Dick Raine Use these hot links left to view your areas of interest
I came across this piece the other day in an old magazine. It struck a chord two really. The proposal that church bells should be rung during this year's jubilee celebrations reminded me of Hawkley. Church bells were heard again in 1944 when the regulations were relaxed (bell ringing had been saved for warnings of an invasion should it happen). Peter Crofts and I were members of the ringing team. Peter rang the tenor bell but I can't remember which one I was given, a lighter one but not the treble. The bells were often rung on Sundays and in keeping with the rest of the country we rang the Victory Peel in 1945!
Today there are eight bells and enthusiast from all parts of the country rings the peal.
A RAF fighter Pilot parachuted down from his damaged plane landing somewhere near the village. Due to poor visibility and other things on his mind he didn't know his exact position but judged himself to be over the South Downs. Catching a glimpse of a distinctive church tower with a four gabled spire he said he knew he was either, near Sompting in Sussex or 25 miles away in Hampshire near Hawkley. Perhaps someone from among the Old Boys or someone from among the village can remember the incident. Where did he land and what year was it? Was it during the Battle of Britain or later. I think well got the story via the Vicar the Rev Scott.
The vicar also related that Parsons Piece was enlarged at each end and changed from thatch to tiles in the early 50's by Mrs. Davies daughter.
Writing this has jogged another memory and brought back another story to mind. German raiders were often driven inland from Portsmouth before they could release their bombs. So as to go back empty they off loaded their bombs inland on soft targets many falling on farmland for example Slip cottage fields. At Empshott Green Farm after the Air Raid warning the family waited in the cellar and heard a range of noises planes, bombs and guns and then silence. The silence was broken by a man's voice speaking in a foreign language. Remembering the publicity about parachutists they were apprehensive to come out of the cellar Although the voice continued they gained in courage crept up to investigate but no one was there. With relief and they found that the radio had been set off by the bomb which had fallen the other side of the farmyard. Their fear of a German intruder was in fact the strange tones of the reader of the News in Norwegian. They could laugh at themselves then, as did the villagers when they were told, as they knew the family very well.
I thought these jottings might interest you and the others. I hope to join you all at some future re-union.
All the Best
Dick Raine May 2002
How Teachers Spend Their "Leisure"
Londoners' Daily Round in Hampshire
Extract from The Times Educational Supplement No 1285 1940 by Dr Raine
Our school, which by evacuation has been split into two parts, 16 miles apart, with each of the two parts having an offshoot separated by two or three miles, is much less disintegrated than many. We have been fortunate enough to secure local halls in one place (Rowlands Castle) and the village school (Hawkley where the younger village children and siblings of BCS evacuees have been displaced to the Village Institute) in the other, and full-time education of the type comparable with that in London is being given. We have not had to work the shift system and kill time by (as a. friend wrote to me this week) walking miles and miles and miles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while the local school is used for the local children. But even in our happy circumstances. There remain the evenings and the two-day mentioned in the Government's evacuation scheme. For my two parties we have opened three social clubs for evening recreational activities. Table games, bagatelle, darts, table tennis, and quiet reading are available, the facilities are much appreciated by the boys, and the relief of the householders must be considerable. Four football teams and a net ball team (for accompanying sisters) are running and matches with local teams are arranged. A league comprising four teams and the local Scout club has been formed and a trophy provided by the Boy Scout officers.
In my branch school at Hawkley one versatile master holds weekly evening choir practice in the Church for some of our children, to prepare them for entering the church choir when proficient. This teacher too has installed a first aid post and gives weekly lectures on first aid to the inhabitants. Special ARP exercises using boys as " patients " have been held. Here, too, evening cinema shows are given, using the school sound projector. School accommodation was not adequate in the village and my deputy secured permission to dismantle an Army hut, 6O feet by 18 feet and to reassemble it in the school playground. This is nearly completed with the help of the senior boys. Concrete pier foundations. , electric, wiring and water supply are all included in the work involved, and much, has been done out of school hours. Permission has been obtained to wire the village school for electric light.
CONTROLLING POCKET MONEY
Our summer camping experience (photo below), supplemented by observation during the first week, showed that some control of pocket money was an urgent necessity, the co-operation of most parents was obtained and a banking system instituted.
The Mayor visiting BCS in camp at Little Common, Bexhill 1939
All money for pocket and small purchases were sent to the headmaster and an account for each boy in the scheme. Payments and weekly withdrawals involving purchases of clothing are often made through the account and certified statements sent each month to, the parents of the children. These 'local" purchases of clothing usually mean a journey of three miles to the nearest shopping centre (Liss), and often children must be supervised, usually on a Saturday morning in their visits for the purpose of shopping. Another Saturday activity arose from the showing of an attractive film in this small town. A telephoned suggestion to the manager of the local cinema in Liss resulted in a special morning matinee.
Fifty of our pupils were prepared to make the journey on foot and were convoyed by three masters three miles each way. Was it worth it?
The children thought so.
Sunday is not a day of rest for the evacuees in Hawkley, we hold Church parades, and parties set off to Church of England and Non-conformist services.
We find the response admirable, and feel that maintenance of tone and cleanliness and neatness of dress are greatly assisted by this weekly assembly in Sunday best. Many parents make their visits on Sundays, and the children hail the arrival of the charabanc on the village green with delight. While the householders are very patient in receiving them, we, like many of our colleagues throughout the country, have felt it wise to relieve them by arranging a point of assembly and making available some light refreshment before they return home.
MENDING OF BOOTS
We are far more fortunate than most schools, in that clothing repairs are almost entirely arranged by the parents or are done by the householder, but in many districts teachers are accepting this responsibility where voluntary helpers are not available or are inadequate.
Boots !
Have even those of us who are parents ourselves ever realised the trouble and expense of boot repairs? This was seriously accentuated in areas where no indoor accommodation was available for the first few weeks. Children, who had already walked three miles to the point of assembly, the village green, or recreation ground, must be taken for a nature ramble!
The LCC has now agreed to advance the sum of £10 for the supply of tools and materials (where a suitable master is available) to assist with this, and fortunate is the school which has a member of the staff who can organise a "snobbing " squad.
Correspondence is a serious mater too, as head of a large central school my normal mail was considerable. Even with reduced numbers the volume has not declined. Letters from parents, householders, billeting officers, children remaining in London, employers, all need close personal attention.
Battersea Central School, Activities at Hawkley 1940
By Dr Raine
The section of Battersea Central School, Surrey lane, evacuated to Hawkley, Hampshire, which has been evacuated, elected its prefects.
The newly elected prefects were D Bindon. (Head prefect), R Gerard, D Hacker, B Crafter, and B. Jelley.
Mr. L.C Williams planned the ceremony; Dr Raine who has charge of the school based at Hawkley expressed the gratitude of the boys and staff to the people of Hawkley who had extended such a warm welcome. In reply Mr Davies the squire of Hawkley Hurst expressed his warm appreciation of the work of the billeting officers.
Mr. A. Ling, headmaster of the school, announced the achievements of Bindon in winning a prize of £5 for an essay on cruel sports; the cheque for £5, which had come to hand, was presented to the head prefect.
He also thanked, the masters and helpers at Hawkley for their efforts, and also drew attention to. The co-operation of the head mistress, Miss C Minors, who was in charge of the village school (It should be noted that whilst BCS took over the Village school building, the infants were decamped to the Village Institute, behind the Post Office)
It was Mr. Williams who, had prepared the excellent physical training demonstration which followed he was presented with a pipe on behalf of the pupils and was wished a most successful time in his new sphere as Physical training instructor at Goldsmiths College. Replying Mr. Williams referred to his long association with the school.
A film recording earlier summer camp activities was shown by Mr. EC King who has been giving regular film shows weekly in the village.
The visitors included: - Mr., Mrs. and Miss. Ling, Mr. and Mrs. TC Davies, The Vicar and Mrs. Scott, Mr. And Mrs. R Lyall, Mrs. and Miss. Allam, Rev HC Bell, Mrs. Grace, Mrs. Bradford, Miss. Minors, Mr. And Mrs. Hodkinson and General Sir Arthur G Waunchope.
As announced last week in these columns, Dr. S G Raine B.Sc., P.B.S. died at his home in Kingston, South Devon on June 10th. He had taught in the Secondary Schools of Wandsworth and Battersea for nearly forty years and a vast number of his former pupils and colleagues would have received this news with deep regret.
His first appointment was at Wandle School, Earlsfield, in 1922 and after several years there he moved to Battersea Central School where he later became Deputy Head Master. Having taken charge of a large section of this School when it was evacuated to Hawkley in Hampshire, he was asked in 1942 to join the staff of Sir Walter St. John’s School, then at Godalming and partly accommodated in Charterhouse School.
Shortly after the schools return to London, Dr. Raine was appointed Senior Lecturer in Education at the Wandsworth Training College, where he remained until 1949 when he became headmaster of Honeywell Secondary School. He continued in that capacity until Honeywell, Wandsworth Secondary Technical and other schools combined to form the new Spencer Park Comprehensive School in 1957.
He was honoured to be appointed headmaster and in establishing this school he played a significant part in the introduction of comprehensive education in London, until his retirement in December, 1959.
In addition to his work in secondary education, he lectured in Psychology at the Regent Street Polytechnic and was Moderator and Assessor to the Ministry of Education in connection with post-war training courses.
He was also a London University Extension Lecturer to students preparing for the University Diploma in Social Studies; one of his special interests was in the work of the Voluntary Prison Service Lecturing Scheme in which he participated for a number of years at Wandsworth.
Dr. Raine was regarded by everyone as a man of high principle and integrity and, at every stage of his distinguished career, all those with whom he worked became his friends. One of his great joys during his retirement was to meet so many of them again when they visited him in South Devon, It is particularly sad that his death should have taken place so soon after his withdrawal to the country, following so many years of devoted service to Education.
