Novembers Past

130 years ago in November 1891

‘It has been for some time past, a sort of open secret that a School Museum existed. It was difficult to locate it, but reports said that its treasures were concealed somewhere in the neighbourhood of the dining hall. It is proposed to organise and enlarge it, with a view to mitigating the solitude of a fine bullfrog which has been hitherto its chief adornment. It is in future to be under the management of Mr Hilton as Curator, under whose guidance we are certain to see an improvement soon.’

‘It was noticed, early in the term, that the door of a certain room in the building was fiercely besieged by a clamorous crowd at certain periods of the day, which seemed to recur with peculiar regularity. It was subsequently discovered that there was established within, what is known in technical language as a ‘Tuck Shop’. There is talk already of vast sums of money which will accrue to the Games Fund in consequence of the foundation of this desirable institution. There is no doubt at any rate that it will satisfy a deep craving of the youthful heart.’

Truro College Magazine, December 1891

110 years ago in November 1911

‘Additional Classrooms will be a great boon. We shall no longer have Masters at opposite ends of the schoolroom looking darkly at one another, each wondering why his rival makes such a display of eloquence and lung power.’

Truro College Magazine, December 1911

100 years ago in November 1921

Truro College v Dunheved College

At Liskeard, Wednesday, Nov 9^th, 1921. Won 3-1.

‘A magnificent game resulted in the meeting of T.C. and Dunheved, our old rivals. Barlow won the toss and chose to take advantage of a slight slope, and well for us that he did. After ten minutes fast and clever play on both sides Stobey got away on the wing, and the resulting centre was forced into the net by Hamson. T.C. then for a few minutes pressed hard, and Toye, working his way in from the wing, scored with a good shot. We now appeared to have the game well in hand, but in trying to stop a rush of the Dunheved tight wing Barrett, who had tackled and kicked splendidly, broke a collar-bone and had to retire. This altered the whole aspect of the game although until half-time the play was fairly even. Half time@ TC 2: Dunheved 0.

The second half was mainly a display of grit and endurance on the part of the ten remaining men, and of persistent endeavour on the part of Dunheved to break through. Time after time did Barlow and his men send back the attackers, but with four forwards we were unable to attack sufficiently strongly to relieve the pressure. Yet in one of our rare bursts Pearce, P.J. got through, robbed the goalkeeper and scored. Still ten minutes remained to play, and once more were we hemmed in our own half. Seven minutes from time a capital shot from Dunheved’s inside right beat Pearce, H., our goalie, who had been playing a magnificent game. The seven minutes went by with leaden feet, but at last the referee’s whistle went for time, and we had won an exceedingly gruelling game. In such a display it would be invidious to single out individual members for praise. All played well, and right proud were we of our XI that day. On our return we found the School buildings illuminated in honour of our success.’

E.B.W. [E.B. Willday]

Truro College Magazine, December 1921

90 years ago in November 1931

‘The Headmaster has recently had a golf course laid out on the terraces in front of the school, and the masters now derive the benefit of physical exercises from this innovation’.

The Truronian, December 1930

‘This term has been uneventful on the whole, owing to a slight epidemic of chicken pox, which has made it impossible to play the greater number of the soccer matches with other schools.’

The Truronian, December 1931

70 years ago in November 1951

Entertainments

Nov. 10^th. Films – “Gasbags”.

The ‘crazy gang’ capture Hitler’s secret weapon.

Nov. 17^th. Entertained by the Old Boys.

There were two sessions of ANY QUESTIONS and, in between, a long round of the new BBC feature – One minute, please.

The Old Boys’ team for Any Questions: Messrs Beel, Pearson, Blair, Bryant, with Mr George Beard in the Chair as Question Master. The team behaved creditably in the face of a bombardment of questions from School. P.B. Knuckey very ably organised the second item. Messrs G.T. Collins and C. Hore pitted their wits for the Old Boys against A.H. Preedy and D.M. Parnell. The School team was victorious. To the Old Boys and their Hon. Secretary, Mr A.J. Tonkin, our thanks were conveyed by the Head Prefect.

Nov. 24^th. Films – “The Man who came to Dinner”.

The film version of the very successful stage play.

Young Farmers’ Club

‘After half-term we discovered that we had many rats in the chicken house, so one afternoon we raided them and after a good deal of shouting and banging of sticks against the galvanised iron, we bagged twenty-nine.’

The Truronian, December 1951

60 years ago in November 1961

Senior Dormitory Play Festival

The Senior Festival took place on the nights of November 17th and 18th. There were five plays this year. On the first night the Day Boys presented “The Seventh Man”, Hall B “Flashback”, and Trennick A “The Stepmother”. The following night Tower gave us “CAn die but once”, Trennick B “The Master of the House”, and Hall A “In the Zone”. 

The Adjudicators were: Mrs Wicks, Mr Scales and M. Laupretre; and for Posters, Mr May. Mr Weeks was in charge of the Senior Festival. Mr May, in his summing-up of the posters, thought that they were a little disappointing, but that execution was good.

As time was against the judges, no individual comments were made about the plays, only generalisations. Mr Scales, who presided, said that the standard was “about average”; he had seen better, he had seen worse. He mentioned that audibility was a major point in play production, and reminded us of a comedian who used to shout “Can you hear me, Mother?” to his audience.

The Poster Competition was won by A. Cameron; runner-up was Tiltman, honourable mentions were accorded to R. Berry, C. Tiltman and D.I. McKirgan.

The Production Prize was won by V.S. Julyan; runners-up were R. Dean and C. Nadin.

The Acting Prize was won by R. Archer, and the runner-up was P. Terry. Honourable mentions were gained by R. Berry, P. Hinton and A. Julian.

The winner of the Festival Trophy was Tower, and the runner-up was Hall A.

This win was celebrated in the usual manner with lemonade and pasties given out by Mrs Wicks.

C.H.N. (Sec)

The Truronian, December 1961

50 years ago in November 1971

Junior Dormitory Play Festival – November 1971

Tower – “A Devil in the Skins”

The Little Day Boys – “The Man with the Newspaper”

Pentreve – “The Golden Mean”

Poltisco – “The Death of Giant Despair”

Epworth – “A Separate Piece”

The plays in the Junior Dormitory Play Festival this year were for the most part chosen with intelligence, and in an event of this nature this is a crucial factor. A young actor can only show dramatic ability when he has a good understanding of his role and of the play itself. A ‘Junior Dormitory’ play therefore cannot be a too sophisticated or complex work. Besides this, those who choose the plays should bear in mind the severe physical limitations of a single sex twelve year old cast. A little boy will have considerable difficulty in becoming a middle aged man or a sophisticated young lady. If producers decide to give their actors roles of this kind they must pay attention to detail; some of the women in the plays were, for example, sitting in the most un-ladylike positions!

Generally, the juniors acted with commendable maturity and finesse. The best actor award went jointly to Collinge and Crabb, with a commendation to Fairbairn, but many more deserve to be mentioned. Griffiths handled a difficult part with considerable control in the Day Boys play. Barber had only a small part in the same play but he made a great success of it, acting with humour and ability. The Epworth boys made the best women; Spiers and the nursing staff were very appealing (apart from the way they sat). Jamieson was also a good female in the Tower production, although we felt he could have been a little more bawdy!

Bligh and Morgan attempted to make something of their parts in the Poltisco production, “The Death of Giant Despair”, but the play was poorly chosen. Sombre religious allegory isn’t really first form stuff! The Pentreve cast were all highly commended, and were given high marks for their confident, consistent production. Torry, Rule and Preddy, with his kingly authority, perhaps deserve special mention. 

Although they were all competent, Epworth and the Day Boys produced sets that were very professional and memorable. 

Commendation for their productions were given to Cleur and Schulkins, but the award for the best production went to Edwards and Epworth. Fairbairn handled his difficult role with a sort of determined innocence that was exactly right and often very funny. He was supported by the very plausible hospital staff and a beautiful set. It was the best play in a Festival that provided the responsive audience with two evenings of very fine entertainment. 

C.N.

Winning Play: Epworth

Acting Prize: Collinge and Crabb

Hon. Mention: Fairbairn

Production Prize: Edwards

Hon. Mentions: Cleur and Schulkins

Terraces, 1972

40 years ago in November 1981

From Terraces, 1982

30 years ago in November 1991

From Terraces, 1992

20 years ago in November 2001

Truro & Treliske Schools Concert at the Hall for Cornwall

10 years ago in November 2011

House Music Competition

‘For the last few years, the Music Department has held a Music Competition, formerly for scholarship pupils. This year the music department held the Competition open for anyone in any house to take part. We are still deciding whether this was a good idea! It was an Inter-House Competition where pupils could contribute points to their house. There were auditions thoughout the second week of November, and on Friday, there was a concert where the where the finalists performed in Truro School Chapel. The adjudicator, Mr Stefan Reid, Director of Music from Nottingham High School, was invited to judge the Competition. The whole event was a great success, with a total of 86 semi-finalists, ranging from 1st Year to Sixth Form entries, as well as various ensembles, including Brass Ensemble, Saxophone Quartet, Clarinet Choir and the Boys Barbershop. There was a wide range of different auditions, from comical trombonists to the chemistry department quartet, who performed the periodic table song to support Wickett House, complete with goggles and tie-dye lab coats. The Competition was split into four categories … The winning House for the whole Competition was Vinter House, followed by Smith, School and Wickett. We all anticipate the return of the House Music Competition next year, when the rivalry can begin!.’

H.G & K.N.

Terraces 2012