In May 1962, I was called for interview at Cheltenham Grammar School to teach PE and some Maths. It would be my first interview, so I was very nervous. I remember walking from the train station towards the town being very impressed by the large trees growing by the side of the road.Coming from a mining village in South Wales I had never seen such things. I thought I might like to live here.

I was interviewed by The Headmaster, Dr Bell, a very impressive gentleman. The interview went well until the Headmaster asked if I thought West Country boys would understand my strong Welsh accent. I thought then that that was a gentle way of telling me that I was not suitable and was really surprised when two days later I received a letter offering me the post.

On my first day, to make a good impression, I arrived half an hour early. I knocked at the front door of the school and was greeted by a gentleman in a smart uniform wearing a peaked hat. I was not sure who this was but it turned out to be the Caretaker. I was shown to the staff room where I made myself comfortable in a chair in front of the electric fire reading the staff room newspaper. Ten minutes later, the first staff member arrived; having introduced myself, he said his name was Curtis – History, and that he would call me Steve as like all new members of staff I would only be there for a few years so it was a waste of time remembering so many names. He then added that I was sitting in his chair and reading his newspaper. Not wanting to make a fuss, I relinquished both. Joe Curtis called all the boys oobi and it was only after five years he called me Jones.

All the staff were really kind and helpful, including Joe. Most were of an older generation and many had served in the War, some with distinction: Ed Waine [Woodwork} was a decorated Spitfire pilot who had fought in The Battle of Britain; Alec Christie a very gentle R.E. teacher had been a front line infantry soldier and had fought in Italy in some of the most bloody battles of the war; Fred Jessop the Deputy Head was a tank commander in the Western Dessert to mention but a few.

The School itself was in the Lower High Street. I suppose by the 1960's it was way past its sell by date; the class rooms were too small, the heating system was unreliable, the assembly hall /gymnasium was too small, the laboratories were inadequate, the playing fields were two miles away, but despite that when it was time to move the school site to Hester’s Way, I was left with many memories. The strong smell from the Brewery next door every Thursday, the drippers (a sticky bun that was consumed by staff and pupils alike bought from the cake shop opposite the school entrance). I have fond memories of feeling so proud and important when walking to school as the boys would doff their mortar boards to me. The new School at Hester’s Way was I suppose, quite revolutionary for the time, with its water garden feature as the centre point, its open corridors and its bright large classrooms and labs. Unfortunately, it only lasted a few years.

After the happiest teaching years of my career, I moved to Kent where I spent the rest of my career eventually becoming the Deputy Head of a large comprehensive school.