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| Wellingborough Grammar School Trip to Blois, France 17th to 26th July 1973 (Click on images to enlarge, use Back button to return)
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| Richard Ashley: I recall that the coach we were on was delayed south of London by, I believe, a puncture which meant we missed our ferry. We made a later boat but then we were delayed as a powerboat had scuttled in the Channel and our ferry was the first on the scene. We circled the upturned boat awaiting the arrival of the rescue services.
Having finally docked on the continent we stayed overnight in Bruges at a dump of a hotel. We walked out that night to see the sights of the city but it was less than memorable. I have recently returned to Bruges and found it a beautiful city. I think that you have to see it in the daylight to appreciate the place. |
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| We travelled to our hotel in the ancient city of Blois and were allocated rooms. I shared a room with three others; Tony Lovell, Michael Hawes and Phil Cook. Our room was at the rear of the hotel and we were surprised to find that we had doors that opened directly onto the street at the back. We never knew whether Ivor or Harry ever realised this but if they had I am sure a padlock would have been fastened to it. As it was, we were too scared to venture out in this strange town so our opportunity to explore the nightlife of Blois was missed. Every night Harry would knock on the room door and insist on seeing every boy in the room to make sure no one had tunnelled out. | |
| Other memories of the trip: The whole group of boys standing in the town centre of Orléans and singing 'Rule Britannia' at the top of our voices. This was in sight of a statue of Joan of Arc. A number of startled locals stumbled by very quickly to avoid this display of British bravado. |
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| A day trip to Paris where we had a whistle stop tour of the French capital. I recall a number of us climbing the stairs to the roof up the 'down' stairs in Notre Dame Cathedral. This avoided paying entrance fees that you had to pay if you went the correct way. Those coming down were not happy - I didn't understand why at the time.
Ivor was always walking about 20 yards ahead of the group with his wife, Poppet, a few yards behind him but still in front of the rest of the group. On one occasion a pupil was late back to catch the coach so Ivor sent a prefect to find him. The prefect had only departed a few moments when the errant chap turned up and now we were missing one prefect. No names here, that's because we can't remember who they were. The return trip on the hovercraft was interesting as the Channel was having one of its 'choppy' days. The majority of the group managed to empty their (Continental) breakfast during the trip. However, one pupil was vomiting because the night before he had managed to acquire a bottle of red wine and downed the lot. It came up faster than it went down that's for sure. |
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| Accompanying the boys on the trip were Mr and Mrs Cheale, and Mr and Mrs Wrenn. | |||
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| Material is from Mr Cheale's scrapbook and Richard Ashley's archive. Please notify schoolplays@hotmail.com of any errors or if you have material that could be added to this page. |
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