1961 Staff Photos
Photos taken and posted by Roy Tyzack
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Mr. Summers
Mr. Skinner
Mr Jackson
Mr. Harvey
Messrs. Braham and Francis
Mr. Fry
Mr. Cutting
Mr Ivey
Mr Whyatt
Mayfield Memories
The Mayfield Secondary Schools in Goodmayes and Chadwell Heath
Mr. Ivey aka Bouncer because of his tendency to rock back and forth when addressing the class. At the end of the year 1964 Mr Ivey had almost the entire class standing behind him as he spoke to those of us ‘not clever enough’ to stay on. Little did he know there were 30+ boys ‘bouncing’ behind him. It was hard to keep a straight face. Later in the year a group of 5th year boys leavers decided to ‘serenade’ Mr Ivey from the school playing field. How we kept our composure during the strains of ‘Just Like The Ivy On The Old Garden Wall’ I’ll never know. A tough but fair master.
Mr. Jackson, ‘Jacko’. The woodwork teacher who punished boys by whacking them hard with a large piece of balsa wood. Not surprisingly it always broke and was totally ineffective as a weapon of capital punishment.
Mr. Harvey, hard as nails and with a voice that could cut you in two. Moved me from metalwork to his motor engineering class, but I was useless at both. On my leaving day he gave me fine words of encouragement for the future and surprised me by actually knowing who I was. A very good teacher.
Harry Braham, my favourite teacher at Mayfield. Taught me everything I know about printing, a passion that has stayed with me to this day. He was the first teacher to treat me like an adult (before my parents even) and expected me to behave accordingly. Big respect for a fine man.
Mr. Cutting persevered with my science eduction even though it was clear to all how hopeless and disinterested in the subject I was. I never quite worked out whether he was passionate about science or just acquiring human guinea pigs for some of his wild experiments. However, he was always one of the teachers we all wanted to be taught by as he made education interesting and fun. As we got to know him better it became obvious to us all that he was simply a Top Bloke. Sadly missed.
Syd Perkins
Many thanks to Roy for the teachers’ photographs. What strikes me is how young they all look, with the possible exception of Mr. Cutting. Mr. Ivey in particular looks positively boyish compared to my memory of him. Mr. Cutting looks like he is about to open a can of lager. It was probably sold to him by John Judd, also in the photo.
Barry MacLennan
Just looked at the above photos and I remembered each one. Mr Cutting was my last master before I left Christmas 1960. I remember Dick Fry and his cane that he kept kept curled up in his brief case. They were good old days.
Richard Hewes
I wonder what the children of today would make of having senior teachers like we did. My 16 year old daughter just looked at the pictures of the teachers and said they look scary. Thank you for putting them on here I, can even smell the class rooms.
David Taylor
I remember it was believed by some that Mr Cutting was ex SS, he certainly looked the part. We were terrified of him, in black and white its true they do look scary. I remember how kind some teachers were, and I think some hated kids. I could not do the job myself.
Peter Woods
I don’t know if this counts as staff but does anyone else remember Colin Watson who was the school caretaker in the 1960s. It doesn’t mention this in his Wiki, but I remember him bringing in all his Speedway Trophies to show us. My dad did speedway and Colin Watson was a hero of his. He was lovely with us kids and told us all about his career as a Speedway Rider.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Watson_(speedway_rider)
Peter Woods
I have a feeling, thinking back, he was not the caretaker but he drove a bus to the school every day which was in Ilford Council livery. He was always around and had grey hair and looked older than the picture, someone else must remember him and maybe know more than me. Speedway was an important sport and West Ham was supposed to be the biggest stadium in the world at one time. Houses were built on it in the early 70s. My dad said he was the best, and was very impressed he was coming to my school, a very charming man.
Peter Woods
Hi I remember Colin Watson telling myself, Peter woods, Steve Marcar, and Ray Sewell about his days in speedway. I never believed him until I told my Mother and she confirmed his stories as she was a season ticket holder of Westham Speedway. I thought he drove the cooked dinner delivery vans.
Hello to all who knew me. I remember them all with fond memories now. Having only just found this website I will make a point of returning when I can. Just like to say THANK YOU to all the old staff members for what they did for us, although we may not have always thought so at the time.
Hi Michael. Good to see someone on the site that I actually remember. Did you also go to Barmy Lane?
Hello Barry, yes I did for a short time so did my brother after we moved to Goodmayes from Walthamstow.
Have just stumbled on this site and it evokes a lot of memories, unfortunately mostly bad. I was at Mayfield 1959-63 although I left late ’62 by way of truancy which wasn’t discovered until early 63. Left school as a real thicko with nothing and ended up working 30 years in the City as a commodity broker. Two teachers I still feel resentment towards are Ken Wyatt and John Moore closely followed by Glyn Summers. Mr Harvey was ok but Ken Weetch was one of the few who made allowances for the fact that I lost my father a couple of years before going to Mayfield. Pupils I remember: Steve Elsey, Ian Ramsey, Paul Sloane, John Johnson, Doug Boucher, Martin Carcas. Thinking about it, quite a few more. Some happy days down Goodmayes Lane.
I remember Ray Finch, not as a friend but as a fellow schoolboy. I seem to remember a quiff to the front of the hair. Steve Elsey, Ian Ramsey, Paul Sloane, John Johnson, Doug Boucher, Martin Carcas are all names that have stayed deep within my mind. Ian Ramsey lived just around the corner from me in Percy Road, Dougie Boucher used to live just off Longbridge Road. As for John Johnson, I believe he commenced at Mayfield when I was in the 3rd year, the day I got caned by Mr Jackson the geography teacher. A very clever boy who had the ability to soak details up without the need for doing homework etc and because of that the school prevented him from sitting his GCEs. I seem to remember some years later he fell off a railway bridge and died.
Hello Geoff, thank you for replying its great to hear from you. In many instances I can remember names but not faces. I too received the cane from Mr Jackson for sub-standard homework. Didn’t he have an artificial leg from a war injury! John Johnson was a close friend of mine and he jumped off a bridge in 1965/66 following the break up of a relationship but other factors were involved. He did survive but was paralysed. His parents moved to a bungalow near South Park to accommodate him, believe it was in Parkway. Last saw him in late 1967. I always feel guilty about losing touch with him and often wonder how he coped. A very intelligent person and he introduced me to Bob Dylan and blues music. I remember he was friends with Geoff Sloane and his younger brother Paul. On the pupil list I see Tony Roper. His claim to fame is that he lived next door to Bobby Moore just off Gants Hill. Glenwood Gardens I believe. Remember knocking at his door and getting his autograph. Tony was also a very good musician. So many memories are flooding back.
The gardener in the 60’s I new as Horas the gardener. He would share his rolling tobacco to make and smoke a cigarette in his hut. Thought he was a good bloke at the time.
Reading these as they came up on my Facebook. I went to Mayfield Girls. Ray Finch, I also was thought of as a thicko. I hated school and the teachers, they paid no attention to me because I couldn’t do maths and didn’t seem to amount to anything. I felt like they hated me. I ended up after having been an Executive Secretary for years, as the CEO of my own company. I have nearly 50 staff and work very closely with the Council and am Vice Chairman of an organisation and have been nominated to represent another organisation by the Council. Children and young people should never be judged on school achievements or lack of them because they might just become something no one expects them to be. Lots of people have excelled after school. My dad’s cousin May, was secretary to Ron Greenwood back in the 50’s and 60’s. We got an invite to a party that Bobby Moore attended but don’t know what it was for.
These are fabulous memory jogging pics. Like many others I thought Mr. Cutting a bit sadistic if not deranged – but harmless enough if you did your homework and stayed awake in class. I remember he could hit an earlobe at 12 feet with flying chalk if you didn’t! But it was Mr. Ivey that I remember most clearly as my form master in 5E1. His flair for sheer arrogance was an inspiration to move on as quickly as possible. But they were both good school masters and I expect they helped to shape me positively even though at the time I rather disliked them. Mr. Bradley (English) was my favourite – a real gentleman and extremely caring to me throughout my time there. RIP to all of them – but didn’t Mr. Ivey actually drop dead in front of his class eventually?
I remember getting on the 62 bus to school and having to sit next to geography teacher Mr Jackson as there was no other seat available. I inadvertently trod on his foot and said sorry. He looked at me inquiringly, he hadn’t felt it, it was his the wooden leg.
I think Mr Cutting was sadistic. A boy named Winters in our class during a science lesson was larking about with a Bunsen burner when Mr Cutting crept up behind him and clapped is thumbs against his neck’s jugular veins which made Winters go dizzy and nearly pass out.
I was late once, on the way to school, belting along Goodmayes Lane on my bike when I overtook Mr Cutting in his old Rover car. He used to creep along in it at about 15mph. Mr Rew PT master once held me upside down by my ankles and shook me until my dinner money, fags and matches fell out of my pockets, unhappy day.
Teacher Norman Rimel drove an ancient James motorbike that he parked in the playgrounds bike shed. We would lie in wait for him to arrive blowing along with huge old oilskin mac on and we would cheer him and run off.
And there was the dreaded teacher, Mr Saunders or Pop Saunders as we called him. He mooched about all the time with a cane in his hand.
Around 1960 maths teacher, Mr Harvey, ran a lunch time Chess Club. I attended it with Peter Hancock, a classmate. We slunk in and sat down at a vacant chess board, and pretended that we could play chess by playing a bizarre version of draughts. Along came Mr Harvey, beaming with glee at seeing two new members so engrossed in the great game. Standing quietly watching our game play his smile gradually faded into a sort of quizzical wincing grimace, whilst Peter and I turned as red as Beetroots with embarrassment, but still soldiered on with the game. Eventually Mr Harvey intervened remarking on our unusual method of play and perked up a bit when we agreed to undergo a little tuition by him. We felt a bit sorry for him in a way because his chess club was seriously short of members at that time, so I expect he was really really glad of our attendance. We learnt the game quite well in the end. So thank you, Mr Harvey, who we called ‘Mr Touch-em’ cos that’s what he always said when he was about to give you the slipper. Incidentally there was also a lunch time gardening club which I belonged to for about 14 minutes, but I won’t go into that.
Staff transport.
I have quite a long memory and can remember some of the various modes of transport used by staff members who drove, rode, across our front B class playground. Here we go then.
Mr Frankland astounded us all by turning up one morning in a brand new 1959 White Ford 105E Anglia. Mr Harvey drove a MII Ford Consul, and being a shortish chap could hardly see out of it. He told us that he bought it with the money he’d saved by giving up smoking. Mr Fry ran an ancient Wolseley. Mr Cutting, very sedately, an old 1947 black Rover. Someone drove a 3 wheeled Bond minicar, Mr Pusey, I think. Mr Gregory rode a push-bike. But the most eye boggling and dramatic arrival was Mr Norman Rimmel on his ancient red James motorbike, his oil skin ballooning out in the wind, leaving a dense cloud of oily smoke in its wake. We used to lie in wait to cheer him along.
I see there is a circle on the blackboard behind Mr Ivey, and a very well-drawn circle if I may say so. Notice how I use my arm as a complex mathematical compass – Colin Belton use to do a great impersonation of Mr Ivey’s geometry lessons. I recall Mr Ivey being particularly animated on Friday’s when he used to arrive with a handful of ‘Mathematical Pii’ pamphlets. He positively bounced with anticipation at the thought of getting home to spend the evening solving all the mathematical puzzles. The mathematical swats in the class eagerly coughed up the few pence required to procure their very own copy. For all that, his enthusiasm for his subject probably did much to carry the rest of us mortals through. That old fashioned dedication remains a valuable and admirable commodity.
Well I don’t personally think Mr Cutting (aka Chinkie) was in the SS but can sympathise with the thought. I seem to recall being told he was an ace RAF fighter pilot during the war but then again I also seem to remember seeing a post elsewhere on this website stating that he was teaching during the war. He remains a bit of an enigma.
The human experimentation aspect of his work in the school is certainly true. Electricity was one of his specialities. On one occasion he passed a loop of wire around the classroom and instructed us to hold on to it. The ends were connected to an electrical transformer. The charge of electricity reached each one of us in turn. Then with unmistakable relish he informed us that we had each received a 3000 or maybe it was a 30,000 volt charge. Can’t actually remember the number. But as he had demonstrated his immense consideration towards us by limiting the amps, or was it watts, to an infinitesimal number he has allowed us all to survive. Not sure what the purpose of the demonstration was but as even to this day I don’t know the difference between watts and amps the method must have been suspect.
The electricity torture was utilised on other occasions. As a result of some now forgotten misdemeanour I was forced to place one hand on top of the sparking plug of a cutaway two stroke engine he had in the lab while cranking it with the other.
There might have been a bit of a sadistic streak in him as suggested above but in his case it was more than a little mitigated by the obvious playful good humour with which he undertook his experiments, which is much more than can be said about some other members of staff. We know who they were.
As for staff transport, didn’t Mr Larcombe (Peanuts) drive a yellow Isetta ‘bubble car’. Mr Rew used to get a cheer as he rode his motorcycle in through the rear play-ground.
I can only remember Harry Braham’s Saab in the 1960s.
I thought Mr Rew rode a Carlton push bike.
Harry Braham in the 60’s? I recall a Triumph Herald at some point.
There was also that moment when peanuts attempted to emulate Mr’s Brown and Trewin who drove though the yard braking as recklessly close to the art block as possible in their mini’s. He clearly forgot that the bubble car was not equipped with a reverse and could not get out until a team of us pushed him back a few feet.
Having slept on it I now recall that Derick Trewin had a motor scooter not a mini. The game of brinkmanship took place with a teacher with a mini cooper but I cannot name him. I don’t believe he was one that taught me at any point.
After seeing the photos of various masters from the 1950’s, they brought back a few meries.
Mr. Jackson, who taught Geography when I was in 3X. Also he was one of the masters that went with the group on the first trip abroard to Holland. He announced quite loudly that I knew Dutch! This was when I helped him buy some matches (he smoked a pipe) and I asked the shopkeeper in Yiddish for them. He didn’t know Yiddish and thought it was Dutch and then at times I had to act as an unofficial interpreter.
Mr. Cutting I remember for his sense of humour and his stories from the war.
Mr. Fry and I had on many occaisons had talks about religion.
Mr Fry apart from bouncing on his toes also hooked his thumbs in his waiscoat and looked at us over the top of his specs which sometimes perched on the end of his nose.
Mr. Hicks (who does not appear in the pictures, but elsewhere) was a stern but fair headmaster. I remember that when I went to him in September 1960 (I had just started in 5E2) to inform him that I was emigrating to Israel. After telling him the reason why, he then stood and came round to where I was standing, shook my hand and wished me and my family luck in the new venture.
I remember Mr Fry as well, but I think the teacher on his toes and looking over his specs was Mr (bouncer) Ivy.