for your recent mail. We have been longing for news of Mr. Rhodes (as we knew him), because he was such an important cog in the Sports life of our School. He was a popular chap who seemed to be an enduring feature of our lives. He and Mr. Wycherley gave us all such pleasant memories of the grounds - pitches, flower beds, trees and shrubs were all tended with such care. I'm sure that few schools in Yorkshire, or for that matter in the country, would have had such beautiful grounds as ours. He left behind some treasured memories. Do you have any photos of him which you would be willing to share with us? I think from memory there is only one image of him on the site - not enough for such an important chap. I wonder why he chose Guernsey for his retirement? Having been in the Hemsworth area for so long, it seems a far distant choice - unless he had family there? Did he and Sadie have any children? I believe they lived on Holly Bank. Questions, questions! I'm not wishing to pester you, but you are the only person who is able to fill us in. We are attempting to capture as many memories as we can before they fade away.
Looking forward to hearing from you again,
Sheila
3. Faces known and unknown from 1963
The Staff names are L-R: Mr Ramsden, Mr Smith, Mr Owen, Mr Parkinson and Mr Shelton
4. Ian Townsend, HGS 1955-60
1. Ian Townsend, HGS 1955-60
Dear Dave,
I was pointed to the website by Sheila Kelsall and was most impressed, it contains lots of marvellous things. HGS days were not the happiest of my life but I can remember two things above all - apart from Russ Hamilton’s total adulation of Geoffrey Boycott. Mr Collette gave me the best definition of education I’ve ever heard. He said: “I can teach you all you need to know to get you through your exams, but my task in life is to encourage you to read and enjoy all these things after you’ve left school.” The RE teacher Mr Hassall posed two questions which I have always remembered. He said: “If space has boundaries, what is on the other side of the boundaries?” and “If the big bang created all the matter in the universe, what was there to go bang in the first place?”
I left HGS 1960 and started work as a reporter with the South Yorkshire Times. I’ve been in the business since then, for the last 30 years with the Oxford Mail.
Ian
(June 2002)
Dear Ian,
Thank you very much for contacting the site. Your favourable comments are much appreciated. Mr. Collette for me was a wonderful man. After you left 5S I stayed for two more years. He was always there to advise when needed. I hope you will keep in touch with the site and try to personalise it with your HGS thoughts if possible. We have an audience which is growing. I couldn’t see HGS disappear without trace, so the website was set up. People send in memorabilia as they wish e.g. today I have received school magazines from 1952 and 1954. I will collate whatever comes in. We all have memories of HGS - some good, some not so good. Together we can develop a lasting picture of our school.
As ever,
Dave McKenzie
Dear Dave,
I was pointed to the website by Sheila Kelsall and was most impressed, it contains lots of marvellous things. HGS days were not the happiest of my life but I can remember two things above all - apart from Russ Hamilton’s total adulation of Geoffrey Boycott. Mr Collette gave me the best definition of education I’ve ever heard. He said: “I can teach you all you need to know to get you through your exams, but my task in life is to encourage you to read and enjoy all these things after you’ve left school.” The RE teacher Mr Hassall posed two questions which I have always remembered. He said: “If space has boundaries, what is on the other side of the boundaries?” and “If the big bang created all the matter in the universe, what was there to go bang in the first place?”
I left HGS 1960 and started work as a reporter with the South Yorkshire Times. I’ve been in the business since then, for the last 30 years with the Oxford Mail.
Ian
(June 2002)
Dear Ian,
Thank you very much for contacting the site. Your favourable comments are much appreciated. Mr. Collette for me was a wonderful man. After you left 5S I stayed for two more years. He was always there to advise when needed. I hope you will keep in touch with the site and try to personalise it with your HGS thoughts if possible. We have an audience which is growing. I couldn’t see HGS disappear without trace, so the website was set up. People send in memorabilia as they wish e.g. today I have received school magazines from 1952 and 1954. I will collate whatever comes in. We all have memories of HGS - some good, some not so good. Together we can develop a lasting picture of our school.
As ever,
Dave McKenzie
5. The HGS website viewing trends 17.11.2025-16.12.2025
6. 1940: Dark times
Sandbags by the Nine Steps
On the Forecourt
Some of the HGS Girls in 1940
Some of the HGS Girls in 1940
Some of the Teams from 1939-40
Hockey 1st Team
Back Row L-R: Dorothy Grange, Jean Wilson, Florence Hart, Mary Cutts, Joyce Gill, Marjorie Tiffany.
Front Row L-R: Ivy Wagstaffe, Betty Clayton, Doreen Lawton, Edna Harper, Patricia Morri
Front Row L-R: Ivy Wagstaffe, Betty Clayton, Doreen Lawton, Edna Harper, Patricia Morri
Rounders 1st Team
Back Row L-R: A. Marsh, M. Lawton, Margaret Jowett, Marjorie Tiffany.
Front Row L-R: Sylvia Filer, Edith Godfrey, Edna Clayton, Ethel Hodgson, Kathleen Metcalfe.
Front Row L-R: Sylvia Filer, Edith Godfrey, Edna Clayton, Ethel Hodgson, Kathleen Metcalfe.
Tennis 1st Team
Back Row L-R: Hannah Womack, Florence Hart, Joyce Gill, Joan Wilson.
Front Row L-R: Betty Clayton, Barbara Townend.
Front Row L-R: Betty Clayton, Barbara Townend.
Rugby 1st Team
Back Row L-R: Robert Thorpe, Keith Jenkinson, Charles Hellewell, John Phillips, John Bell, Leslie Street, Maurice Chapman.
Middle Row L-R: Cyril Mellor, Donald McAllister, Ernest Skinner, Geoffrey Harwood, Frank Mugglestone.
Front Row L-R: Harry Walker, Albert Lawton, Major D.W..
Middle Row L-R: Cyril Mellor, Donald McAllister, Ernest Skinner, Geoffrey Harwood, Frank Mugglestone.
Front Row L-R: Harry Walker, Albert Lawton, Major D.W..
Cricket 1st Team
Back Row L-R: James Walker, Albert Lawton, Arthur Jessop, Frank Mugglestone, Ernest Skinner, Halsall M., Geoffrey Jowett.
Front Row L-R: Charles Hellewell, Donald McAllister, George Robinson, Robert Hawkins, Maurice Chapman
Front Row L-R: Charles Hellewell, Donald McAllister, George Robinson, Robert Hawkins, Maurice Chapman
7. The Moor and Mountain Club 1966
1966
This year saw the beginning of a new club dedicated to outdoor pursuits; something this school has previously lacked. Despite the fact that the membership is limited to the senior forms of the school - and that a small fee is charged, there has been a promising start and membership now totals over 120. The club's aim is eventually to arrange facilities for all outside hobbies and it is hoped to increase the funds so that the school can have its own supply of equipment and maps. Thanks must go to Mr. Bavister who has given much of his time to organising the club. At the end of last summer term he ran a census to determine the demand for such a club and after a successful, if not uneventful, camping and trekking holiday in Arran with a party of boys, decided to make the scheme a reality.
The first outing arranged was a youth hostel house party during the October half-term to Ingleton led by Mr. Bavister with his fiancée and Mlle. Passols. This was very much an experimental holiday to see how various ideas worked in practice. We were based at the youth hostel but did most of our own cooking which proved rather amusing as the kitchen was small and our number - 28, rather large. During the day we had the choice of accompanying Mr. Bavister and the staff, or going in groups as long as he approved the route.
The first day we climbed to the summit of Ingleborough. Later in the day, some of the more adventurous of us briefly explored Douk cave wading in the stream bed with water well above our knees to do so. The second day a walk was an arranged around the picturesque waterfall walk by Thornton Force and it gave the chance for some rock scrambling and swimming for those who were brave enough to enter the water at that time of year. Other places visited by some members of the party included Clapham Cave, Trow Gill and Gaping Gill, Whernside and White Scar Caves. The experiment proved very successful and two further ventures have been planned, the first to Moffat at Whitsuntide. This will be a camping and trekking holiday in the Tweedsmuir and Lowther hills. Surprisingly no girls were interested in this but the second venture to Chepstow in the summer was more in demand. In contrast this is a youth hostel house party and activities will include walking in the Forest of Dean and nearby Black Mountains and swimming at the coast.
The main activity of the club throughout the year has been the training for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. This began in January and was limited to fourth formers studying for their Bronze award. The response was far larger than expected: 31 boys and 14 girls. The course includes an expedition - some of which have already been accomplished in the Pennines - a hobby or pursuit, homecraft for girls, physical fitness for boys, and an aspect of social service, the one chosen being First Aid. The hobbies are varied, ranging from mountaincraft, stamps and music to natural science and photography, and many of the staff have helped with these. There has also been a large demand from the older members of the club for introduction of the Silver and Gold schemes and it is hoped that this might be arranged in the future.
The club as a whole meets to discuss the various ventures suggested and there have been two lectures on mountain safety one by Mr. Bavister and by Mr. W. Keay a lecturer from Bingley Training College. As a whole the club has had a very successful and encouraging first year and it is hoped that it will continue to expand and perhaps include some of the more adventurous ideas such as building and then sailing our own canoes.
Margaret Beaumont. U.6.S. Price
This year saw the beginning of a new club dedicated to outdoor pursuits; something this school has previously lacked. Despite the fact that the membership is limited to the senior forms of the school - and that a small fee is charged, there has been a promising start and membership now totals over 120. The club's aim is eventually to arrange facilities for all outside hobbies and it is hoped to increase the funds so that the school can have its own supply of equipment and maps. Thanks must go to Mr. Bavister who has given much of his time to organising the club. At the end of last summer term he ran a census to determine the demand for such a club and after a successful, if not uneventful, camping and trekking holiday in Arran with a party of boys, decided to make the scheme a reality.
The first outing arranged was a youth hostel house party during the October half-term to Ingleton led by Mr. Bavister with his fiancée and Mlle. Passols. This was very much an experimental holiday to see how various ideas worked in practice. We were based at the youth hostel but did most of our own cooking which proved rather amusing as the kitchen was small and our number - 28, rather large. During the day we had the choice of accompanying Mr. Bavister and the staff, or going in groups as long as he approved the route.
The first day we climbed to the summit of Ingleborough. Later in the day, some of the more adventurous of us briefly explored Douk cave wading in the stream bed with water well above our knees to do so. The second day a walk was an arranged around the picturesque waterfall walk by Thornton Force and it gave the chance for some rock scrambling and swimming for those who were brave enough to enter the water at that time of year. Other places visited by some members of the party included Clapham Cave, Trow Gill and Gaping Gill, Whernside and White Scar Caves. The experiment proved very successful and two further ventures have been planned, the first to Moffat at Whitsuntide. This will be a camping and trekking holiday in the Tweedsmuir and Lowther hills. Surprisingly no girls were interested in this but the second venture to Chepstow in the summer was more in demand. In contrast this is a youth hostel house party and activities will include walking in the Forest of Dean and nearby Black Mountains and swimming at the coast.
The main activity of the club throughout the year has been the training for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. This began in January and was limited to fourth formers studying for their Bronze award. The response was far larger than expected: 31 boys and 14 girls. The course includes an expedition - some of which have already been accomplished in the Pennines - a hobby or pursuit, homecraft for girls, physical fitness for boys, and an aspect of social service, the one chosen being First Aid. The hobbies are varied, ranging from mountaincraft, stamps and music to natural science and photography, and many of the staff have helped with these. There has also been a large demand from the older members of the club for introduction of the Silver and Gold schemes and it is hoped that this might be arranged in the future.
The club as a whole meets to discuss the various ventures suggested and there have been two lectures on mountain safety one by Mr. Bavister and by Mr. W. Keay a lecturer from Bingley Training College. As a whole the club has had a very successful and encouraging first year and it is hoped that it will continue to expand and perhaps include some of the more adventurous ideas such as building and then sailing our own canoes.
Margaret Beaumont. U.6.S. Price
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Mr Bavister
Photo: Batey |
Mr. Owens
Photo: Batey |
1967
Our second year has proved successful, but we have had some problems arising out of the fact that we still have not managed to get our own tents. The main activity for the year has been our training for the Bronze Award of The Duke of Edinburgh's Scheme. The expedition for the boys is a fifteen-mile journey, while the girls have to complete a six-mile effort. During the summer holidays two outings were planned, a week's camp at Moffatt and a week in Chepstow Youth Hostel. At Moffat we enjoyed good weather and were able to cook outside. It was in Moffat's surrounding hills that some of the candidates for the Award undertook their expedition. Our party of five boys was four hours overdue and the police forces of three counties had been alerted and were searching for us, but they were, luckily, very understanding. We had a lot of fun; there was bathing in the river and the dam, and campfire gatherings. During the Christmas holidays a mixed party of forty, accompanied by Mr. Bavister and Mr. Owens, walked from the Flouch Inn to Ladybower Reservoir across snow and mountains.
For all these activities and the hard work he has done for us we thank Mr. Bavister.
Owen, G., Normans 4.
Our second year has proved successful, but we have had some problems arising out of the fact that we still have not managed to get our own tents. The main activity for the year has been our training for the Bronze Award of The Duke of Edinburgh's Scheme. The expedition for the boys is a fifteen-mile journey, while the girls have to complete a six-mile effort. During the summer holidays two outings were planned, a week's camp at Moffatt and a week in Chepstow Youth Hostel. At Moffat we enjoyed good weather and were able to cook outside. It was in Moffat's surrounding hills that some of the candidates for the Award undertook their expedition. Our party of five boys was four hours overdue and the police forces of three counties had been alerted and were searching for us, but they were, luckily, very understanding. We had a lot of fun; there was bathing in the river and the dam, and campfire gatherings. During the Christmas holidays a mixed party of forty, accompanied by Mr. Bavister and Mr. Owens, walked from the Flouch Inn to Ladybower Reservoir across snow and mountains.
For all these activities and the hard work he has done for us we thank Mr. Bavister.
Owen, G., Normans 4.
1968
Expedition to Snowdonia
During the October holidays, a group of fifth and sixth formers revisited the Christian Mountain Youth Centre, Beddgelert, N. Wales. Although some travelled by train, the van was still full and has not gone since we returned. We were all looking forward to enjoying ourselves as much as we had done last year, and we were not disappointed. Although the weather wasn't quite as fine (50 m.p.h. gales were quite common) we went out every day and discovered we weren't as fit as we had thought.
The first day, usually an easy one, found us climbing Moel Siabod; great fun although very exhausting (wading through swamps usually is). The easiest day was when we went round Cwm Idwal. This involved no climbing, but we must have looked very funny, fifteen of us trying to hide behind two big rocks as we tried to get into our Helle Hanson waterproofs while 70 m.p.h. winds lifted spray off the cwm and threw it straight at us. We never did recover all our lost belongings.
One never-to-be-forgotten incident took place when we were descending Snowdon. It had been raining heavily and the path was just thousands of little rivers. A certain Prefect slipped and, sitting, travelled several hundred yards downhill, ending up in bushes at the side. The expression on his face just cannot be described. Several of the party then decided this way was much the easiest way to descend the slope. I'm sure there must now be many stories going around Beddgelert about orange-and red-clad figures who come screaming down the Snowdon Ranger path on rainy afternoons.
We would like to extend our thanks to Mr. Bavister, without whose help and time, the visit would not have been possible, and
without whose guidance we would not have been here now!
L. Collingwood, L6S
Expedition to Snowdonia
During the October holidays, a group of fifth and sixth formers revisited the Christian Mountain Youth Centre, Beddgelert, N. Wales. Although some travelled by train, the van was still full and has not gone since we returned. We were all looking forward to enjoying ourselves as much as we had done last year, and we were not disappointed. Although the weather wasn't quite as fine (50 m.p.h. gales were quite common) we went out every day and discovered we weren't as fit as we had thought.
The first day, usually an easy one, found us climbing Moel Siabod; great fun although very exhausting (wading through swamps usually is). The easiest day was when we went round Cwm Idwal. This involved no climbing, but we must have looked very funny, fifteen of us trying to hide behind two big rocks as we tried to get into our Helle Hanson waterproofs while 70 m.p.h. winds lifted spray off the cwm and threw it straight at us. We never did recover all our lost belongings.
One never-to-be-forgotten incident took place when we were descending Snowdon. It had been raining heavily and the path was just thousands of little rivers. A certain Prefect slipped and, sitting, travelled several hundred yards downhill, ending up in bushes at the side. The expression on his face just cannot be described. Several of the party then decided this way was much the easiest way to descend the slope. I'm sure there must now be many stories going around Beddgelert about orange-and red-clad figures who come screaming down the Snowdon Ranger path on rainy afternoons.
We would like to extend our thanks to Mr. Bavister, without whose help and time, the visit would not have been possible, and
without whose guidance we would not have been here now!
L. Collingwood, L6S
