Chris Nicholson and other favourite masters...
Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:39 pm
Hi. Bit of a squit here what with my first post and everything, but here goes...
I've been really enjoying all the CH memories on this forum. Absolutely tremendous, especially the stories about (don't be vague, ask for) Miss Haigh, Mongy Torkington (who I believe I just missed; what a shame), Rip Kirby, Phallic Matthews et al.
My favourite master was Chris Nicholson. "Bomber"had an extremely kind nature, and, in my view, was utterly dedicated to CH, its pupils and the school's ethos. In my six years at CH I never heard a bad word said against him. That's something you could rarely say about most masters at CH in the 70s, although I know that Michael "Des" Carrington was pretty much on par with CWN. You may also recall that Chris edited The Blue during much of the 70s, putting in long hours to produce some fine issues.
Chris was a junior housemaster when I was in LHA, and later taught me English at A-level. We built a long and enduring friendship from my early days at CH when I suffered terrible homesickness and struggled to keep up on the academic front. I came to CH as a third-former, having missed the first year. I lagged badly behind academically, and ran away from CH on more than one occasion as I was unsure how to cope.
It was Chris who helped to sort me out, offering me consolation, kind words and, very practically, extra tutorials in English and Latin. And it was during one of those extra tutorials in CWN's study that news came - via French master and LHA junior master Joe Slater - of a major tragedy in my life. My mother had died suddenly at home. The next few weeks, months and terms were a whirlwind, a great rollercoaster of emotion. Chris stuck with me, through thick and thin, offering me solace, comfort, help and advice. I couldn't have got through it all without him.
It was a great honour some years later to have Chris as my English teacher for A-level. He treated his A-level group as adults... possibly the first time I had experienced this sort of tutorial at CH. I was delighted to get my A-level, which was important, as it led on to my subsequent career in magazine journalism. Again, this was something that Chris encouraged me to go for, allowing me to use his typewriter to develop my touch-typing skills for example.
My last night at CH was spent visiting a number of masters to say goodbye. I'm sure the tradition continues today. Naturally Chris was the last master I visited that night. Some great chat and a sherry or two later, and I knew that my time at CH had come to an end, as I stumbled up the Avenue to Peele A, bound for bed.
We kept in touch after CH, and I was sad when he decided to leave, although I understood the reasons behind his departure. And many years later, he very kindly came along to my father's funeral, as he was keen to lend his support when again I was at a low ebb. I will never forget that. All in all, Chris was the finest master at CH during my time there.
Others I liked were the Welsh rugby winger Gerald Davies (I won an English prize under his guidance; the only academic award I ever won at CH), John Shippen (great laughs, great Scout master, reasonable Geography teacher), Lord Corverdale (broke a lot of new ground for CH masters, with his casual evenings at his place; good tennis player, too) and Latin master Kit Aitken ("joke over, joke over").
But Chris Nicholson was the finest of them all...
I've been really enjoying all the CH memories on this forum. Absolutely tremendous, especially the stories about (don't be vague, ask for) Miss Haigh, Mongy Torkington (who I believe I just missed; what a shame), Rip Kirby, Phallic Matthews et al.
My favourite master was Chris Nicholson. "Bomber"had an extremely kind nature, and, in my view, was utterly dedicated to CH, its pupils and the school's ethos. In my six years at CH I never heard a bad word said against him. That's something you could rarely say about most masters at CH in the 70s, although I know that Michael "Des" Carrington was pretty much on par with CWN. You may also recall that Chris edited The Blue during much of the 70s, putting in long hours to produce some fine issues.
Chris was a junior housemaster when I was in LHA, and later taught me English at A-level. We built a long and enduring friendship from my early days at CH when I suffered terrible homesickness and struggled to keep up on the academic front. I came to CH as a third-former, having missed the first year. I lagged badly behind academically, and ran away from CH on more than one occasion as I was unsure how to cope.
It was Chris who helped to sort me out, offering me consolation, kind words and, very practically, extra tutorials in English and Latin. And it was during one of those extra tutorials in CWN's study that news came - via French master and LHA junior master Joe Slater - of a major tragedy in my life. My mother had died suddenly at home. The next few weeks, months and terms were a whirlwind, a great rollercoaster of emotion. Chris stuck with me, through thick and thin, offering me solace, comfort, help and advice. I couldn't have got through it all without him.
It was a great honour some years later to have Chris as my English teacher for A-level. He treated his A-level group as adults... possibly the first time I had experienced this sort of tutorial at CH. I was delighted to get my A-level, which was important, as it led on to my subsequent career in magazine journalism. Again, this was something that Chris encouraged me to go for, allowing me to use his typewriter to develop my touch-typing skills for example.
My last night at CH was spent visiting a number of masters to say goodbye. I'm sure the tradition continues today. Naturally Chris was the last master I visited that night. Some great chat and a sherry or two later, and I knew that my time at CH had come to an end, as I stumbled up the Avenue to Peele A, bound for bed.
We kept in touch after CH, and I was sad when he decided to leave, although I understood the reasons behind his departure. And many years later, he very kindly came along to my father's funeral, as he was keen to lend his support when again I was at a low ebb. I will never forget that. All in all, Chris was the finest master at CH during my time there.
Others I liked were the Welsh rugby winger Gerald Davies (I won an English prize under his guidance; the only academic award I ever won at CH), John Shippen (great laughs, great Scout master, reasonable Geography teacher), Lord Corverdale (broke a lot of new ground for CH masters, with his casual evenings at his place; good tennis player, too) and Latin master Kit Aitken ("joke over, joke over").
But Chris Nicholson was the finest of them all...