From the Editorial by Ronald Twining: I have great pleasure in taking over the editorship of this, the fifth edition of the Mayfield Magazine, from my predecessor, Brian Haynes, who I am given to understand is well on the way to becoming a successful journalist.

From the Headmaster’s Review by C. F. W. Hicks: At the end of the present school year it is our intention that School Leaving Certificates shall be awarded to all boys who successfully complete the full four year course and who reach the required standard in the various subjects.

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Contributor List – Click on items shown as links to jump to the entry

How To Paper And Paint A Bedroom by Brian Lock
A Storm by Owen Bristowe
Amethyst by D. Evans
The Skipper by Owen Bristowe
Cricket by G. Duberry
Kwasi And His Family by Derek Eady
A Tramp by S. Powditch
The S.S. Paparoa by M. Walsingham
A Letter To Mrs Gray by Ronald Twining
Making A Film In Our Playground by D. Chambers
Storm At Sea by R. Schneider
Snow by Frank Hale
A Letter From Australia
His Great Ambition by Brian Paddon
A Day Sea Fishing by G. Gower
A Visit To Carisbrooke Castle by Peter Clarke
A Mad Dog by Brian Lock
The Old Bridge by J. Hill
Life With A Leading London Newspaper by B. Haynes, M.O.B.A
A Theatre Attendant by J. Gymer
The Butcher by E. Carter
Shipwrecked by E. Carter
The Nightjar by G. Goodwin
The Great Fire Of London, 1666 by T. Gocke
A Holiday On The Norfolk Broads by K. Waller
Cycle Speedway by Brian Bond
The Cavalier by T. Turnber
From My Diary by Stuart Day
A Football Referee by C. Price
Swimming – The Crawl by Michael Gadeke
Sea Pirates by N. Crick

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A Storm by 0. Bristowe
The sky was blue and cheerful but on the horizon dark and forbidding clouds were forming. They came nearer and gradually converged into one large inky black cloud. One minute the sun was shining its pleasant rays upon. the earth. The next minute, everything was dark, the cloud engulfing the enchanting blue sky in its clutches. The air became still and the heat was stifling, and then it broke. Lightning cleaved the dark clouds like a mighty sword. The thunder bellowed like a giant in agony and the rain swooped on the earth in mad torrents. The thunder and lightning ceased. The rain stopped its mad rush to the earth and the sun broke through, its tender rays warming the earth’s chilled body.

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Amethyst by D. Evans
The Amethyst is home again,
After making the Chinese quiver,
The crew have brought her home again,
From the unfriendly Yangtse River.
The gallant crew were more than brave,
In the craft that they did serve,
‘Twas British daring pulled them through,
And the Captain’s iron nerve.
All throughout their struggle,
They kept the flag aloft,
And they raced from the jaws of death,
When the night was soft.
We shall not forget this glorious feat,
And will always loud their praises ring,
We shall not forget, ‘Rejoined the Fleet,’
Or the ending, ‘God Save The King.’

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The S.S. Paparoa by M. Walsingham
Our ship belongs to the New Zealand Shipping Company of London, and trades between Home, Australia and New Zealand. Sometimes she calls at Montreal in Canada, and New York in the U.S.A. Details: 493 feet long, 64ft 6ins beam, two masts and a speed of 15 knots. Gross tonnage is over 10,000 tons. She has one funnel and was built in Glasgow in 1943. She was lucky to come through the war unharmed.
We got a long and interesting letter from the Officers telling us about their travels. From this country she generally carries general cargo – all sorts of manufactured goods – motor cars, machinery and chemicals. On her present outward journey (she left Liverpool August 16th, 1949) the Chief Officer tells us:
‘We are full to overflowing – we have cased cars as deck cargo. One item, which might amuse you, are the four valuable pedigree sheep which are housed in two pens on the after-deck. It may seem like carrying coals to Newcastle, taking sheep to New Zealand, but quite a few first grade sheep are sent out to New Zealand for breeding purposes to improve the strain. We at home benefit, as the quality and quantity of the mutton and wool we import is improved. At the time of writing the four sheep are in good condition and we certainly hope to keep them that way. The ships butcher is responsible for the feeding and care of them and he’s taking a lively interest in their well being!’
Our last news from the Paparoa was from the navigating officer after leaving the Panama canal. She was then ploughing along the 6,600 miles stretch of Pacific towards Auckland, New Zealand. He says:
‘The only land we expect to see is the island of Rawavae in the Austral Group – otherwise the view will consist of sea, more sea, and when one becomes tired of that, more sea. Of course there are the flying fish, but I’m afraid we don’t take much notice of them after the first few days.’
By the time this is in print I expect we shall have heard a lot more from our ship. By the time you read this she has probably been home and is on her way out again to bring us home mutton, lamb and dairy produce to help out our rations. Wherever she is we wish her God-speed and a safe voyage.

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A Letter To Mrs. Gray
18th October, 1949
106, Grove Road,
Chadwell Heath,
Romford,
Essex.
Dear Mrs. Gray,
I, along with all the other boys and girls and young citizens of this town of Ilford, would like to thank you most heartily for your most gracious gift of rice, which you sent to us from your farm.
I live in a small suburb called Chadwell Heath, which is about twelve miles east from the heart of London. This district is in the Borough of Ilford and in the county of Essex. Ilford has a population of about one hundred and eighty thousand and covers an area of about 8,435 acres. It was made a borough in 1927.
The school which I attend is called Mayfield Secondary School. We learn the usual subjects such as Maths, English, History, Geography, and also we have woodwork and metalwork, and plenty of physical training and sports, which I like very much. Next week I am competing in the annual cross-country run which covers a distance of two and a half miles.
Our school has its own library in which there are over a thousand books, also a garden and playing fields. During the dinner hour there are plenty of clubs which interest most boys. The clubs include music, stamps, photographic, shipping, geographical, chess, boxing and aquarists’ clubs. We also have a magazine, of which I am the editor.
I also attend evening school where I learn shorthand and typewriting. This establishment is also a youth centre and anyone who is over a certain age can join. Here we can play table tennis, billiards, cards, chess and any other indoor games available.
My family consists of four, of whom I am the youngest. My father is a telegraphist on the railway. He works at Liverpool Street Station, which is one of the largest stations in London. My mother is a normal housewife. I also have a brother who works at “Ilford Limited.” You may have heard of them. They make photographic materials.
I am interested in fishing, photography, cycling, cricket and football. I cycle to school, which is about two miles, every day, and often go for short rides into the nearby countryside.
I like the cinema and I usually go about once a week. Last week the school took us to see that great English film, Hamlet. During the winter evenings I listen quite a lot to the radio, and sometimes am able to hear programmes in your country, although now we have a television and do not use the radio so much.
I don’t think I have any more to tell you, so thanking you once again for your gift, I will close.
Yours sincerely,
Ronald Twining

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Making A Film In Our Playground by D. Chambers

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A Letter From Australia
Coppin Road,
Mundariag.
Western Australia.
October 1st, 1949.
Dear Malcolm,
I received you letter a long time ago, but did not answer it straight away.
Now that I am sick in bed, I have plenty of time to answer your letter, so here it is.
First of all I will tell you what I look like, I am about five feet two inches tall, have dark hair and brown eyes. My birthday is on the 30th of October, and I am now thirteen and a half years old.
Here in Australia there are six States, Western Australia, which is the biggest, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Most of Australia’s sugar comes from Queensland.
Here in Western Australia the main industries are wheat, gold, sheep, dairy produce, timber and fruit.
Up in the north of Western Australia a lot of cattle are bred, also there is a meat factory.
There is also a place called Broome, where a lot of pearl diving is done. Divers go out in a small two or three masted boat which is called a lugger. Divers go down into the sea and look for oysters, in which are found the pearls. When the diver thinks he has all he wants he pulls a rope and the men who are on board the boat pull him up to the surface and then on to the boat, where his diving suit is taken off him.
Here where I live is twenty miles from Perth, Western Australia’s capital.
About 7 miles from here is the Mandaring Weir, which is a huge wall built across the Helena River, damming the water back to make a reservoir. From here water is supplied to Kalgoorlie, the big gold-mining centre in the desert, 350 miles away. As the water has first to be lifted over the Darling Ranges, and then pumped uphill to Kalgoorlie, seven pumping stations are used along the way.
My brother and I go to school about two miles away. At school we do lessons and then at dinnertime we play football or cricket, according to the seasons. On Friday from 2 o’clock until half-past three we have our sport. The boys play football or cricket, while the girls play basket-ball or tennis.
If I do not write to you again before your birthday, here’s wishing you many happy returns of that day.
Your Australian Friend,
Gary Robinson.

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A Visit To Carisbrooke Castle by Peter Clarke
Carisbrooke Castle is situated on top of a hill, in Newport, Isle of Wight. It has one big entrance which overlooks a small village just outside Newport. There are several turrets and at the top of the battlements overhanging trees make a very pleasant effect in summer. Down below there are several plots of land in which clusters of violets grow.
There are plenty of places of interest. For instance there is the old Well House, which was once a place of punishment. Whenever water was needed men were put in a large treadwheel and made to draw water from the well. Nowadays donkeys are used to show visitors how the Well House was once used. The donkeys step into the wheel, which consists of a large wooden framework with a flat wooden base. The well is exceptionally deep and to prove this the guide fills a jug with water and pours it into the well. Seconds later a muffled splash can be heard as the hurtling water crashes upon the surface of the water in the well. Opposite there is a small chapel which has been used a great many times by former Kings and Queens. Inside the chapel the golden candlesticks on the altar stand out when the sun’s rays reach them.
Nearby, the castle’s museum stands close to the wall with steps leading to the door. On entering the museum most visitors are surprised at the number of skulls and bones in glass cases. The museum is a very interesting place because it has things dating back hundreds of years. There are suits of armour and weapons used by soldiers of long ago. In the glass in one corner of the room there is a locket of hair from Charles I and a button from the cloak which he wore on the scaffold. The castle itself is a centre of attraction for visitors and tourists and the whole summer sees a constant stream of people wending their way up the hill from Newport, to spend an afternoon in the days of long ago.

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The Old Bridge by J. Hill

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Life With A Leading London Newspaper by B. Haynes, M.O.B.A.

Life in the newspaper world is always full of colourful and fascinating activity. Many interesting personalities which to the ordinary man in the street are but names on paper, are seen in their respective offices at different hours of the day. Even if you are not personally occupied at certain times, there is always something new you can learn by careful observation or a polite question. Every day a little scrap of information connects up a whole string of events which you have tried to piece together for weeks. From the reported sensation to the printed newspaper headlines is incorporated a host of activity which fits together as neatly as the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle.
At first sight the works of a well-known London newspaper are but floor after floor of offices and machinery. It seems impossible that such a confusing array could function with any degree of efficiency. In those rows of desks and presses, however, there lies an organisation which has taken years of careful and patient planning to build up into fame. The people who run the newspaper have had years of experience and practice in their respective trades.
I am lucky in the fact that I work for a prominent London newspaper. I meet and speak to the people, the cartoonists, film and theatre critics, authors, playwrights, journalists and M.P’s whose work you see as long columns of type in your daily paper. I go to their residences to collect their articles which amuse or interest you whatever the case may be.
There is a definite thrill and fascination in meeting and speaking to these people who are outstanding in their professions. They are not, as quite a number of people seem to think, cold and uncompromising. On the contrary they are always pleasant and affable. Quite a large section of the general public also seem to have the impression that these men are, demi-gods in their job, and as such walk about with long and serious faces all day. This is most definitely not true. They are only ordinary men doing their job, but because they have unusually brilliant and perceptive minds they rise to the heights of popularity in the words they write in their columns each day. I can read their articles with 100% more interest, and understand them with greater ease because I know what their respective jobs are.
There is also another useful and educational side to my job. Although I have only been in this firm since the latter part of the summer term, during that time I have learnt more about London than I have in years. I go to the famous hotels, squares, buildings, streets, etc., and I have a fairly good idea how the seemingly unimportant little back streets connect them up. Places which I have never seen in my life before hold a greater degree of interest when I go to them on business for my firm. Not only do I see them as the public do, but I go behind the scenes and meet the people who run them. Museums, famous London fashion houses, are seen in a more practical light. Believe me, in the maze of courts and streets which go to make up London, it is a very valuable asset if you can gain any knowledge of a short cut which may shorten a journey of several miles. It is worth noting that in these hidden back streets there are many articles of great historical value, mainly old buildings.
A lot of people seem to have gained a rather colourful and exaggerated impression of certain jobs which are connected with a newspaper. The ideas seem to harp on the different methods of getting the news to paper. A typical example seems to be the reporter. These rather florid notions are in a large majority of cases, gained from fictional sources, the fact being that a reporter leads a life which is one romantic round of breathtaking and thrilling incidents. Crashes, fires, daring on-the-spot events, are a few of the many instances. The idea. however, is greatly exaggerated. It is quite true that reporters do occasionally see these things, for it is their job. But they do not see them in such a vivid manner. Usually they are out most of the morning and afternoon, and they come into the office in the early part of the evening to discuss their stories, etc. Their reports are phoned to the office and taken down by a Dictaphone or typed down by a fast typist.
The newspaper is not one mad maelstrom of disorganised events. People do not rush up and down corridors, and in and out of departments shouting and making a noise. Everything is done with a quick and neat efficiency with the minimum of fuss and bother. Of course, things do very occasionally go wrong, but this is bound to happen in big business.
When you next read your paper think of the vast network of offices and machinery which have gone to print the news that you are now reading. A modern country relies on the newspaper to give its citizens the news, sensations, politics and items of interest that our daily routine of life is based upon. Without the newspaper the political world would never gain supporters, the people would never know their position in relation to other lands, and many other items which would take a long time to mention would never gain publicity. The biggest part of our life revolves round the newspaper in the street. Without it the whole world would be at a complete standstill.

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Cycle Speedway by Brian Bond
Cycle Speedway is becoming a sport for youths of all ages. The track is often built on waste ground or sometimes a Council gives a small plot of land in a park. There is such a track in Barking Park, being fenced off in order to allow the public to watch the sport without injury. The team which rides there is known as the “Longbridge Leopards”. This was started by a few boys racing round a circle, but now it has become well organised.
The type of bicycle used is an ordinary machine which is stripped of mudguards and brakes, and the rules are much the same as motor-cycle speedway. There are ten teams now operating in Dagenham and these have been formed into a League which is controlled by the Dagenham Speedway Control Board where the fixtures are made and members meet to discuss problems.

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A Football Referee by Colin Price
This article concerns my father. I used to see him reading all about the laws of football. One day he took me to see him referee a junior game which was being played in the middle of a field. It was raining cats and dogs. We went to several games after that and he told me that one day I would see him referee big games. He worked hard and was rewarded when Essex County Football Association put him in Class 1, the highest in football.
The day his appointment came, I read it and could hardly wait for him to come home. His first big game was at Southend. The night before the match, my father polished his boots and pressed all his gear; which he always does before every game. We went to the game and when he came out after the players he looked very smart. Thousands of people were there and I felt peculiar and wondered how he felt. The game started and everyone seemed to forget my father, but as he said afterwards, that’s a good sign, because if he did anything wrong they would soon let him know.
Since then I have been to most of his matches and have been to many big football grounds, such as Arsenal and Chelsea, Brentford and West Ham United. He is always training, because he says that it is just as important for him to be fit as it is for the players. I go with him some Tuesday evenings, when he trains thirty to thirty five players, as he is secretary for two football teams. I am very proud of my father, and one day after I have played for a big club, I want to follow in his footsteps.

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