Greshams School was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham (hence its name). At that time it had just 40 boys and if you feel there was something fishy about it, you would be correct because one of the major benefactors is the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers from London and that organisation is still one of the school’s trustees.
The school enjoyed a major expansion at the end of the 19th century, but it didn’t admit girls until 1971. There are lots of parallels here with my own grammar school – The Norwich School. This was re-founded in 1547 although a school on the site goes back to the 11th century. Girls weren’t admitted until 1994.
Gresham’s is a sprawling establishment but just who is numbered amongst its pupils? Well, it reads like a Who’s Who of musicians, scientists, inventors, politicians and many more fields of human endeavour – not to mention two Director Generals of the BBC and a governor. There was James Dyson who made a pile out of carpet cleaning (that’s a joke by the way) and Benjamin Britten who was an awful/brilliant classical composer. Delete which doesn’t apply to you because I know Britten’s music divides opinion. For me it isn’t Christmas until I have heard the St Nicholas Cantata – something I first heard at the Norwich School. I once went to Aldborough where Britten is buried alongside his partner Peter Peers. It took me ages to find their graves as they are very plain. I think Britten’s just has his name, his dates and the word Composer.
But back to Gresham’s alumni (an interesting word that). I mentioned previously the first director general of the BBC John Reith who stated that he didn’t enjoy being there at all. It was probably a culture shock for Reith to find himself away from his native Scotland and in rural Norfolk where the countryside was much flatter than what he was used to. Then there’s Erskine Childers who was President of Ireland. Educated at Holt where we are told he got his upper class British accent. There were any number of politicians and a Nobel Prizewinner for medicine. Not to mention poet W. H Auden (so I won’t), Rugby internationals Ben and Tom Youngs and possibly this country’s greatest actress Olivia Colman who in her school days was known as Sarah Colman. On the not quite so wholesome side, convicted murderer Jeremy Bamber went there. The school governors number The Princess Royal amongst them.
There’s a full list of famous ex-pupils on the internet.
I see that tomorrow it’s going to be 30 degrees again. This hot spell can’t go on for much longer (can it)?
I finish today with another TV Heaven or Hell as the last one seemed to be popular and brought back memories for many and also had a few singing the theme tune to Double Your Money all day. So get ready:
Romper Bomper Stomper Boo
Yes it’s Romper Room:
Ah Romper Room - typically English, apart from one thing - it was imported from the USA where it ran from 1953 until 1994.
The British version started in the Anglia Region and was recorded in Anglia Television's Norwich studios. Basically, it was a televised pre-school playgroup with children changing over every so often to give it a fresh feel.
Romper Room was led by Rosalyn Thompson who was known to the children as Miss Rosalyn. In the Anglia region, Miss Rosalyn led proceedings from 1964 to 1976 which posed the question - what was I as a teenager doing watching this programme? Perhaps it preceded children's TV and I tuned in early or perhaps at the time I wanted to be a teacher when "I grew up." It's a sobering thought that those taking part in the early days are now over 60 years of age and some will be grandparents. Even those appearing in later editions will be approaching their 50th birthday.
I found a web site where those appearing on the programme reminisced about the games and activities. It truly could have scarred them for life, but they all seem to be "normal" people.
Miss Rosalyn led the children in games, activities and fun things and was an instrumental part of the programme - so much so that it collapsed just a year after she left.
I particularly remember the silly rhymes and Mr Doo Bee who taught the children right from wrong, but obviously not how to spell: The Doo Bee song went something like this:
"I always do what's right, I never do anything wrong, I'm a Romper Room Doo-Bee, a Doo-bee all day long".
The culmination of the show was the magic mirror. Yes Miss Rosalyn started with an ordinary hand held mirror which magically turned into a see through mirror through which she could see all the children. This part of the show kicked off with the immortal lines:
"Romper Bomper Stomper Boo
Tel me, tell me, tell me do,
Magic mirror tell me today
Have all my friends had fun at play."
She would then reel off all the names of children she could "see." Of course she couldn't really see any of them (sorry to shatter your illusions). If she could her name would have been Clare Voyant and not Miss Rosalyn. I used to hide behind the settee as a joke so she couldn't see me. The names got more and more exotic, after all she couldn't see Michael every day to the exclusion of seeing Marie-Claude. She didn't see me all that much as, having a fairly common name, I was left alone. I could never work out how she could see me at all when I was hidden behind the sofa. Of course it was a magic mirror which would explain everything.
Actually I suspect the only thing Miss Rosalyn could see through the magic mirror was the cameraman and the autocue - of course I might be wrong! I would, however, like to meet the man or woman who obviously looked through a well thumbed book of names to find really obscure ones.
Sadly one day technology let Miss Rosalyn down. Instead of fading away at the crucial point, we saw Miss Rosalyn lay the first magic mirror down and take the see through one from her desk drawer. I seem to remember one of the little ones pointing this out quite loudly. How cruel was growing up?
Hope you like some more photos of North Norfolk today.