Barnsbury Boy - Lawrence McNamara – 1958-1963
Lawrence McNamara
To say I had a misspent youth would put it mildly. From the time I left school until I started seriously courting it was one round of night clubs and generally hanging around Soho and the West End night clubs; included regular weekly visits to The Scene in Ham Yard,
Whiskey-A-Go-Go, La Kilt, Studio 51 (where I was photographed and interviewed by a journalist from the Economist during an all-nighter). That photograph included Jimmy McColough and Derek Slee (Jimmy went to Barnsbury but Derek didn’t).
But I digress. At school I was caned in the 1st year (buggering around in the woodwork shop with a chisel at Eden Grove; 3rd year for stamping down the corridor on our return from a swimming lesson down the Cally, and the 5th year by throwing a rock at another pupil during an art lesson on the piece of ground next to the school and on the corner of Camden Road and the Cally. The rock had already been thrown at me and I was returning it and got caught. First caning was issued by Mr. Madley and the second two by Mr. Davies. I was made a librarian in the 4th year and stayed for the 5th. Great wheeze that was. Also did the tuck shop in the 4th/5th years and was a dinner monitor where I was behind the desk taking the money from the lads lining up to collect their grub, so got to eat first and had the pick of any afters that were left at the end. Another recollection I had was that huge black and white mural being smashed by someone kicking it with studded boots on.
I do remember being in Gerred House (Green) and, at some point, my form masters were Mr. Trainer and another was Mr. Matthews. At Eden Grove I remember “Killer” Cohen and his steel edged ruler, that nutter of a teacher who beat up a pupil, and the evil “Rozzer” Richards. My first English teacher in 1F was an Indian guy who we called “meat pie stains”, as it looked like that’s what was all over his tie. We used to drive the RE teacher nuts at Eden Grove by, in the summer, ducking out of the French doors into the playground and the running around and knocking on the door to say, “Sorry I’m late sir”, then someone else would do the same.
I keep forgetting that a pal of mine up to the time of leaving in the summer of 1963 was John Landon, who lived in a small road up by Essex Road, and Dennis Campbell who lived just off New North Road, and we daily caught the 611 trolleybus from New North Road to Eden Grove. On leaving school, John went on to work for Dunn & Co and subsequently moved to Scotland when his dad got employment up there, but I’ve no idea what happened to Dennis Campbell. I think his family moved to Streatham during that last year at school and he commuted all that way for the last few months. Another name no one will know was Peter? Murray who only did the first year at Eden Grove and then moved to Canada. I bought his tennis racket I remember.
Do you remember Derek Figgins in the 1958/59 years at Eden Grove? I felt really, really sorry for him as he was a thin and obviously undernourished lad, and was mercilessly bullied – having his glasses broken and stamped on on numerous occasions, he was removed from the school sometime in 1959 for the bullying and was never heard of again.
To say I had a misspent youth would put it mildly. From the time I left school until I started seriously courting it was one round of night clubs and generally hanging around Soho and the West End night clubs; included regular weekly visits to The Scene in Ham Yard,
Whiskey-A-Go-Go, La Kilt, Studio 51 (where I was photographed and interviewed by a journalist from the Economist during an all-nighter). That photograph included Jimmy McColough and Derek Slee (Jimmy went to Barnsbury but Derek didn’t).
But I digress. At school I was caned in the 1st year (buggering around in the woodwork shop with a chisel at Eden Grove; 3rd year for stamping down the corridor on our return from a swimming lesson down the Cally, and the 5th year by throwing a rock at another pupil during an art lesson on the piece of ground next to the school and on the corner of Camden Road and the Cally. The rock had already been thrown at me and I was returning it and got caught. First caning was issued by Mr. Madley and the second two by Mr. Davies. I was made a librarian in the 4th year and stayed for the 5th. Great wheeze that was. Also did the tuck shop in the 4th/5th years and was a dinner monitor where I was behind the desk taking the money from the lads lining up to collect their grub, so got to eat first and had the pick of any afters that were left at the end. Another recollection I had was that huge black and white mural being smashed by someone kicking it with studded boots on.
I do remember being in Gerred House (Green) and, at some point, my form masters were Mr. Trainer and another was Mr. Matthews. At Eden Grove I remember “Killer” Cohen and his steel edged ruler, that nutter of a teacher who beat up a pupil, and the evil “Rozzer” Richards. My first English teacher in 1F was an Indian guy who we called “meat pie stains”, as it looked like that’s what was all over his tie. We used to drive the RE teacher nuts at Eden Grove by, in the summer, ducking out of the French doors into the playground and the running around and knocking on the door to say, “Sorry I’m late sir”, then someone else would do the same.
I keep forgetting that a pal of mine up to the time of leaving in the summer of 1963 was John Landon, who lived in a small road up by Essex Road, and Dennis Campbell who lived just off New North Road, and we daily caught the 611 trolleybus from New North Road to Eden Grove. On leaving school, John went on to work for Dunn & Co and subsequently moved to Scotland when his dad got employment up there, but I’ve no idea what happened to Dennis Campbell. I think his family moved to Streatham during that last year at school and he commuted all that way for the last few months. Another name no one will know was Peter? Murray who only did the first year at Eden Grove and then moved to Canada. I bought his tennis racket I remember.
Do you remember Derek Figgins in the 1958/59 years at Eden Grove? I felt really, really sorry for him as he was a thin and obviously undernourished lad, and was mercilessly bullied – having his glasses broken and stamped on on numerous occasions, he was removed from the school sometime in 1959 for the bullying and was never heard of again.