40s and 50s Memories
Henry Litton, Adrian Gibbs and Alastair Monro
in Fremantle in 2009
As an aside I mention that one of my favourite
leisure activities throughout my life has been
sailing. As a wee boy I learned to sail in the
Bristol Channel - a tough training ground - and
then fell into dinghy racing, participating over 20
years in regattas and national championships
over much of the south of England. I also
qualified in navigation as an RYA "Coastal
Skipper", which led me to cruise with family
under sail off the west coast of Scotland,
Cornwall, Brittany, the Baltic, the Aegean and
- over the pond - Martha's Vineyard to Long
Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay...
And now back to King's and to my original
thought at the beginning of this piece, the
nature/nurture paradigm. The above succinct
summary of my first 50 years after King's leads
me to try to assess to what extent my career was
influenced by my experience at school. While
my parents' interests suggest that I may have
had some inborn talent for maths and science
lurking deep within, I am quite certain that the
direction of my further education and career
was enormously influenced by certain staff
at King's. In particular, the science teachers,
George Morgan and Howard Padfield, not
only enthused over their science subjects but,
somehow, also motivated some of us to "swat"
really long hours after evening prep to ensure
that we were able to give our best in external
exams. And, along with several other masters
such as Peter Harvey and Jimmy James, these
two masters were also vigorously active on the
rugby, hockey and/or cricket fields. I guess that I
saw how science can be just part of an all-round lifestyle. I also appreciated being introduced to
tennis, fives, cross-country running, competitive
swimming, rifle shooting and golf. Although I
was not outstanding at any sport I did go on
after leaving King's to represent my college or
club at rowing, rugby, hockey, and cricket the
last two until well into my forties. I feel that such
activities led me into several different social
circles and really helped broaden my view on
life.
In parallel with the above, I must mention the
exciting scout/camping projects led by Julian
Pytches and Boris Wilson. With expeditions
to Dartmoor, Exmoor, Snowdonia, and the
Cairngorm mountains - we learned how to
live frugally, how to survive - eat, sleep, and
endure difficult conditions. We were taught to
walk through the night, to climb mountains;
and about first aid, hygiene, map reading,
star-gazing, meteorology, geology, surveying,
bird watching, fishing, etc. Above all we came
to appreciate the importance of teamwork in
difficult circumstances. These experiences
surely contributed to learning how to face up to
the unexpected contingencies which we meet
in our lives.
I cannot leave the above plaudits to my science
and sports mentors without mentioning several
other staff. First, there was "Tiger" Willie Lyons-
Wilson. The enthusiasm with which he held us
spellbound on Saturday mornings, leading us
through the wonders of the world of art, has
left me with an insatiable desire to keep visiting
art galleries. And I do like to dabble a little in
oils. I also remember, with curious pleasure,
the training we received in the CCF as potential
soldiers, under the leadership of Major Allen
and Sarge Gooderham. Finally, I remember
with gratitude being taken on a school trip, led
by Peter Harvey, across Europe by train via
Paris and Basle to Innsbruck and back again.
In 1952 that was quite an experience.
One last thought: although this may seem trivial
when compared with what occurs in schools
today, I valued the experience of having pupil
colleagues who came from several foreign
countries. Of my contemporaries I can think
of those who hailed from India, Sierra Leone,
Hong Kong, Persia and Peru. All great buddies.
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