Past Pupils
Glenn Cannon (1962)
I went to Tottenham Grammar School from 1961 to 1963 when my parents moved to Essex. I was in 1S (form master D.G Hillier) and then 2G (P. Collinson)
I was in Bruce House, who at that time dominated the Swimming and Boxing events but Somerset were cock house for several years.
When we bought our uniform at the outfitters in Tottenham High Road, the proprietor was an ex TGS boy and an ex-Bruce House boy.
I recall with great amusement the annual Public Speaking `competition' in particular that in 1962 the adjudicator was Lawrence Payne, an Old Boy who had made it big time on the stage and had landed a major part in Ben Hur. He made some amusing comments on my contribution and I found myself selected in later months for Dr Witt's Choral Speaking group.
I also recall that any boy who was able to defeat Mr Topham at chess was given free lifetime membership of the school chess club. My main extra curricular interest was the music and school choir and John Fear recruited me to his choir at All Souls, Langham Place where we enjoyed not only a regular supply of extra pocket money and our fares paid up to the West End every weekend but occasional excursions nest door into the magic world of the BBC for radio broadcasts.
Eric Ashby used to present each leaver with a New
Testament.
After I left the school early, mine arrived by
post. I called on him some years later at his home in Woodford and was made
most welcome.
I enjoyed the Literary and Debating Society and the Christian Union and made strenuous efforts to avoid Rugby. This was probably a reaction to it being compulsory because when I moved to my Essex Grammar School and had a three way choice, I opted for Rugby with unparalleled enthusiasm and would have probably carried on at Uni except that I went to St Luke's School of Education where they recruited half the Welsh and English international sides and us mere mortals never stood a chance of getting near a team.
I made contact with John Fear again in about 1987
or so. He had gone fromTGS to Bury St Edmunds and some time after he retired, decided to return to
South East Devon where he had been born. I was
then head of a small Primary School at Woodbury, between Exeter and Exmouth.
John settled at Budleigh Salterton where he became Parish organist. I
learned of his settlement as one of my staff was a regular
attender there.
John came out to visit me and
told me that he had begun his primary schooling
as a pupil in my school - in
about 1926 or so - and sure enough there he was
in the school log.
Apparently his uncle had been village postmaster and he had been staying with his uncle and aunt at the time he reached school age.