HILLHEAD HIGH SCHOOL-SECONDARY

Hughenden Playing  Fields

Secondary School


I sometimes think life is like snakes and ladders.You climb to the top in one structure and then slide down the snake to be a junior once more.This sure happened to me : Junior to Senior School ; Cub to Scout ; Head of CCF to Sandhurst ; Sandhurst to humble second lieutenant .

In Scotland there was a pecking order in schools . On the east coast you had private boarding schools like Fettes , Loretto , Glenamond & Gordonstoun. They considered themselves the elite and were more akin to English Public Schools.

Next in order would be those private and grant aided day schools . There were many in both Edinburgh & Glasgow-Heriots , Daniel Stewarts ,Glasgow Academy , Kelvinside Academy etc .

The so called " better " schools (not all fee paying ) played rugby .Rugby was for the upper and middle class : football ( soccer ) for the working class. It was different in the Borders where rugby was more popular with everyone  .

Religious bigotry between Protestants and Catholics was a feature in Glasgow similar to Belfast. This was manifested in the great rivalry between   Rangers & Celtic Football Teams .
People rave about Scottish Education .I sometimes wonder as classes were large and in my time there was no career advice . Historically Scotland was ahead of England in providing education for all up to the age of 14 .

One fundamental difference was that at secondary school you were meant to get a broad education , specialisation was for university .Therefore in Scotland you did five subjects up till the the  age of 18. Matriculation was based on Highers and Lowers. Five Highers was considered very respectable  , Dorothy got eight ( English ,French , Latin, Maths , Science , History & two additional Maths ) She became Dux of the Senior School .

Brighter pupils could get the appropriate  Highers in the 5th form. In the 6th form they would concentrate on sitting for a Competitive Bursary to University .This is what Dorothy did and had a stab at Russian in the process. She was glad to inform me that Russian for brother was brat .

I got four Highers ( failed French ). It would have got me to University but as an insurance policy I did the Civil Service Entrance Exam so I could get to Sandhurst.

History was my best subject and the only one for which I got prizes .At  the end of each year there was a prize giving ceremony. You had to climb these steps up onto a stage .Dorothy got so many prizes you could hardly see her head above the pile of books and she had to be assisted down the steps.

My main two passions were rugby and the Combined Cadet Force (CCF ). In the 6th form I made the 1st Rugby xv and got my colours .I have still got the blazer in the attic , never managed to throw it out. I did in the process break an ankle and a nose. We played for rugby for two terms. In the summer the options were cricket , tennis or athletics .As I was never much good at any of these I persuaded the PT master to let me go rowing in the final years. Normally those who did rowing did it all the year round .

In the 1950s respect for the Sabbath was a big thing .No sport was played on a Sunday and all shops, cinemas , pubs etc were closed. I suppose that the advantage was that after church the one option was to get on with homework and get ready for school on Monday.

One big event in my teens was getting my first and only bicycle. It had drooped handle bars and chrome plated front forks--no gears . I cycled everywhere , up the side of Loch Lomond, into the Trossachs and once to Stirling. I think my longest trip was 80 miles in one day .

The Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was once asked what was important in politics  .He replied events, events. I think key events define a decade. If you were to ask an American what defined the 1960s he would probably include : the first man into space the Russian Yuri Gagarin and the subsequent race to get a man on the moon ; the Cuban Missile Crisis ; the assassination of President Kennedy ; Dr Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement ; Vietnam War and for some Flower Power in California.

I have tried to think what actually registered with me as a child and teenager in the 1950s avoiding what I have read in history books.

The Korean  War 1950 certainly registered as adults talked about who might be vulnerable to be called up .National Service had just been extended to 2 years .During breaks in the playground  games would not be about cowboys and Indians but how to beat the dreadful Chinese.

The funeral of King George VI was the first thing I watched on TV. However, most of our visual images came from Pathe News bulletins which you got in between the two films in the cinema .They were in black & white.

Queen Elizabeth's Coronation was the big event in 1953. I recall that from primary school we were all marched in a long snake to the local cinema in Byres Rd to see a colour film of the Coronation. There was some animosity about her being crowned Elizabeth II and Scottish Nationalists threatened to blow up EiiR pillar boxes. Don't know which year it was but there was a degree of admiration for that band of brothers who stole the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey .It of course was the year Mount Everest was conquered.

In May 1954 Roger Bannister was the first man to run a mile in 4 min being paced by Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher. Bannisters great rival was the Australian John Landay.This achievement generated a tremendous interest in athletics .Great runners that come to mind are Derek Ibbotson ,Gordon Pirrie and that great Czech runner Emil Zatopek. Also among the stars was another Australian , Herb Elliott.

1956 was probably the most dramatic year. In April the Russian Leaders Nicolai Bulganin & Nikita Khrushchev visited the UK. They came to Scotland because they wanted to see the home of  Robert Burns. In July Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal which eventually led to the Anglo French invasion of Egypt in collusion with Israel .I do remember convoys of sand coloured Army trucks going south for embarkation.

In Nov we heard on the radio those desperate pleas from the Hungarian people as Russian tanks entered Budapest.

In Oct 1957 Russia launched Sputnik 1the worlds first artificial satellite . Again on the radio we heard the blip,blip coming from the satellite as the Russians heralded their triumph.

The Cod War with Iceland was1958 an insult to the great Empire or rather fading Empire. That was also the year of the Munich Air Disaster .

Dorothy leaned to the left and from my meagre pocket money I was asked to contribute to buying a copy of The New statesman ! Being able to babysit Dorothy was more flush with cash. I wanted to do an early morning paper round. My mother firmly said no as she was convinced that was the start of my father's problems.

In 1972 twelve years after I left HHS lost its special status and was turned into a comprehensive.I have just read a review by a former pupil on the HHS Blog. She describes the transition. There were major fights as they tried to integrate children from different socio economic groups. Also a race problem resulted in mounted police being deployed. Dorothy & I sure were lucky.

The excellent sports grounds at Hughenden could not be taken over by the comprehensive as they were a War Memorial Trust .Glasgow High Sshool which faced a similar fate managed to form a private school on their grounds at Anniesland.