Doc; purveyor of English Literature and racy stories to the ignorant masses. Here he is in typical pose, standing at his desk in the library surrounded by fifty year old
copies of Encyclopaedia Britannica and partaking of beer in his favourite pewter mug.
The admiring audience is Tony Cotsworth and Graham Stevens.
Doctor Naish was Doc to the extent that some people didn’t know his surname.
My understanding is that he fell out with The Jab, who after his long service through the war years
and beyond failed to reward him with the post of Head of English. The position was denied him when The
Jab appointed one of his Cambridge cronies,
Dr. Miles-Booy. Doc Naish withdrew to his library until retirement; the small section of it seen here
was commonly called The Dungeon. It seems that The Jab upset a good number of teachers in his time
at F.G.S. More politics and revelations on the Nuncs page!
I wasn’t an English Lit. scholar but Doc had a way of attracting pupils to his kingdom. Beer may have
been one of them but good humour was certainly another. These pictures were filed with a note stating “April 1959”,
although the number 25 on the wall calendar (Photo 4) casts doubt on that; 25th April 1959 was a Saturday! I believe Doc’s official retirement
date was the following month and it seems likely that these scenes were recorded on or near his retirement day.
On the left Doc. is speaking to Norman Styles. A much younger Doc. Naish may be seen here.
Photographs by Malcolm Knight