PAGE 22
BACK
ROOM GIRLS
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1961, lent by Mike
Byrne
In reviewing the year's activities, one part of the Priory always receives generous
space; Fathers and Brothers and teachers of every kind are at least noticed,
and the boys receive an excellent Press in the Pelican.
| Domestic Staff | Dates |
| Mr CLEMENT | 1918-19 |
| Mrs COOPER | 1919-33 |
| Mr WHEELER | 1930s,45-49 |
| Mrs MERCIER | 1933-36 |
| Mrs BELSTONE | 1934-40 |
| Mrs HARFORD | 1936-40 |
| Mrs TILBURY | 1939-41 |
| Mrs BUTLER | 1940-41 |
| Mr TILBURY | 1941 |
| Mrs Rose APPS | 1940-42 |
| Mrs Norah RODGERS | 1943-61 |
| Mrs BREWER | 1947-48 |
| Mr Len POND | 1950s & 60s |
| Mrs TILLNEY | 1954 |
| Mrs FENNER | 1954-55 |
| Mrs Lilian SMITH | 1955-56, 58-61 |
| Miss Ivy WARD | 1958-60s |
| Mrs BROWN | 1959-60s |
| Mrs CREIGHTON | 1959-60s |
| Mrs FLOOK | 1959-60s |
| Miss HAMMOND | 1960s |
| Mrs Gilda IACOBUCCI | 1962-67 |
| Mrs SCOTT | 1962-67 |
| *data obtained from Peter Finn's "History of The Priory" |
But there is another part of Priory
life, a part too often taken for granted ; in the kitchen and refectory a devoted
band of women play an obscure but vital part in securing the efficiency and
happiness of the house. We would like to devote a few lines in this issue of
the Pelican to exiaressing our recognition and appreciation of their labours.
Their work is hidden, noticed only on the very rare occasions when something
goes wrong ; but it is also a work that allows of no holidays, and a work without
which nothing could be achieved at the Priory.
Visitors to the house regularly comment
on the excellence of the food here, and indeed we are blest in always having
tastefully prepared and varied meals as far as resources allow. The cook is
Mrs Lilian Smith ; she had already done one stretch here on the kitchen
staff, and then returned after an interval in 1958 to take up the tenancy of
what a previous inhabitant was pleased to refer to as "The Bungalow",
but which is in truth a comfortless hut. Mrs Smith however, with a rich sense
of humour and a deep understanding of true values, was content to live under
the rusty corrugated iron, dodging round basins and buckets in rainy weather,
if that was the price of serving the boys and the community at the Priory.
Early and late she is in the kitchen ; no union hours for her indeed and in
spite of the work and the worry involveed in the daily feeding of some fifty
persons, she is always ready to help by advice or otherwise some Father harassed
by a problem which needs a feminine approach. Mrs Smith has now a house on School
Hill, and the old shed behind the garage is rapidly falling apart. An order
for its demolition was received two years ago ; if it
is left alone much longer it will obligingly fulfil the order
without any human intervention. We wish Mrs Smith more comfort and more security
from the elements in her new home, and we hope that she will continue to give
her devoted services to the Priory for many vears to come.
Mrs Norah Rodgers is Mrs Smith's sister, and she has been associated
with the Priory for nearly twenty years. She has proved a true friend of the
house, and many are the functions she has performed. At present she looks after
the Fathers' house, and our common rooms are always spotless. Like her sister,
she is not only ready but anxious to helo in any task in which her assistance
is sought. For many years she has shown herself more than energetic in preparing
for the annual garden fête ; recently she has made up new curtains for
the study hall and the parlour, and no sooner were they finished than she volunteered
to do the same for the Oratory, which is being re-decorated. This task she accomplished
with great taste in a single day. We would like her to know that we do appreciate
her goodness, and we hope that she too will long remain what she has so long
shown herself to be, a real friend with the interests of the Priory very near
to her heart.
Behind Mrs Smith in the kitchen are five more ladies: Miss Ward, Miss
Hammond, Mrs Flook, Mrs Creighton and Mrs Brown, who
appear at various times of the day to perform their allotted task in kitchen
or refectory. They too go about their work witb. cheerfulness, and in the endless
piles of washing-up which they tackle, in the mountains of vegetables thev prepare,
relieve us all of what we mere men would find a crushing burden. We thank them
all, and would assure them here that however little their work may seem to be
noticed, we do appreciate their devotion and do not underestimate the contribution
they make to the smooth running of the house.
Ladies of the Priory, may you remain, as you have, been now for many years in
some cases, not so much emplovees as friends and kind helpers of the Fathers,
Brothers and boys whose lives you do so much to enrich.
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NEWS
OF FORMER STUDENTS
Taken
from The Pelican - Summer 1961, lent by Mike Byrne
It was with satisfaction that the writer of these lines realised, when compiling
his notes, that the number of former students writing to and visiting the Priory
increases each year. He feels sure that many readers will be interested to know
that a branch of the Association of Former White Father Students has been formed
in this country, and has taken root very quickly. Information about it may be
had from Anthony Bleasdale, Esq., 56 Cambridge Crescent, Teddington,
Middlesex. (R I P)
It is not suprising, perhaps, that many of the former students from whom we
have heard this year are preparing to enter the teaching profession, or are
already in it. Anthony Innocent, Anthony Bleasdale, and. John
Lyden are all at Strawberry Hill Training College, while Chris McGuire,
Anthony Shann, and Finbarre Fitzpatrick are teaching in Scotland,
Coventry, and Bradford respectively. Michael Goodstadt is studying Psychology
at Manchester University, and Eric McCormack is in his final year at
Glasgow.
Old boys are well represented in the Armed Forces. Kerry Bagshaw is in
the Royal Marines, Nicholas Muller in the Army, Nimmo Scott in
the Royal Navy, and Charles McLaren in the R.A.F.
From the worlds of Banking and Industry has come news of Bernard Short
and William Seed. Michael Nertney also falls into this latter
category, although, as he explained when he visited us recently, his work in
the Trade Union Movement is nearer to his heart.
Stephen Shevlin spent a day with us at Whitsun. He is busy in a North
London travel agency, and so may be remotely paired with Eric Creaney
who emigrated to Australia in December to take up a post in Melbourne with Victorian
State Railways.
With Stephen Shevlin at Whitsun came Anthony Carolan who is working
with a scaffolding firm. He is living not far from us, at Basingstoke.
Robert Stack is now at the Cardinal Godfrey Technical College; Hector
Fowlie is training to become a dentist,: and Pat Gibbons is articled
to a Chartered Accountant.
In addition to visits already mentioned there have been others from B Chancellor
(a student here in the 1920's) who came twice, bringing his wife and daughters
on the second occasion, and from Kerry Bagshaw. Naturally we have seen
former Priorians who are now Novices or Scholastics also. The celebrations on
the occasion of the return of four recentlyordained ex-Priorians are described
elsewhere. A visit from a fifth member of that year, Fr. Michael Fitzgerald,
is promised for June 25th.
It has given the community great pleasure to see former students, and to hear
from others. It is to be hoped that now all these old boys will be able to keep
in touch with one another also through the medium of their own Association.
In this way the link between the Priory and those who lived under its roof during
the well-nigh fifty years of its existence will be sterngthened, to the advantage
and happiness of all.
Return
to top
DEMOLITION
AT THE PRIORY
by Antony Baggott (Form IV)
Taken
from The Pelican - Summer 1961, lent by Mike Byrne
The part of the Priory which is inhabited by the Fathers is almost one hundred
years old, and is unhappily the home of rats as well as of Fathers. After various
encounters revealed that they had moved in in formidable numbers, experts were
called in and succeeded in getting rid of them, although the extermination of
rats is accompanied by a very offensive smell which troubled us for some weeks.
One drawback of an old house is that rats like it; another is that in the process
of time it becomes dilapidated. The chimneys in particular were in a very parlous
condition. A strong wind would infallibly have brought them crashing down on
the venerable heads beneath. I think the Fathers were getting worried lest they
should wake up one morning to find a large section of roof caved in and one
of the brethren missing. Whatever the motive, the local builders were summoned
to remove the tottering chimneys. This entailed putting up scaffolding for each
chimney in turn, and the job took some time, for when the Priory chimneys were
erected they were evidently designed to cope with the smoke from really well-stoked
fires. The amount of brick rubble left when the chimneys had gone would have
built a largish modern house. The, boys set to and sorted out the whole bricks,
while the broken fragments were dispatched to a neighbouring farm.
During the Christmas term, an old wooden store-room behind the kitchen was taken
down. It had at one time been painted red, but this attractive hue had long
since faded into a muddy colourlessness. The hut was in truth an eyesore which
could no longer be tolerated. It had attracted the assorted lumber of forty
years, and the task of sorting this out before the attack was launched on the
hut itself was a formidable one. The rubbish was destroyed and anything of value
transferred to another place. Then with much heaving and battering the walls
were brought low, and on the site a bunker for the kitchen fuel was built. The
adjoining area was sown with grass-seed and should soon be quite a pleasant
little lawn, surrounded with flower-beds. Besides these removals, there were
others even more striking, for many of the trees which used to grace our drives
were cut down.
The story began two or three months ago when a man from the Forestry Commission
(we assumed) turned up one fine morning and began measuring and marking the
trees which were to go. About a week later two men with axes and mechanical
saws arrived and set to work. It took them well over a week altogether to cut
down all the trees. The trunks and larger branches were taken away, and we burned
all the odd branches and foliage that remained. The many fire-blackened spots
bear mute witness to the many bonfires which were built, some of them kept burning
for two or three days. Now the property looks much more tidy, and we are waiting
for a new batch of saplings to plant.
It has not however been all demolition this year, for much constructive work
has been done. The bricks saved from the chimneys have been used to border the
lawns and the flowerbeds. In one place, concrete posts have been placed at equal
intervals between the bricks, in the hope that the next lorry to run over the
edge of the lawns will come off second best. Both posts and bricks look very
elegant in their coating of white paint.
The Priory then has changed this year, as it does every year, and the changes
have been for the good. The work has all been done in a willing spirit of co-operation
which exceeds anything I have ever known in a house.
Return to top
THE
COLLEGE SILVER JUBILEE at
St Columba's
by Gerard Gordon, Chris Wallbank (Form II).
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1961, lent
by Mike Byrne
Some weeks
before the 1st of February, 1961, preperations began at the college to celebrate
the Silver Jubilee. Started by Father Walsh (now Bishop of Aberdeen)
in 1936, the College had been put to several uses, Junior Seminary, House of
Philosophy and even Novitiate and part Scholasticate, not to mention House of
Propaganda.
It was fitting, therefore now that it has again returned to its original purpose
as a Junior Seminary to celebrate the Jubilee with all solemnity and for this
Father Provincial suggested the first Ordination of a Priest in our college
Chapel. Father Gerard Wynne, who had begun his studies for the Priesthood
as a small boy at St Columba's was chosen, and came from North Africa for this
wonderful event. No wonder then that the Altar Servers and Schola had to start
practising so early.
A few days before the great day we started work on clearing up the property
and then finished up by thoroughly cleaning the house. All was spick and span
for the reception of our visitors.
His Grace the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh performed the actual
ceremony, making the number of White Fathers that he had ordained 150. Father
Provincial, too, we are glad to say was present, together with Monsignori, Canons,
Priests from Scotland, and some White Fathers including Father Howell
and Father Marchant, two former Superiors of the College. No need to
mention that Father Provincial himself spent many years here as Superior.
The Ceremony went off well indeed. How pleased the parents of the young priest
must have been, and how happy! There were so many guests. Where did put them
all? Several of the boys were on Ceremonies, of course, the Schola were perched
on a sort of stage, and about thirty or more of us, although crushed in three
small benches, were right at the front and had a perfect view. The rest were
in the Infirmary. None of us, however, missed anything of the Ordination and
our thoughts were that we hoped our turn would come soon.
One hundred and fifty visitors had lunch in our refectoryincluding the kitchen
staff-and we were relegated to our gymnasium for our meals that day. It was
a pity, but it could never have been managed otherwise. Father Wynne
gave Benediction that afternoon at which Brother Casimir made his final
Oath in front of Father Provincial. This was another moving ceremony, But the
day was coming to a close and we thanked God for such a lovely way uf celebrating
the College Silver Jubilee. May it give many Priests.
Surely, someone has some photos of this event?
Return
to top
"MENS
SANA IN CORPORE SANO"
by Seamus Watters (Form IV).
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1961, lent
by Mike Byrne
Four mornings a week, after the second class there takes place a rush for the
dormitories. This exodus from classrooms to dormitories is not in truth for
a much-needed liedown, but to prepare for physical exercise. It was Father
Fowles who brought about the re-birth of P.T.
The reason for the rush is not necessarily that we are anxious to start exercising
our muscles; we hurry because the rule is that we have fifteen minutes of P.T.
from the moment when the last person appears in the quadrangle.
When these exercises began shortly after Christmas, we had great difficulty
in accustoming ourselves to the various exercises. Multiple groans and mutterings
issued from the scantily clad figures as we tried to force our reluctant limbs
into the required contortions, after the example of Father Fowles, who appeared
to manage it with all the ease in the world.
After several rather painful weeks however we got used to it, and it is now
much easier. We do our P.T. outside whenever the weather permits; if it is too
wet we go into the gymnasium. We know now, however we may have felt at first,
that these physical exercises do us a great deal of good, and we feel their
beneficial effects especially when playing football or basketball. I don't know
about sound minds, but I am sure we all have sound bodies.
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THE
WIND OF CHANGE: The
Priory Feels the Draught
by Andrew Coyle (Form V).
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1961, lent
by Mike Byrne
A person returning to the Priory now after an absence of four or five years
would find it in many ways a changed place. The spirit of cheerful cordiality
which we believe has always characterised it is indeed unchanged, but many of
the familiar landmarks have gone.
The inside of the house has been painted from top to bottom in colours ranging
from pink to maroon, from sky blue to jasmine yellow. All the ivy has been removed
from the walls, which now present a rather stark aspect; the farm has gone,
and recently most of the trees were removed from the drives.
These are material changes; more significant perhaps are the changes which have
taken place in the lives of Priorians. The modern view among Church leaders
appears to be that seminarists should get out as much as possible, and see for
themselves what conditions are like "in the world . . . " In accordance
with this policy, Priorians are now given a far greater measure of freedom,
and opportunities have been provided of making outside contacts.
On holidays we are now allowed to go to the local towns far more than formerly.
The swimming-baths, the ice-rink, and occasionally the cinemas have seen much
of the Priory boys over the last couple of years. This has meant that Galley
Down is visited by slightly fewer boys than was once the case, but it must be
said that it retains its popularity wih the majoriy of the boys.
Another change which has come about recently is the supply of daily newspapers.
When this revolutionary step was first taken, the Sixth Form received the "Daily
Telegraph" and "Punch"; later, the Fifth Form was allowed to
share these luxuries, and last term the concession was extended to the whole
school. No doubt it is the pages of sport which are most eagerly scanned, but
nevertheless there is no doubt that we are all far better informed now on world
affairs than we were when we lived ina newsless vacuum.
Another important change which has taken place during the last year was the
installation of a television set, kindly given by a generous old boy of the
house. There was some difficulty however in placing it in such a manner that
it could be seen in comfort by the whole school, and a projection type of machine
was procuredJor the boys' use. Viewing is fairly strictly rationed during term-time,
and the only two regular features are "Panorama" on Monday night,
and "The Valiant Years" on Saturdays. Lighter
entertainment however is not entirely ruled out, and "Waggon Train"
is a firm favourite.
These innovations have certainly brought us into closer contact with the world
outside our own four walls, and if there was ever a "prison outlook"
among Priorians, it has certainly gone now.