F.G.S. trip to Tregoyd

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Farnborough Grammar School

Prospect Avenue, Farnborough, Hampshire

Telephone : Farnborough 539

[Square brackets and oblique text : Notes added 2011] Click photos for larger versions.

Saturday 4th April - Warm and sunny. Route by road coach was via Reading, Goring, Harwell, Gloucester, Symonds Yat, Monmouth and Abergavenny to Tregoyd, the guest-house where we are staying. In our bedroom are the two Sheails [I only knew one of them], Waites, Hyde, [David] Pollard, North and I.

The Mansion is a beautiful great place, with well-kept gardens all round with a stream and a profusion of daffodils and other flowers.

We in the sixth form and Sheail, except Pollard and Hyde, dined in the posh dining room. Hyde has brought a wireless. This guest house is far better than Newfield Hall. The bedroom is thickly carpeted, with comfortable beds all round.

[Note: The Sheail I knew was in my form, the sixth, so the above reference must have been to his younger brother. Newfield Hall was the venue of an a earlier trip to Yorkshire.]

Sunday 5th April – Today has been lovely and hot – very sunny. The morning was free. We went (a few of us i.e. Me, Waites, North, Pollard and some others) in the coach to Hay-on-Wye. There three counties meet – Herefordshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire. Sheail and I went round the town. It was dead, because of the Welsh Sunday – The station was actually in England. Sheail and I went for a walk along the river Wye and back along the road.

Drove back for dinner (Pork, apple jelly, beans etc.).

In the afternoon we went by coach to Erwood. (Before we went, North, Waites and I basked in the sun on the balcony, listening to Hyde’s radio.)

Then we walked over the hills and back to the coach.

Played cards with North (Pontoon) and Attree and the others after dinner (Cold Chicken Salad.)

Monday 6th April - Today has been foul as to weather. Driving rain all day, a fierce, howling gale raged on the mountain-tops.

We went on the coach past Talgarth and went for a hike across the Black Mountains.

We climbed higher and higher: the gale was unbelievably strong – you could lean against it. We tramped on, (the wind was freezing cold). When we stopped for dinner, the rain poured down. We were in a sort of peat-bog thing.

Some of us went down to Talgarth and went home by coach, after having had some tea in a café, the others walked back.

The whole day Murray shewed himself up as an ignominious idiot. He assumed the position of leader of the expedition, and did several things wrong, including leading several of the party down the wrong side of a valley. Whilst the main group were walking in marching rhythm, Murray, drugged by militarism, found himself irresistibly drawn to us and came running. When Cook argued with Attree and said his route would save two miles, Waites pointed out that if the only purpose of the walk was to shorten the journey we might as well get straight into the coach and go home.

I pointed to a sheep and said, “Pollard, take your white coat off.” Played cards in the evening with [Malcolm] Knight, Brian and [Geoff] Cook and Hurst. Before dinner played cards with Attree and others.

Tuesday 7th April – Today has been quite windy, with some rain.

At breakfast ‘Odium’ (†) was particularly obnoxious. When Waites came down she said, “This isn’t The Ritz, coming down late and ordering what you like,” merely because the waitress asked him if he wanted grapefruit or porridge and there wasn’t any grapefruit, only prunes.

We went by coach for a geographical trip to the Long Mynd, Wenlock Edge District in Herefordshire and Shropshire: we picked up Mr. Green in Leominster, & he conducted our tour. We also stopped at Bishop’s Castle County High School to see Mr. Hodson , (‡) the geog. Master, who gave us a lecture on the district. We went to different places, incl. Clun, & Ludlow, where I took photos & bought some sausage rolls. There is a hotel called ‘The Feathers’ which was in the first eight inns to be licensed in England. It is a busy town with several original and genuine black and white timbered buildings.

When we got back we had dinner. Lethe the Weed (*) was extremely informative: he goes to Leeds University and is mad on football. ‘Odium’ had the wind taken out of her sails by Waites’s former unresponsiveness to her quips, & said little.

[Notes: † We had given nicknames to some of the other guests and staff.
‡ The name may not be exactly right – the original is partly illegible.
* I have no idea who this character was, or why the name.]

Wednesday 8th April – Today has been mixed as to weather. We went by coach to Hereford today by a circuitous route, observing the ex-armament factories on the outskirts. Waites repaired my camera case on the coach. I walked round Hereford with Waites. We went to the Cathedral, the Castle Green, the Market Hall, the Railway Station, and the Cattle Market. We went into a milk bar and had some tea and a cream cake.

The cattle market was very interesting.

At dinner time we had quite an animated conversation with Franz and Marjorie (†), and North. Odium removed Waites’ plate and cutlery before he came, then apologised when he arrived, and put them back. She couldn’t get her leg under the table because of the table leg, so she changed places with ‘The Industrialist’ (†) who actually had soup spilled on his sleeve by Jean the waitress.

Played cards a bit & played the piano.

[Notes: † These must have been other guests.]

Thursday 9th April – We went walking up the Brecon Beacons and Pen-y-Fan. We went up a river valley and ascended Corn Du (2,863) (†): at times it was hidden in the mist of the clouds. Then we went up Pen-y-Fan. Celia, one of the waitresses, came with us. At breakfast we saw Lethe (the Weed) for the last time.

It snowed on several occasions, and it was extremely cold. Had our lunch on top of Pen-y-Fan.

Then we descended the hill and ascended the next one, then we went down and joined the coach. Then we stopped in Brecon and I bought some orangeade and postcards and visited the Cathedral. It was only a small Cathedral.

In the evening I went for a walk with the Sheails. Whilst I explored a deserted cottage the Sheails went back. Later I met Waites and we went back to explore it. We lit a candle and rummaged through a trunk of books and clothes. We left the lighted candle in a window to give the impression of ghostliness.

[Notes: † Presumably the height of the hill in feet.]

Friday 10th April – Today has been rather rainy – in fact it poured in torrents at times.

We went to Cardiff today, via the Welsh Valleys, Ebbw Vale etc. The valleys were unbelievably smoky, and dismal – rows and rows of grimy houses, factories pouring forth sulphurous fumes and smoke – most of the valleys were narrow and had just a railway, a river, a road and a few rows of houses in it. It was wonderful to see such conditions, but I’d hate to live there.

We parked near the Bus Station. in Cardiff. I went to the G.W.R. Station & got some platform tickets †. I went with the Sheails to the Civic Centre and went into the Welsh National Museum. It was very interesting.

On the way back we went via Merthyr Tydfil: we actually saw Mr. Wilson (‡) outside the Police Station in Merthyr Vale where his parents live. What a coincidence! In the evening I played the piano to the private guests: Odium was forward in the requests. Played the Emperor Concerto, (*) Rondo Alla Turca by Mozart and other bits and pieces.

We have just moved Pollard’s bed into the middle of the room. He woke up though. Listened to Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor by Saint-Saens on Hyde’s radio.

(Notes: † I was a collector of these at the time.
‡ Colin Wilson, an F.G.S. physics master, but who was not on the trip, hence the coincidence.
* A very simplified and boiled-down version for solo piano of what is a major large-scale and difficult piano work with orchestra in the original!]

Saturday 11th April - Today has not been too bad, but I say that because I was in the coach most of the time. It rained and blew quite hard. We got up earlyish at Tregoyd. Pollard’s bed was still in the middle of the room in the morning, but he got out and moved it back. We finished packing and stowed our cases in the coach before breakfast. For breakfast we had porridge (I asked Jean for more but there was none), sausages and beans, and tea, and toast and honey. As we departed Celia waved us goodbye. We went through Ross, Peterchurch, Peterstowe, and many other places, incl. Gloucester, and Cirencester where we stopped. I went to the Town Station and bought a ticket on a Diesel Railbus. Also got some postcards in Cirencester. Much of the way we played card games, especially ‘Cheat’ and Pontoon (without money).