GRUMPY, BUT ONLY IN SCHOOL HOURS

By Keith Newbery - Friday, April 11, 2008

Former Sandown Grammar School prefect John Matthews found Grassy Field a great teacher and a charming lady out of school.

THIS ISLAND LIFE
YOU may recall a couple of weeks ago I lamented the absence of women in our catalogue of Grumpy Old People and in doing so invoked the memory of ‘Grassy’ Field, a biology teacher at the former Sandown Grammar School.
She frightened the life out of Sharpy and me and on separate occasions each of us felt the force of one of her bugs’ books descending upon our unprotected skulls from on high.
However, the provisional wing of the Grassy Appreciation Society has been rapidly mobilised, led by Island coroner John Matthews. I sit here in my bunker, ducking low to avoid their bombardment of indignation.
John was a school prefect when I arrived as a first-former and we used to call him ‘Jam’ (an acronym of his initials, I suspect). However, we always made sure he was well out of earshot because he had a rather impressive line in intimidating scowls himself.
He recalls Grassy as a fine and dedicated teacher. He wrote: “I found her, away from school, to be a very pleasant person, who was absolutely delighted when I played her at table tennis. I also learned she was well aware of her school image and parodied herself with some enjoyment.”
I would never question Miss Field’s effectiveness as a teacher but still feel it a pity she hid her more endearing qualities from the vast majority of her pupils. People such as the estimable Charlie Bawdon are living proof you don’t have to be an ogre to get the best out of your class.
Keith Files (deputy head boy, 1962-63) also leapt to the good lady’s defence and accused me of being disingenuous in my recollections of her.
I would say only his father ‘Scratch’ — a hugely impressive chemistry teacher — was a contemporary of Miss Field’s (Grassy sounds rather disrespectful after all these years) and kept pupils in his thrall with a sense of humour so wry and dry you could almost hear it crackle. I recall feeling disciplined but never fearful in his presence.
Bob Welch says he taught with Miss Field at Sandown for many years and “I can assure you she used to scare us, her colleagues, to death as well as you kids.”
“In fact,” says Bob, “out of the teaching arena, she was a most charming lady and we became good friends. She was forceful but a cracking teacher.”
Ian Jolliffe remembers going on a class trip to Bembridge airfield with Miss Field where she happened upon a sign stating: Beware low-flying aircraft. “What are we supposed to do — duck?” snarled the lady. Attagirl!
Trudy Piciotti (nee Zuber) says she was surprised to learn Miss Field was still teaching in the 60s as she remembers being taught by her at the old Sandown Secondary School in the 40s: “and she looked old even then”!
Apparently, copies of the original article have been copied by Trudy and sent to her contemporaries on the mainland. As a self-confessed GOP, she has also vowed to put the badge at the top of her shopping list on her next trip to The County Press Shop at Newport.
Gillian Lloyd, of Ventnor, was in the fifth form at Sandown in 1953 and recalls she and her classmates had terrorised the new junior biology teacher to such an extent she ended up in tears and fled across the girls’ playground to seek help.
“We all went very quiet,” writes Gillian, “and all eyes were on the girls’ door across the playground. It opened and, like a bat out of hell, gown flying behind her, came Grassy.
“Suffice to say, we were terrified. Our punishment was that the whole class had to sit a biology GCE O-level paper until every one of us got 100 per cent. It took us six months and, I might add, not one of us has ever forgotten the experience.”
I’d like to thank everyone for taking the trouble to get in touch and I’m sorry space has prevented me from mentioning you all. But I trust justice has been done to the memory of a lady who was, in every sense, unforgettable.

VALENTINE'S GIFT FROM A BRAVE MAN
HATS OFF to the Barton Boneheads, who held their annual moan-in (they call it a reunion) recently and took the sale of Grumpy Old Person badges soaring over the £1,100 mark.
I particularly warmed to the courage of the chap who gave a badge to his wife as a Valentine’s Day gift. That went way above and beyond the call of duty.
Brian Greening asks that anyone who took a batch from him to sell in the pub or place of work get the money to him asap. He can be contacted on 528438.
Arrangements are now being made for a cheque to be presented to the stroke unit at St Mary’s Hospital but there are still badges available at The County Press Shop or from Winter’s Garage, at Havenstreet.

GRUMPY, BUT ONLY IN SCHOOL HOURS

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