Desmond Bonner

reporter : ED

Several generations of the Bonner family have attended RLS. Desmond joined our school in September 1935 aged 10.  His career was affected by World War II and after spending some time in Chapman’s Photographers (on the corner of Bridge Street and Well Street) he joined up, serving in the RAF and later in the Army. When Desmond returned to Civvy Street, his sister Mary, ten years younger than him, was joining the school and was in the same class, I think, as Geoff Kirk.  Desmond became one of Buckingham’s leading estate agents, a man of great charity, and a local historian who co-wrote one of the leading 20^th century books on Buckingham. Both Desmond and Mary Bonner remain residents of Buckingham and Desmond’s two children, Janet & Susan, are Old Latins.

Desmond Bonner talks to RLS researcher: Hannah Jones

As part of the school’s history research being undertaken by school pupils helped by Andy Cooper in the marvellous new National Lottery funded RLS Archive Centre in Rotherfield, Desmond came back to his alma mater today and talked to, and was questioned by, sixth form students. I was in the appreciative audience as was Old Latin and local historian, Geoff Kirk. We had hoped that George Capel ( a near contemporary of Desmond’s) would be there, too, but he’s had some health problems, recently and thought it wise to remain at home on a very wet morning.

Before he attended RLS, Desmond told us, he’d been taught by Miss Denchfield in the Denchfield private school that operated, maybe, for 50 or 60 years in a couple of rooms behind one of the Victorian villas opposite the former Latin School in Chandos Rd. It may well have been the house that was later Andy Cooper’s home after he moved back to Buckingham from Adstock.  Desmond gave us a little insight into class divisions eighty years ago. Miss Denchfield warned her charges to steer clear of Buckingham Fair – they were certainly not to go there alone. Miss Denchfield, I believe, bumped into Desmond whilst he was en route to this dangerous affair. He reassured her, “No, I’m not off to the Fair, Miss Denchfield, I’m popping over to my … [some relatives].”  Later, quel horreur, pupil & teacher bumped into each other in the Fair, itself.  Desmond was branded a liar and not allowed to forget his naughty act of deceit for several weeks. Desmond tells me that Denchfield School pupils still have a reunion each year, but sadly, Desmond is the school’s oldest survivor.

Off to Villiers on horseback whilst primary school pupils watch the birdie

Most pupils walked or cycled to school. Ears pricked up when Desmond revealed that before WWII, pupils from villages would come to school on their horses. “Where would they hitch them?” We were all surprised to learn that their nags would be stabled at the Swan & Castle (Villiers) in Castle Street. No doubt the inn’s Ostler would see they had hay & water whilst the pupils would drop down Bridge Street on foot, turn the corner into Well St and cross the river by the “Short Bridge” from where it was a hop, skip & and a jump over to the Latin School.

 Desmond joined a school of around 120 pupils. The entry class would be 30 strong and composed equally of boys and girls. Classes were numbered 2,3,4, 5A , 5B and the 6^th form. The school’s complement resembled a truncated triangle firmly based on 30 in the intake, but the numbers dwindled year group by year group, so that when one reached the sixth form, there were only 5 or 6 pupils left standing! The curriculum revolved around English, French, Geography, History,  Mathematics (including Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry) and Science. The rather eccentric Mr Buckingham, an expert at hitting the wrong pupil with the thrown board rubber, took drawing lessons and classes would be sent to Mr (Tommy or TRA) Allitt for singing. Desmond remembers little music in the school of those days. There were annual drama productions in the school hall, some with lavish costumes, and Desmond appeared in some of them. Their titles are lost in the mists of time but some of Desmond’s lines remain obstinately lodged in his memory. Desmond rated his teachers highly, giving Mr Allitt (Science & Physics) top marks. Desmond looked at some of the pre-War school photos and that reminded him that the headmaster, Mr Dyment, always looked deep in thought. [Ed , less charitably, thought that Mr Dyment , a here today, gone tomorrow appointment, had the look of a worried man – perhaps one who was in the wrong job.]

What of competition and sport? Desmond confirmed that RLS was split into three houses: Denton, Newton & Stratton for intra-school competition with Sports’ Day being the premier event, an occasion marked by a printed programme, with guests and parents in attendance. It took place on Buckingham Cricket Club’s fields on Bourton Rd. Desmond remembered that Mr Allitt was in charge of marking out the running track. Desmond said that each year Sports’ Day  was ruined by rain. The Head decreed that it should be moved by one week from its hallowed position in the diary: an act of genius for sun then prevailed.  Of course, RLS possessed no playing fields so cricket meant walking across to Bourton Rd, but football was played on a sloping pitch on the Moreton Rd. Transport to and from would be provided by that old Buckingham stalwart, Mr “Yang Yang” Varney. On occasions, the RLS lads shared his battered bus with greyhounds that Mr Varney was taking to the Buckingham Greyhound Track which, apparently, lay where the Westfields’ Housing estate was built alongside the Tingewick Road. Desmond recalled that the steeply sloping football pitch would often give those teams used to it (i.e. RLS) a distinct advantage!

 RLS had a strict uniform policy. Its tie consisted of red and black diagonal stripes. [One wonders whether any still exist, I’ve never seen one, and Geoff and Desmond regret having lost their ones. Ed] Junior boys wore caps, but few kept them on beyond the school’s gates.

 RLS and Buckingham with its 3200 inhabitants were insular.  There were no school trips and whilst every Tuesday there was a market where every face would be known. Geoff chipped in to point out how small Buckingham was. In 1934, the Denny brothers built the house now owned by the Kirks and which lies halfway up the hill towards Brookfield Lane on London Rd  and advertised the property as “lying on the outskirts of town”!  Desmond remembered cycling to Bicester and encountering not more than three to five cars during the eleven mile journey. Yet, of course, at the end of Chandos Rd lay the railway from where one could catch the 8am service, change trains during a 5 minute break at Bletchley and be in London (Euston) for 9.55am.  Difficult to beat that today, and try getting to London for 5 shillings (25p), which was the evening saver price so that locals could pop down for a West End Show.

 Buckingham’s small town mentality was revealed when Desmond remembered the tragedy of the Winslow Air Crash:

Winslow Air Crash picture from Winslow-History website that Dr David Noy, Old Latin, runs with Julian Hunt

The crash took place in the early hours of 7 August 1943. A Wellington X3790 Mark III bomber of 26 Operational Training Unit was making a second attempt to land at Little Horwood Airfield. The crew was: 

• Sgt Pilot Wilfred Davies
• Sgt Navigator Jeffrey Harrington (the only flying survivor)
• Sgt Wireless Operator / Air Gunner Valentine (Jock) McKeon
• Sgt Bomb Aimer John Sowter
• Australian Flight Sgt Clive Fietz

The plane ploughed through the Chandos Arms in the High Street and the adjacent house (no.82), then came to rest on Rose Cottages, a row of four houses behind the High Street, of which three were burnt down as the plane caught fire. Several people in the houses were saved by their iron bedsteads. However, there were 14 casualties on the ground, including a family of 4 that had been evacuated for its own safety  from Islington in London.

To learn more of the Winslow Air  Disaster do visit

www.winslow-history.org.uk/

 But… what of Buckingham’s involvement?  Its photographers, Chapman’s, was telephoned by a leading London Newspaper and asked if it could send a photographer out to the appalling scene. What a scoop! Not a bit of it – no Chapman’s were not inclined to send a photographer on a six mile journey to the next market town, much better if the London paper sent out its own man on a 50 mile mission across country!

 Desmond remembered the impact of the early days of WWII. “Dig For Victory” was the government’s call and RLS responded: its flower-beds between the school and Chandos Rd were dug by the boys (Desmond hated the work) and planted with potatoes.

Soon, the forthright, indomitable Miss Asphodel Fleischmann arrived in town on her big, black horse, dressed severely and wearing a “Biggles” flying hat.  She was a rich artist, the daughter of Mr Louis Fleischmann of Chetwode Manor, and was in charge of finding families for child evacuees from London. Her knock on the door could mean that your children had to share their beds within a fortnight with “East-Enders”.  I’ll break off from Desmond’s account of the difficulties that ensued to include some comments that I received some time ago from an RLS pupil, Anthony Barr, both a contemporary of Desmond’s and an evacuee – a lucky one who was able to lived with his mother in North Bucks.

 I remember [Miss Fleischmann] well, … .  We saw her regularly riding her horse, dressed in the ‘uniform’ that you describe.  She, like others travelled the roads around Gawcott and Tingewick, along with the regularly cycling Miss Denchfield and dear old ’Maggot’ Bryant [He was the champion maggot breeder who raised millions of maggots for fishermen in a smelly barn filled with putrefying meat. ED]  We waved to him each day as he drove past, as we travelled on our bikes to and from school.

I realise that your comments about the evacuees are the generalised views about we poor settlers in the countryside.  I believe that these descriptions are part of what we now know as ’spin’.  These children, coming from the towns, had suffered tremendous trauma and if I just recount to you the experience of my friend.  On September 1st 1939 he left his home in Twickenham and travelled on the Underground to Wembley Park station.  No one knew where they were going to, even the headmaster.  At Wembley Park the head asked the driver of steam train, that they were boarding, and he again did not tell him where the full load of school children would disembark.  They then steamed onward to High Wycombe, where eventually they all left the train and were ordered into a crocodile, headed to the town hall.  The children, some no more than age 7 years, in the majority had not been away from home before and Wycombe was a ‘foreign part’.  My friend was then trailed around the town looking for billets and eventually found a resting place.  This ‘home’ was the first of thirteen different beds that he slept on during these years. 

Many of the evacuees were cut off from their parents, not only by distance,but also by the fact that their fathers were serving in the forces.  The lucky ones were lone parent families.

Desmond and Geoff told the story of the receiving families. How there was no attempt to match families to evacuees. The children might be stood at the bottom of the road. A group of two or three might be peeled off and marched to a home judged to have space for them. In they would go, unknown to meet their new families who might, or might not, be keen to see them and to help. Contrast that with the infinite care, time and patience taken within, say, the adoption system today. Such was the brutal impact of a distance war on children’s lives and the lives of the families of RLS pupils in 1939.  Desmond recounted how these earliest evacuees were shipped back during the “Phoney War” when it was judged that London wouldn’t be attacked. Then, there was “The Blitz” and a second wave of evacuees, some from Chingford in Essex hit Buckingham Town. Eventually, most evacuees left Buckingham forever. One or two remained: Geoff told of a young girl who married and lives to this day on Western avenue, and I recounted how Edna Robinson, evacuated with her sister and mother to Twyford, stayed, became RLS School Secretary, and married our Headmaster : George Embleton.

Food in the era of rationing was short in Buckingham. Few got fat. Of course, farmers could look after themselves and Geoff’s father , who was a travelling engineer, could bag a rabbit on his rounds but the diet of most folk was frugal.  The Oddfellow’s Hall in Well Street was turned into a “Canteen”.

Aircraft spotting position(arrowed) remained until 1974 on former Cobham Arms Inn in West St. Use Town Hall's Swan to orientate yourself.

Desmond told of the impact on his own father who had served in World War I but this time was required to be an aircraft spotter on Bourton Rd. Not difficult, you might think, but Mr Bonner remained at his normal work during the day and then had to remain alert and at his post all night.  Desmond felt that his health was weakened.  Buckingham was surrounded by ammunition dumps, army camps and at least three major airfields (Great Horwood, Silverstone and Finmere). They kept the Chandos Cinema busy every night, and the army lads in the Pioneer Corps were particularly raucous: every time they word “pioneer” occurred in a film they would stand & shout “PIONEERS”.

 We discussed the contact between Buckingham’s two secondary schools: RLS and the “Senior” School. Both Geoff and Desmond agreed that in those days, pupils were not encouraged to mix. Friendships ran along school lines although those from the other place might be encountered during holiday periods.

Desmond emphasised the importance of the A.T.C. (Aircraft Training Corps)  in the lives of youngsters, including RLS pupils, in the Buckingham area. Before the war it had been run by RLS master Tommy Allitt. A number of RLS pupils on joining up, chose the RAF, including George and Cyril Capel and Des, himself. Poor Cyril, unfortunately perished in a flying accident near the Scilly Isles. I tried to draw the Old Latins out onb the two aircraft fuselages that were parked on the front lawn of RLS during the latter parts of the War. Sadly, neither Geoff nor Desmond had heard of them , let alone seen them – someone must remember, surely?   After Desmond returned from active duty, he remembered that flights were available from the local airfields for those associated with the A.T.C.. He remembered an engineer based at Finmere required a spare part. There was one in Bicester. No problem: let’s take that Wellington bomber  and pop the ten miles to Bicester airfield & pick it up.

Those were the days!

Tags: Boarding, Pre-war, Staff, The Forties // Add Comment »

King Henry VIII relaxes in front of RLS

All right , it’s a spoof. But can you answer these questions:

1. Who’s playing Henry VIII ?
2. What was the significant Buckingham occasion that was being celebrated?
3. Which relative of Henry VIII came very close to RLS and may have paid our school a visit?

Clues:

• There’s a Tiger in My Tank
• The Player excelled at carving the RLS Staff turkey
• Matron!
• He attended Bloxham School
• His Nephew became an RLS Governor
• He’s a Mr Fixit within Buckingham Rugby Club

ED

Tags: Chantry Chapel, The Eighties, The Fifties, The Seventies, The Sixties, Where Are They Now? // Add Comment »

RLS students are used to flash floods from the river Ouse. As the Northants poet John Clare wrote:

It breasted raving waves and stood agen
To wait the shock as stubborn as before
- White foam brown crested with the russet soil
As washed from new plough lands would dart beneath
Then round and round a thousand eddies boil
On t’other side – then pause as if for breath
One minute – and engulphed – like life in death

As far as I know, no pupil of RLS has lost his life in a North Bucks  flood. Sadly, one splendid  RLS pupil lost his life in Central London in 1928 when the river Thames flooded and entombed him in his basement digs. He was Harry Sear of Steeple Claydon.

click to enlarge image from Buckingham Advertiser

Tags: Pre-war, Staff, Where Are They Now? // Add Comment »

The Royal Latin School staff and pupils  raised a marvellous £1,325 for the BBC’s Children in Need campaign in November 2011 by holding a spots and stripes non-uniform day with events including a treasure hunt organised by a Year Eight form and students paying to watch a Year 9 lad having his legs waxed.

What memories does that bring back to Old Latins about Civvies Days  and other extra-curricular fund-raising events that were held in their days?

Tags: The Eighties, The Fifties, The Forties, The Nineties, The Noughties, The Seventies, The Sixties // 1 Comment »

Many of his contemporaries will remember Kevins Cozens, the cheerful chappy from a farm in Maids Moreton. If I remember correctly, Kevin went on to work in agricultural supplies but now he’s back at the heart of Buckingham as a Director of the Cafe Fireside alongside its Managing Director: Ruth Markham.

I saw Kevin at a Stewards’ Meeting in preparation for this year’s Buckingham Christmas Parade and he’s still the same old Kev.

The Cafe in Cornwall’s Place has been open since the Summer and seems to be thriving.  One customer has described its breakfast as the best she’s ever experienced.

Kevin and his team have announced that they  have achieved their 5 star rating for Kitchen Hygiene in the Scores on the Doors council scheme – this is the highest you can get.

Maybe, it’s time for Old Latins to drop in for a chat about old times  & to see if Kev’s  a bite is bigger than his bark.

Tags: The Seventies // Add Comment »

On July 2nd[, 2011]the Reverend Clare Hayns was ordained Deacon in Christ Church Cathedral, [Oxford] to serve her title as Curate in the Benefice of Blenheim: here she tells us about herself and her family:

A few years ago I never dreamt I’d be saying “I’m your new curate”!  Adrian {i.c the Benefice}  has asked me to say a few words of  introduction to tell you a little bit about myself and my family. I’ll tell you about the family first, mainly because they are such an important part of my life, but also because they might read this! I’m married to John (aka Juggling John and Johnny Oxford!). He’s a juggler, magician and fire eater and for the last ten years we’ve been running an  entertainment’s agency called Jugglers Etc. We have three lovely boys: Micah (13) who likes art, tennis and music; Simeon (10) who likes acting, Star Wars and doing cartwheels and Daniel (5) who likes juggling, Ben 10 and  Cbeebies.                                                    
So, a bit about me… I grew up in Buckingham [Adstock] and after University trained as a Social  Worker and for ten years  worked in London with homeless young people, young  offenders and people dealing with addictions. I came to faith in my early 20  Christian journey has  included urban evangelical churches, an ecumenical community called St Egidio, various groups which would  now be termed ‘fresh expressions’, and village churches. I’m interested in finding new ways in which the Church  can engage with those who  either left or who have never  been in the first place, and in our village of Horspath I established a ‘Messy Church’ which involved families who wouldn’t normally attend  Sunday services. I’m also involved with the Oxford Community Emergency Foodbank and am a trustee of ZANE (a charity helping people in Zimbabwe). I don’t have much time for ‘hobbies’ (the three boys keep me pretty busy!) but I love gardening, reading, playing tennis with my Micah (who now beats me), throwing parties and walking our dog. We know Bladon quite well because my parents live there so we’ve enjoyed many Sunday afternoons walking in the Blenheim estate after a good lunch. We are so looking forward to joining you for the next few years – please do come and introduce yourself to me.Clare Hayns

 A few words about Clare née Benyon, her family roots and RLS.  A time there was when we in Buckingham were surrounded : there were Benyons to the right of us and Benyons to the right of them, with Bill,  one-time MP for Buckingham who later represented MK, and Tom, of Adstock, who led the Conservatives within AVDC Council and went on to serve Abingdon as its MP for one term before devoting his life to charitable causes. Clare is the daughter of Tom who was, effectively, the acting Lord of the Manor of Adstock, a village that sheltered more RLS staff over the years than you could cram into a school mini-bus. From Andy Cooper to Madeleine Crewe and Reg Howard to Andrew Pierce, RLS teachers homed in on Adstock for a term, a year or the remainder of their lives. At one time, Greenfields seemed a  staff dormitory extension to the Latin School’s Brookfield and Rotherfield student boarding houses. 

Before I met with Clare, I’d  encountered her father. Not, I think, face to face, but through the newspapers and through attending a debate at AVDC with George Embleton when his wife, Edna, was in the chair. At the time, the debate was a big local event on a “crucial” topic. Seen from afar, its importance has dwindled to nothing, but I do remember the impact that Tom had on me. He was a smooth-skinned, well-dressed, neat man of medium height. His face was distinctive only for a nose:  a gift to cartoonists. However, he possessed, rather as John Bercow does today, a silver tongue honed at its tip to a rapier capable of slaying red dragons.  Larger men were cut down to his size, wind-bags were punctured, Tom won and his group held sway.

In shambles Clare to RLS. She had the appearance of a tall, cheeky urchin, straight from a farm and she wore her uniform to the manner unborn. No doubt, as teenagers do, she was making statements, defining herself by a lot of “nots”. She was rebellious but not a rebel without a cause.  Life at RLS started as that age old struggle: you will conform /  I shall not conform.

The end product of those turbulent teenage times may be glimpsed in her own self-portrait, above. Clare has come good and is doing good. Dad heads the charity ZANE (Zimbabwe, a National Emergency) that helps all races in that beleaguered country and Clare is one of its trustees.  Now, she’s ordained and working in that benefice to which Peter Luff and his wife,Gay,  have retired.  Bladon has Sir Winston Churchill’s gravestone at its centre and Benyons to the right and left of him, for as Clare reveals, Tom and his wife Jane Benyon live there, as well.

To return to RLS and to Tom Benyon, OBE.  Many of you will know that Reg. Howard, Senior Teacher, Head of English and Careers, suffered for a long time from serious kidney problems.  Few of you will realise that in Reg’s last months, Tom would pop in to read favourite books to him.

Tags: Boarding, Staff, The Eighties // Add Comment »

Tags: Boarding, The Fifties, Uncategorized, Where Are They Now? // Add Comment »

This picture was on the front of this week’s Buckingham Advertiser. The Old Warrior is Rico de Angeli, once of The Barrel P.H. in Buckingham, and father to RLS pupils Lisa & Simon. The lady to his right in the blue scarf is Sally. Her sons attended Buckingham School and RLS. But, who is the RLS figure whose eye peeps above Rico’s head? Recently, he’s joined the committee of the Royal British Legion’s branch in Buckingham.

Tags: Boarding, Noughties, Staff, The Eighties, The Seventies // 1 Comment »

Clare & Simon with their first born: Bridget

I’ve developed a habit of bumping into attractive young women who say “Hello”, to me. Then,  they are astonished as ED DEADEYE looks at them in a cold, forensic manner  as he desperately flicks through memories of thousands of pupils, hundreds of former colleagues and, who knows how many old flames?

Today, I met a short, bright-eyed, raven-haired lady and her toddler outside of Waitrose in Buckingham. Her hello was cheery and her warmth rang a bell, but my response was guarded.

“I used to be Clare Lovegrove.”  Oh, it was such a relief to hear that familiar name. Memories came flooding back of a delightful pupil from the 80s, of her musical talents, of singing Christmas Carols, of her father, Peter Lovegrove, an urbane local solicitor and helpful Chairman of the RLS Governors’ Curriculum Committee to whom I, as Curriculum Deputy, reported.  

As you may see, Clare is married to Simon, and Bridget, who is now five years old has been joined by Joanna who is two. The family live at Great Horwood where they seem to be the heart and soul of the village. Clare keeps up her music by playing in the Great Horwood Silver Band and supporting the Church Choir, whilst both parents are bellringers.  We talked of Bridget attending Great Horwood Combined School and I said that it had been  a terrific school twenty years ago. Clare told me it was coming out of the doldrums under a fine new Head.  I hadn’t realised that Paul Adams, with whom I worked in IT and Computing in my final post-retirement post at RLS, had left our school after having been appointed Head at Great Horwood.  Our loss is Horwood’s great gain for, apart from being at the cutting edge of IT in schools, Paul  has a dynamic  and infectious personality; he has “charisma” and I fully expect him to proceed to great things.  Clare says that Paul’s started to bring community and school together.

By the time we’d talked about how Clare’s parents were faring in Milton Keynes and that Colin Lesser had married Rosy McClintock (the couple live in deepest Lincolnshire), Joanna had decided that Clare’s old teacher was a boring, old ….. So, it was time to go back into 2011 and part.  ED

Tags: Staff, The Eighties, Where Are They Now? // Add Comment »

Chloe Shrimpton  is the daughter of  the distinguished composer and bassoon player, Sarah Watts,  and the harmonica player, Chris Shrimpton. Sadly, Chloe’s  grandmother  & jazz pianist, Betty, died recently. Betty was a musical rock in  Bletchley who  once improvised on the piano for a silent film about Bletchley Park.  The whole family has been involved with Wavendon Stables, the  music centre set up by the Dankworths and  Cleo Laine attended Betty’s funeral out of friendship and  respect for what she and her remarkable family had contributed to  music  in Milton Keynes.  You can see what Chloe’s parents do by listening to a light & frothy piece from Sarah’s “Notes to a Harmonica Player” that displays her husband’s crisp articulation to great effect at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxIfFg4sdok

So, Chloe, and her younger musical sister, Martha, at present, I think, an Intern with a Theatre Company, grew up, in Chloe’s own words “surrounded by eclectic mix of music making”. As a child, she took part in local music making at the Milton Keynes Music Service and as a student at the National Youth Music Camps and was always willing to join in with singing,  dancing or recorder music.

At the late age of 12, Chloe took up the bassoon and found a new musical direction through playing in  orchestras and chamber ensembles at our  Royal Latin School and also, at MK Music School. She read Music at the University of Surrey, becoming an active member of its Symphony Orchestra and many chamber ensembles.

As part of her degree, Chloe spent a year working in the education department of the London Symphony Orchestra, LSO Discovery, where she work both alongside some outstanding musicians as well as children and adults with learning disabilities.  One of the events that Chloe helped to create was a concert by the charismatic  South African soul-musician Hugh Masekela, with the London Symphony Orchestra and  its  Community Chorus conducted .by François-Xavier Roth at the Barbican at the end of 2009. By all accounts this event was outstandingly successful. 

On her website, Chloe writes, “I am passionate about music education and believe that high quality music making should be accessible to all. This has driven me to become a woodwind tutor at the National Youth Music Camps where I was once a pupil. I have also worked with Music for Youth at the Schools Proms and also at their annual National Festival of Music for Youth.”.

Recently, Chloe has been appointed to be Development and Learning Assistant in the Learning Dept of London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall.

Don’t forget the name: CHLOE SHRIMPTON.

I bet you’ll be hearing more from her in the future.  

(This piece was put together with help from Bryan Clarkson, retired Denbigh School & RLS English teacher who lives near to the Shrimptons in Bletchley.)  ED

Tags: Noughties, Where Are They Now? // Add Comment »