Worksop College

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Worksop College is a co-educational day and boarding school for those aged 13 to 18 and is one of the select public schools in the country. Worksop is split into seven houses - Talbot House, Mason House, Portland House and Pelham House for boys, Gibbs House and Derry House for girls and Shirley House which is co-educational. The school prides itself in being a non-selective school, but despite this its A level and GCSE results regularly top the Nottinghamshire league tables.

Despite its small size (460 pupils), Worksop performs exceptionally well in sports. Rugby, hockey and cricket are the main boys' sports, with netball, hockey and athletics for the girls. Worksop has produced many international sportsmen over the last ten years, most being concentrated in hockey and cricket. In hockey, the boys' team regularly wins county titles (the boys' team beat Repton School 3-2 in the 2006 Midlands final and will now represent the Midlands in the National Finals). In cricket, Worksop play an attacking game, and were unbeaten for a number of years around 2000, beating amongst others Repton School, Manchester Grammar, Shrewsbury and The MCC. Girls' sports are also strong at Worksop, although there have been no international sportswomen to date.

Origins

Construction began in 1890 on St Cuthberts College (to be changed to Worksop College in the 1930s) and was the last school to be personally opened by Woodard himself, on September 5 1895. The land on which the school was built and the tree-lined drive were donated by the Duke of Portland. In the beginning the school buildings were scarce, with only the Great Hall and East Wing complete - a temporary chapel was also erected. Worksop chapel which stands today was opened in 1906 after Lord Mountgarret made funds available. Mountgarret did not live to see the finished building; the new building was opened by Viscount Mountgarret (his wife) in 1906.

The house system

As with any school Worksop is split into houses. Inter-house rivalry, again as per most schools is very strong, with members remaining very loyal to their house. Inter-house sport plays a large part of life at the college and if there is a sport then there will be an inter-house competition. Some unusual examples include inter-house tug of war, inter-house .22 rifle shooting, inter-house chess and the kicking cup (this may have now been phased out but was once contested by the IV form and involved the accuracy of drop goals, punts and penalties).

Boys' houses:

• Mason House (formerly Cross, opened in 1895)
• Pelham House (formerly Fluer de Leys, opened in 1895)
• Talbot House (formerly Crown, opened in 1895)
• Portland House (opened in 1948 when Prep moved to Ranby)

Girls' houses:

• Derry House (opened in 1978)
• Gibbs House (opened in 1986)

Co-educational house:

• Shirley House (opened in 1934)

Closed houses:

• Mountgarret (formerly Lion, opened 1895, closed 1986)
• School house (opened in 1930, closed 1986)

Talbot House

Talbot is one of the original houses of Worksop and was known as Crown until the 1930s when all house names were changed by the then headmaster Reverend Shirley (Crown is still the house crest). Talbot is the academic house at Worksop; this has been underlined by the high number of academic scholars and the winning of the House Challenge Competition (similar to University Challenge but contested between houses) for the last 8 years. Current housemaster C.G. Paton has been at the helm since 1994 when he took over from A.J.A. Beal. Under Paton, Talbot house has become arguably the most sought after house at Worksop and is known to be reasonable in all aspects of life. Housemasters of Talbot (and Crown) include, C.G. Paton (current), A.J.A. Beal, N.M Simmonds, E.E. Peters, J.S.B George, J. Dronfield, H.A. Cartledge, R. Sowerbutts, F.C.M. Richards, E.T. Weddell and R. Browning.

Talbot has a proud history and remains the only boys house to have been located away from the main buildings (it was located in the current Gibbs House from the mid 1960s until the mid 1980s). Talbot is currently housed in the former Scholae quaters where it moved when Scholae was closed in the mid 1980s.

Talbot is a sporting house and was home to Jack Buckner and Tom Buckner in the 1970s and 1980's, both went on to become international athletes. Other international athletes include P.R. Brunyee (1952-1956) who won the English School's high hurldes at intermediate level (1955) and senior level (1956) and still holds the school 110m hurdles record which was set in 1956 (14.90 seconds), Brunyee went on to compete in the Empire Games of 1958 in Cardiff. More recently Talbot was the home of Samit Patel (1998-2003) who represented England at various levels in cricket and is now a full time Nottinghamshire professional.

The McKay brothers who were pupils in Talbot in the 1980s are probably the best known non sporting alumni. The brothers are the owners of Manumission, Ibiza, the largest nightclub in the world. The brothers were a large part of the first series of Ibiza Uncovered. Mike McKay's wife gave birth to their first child live on stage, which was seen to be a little controversial. Sam Farmer who was a pupil in Talbot at the same time as the McKay's is currently married to TV's Caroline Quentin and has been featured widely in the press of late.

Mason House

Mason, along with Talbot and Pelham House, is one of the original houses of Worksop and used to be called Cross before 1930. It is the sporting house of Worksop with it holding strong many trophies in the last decade, including the Junior Rugby Cup and Senior Rugby Cup. The House is situated next to the Headmaster's house and the School Library. The current head of Mason is Mr. J. S. Robinson. The emblem of the house is a golden cross, kept from the original name and crest.

Pelham House

Portland House

Portland house is the newest boys house at Worksop and is one of the most popular amongst those pupils entering the school from Ranby House. Portland has a strong sporting tradition and is known for winning the Dorm Run for the last eight years (a legacy of N.A.K Kitchen, housemaster in the 1990s). Portland also prides itself on having the largest number of school prefects in the upper VI. Portland has produced a number of very strong sporting pupils over the last number of years, most recently Steve Lawrence who captained the England under 19 hockey team in 2003. Other include Simon Heggie who was an international 400m runner (represented England at under 23 level in 1994) and Henry Straw who represented England at under 15 level at cricket in 1996).

Mountgarret House (Loyal je Suis)

When Mountgarret house was closed in the late 1980s there was uproar amongst Old Worksopians. Montgarret was an immensley proud house and the closure came as a huge blow. The dwndling numbers at Worksop led to the closure along with School House. The Mountgarret name was brought back to Worksop when the current Headmaster created the Mountgarret Music Centre around the year 2000, although it was seen by many as a cop out of bringing back the house back to Worksop. Mountgarret alumni are the most generous at Worksop and it is for this reason that the house may well be re-opened within the next ten years if the fortune of Worksop continues to improve.

Shirley house

Founded in 1930s after Rev Shirley, this house is unique amongst the houses as it is co-educational (although not until the 1990's!). Shirley is for day pupils only and there are no boarders (the few remaining boarders were phased out in the mid 1990s). Alumni of Shirley house include N.M. Hall who captained the England Rugby Union team in the 1950s and Phillip Sharpe who scored a century for England at cricket in the 1960s.

School house (Semper ad Coelestia)

Derry house

Gibbs house

Gibbs House is known, whether politically correct or not, as the house with all the fit (good looking girls) in. The house has recently had planning pemmision accepted for the new house building which already under construction and is set to be compleated by september 2007.

College buildings

Worksop has many fine buildings including:

• The Great Hall, the centrepiece to Worksop and the first building to be completed. One of the largest rooms in Nottinghamshire, its hammerbeams are spectacular; the original design was based upon Westminster Abbey. With the eyes of all the former headmasters looking down, it is a most imposing structure. Mouse Man furniture was acquired in the 1930s and remains to this day. On the wall facing the 1st XI cricket square can be found many carvings of Old Boys from the time Worksop was opened, which give an added sense of nostalga.

• The Chapel, opened in 1906, is a quite spectacular structure. The structure was based upon that of Westminster Abbey and the ceiling contains many passages of Latin verse. Worksop is also the owner of a newly refurbished organ which stands nearly the height of the Chapel.

• The East Wing, the first wing of Worksop to be opened, was blessed in 1895 by the Bishop of Southwell. The East Wing is a huge building standing five floors high and contains many quirky floors, which can be entered through trap doors in some very odd places.

• The Squash Courts were once lit by natural light, but the former roof has now been replaced by a lowered ceiling. The courts are an excellent example of early squash courts. The balcony is particularly noteworthy as the courts were designed in back to back format which is quite rare.

The Dorm Run

One of the original sporting events at Worksop was the Dorm Run and was first coined in the late 19th century (so called as people ran for their dorm, Fluer de Leys, Cross, Crown or Lion). The Dorm Run is still a large part of life at Worksop and despite a number of course alterations is still run this day. Well known past winners include:

• David Griffiths (Mason) Commonwealth Games competitor. Winner in 1958, 1959 & 1960.
• Bill Foster (Pelham) International marathon runner. Winner in 1976.
• Jack Buckner (Talbot) European 5000m champion and Olympian. Winner in 1977, 1979 & 1980.
• Tom Buckner (Talbot) AAA steeplechase champion and Olympian. Winner in 1981.
• Simon Lewis (Shirley) Wales international steeplechase runner. Winner in 1991, 1992 & 1993.
• Simon Heggie (Portland) England international 400m runner. Winner 1994.
• Graham Anderson (Pelham) England international hockey player. Winner in 2000.
• Steve Lawrence (Portland) England U21 hockey captain. Winner in 2001.

Ironically Jack Buckner would have been the only pupil to have won the Dorm Run four years in succession had it not been for the cancellation of the race in 1978 due to snow and flu epidemic, thus he become one of the 3 time winners of the race (others being Simon Lewis (Shirley) 1991, 1992 & 1993 and Marcus Smith (Pelham) 1995, 1996 & 1997). Buckner held the old record of 18:35, Tom Buckner is second on the list with 19:58 (1981) and Simon Lewis was third and fourth with 19:59 (in 1992) and 20:00 (1993). On the pre 1968 course (using Windmill Lane rather than the Golf Course route) David Griffiths held the record of 19:20 (1959) a year later Griffiths finished 5th at the English School's Cross Country Championships and recorded 19:48 in snowy conditions.

The Dorm Run course was changed in 2004 due to logging on Fred's Hill and the first winner was Sam Palmer (Pelham) in 21:41 (exact length of the course is not known at this time and cannot therefore be compared to other years times).

The Shirley years

Worksop was known as St Cuthberts College until Shirley himself decided to change its name in the mid 1930s, Shirley College was his preferred choice. Under Shirley the school prospered and a huge building programme was undertaken - the Sanatorium, Squash courts, Eton Fives courts (replaced in the 1960s by the chemistry department), staff houses, Old Theatre, Art School, West Wing and the top proportion of the North Wing were all completed, as was a state-of-the-art latrine block. Shirley's plan was to turn Worksop into the Eton of the Midlands. School numbers had risen to 500 and the school had created a brilliant reputation amongst English Public Schools with many sixth-formers achieving scholarships to Oxbridge and when Shirley left he took with him many staff and prefects, something that was frowned upon at the time and prompted Shirley to be struck off the HMC register.

The 1960s

The 1960s were another period of growth for the Worksop; buildings from this time included the former gym (replaced by the new Sports Hall, Swimming Pool (opened in 1954), Churchill Hall, Chemistry Department and Gibbs House (soon to be replaced). The 60s were a time of change at Worksop, with Talbot House moving into the current Gibbs House and becoming the first house to be located away from the main school buildings. The school 1st XV pitch was also levelled at this time and a Jeff Butterfield XV (containing many British Lions) defeated the school XV in the opening match - incidentally the 1st XV pitch is to be redeveloped into Gibbs House, the XV pitch is being moved west into former gorse land. Although much building work was undertaken at this time, much of the work was typical of 1960s architecture.

1980 - present

The 1980s and early 1990s were difficult years for Worksop with school numbers falling (as in most public schools in the UK) and little school development took place. An extension to the Churchill Hall was made in 1981 and would form the newly established Craft and Design Centre, with a young Brian Biddulph at the helm. Roger Knight was appointed head in the early 1990s and the school's reputation fell. This all changed however when the current headmaster Roy Collard took over. One promise he made when he took up the role was to bring back the name 'Mountgarret' to Worksop (Old Boys from Mountgarret apparently donate most to the school). Not long after Collard took over as head, Worksop celebrated its centenary and HRH Princess Anne opened the new school ICT centre. Collard did indeed bring back the Mountgarret name to Worksop by renovating the latrine block of the 1930s into a new music school. Other recent developments include the increased provision of ICT facilities, refurbishment of dated boarding accommodation, new teaching facilities and the new Sports Hall (opened 2003). The new Gibbs Boarding house is due to open sometime in 2007.

Terminology and slang

Much of Worksop slang is the same as other public school slang However, there are numerous Worksop-specific phrases, including, in order of use:

• Clusters - a group of computers that are found within the main buildings in Worksop.
• Gown - a person of authority at the school including prefects
• Grace - new IV formers are given a two week grace period in which they will not be subjected to any type of hardship, this however soon changes after the two weeks have elapsed.
• Nog - The headmaster (currently Roy Collard).
• Athletics standards/swimming standards - An old fashioned term for an inter-house sport competition (phased out in the late 1990s) in which houses competed against each other for a number of weeks in both athletics and swimming. Originally if a certain time/distance/height was achieved then you were awarded that particular standard - the house with the most standards wins. More recently performances were converted into points, and the house with the largest tally of points won. Talbot house (some say controversially) hold the school record for most points in athletics standards, when in 2001 all 54 members of the house completed 12 events each. Some believed that the then captain of athletics Simon Langley had rigged the points scoring system however this claim was never substantiated.
• The Run - a common abreveation for the Dorm Run
• Giblets - Girls who belong to Gibbs House.
• Rugger or Game - a common substitute for rugby.
• Collered - to be delt with for the unacceptable length of ones hair, especially for the hair lying below or on the collar, by a gown.
• To Be Delt - to be punished by a gown.
• Chav/kev - originally a word used by Worksop students to refer to a person from the town, especially the rough kind, before it reached its current common usage and place in the Oxford English Dictionary.
• The Gauntlet - the occasion when IV formers are sent down the upper sixth form corrider whilst debris is thrown by the UVI formers, arguably in good fun.
• Gorse - a patch of gorseland on South Field where unruly students believe they can go and smoke out of sight of staff.
• Chaos - pronounced 'chos', and meant 'tease'. Thus to chaos someone using their 'chaos name'.
• Dobb - to tell to a teacher (or snitch/rat in)
• Skits - when someone has gone very angry
• Fridge - A person who refuses to mix with the opposite sex
• Amplitude - To be chubby
• Mong - addaptation of the word ming, to describe someone as ugly
• Boat feet - someone has poor co-ordination

Pratically Every member of staff at the college has a nick name, these include - Mr Fagan (fag end) Mr jackson (spud) Mr leech (leechy) Mr Paton (pizzle) Mr Robinson (Robbo) Mr Franse (ice man) Mr gibson (Gibbo) and Mrs Warner (Mrs Winer)mr jonson (bagel) mr collard (the power of roy) mr batterbury (batty boy)

Myths and legends

According to school rules (which must surely have been abolished) the head boy of the College may do the following during his time in office:

• Keep a goat on South Field.
• Grown a beard.
• Smoke a pipe.
• If he chooses to marry during his time at the College he may frequent the end house on East Field.

Dennis Hackett (DH), who was Director of Sport at the college from 1960-1998 is known by almost all Old Boys, mostly for his no-nonsense attitude to younger members of the school. DH also coined a number on non-sensical phrases:

• "You two, form a triangle". - triangles as per their name have three points and therefore those two would form a line.
• "You boy bring me a biro and make sure it's a sharp one". - biros use ink and therefore are always sharp.
• "I want you to swim up the middle and down the centre". - no explanation needed
• "You aren't at prep school anymore son". - this is obvious to even the most naive of the IV form!

Other quirky facts about the college:

• Before the current swimming pool was built in the 1950s the old outdoor pool (located adjacent to the tennis courts and astro turf) regularly froze over and was often used as a skating rink in the winter months.
• TV character Richard Bacon was reputed to have been quite the prankster and during his time at the college and apparently gained unauthorised entry to a teachers flat and requested a coach firm to send two large busses for a bogus school trip.
• During the 1970's some unruly students ascended onto the roof of the Great Hall on the eve of Speech Day and using some stolen yellow road paint pained a slogan referring to the then headmaster (Nog) in large lettering. The paint could not be removed at such short notice so maintenance staff were instructed to paint over the graffiti in dark green paint. If you stand at the end of the school drive and look onto the roof of the Great Hall, the faint writing can still be seen as can the uncharacteristic dark green paint.
• Until the early 1960's the Royal Hunt were regular visitors to the College until some boys staged a small protest objecting to the "sport" of fox hunting, the hunt never returned.
• The year group known as the Remove (year 10) is so named because those members of the IV form who did not achieve good enough grades to enter the Vth form (and sit O Levels) were held back a further year in order to catch up.
• The then Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald opened a large proportion of the College in the 1930s, he arrived via bi-plane and landed on South Field. This was said by Shirley to be greatest day in the history of the College. Shirley was aqainted with the son of the PM and local MP Malcolm Macdonald, this was probably the driving force behind the visit.
• During the Second World War the College had its own fire patrol, many at the time thought this to be futile - however when a German plane came down by keepers cottage in Clumber Park (half a mile from the College) they were the first ones on the scene. During the Second World War pupils and staff used the school cellars as a makeshift air-raid shelter, the school and grounds never received any direct hits.
• The school 1st XI cricket pitch was levelled in the late 1890's and remains one of the finest cricket squares in the country, 2nd XI county games are regularly played on the square. Mining subsidence has caused the outfield to fall away slightly, however the pitch still lives up to its reputation. Mining subsidence has also caused the college swimming pool to leak many times over the last decade.
• Prior to the renovation of the college geography school in the late 1990s there was an unusual and pointless step at the top of both the North and South classrooms. Upon renovation it was discovered that these were not steps, but rather the two ends of the boxing ring which once stood in the then school gym. Inter-house boxing was abolished in 1968.

In the days of fagging and bullying IV formers would be subjected to the following:

• Thrown naked into the College gorse bushes (Talbot)
• Placed in large bags used for laundry (the bags are still used to this day), hung from the ceiling of dorms and used as a punch bag (Pelham).
• Locked in a trunk and rolled down a number of flights of stairs (Mountgarret).

Alumni

• Chad Varah (Fleur de Lys) - Founder of the Samaritans
• Kenneth Farnes (MCR) - England fast bowler circa 1930
• Nim Hall (Shirley) - Captain of England Rugby Union, circa 1950
• Jeff Butterfield (MCR) - Captain of England Rugby Union, circa 1955
• Phil Sharpe (Shirley) - England cricket international and century scorer, circa 1956
• Frank Dick (MCR) - International athletics coach
• Alan Old (MCR) - England Rugby Union international, circa 1976
• Jack Buckner (Talbot) - International distance runner, European 5000m champion 1986
• Tom Buckner (Talbot) - International distance runner, AAA 3000m steeplechase champion 1994
• Mike & Andy Mackay (Talbot) - Owners of Manumission night club, Ibiza
• Richard Bacon (Mason) - Former Blue Peter presenter and TV personality
• Sam Farmer (Talbot) - Husband of Men Behaving Badly's Caroline Quentin
• Roger Knight (MCR) - Former international cricketer and secretary to the MCC
• Dr. Steven Landen (Shirley) - owner of Major America Properties inc.
• Ken Night (Fleur de Lys) - education minister under Winston Churchill

External links

• [Worksop homepage]
• [Old Worksopian Society]
• [Woodard Schools website]

 

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