TOM CATT'S BOARDING SCHOOLDAYS

One day Tom Catt saw a documentary about boarding school. He was influenced by it and decided that he wanted to go to boarding school.
people came round to test him and found in the end a school near Billericay called Ramsden Hall which would be suitable for him.
To prepare the boy for his new boarding school it was decided that he must pay a visit to see what he thought of it and that the time had come for him to attend.
The headmaster Mr. Fearnley showed him around, guiding his parents and him together, looking around the dormitories and various other things. Above all he saw the dining room where he was going to have his meals once he gets admitted to this school.
On Monday September 9th Tom Catt woke up at 8.20 am for he had to be out of the house by 1pm sharp.
At 1.00 pm the new boy to be left his house and with his parents made their way to Ilford Station.
A train came along and got on it. it went through various stations, going out into the Essex countryside and into Billericay Station where he got off.
There, outside a taxi was waiting for him. He got on this and in a jiffy the taxi sped out of Billericay Station and along the main road, turning into Horace Road and along Norsey Road.
Before long the taxi came up to the slip road leading up to the school gates then through the gates and up the driveway, the road that leads to the school.
At last the taxi pulled up in the car park and the new boy got out and went into the school through the front door.
There, in the entrance hall were the blackboards that listed the dormitories that the boys would sleep in once they came back to the school from their six week summer holiday.
The new boy had only been five minutes in Ramsden hall when the coach pulled up the driveway and docked outside in the car park, unloading a busload of boys.
The first thing that the new boy did was to explore the school, visiting various rooms, the locker room, the bathrooms, the lot, then it was off to the headmaster's office where the new boy had to sign in to say that he would reside there until he reached the age of 16.
The new boy started to cry and the head teacher said , 'any more of that nonsense and I'll send you to bed.
Soon after he made his way to the dining room, seeing his parents off.
For tea it was a piece of tongue, cake and a cup of tea, then it was off to the packing room on the top floor where you would unpack your suitcase. Once this was done then you made your way to your new dormitory.
Tom Catt was to sleep in Dormitory no.2.
He hadn't packed his clothes away completely when it was time to go down to supper and on his table was Roy Horrocks.
The supper consisted of a tomato with a cucumber on top.
After supper it was time to go up and have your wash than off to the tv room to watch telly.
At 8. 30pm it was time for bed.
Tom Catt slept next to Alan Nicholson on his right hand side and Danny Booth on the left hand side.
Mr.Clay was on duty that night and the new boy found that he was a bully right from the start for he gave him a thick ear for talking.
Next morning the bell rang at 7am for it was time to get up and go and have a stripwash, then it was off to the dining room for breakfast.
Tom refused to eat until the teacher told him that he had five minutes to eat all that and he did and when he got up to his room he found that his bed had already been made.
At 9am it was time for class, Mr.Little's class, and at 11.15am after morning break, Mr.Imbert's class for sums.
In the afternoon the new boy had to sort things out so he put all his belongings in the locker room.
Wednesday September 11th 1963 was the worst day of the lot for this was the day when the new boy broke every rule in the schoolbook.
It all started at 7am when the bell went for the new boy refused to get up until one of the teachers came in dragged him out of bed, tipped him upside down and gave him a good hiding. Not only that, one of the boys accused him of wetting his bed which he denied but got reported to the head, then a group of boys nabbed him in the corridor and forced him to have a shower, accusing the new boy of messing himself.
But more was to come, for in class the boy didn't pay attention and got clouted round the ear.
Later that afternoon the new boy refused to go in one of the classes and one of the boys, Robert Olive, dragged him into the room , with the result that the unruly boy got a thick ear by Mr.Clay for refusing to attend classes.
The story of this notorious day doesn't end here, for in the evening the boy was in the tv room when he decided that he wanted to sit in the right place, but,'as he moved his chair it made such a screech that the teacher sent him to bed early for disturbing the other boys. He marched him by the ear and told him to go to bed.
Next day, September 12th, was by far the best of the lot for this was the day in which the new boy took his first dip in the school lido.
The swimming pool was stocked with fish to make swimming more enjoyable.
Unfortunately the good times weren't to last for next day, sometime in the evening the boy came down with a cold which became a bad cold the next day. As a result he was late down to breakfast and had to do without all because of that bully teacher Mr.Clay. According to him if you were late for breakfast you had to do without.
But more was to come for when the new boy got up to his dorm he went off and the teacher came in and gave him what for, hitting him whilst he was down on the floor, giving him thick ears then threatening the boy with a fist.
Having a cold was no excuse for carrying on for you had to abide by the rules.
Despite the bad cold the boy went on the Saturday shopping trip in the school van, a 9 seater mini bus, and when in Billericay bought confectionery.
On the way back the school mini bus took a detour, reaching the outskirts of Ramsden Heath, then back to school.
The new boy's bad cold had one effect on him for it brought on homesickness. This manifested itself  when he cried:
"I don't like it here, I wanna go home".
It's amazing because by now the new boy would have already been settled in, even though he had only been at boarding school for five days. However to catch a cold at a time when you hadn't even been here for a week was the worst thing that could happen because it made you homesick.
The next day the cold was almost gone.
That afternoon tea was held on the lawn, which meant having to have it in really rough conditions for there was nothing to support your cuppa, you had to hold it in your hand whilst sitting in an awkward position, with the added risk that you could drop it on the lawn.
Having afternoon tea in rough conditions on the lawn was just a one off, no more after this.
Towards the end of October things were getting busy at the school for the half term holiday was fast approaching and one of these was weekly clothes inspection.
On Friday November 1st the school knocked off for the half term holiday, five days in all.
Knocking off time was 3pm in the afternoon, the boys making their own way home  as if they were on weekend leave, but when it came to the main holiday you had to be taken home by coach because you had a suitcase with all your clothes packed in. Because of this it would have been far to heavy for boys to make their way home dragging a heavy suitcase, so the coach was the only option for it took the strain.
There's one thing that's been left out.
That is the boy's first weekend leave at Ramsden Hall.
The headmaster told Tom Catt that his dad would be collecting him at 6.30pm and that he would have to wait in the entrance hall, but later that afternoon one of the boys told him his parents weren't coming so he got clean away, making his own way home. It only came to light when the boy's father turned up and found his son missing so he told the head. The head called all the boys to assemble in the entrance hall for he was going to make a special announcement.
"you all know that one of the boys is missing from the school. the boy's dad is here, and what we're going to do is that we going to organize a search party go and look for the missing boy, if that fails then I've got no other option than to call the police.
"That brat's broken the rules, when he returns said the head,  I have no other option than to stop his weekend leave for the rest of the term.
The boys and the teachers were given torches because it was so dark  outside.
Immediately they started to search the grounds.
They searched and searched, but no matter how much they searched they could find no trace of the missing boy. In the end they just had to give up.
Right! said the headmaster, that boy's gonna get what for when he comes back on Sunday. He can't do what he likes, he's got to abide by the rules.
The boy's dad returned home and what he saw made him bite off more than he could chew for sitting in the dining room was his son.
"I was going to collect you  to take you home but you wasn't there so we had to search."
When Sunday came it was time to go back to boarding school and when the boy finally did arrive his dad had to tell the deputy head about what happened. Whilst this was going on the boy bawled and yelled, raising a commotion.
Finally the boy's dad left through the front entrance door.
The boy tried to escape but was held back by Mr.Little, the deputy headmaster.
"Right! my boy get changed into night clothes at once."
The rule breaker  got changed into nightwear.
Next day there was a shock awaiting the boy for in the entrance hall the head teacher appeared. he shouted:
"no more weekends for you my boy."
And for the rest of the term the boy just had to reside here for the whole seven days, no weekend break. His punishment:
"breaking the rules by defying the head's orders to remain at this school until his dad came to collect him to take him home at 6.30pm."
Now its back to the school Christmas holiday, the first one the boy had at this school. Before it actually began there was the school Christmas party, followed by entertainment, including shadow puppets, then one day later it was time to pack all your belongings and get ready to go home for the school Christmas holiday.
The new boy was so anxious to have all his stuff packed away that he raised a commotion. The headmaster who happened to be somewhere in the building heard it all and when the boy came out he told him to go to bed.
The next day it was time to knock off for the school holiday.
At 7.00 am the boys got up as usual as if it was an ordinary school day but this day was different for this very day was the day in which the school was going to shut down for the main holiday.
the boys made their way down to the washroom but had to hand in their dirty laundry, then it was off to the washroom and back to the dormitory, then you got dressed and made your way down to breakfast, and when you returned to your dorm you did make your bed, but instead of stripping it you pulled back the bedclothes to allow air to circulate as it was time to knock off for the holiday.
Soon after it was down to the entrance hall where you waited until the coach came to take you home.
When the coach did finally arrive the boys got on it and soon they were off.
The coach went down the driveway, out through the school gates and into the outside world, making its way through the Essex countryside, through Billericay, Brentwood, Romford, then onto Ilford, stopping outside the town hall. There,a taxi was waiting outside to pick up the new boy and take him home.
The following term there occurred a change for the better for the head announced that the boy who had served his comeuppance  was now ready to go home on weekend leave, but at first every other week, then if on good terms he was well behaved he could go home every week.
Come half term it was time to go home, for four days, then soon after weekend leave was to be once a week from then on.
Before the School Whitsun holiday, something wrong happened for on that particular Monday Tom Catt refused to make his bed and what a commotion he raised. He just went absolutely berserk. This alerted boys in the surrounding dormitories to see what it was all about, and the teacher just arrive and said:
"what's all this about?, I heard you  bawling, screaming and shouting right down the corridor.
The mayhem was even heard by the deputy head for he happened to have his flat right on the top floor of the school, and at the end of the day he warned:
"any more of your nonsense and I'll be down on you like a ton of bricks."
This could have resulted in the headmaster suspending all weekend leave. Luckilly the boy got off scot free.

On one weekend leave for reasons that couldn't be described the boy had a crying fit just before he made his way back.
Even on his return the urge to cry didn't stop; it only ended in the evening.
The next day it was off to an aquarium inside a house in a London suburb to see the fish.
Towards the end of the Summer term the boy was about to begin his six week holiday.
Although he wasn't due to break up until the following Tuesday, because his holiday was booked to begin on the following day, Saturday, the head granted him permission to give him early holiday leave when his parents told him about the holiday that was booked for the followiing day.
the boy was due to knock off by 3pm so he had to get ready to prepare for his departure.
He had to have a shower to clean himself up and at 3.00 pm the taxi turned up and in that car  was his mother.
Immediately the boy boarded the cab and off they went out into the Essex countryside, eventually arriving home at 5pm.
The next day the family started their annual holiday
the taxi came and took the family to Clements Road. A coach came along and off they went, passing through varous parts of London where there were loads of streets then off into the country.
The coach stopped at a village pub then off to your holiday destination where you would begin your week long holiday.
In 1964 a new sport began - cross country running, organised by Mr.Phillips, the P.E teacher. It wasn't all that pleasant for you had to negotiate muddy paths and terrain, wearing only plimsolls, insufficient for this sport. However it was the paper chase version of this sport which made it more enjoyable.
One notable event that occurred in the July of 1965 was when the new boy forgot to take his toilet articles home with him on his weekend leave and what a commotion he raised, so much that his mother had to phone the school and when Tom Catt did finally get back he had a shock announcement waiting for him for in the entrance hall the deputy head appeared and warned that the boy was to have his weekend leave stopped. he relayed this to the headmaster who then told the boy the truth. However in the end the boy apologized and got let off.
At the end of 1965 the boy was struck down with eczema and had to have ointment.
The eczema eventually led to the boy having to be suspended from swimming.
Tom left in 1966.