This article dates from a school magazine in the 1920s and complements another one which speaks of the city wall One would think that every Oxford High School boy knew the old bastion which still rears its somewhat stained shattered form on the south side of the school playground; yet, strange to say, we found… Continue reading The Old Bastion
Category: The School
The best selection of items that deal with the history of the school
Cigarette Cards
Writer unknown: I was fascinated by Nigel Molden’s story of the cigarette card with the COS insignia. I would guess that it dates from the time before the word “High” was added to the title, which I would place some time in the 1920s or early 30s.
A different school song
by Tony Phelps (1933-41) Tony Phelps (1933-41) writes: “I was very pleased to receive Newsletter No 5, and it sparked a number of thoughts in my own brain. At the risk of wasting your time, I am putting some of them to you in this letter.
The School During WW2
by Don Adams (1939-45) Don Adams (1939-45) writes: I joined COHS in September 1939. The school premises were shared: COHS in the morning and Clement Danes in the afternoon.
A tour of the school
by Ron Baker and Bryan Beames. Ron writes: “I recall that, having made many guesses over the years, the present occupants were surprised to learn that their Common Room was once a large chemistry laboratory, and were impressed by the lecture theatre, still in constant use. However, their imagination had been stimulated most over the… Continue reading A tour of the school
The School in the 40s
by Tony Argyle (1941-46) Tony Argyle (1941-46) writes (again with real ink) from Pearce, near Canberra in Australia.Do you remember putting milk bottles or chalk dusters in the grand piano?
The School Song
by John Gaskin (c. 1955) John Gaskin writes: The precise origins and authorship of the School Song (see Newsletter 4) were never known to more than a tiny handful of people: F C Lay and Jimmy Soulsby are long since dead, and it would be a pity for the knowledge to perish unrecorded with me.
Introduction of Rugby into the School
by John Everett (1927-36) John Everett (1927-36) writes: “I joined the School (aged 7) in September 1927, when the main sport was Association Football and the School had a strong 1st XV. This continued to be the case until the early 1930s, when Mt T H Fallows, a mathematics teacher, decided to try and introduce… Continue reading Introduction of Rugby into the School
The School in Wartime
Writer unknown (1941-45) When originally published Mike Chew apologised that he had temporarily mislaid the name of the author of this item, but would acknowledge its provenance in due course, which he never did. “Sua culpa”, as he said at the time.
COHS in Wartime 1940-45
by Brian Gumm (1940-45) Brian Gumm (1940-45) writes: Looking back over some sixty years or more, my recollection of the COHS in war time was surprise that the process of education proceeded in a more or less orderly fashion with few interruptions due to the war raging across Europe.