LHR School Sports Day Results 1961

LHR School Sports Day Results 1961
Times & Recorder

The field events took place one afternoon.  That was when I won the discus throwing event, with Ann Adams in second place and Jennifer Garrity in third.  I had forgotten until I re-read the results, that my throw had broken the previous record.  Unfortunately, the distance isn’t mentioned here and I can’t recall what it was.  A quick count up, shows that 10 records in all were broken.

The medals for the field events were awarded a couple of days later in the evening when family were invited along to watch the track events.  My sister and her fiancé came to watch me be presented with my medal.  By then the programs had been printed and I was included among the list of field event winners.  Such a shame I didn’t keep a copy.

I remember watching Eric Cowell, the school’s star athlete at that time, winning both the 800 yards and 1 mile races.  Final house positions at the end of the evening were, Hillsmen 1st, Townsmen 2nd, Shoresmen 3rd and Plainsmen 4th.

I notice that this 1961 sports day had become more like a traditional games.  Several previous ‘fun’ events had been weeded out e.g.,  egg and spoon race, skipping race and slow bicycle race.  However, a new event had been added  called Hop, Step and Jump, now known as the Triple Jump.   

As for my medal, well that lived in a display cabinet in our living room at Spion Kop for many years.  It went astray when my parents moved house, and was never seen again.  Very sad, but at least I can still see my name in this paper cutting. My record only stood for one year as it was broken in 1962. 

Note: I would like to apologise for the blurred area in the photocopy of this paper cutting.  Unfortunately, it was unavoidable as the paper being quite large, had been stored folded in half, which caused the crease.

Click on the link below to access a larger, PDF version of the paper cutting.

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  • Yeah, I remember the cross country runs out across the mud morass referred to as the onion field. Contrary to my last comment, I did really enjoy these cross country runs, I think because I could get to be filthy dirty and not get told off for it. 

    Mr Gilchrist must have had a sadistic side to him, as he would have us boys stood around in a circle to practice chest stopping of the ball. For this he would throw the ball and you in turn would stop it with your chest. Now at this time I was quite a small puny little thing and the sadist sports teacher employed the services of a rather large and heavy medicine ball for this exercise. Needless to say I got into a fair amount of trouble each time I sidestepped said missile. Had I not, I might well have needed some medicine myself. 

    Mr Mundy cracked me across the shins with a hockey stick after I told him that I was not prepared to play hockey as it was “a girls game”. I did manage to get my own way on this occasion, I didn’t play as my legs hurt too badly. Surprise !  

    By Donald Joy (22/06/2017)
  • Donald, today Mr Mundy’s whacking you on the shins with a hockey stick would constitute physical assault and battery on a minor. Mr. Mundy would have lost his job, the EEC would have held an open hearing, and teachers would be warned and “re-trained” on how to treat the little darlings entrusted to their love and care. Your parents would have sued the school district and your family would have come into more money than they ever thought possible. We were fortunate to be children in a different world.

    By Alan Davies (22/06/2017)
  • If a PE teacher ever whacks either of my grandchildren across the shins with a hockey stick, I would do the exact same thing to them and then we could sue each other.

    By Nina Humphrey(née Burton) (22/06/2017)
  • Can’t help noticing that in all the articles and comments relating to sports and sports days, Mr Mundy is mentioned frequently. Has everyone forgotten Mr Gilchrist ? Not that I have or had any fondness for him or his teaching methods, I just thought that he needed to be included in these topics. Personally I didn’t do well with sports activities, mostly because I didn’t enjoy them. I couldn’t see the reward for expending so much effort. What I’m actually saying is that I was lazy and I’m pleased to report that not much has changed. 

    By Donald Joy (21/06/2017)
  • Hi Donald, was Mr Gilchrist the PE teacher that taught us to play rugby league? Mr Munday was rugby union. All the PE teachers were pretty tough. There didn’t seem much education in PE. Just a concentration on those who had a natural ability for sport. Never the less us no-hopers still had good fun.

     

    By Paul Stickland (21/06/2017)
  • Mr Gilchrist was our PE teacher from September 1958 until 1960. From then Mr Munday came into the school and took over the PE spot. Mr Gilchrist was a tough little character and my funniest memory was him refereeing U1A vs U1B boys in a fierce football match around January 1959. The pitch was soaked and muddy. Graham Todd was in goal for U1A and I remember smashing the ball towards him and him diving in the mud, ruining his white sports outfit. Knowing his mum, I reckon he got a good telling off when he took his kit home.

    I believe Mr Munday was twice as hard as Mr Gilchrist and with his fearsome black beard he ruled the roost for a further few years.

    In our final year Mr Collins came in to teach rugby but I believe Mr Munday may have still been around, the mind gets hazy after 54 years. My memories of Mr Munday are plentiful. I recall him getting us around in a circle and making us head a football back to him in turn. To say that ball was heavy would be an understatement. Then, cricket, trembling with my bat at the crease whilst Mr Munday would bowl up a typhoon of a ball which if you hit, it would go for miles, if you missed, it would smash your stumps and bails to the back of the nets.

    Then, cross country running, always in the winter, always through the onion fields and down the arterial turning left to the old Fortune of War then returning back along the High Road, maybe stopping for a fag if he wasn’t looking. Then into tin baths full of hot soapy water to clean up, brilliant.

    Mr Collins I remember worked in the Double Six pub in Basildon in the evenings. I went in there one summer evening in 1963 with my uncle. Mr Collins quite rightly refused to serve me a nice pint of Red Barrel, much to my uncle’s disgust. ‘He’s nearly 18’ said my uncle, Mr Collins knowing full well I was only 16. Great days, I wish I could have them back again.

    By Richard Haines (21/06/2017)
  • Nina, this is fabulous, thank you for posting it. Wow a champion discus throw and new record by N Burton (S). I can see a lot of school friends in there, Eric Cowell, the mile winner who was a really popular and friendly lad as well as those like Peter Whiting who was to become head boy. Eric Cowell also won the 880 yards, followed by Jimmy Bird, always a good friend of mine through LHR. In the girls events I can see the inseparable friends Christine Thompson and Vanessa Crew and one of my favourites Carol Hudson who had the chirpiest smile and the friendliest manner. I note Josie Beasley was second in her 3rd year Javelin, a typical event for this mischievous girl who turned out to be an excellent little athlete.

    Another fabulous year for Laindon High Road school, this sports day coming a whole month earlier than the 1959 one. My only fame in 1961 was the 3rd year Technical Drawing prize, thanks to excellent marking by my favourite teacher Mr D A Foley. Such happy days.

    By Richard Haines (18/06/2017)
  • Eric also came 2nd in the high jump that year - a real all rounder. He was also one of those who used to play tennis with us after school.  The tennis court was at the back of the school on high ground, which looked down into the school hall.  Several of us played and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Not that we were very good and we wasted a lot of energy chasing after the ball (no ball boys or girls).  Someone once hit the ball up onto the roof of the school and it got stuck in the gutter.  We had to call the school caretaker to come and get it for us. If I remember rightly, his room was down some steps between the back tennis court and the school building.  He obligingly brought his set of ladders, climbed up on the roof and was able to return our ball to us.  I not sure of his name.  Mr Davey comes to mind, but that may have been the name of the caretaker at Markham’s Chase School – maybe somebody else can remember. 

    By Nina Humphrey(née Burton) (18/06/2017)
  • Ah, wow I’ve re-read this and found my former girlfriend Dorothy Watson was 1st in the second year girls’ discus. Second and third were others I remember, Heather Fullerton and Linda Cowell, it’s all coming back through this one PDF. Nina yes I too remember the tennis courts which were set up on the hardstanding area at the back of Mr Woodward’s office. Clearly these were only used for a few weeks in the summer term. We practised our overhead serves firstly on the school field with Mr Munday, probably to save losing too many tennis balls which must have been expensive at the time. It was lovely to actually hold a real tennis racket and swing it overhead like a Wimbledon star. Also there were cricket nets set up over near the canteen where we would hurl down those leather balls which would be smacked back smartly by the batsman at the opposite end. My favourite sport in the summer was lazing around on the school field with classmates talking about pop music and haircuts.

    By Richard Haines (18/06/2017)

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