1911-1912

       T hat was Jack’s last term at Wynyard. The school had been foundering for a long time, and now with too few pupils to provide him with a livelihood, it sank beneath the headmaster’s feet. Mr Capron wrote to Albert on 27 April 1910 to say he was ‘giving up school work’. After the boys left in July, Mr Capron was inducted into the little church at Radwell on 13 June 1910. It did not last. He began beating the choirboys, and had to be put under restraint. He died in the Camberwell House Asylum on 18 November 1911.

      Jack spent one term, between September and December 1910, at Campbell College, Belfast. Then in January 1911 he and Warnie travelled together to Malvern, Warnie to Malvern College and Jack to the little preparatory school, Cherbourg School, which lay only yards from the College. It was made up of about twenty boys between the ages of 8 and 12, and had been founded in 1907 under the headmastership of Arthur Clement Allen (1868-1957). After the stultifying effects of Capron’s teaching, with its ‘sea of arithmetic’ and a ‘jungle of dates, battles, exports, imports and the like, forgotten as soon as learned’ (SBJ II), Jack experienced something like a renaissance at Cherbourg, which in Surprised by Joy he calls ‘Chartres’ after the most glorious cathedral in France. ‘Here indeed my education really began. The Headmaster, whom we called Tubbs, was a clever and patient teacher; under him I rapidly found my feet in Latin and English’ (SBJ IV).

       TO HIS FATHER (LP III: 226-7):

      [Cherbourg School,

      Malvern January 1911]

      My dear Papy,

Warnie and I arrived safely at Malvern after a splendid journey. Cherbourge is quite a nice place. There are 17 chaps here. There are three masters, Mr. Allen,¹ Mr. Palmer, and Mr. Jones, who is very fat.

      It is only going to be a ten week term I think, so there are 79 more days.

      Luckily we escaped all Pinguis’s Malvern friends and were able to travel alone.

      Malvern is one of the nicest English towns I have seen yet. The hills are beautiful, but of course not so nice as ours.

      Two or three chaps here remember Mears.

      Are you sure you have packed my Prayer Book? I cannot find it anywhere. If you find it at home, please send it on as soon as possible, and some stamps.

      The weather here is miserably cold, and the air is thin and rarified: one can see ones breath all the time. One good thing is that we have hot water in the mornings, which we didnt have either at Campbell or Wynyard.

      I haven’t discovered the ‘small museum’ yet, and I am inclined to think it is a minus quantity.

      Now I must stop.

      yours affectionate

      son,

      Jacks

       TO HIS FATHER (LP III: 228):

      [Cherbourg School]

      Postmark: 5 February 1911

      My dear Papy,

Sunday come round again–hurray! We had great fun this week, we went to the ‘Messiah’.² It was only an amateur performance, but still it was simply lovely. I heard our old friends ‘Comfort ye’, and ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’. The former was specially well sung by a stout and hideous gentleman with an excellent voice.

      On Wednesday we went for a walk across the flat side of Malvern and a funny thing happened. We were going through some fields when some one said ‘look out’, and we cleared off the path to make way for a college run which was coming. First came some big chaps with blue shields on their shirts, some distinction, I don’t know what. Then came a motley crowd, and then!: A familiar voice said ‘Hullo Jack’, and looking round, I saw Pinguis himself. There he was. Its rather a comfort to know that he likes running.

      That reminds me, the College breaks up on the 4th of April, and we do not [leave] till some days later. I suppose however you will arrange that I always go home on the same day as Pinguis. Be sure and tell me in your next letter what you think about this: I am positive you will agree. So when it gets near April 4th, just write to Mr. Allen and tell him about my coming home early. If you don’t do this I don’t know how we shall manage, for I couldn’t face this complicated Malvern journey alone.

      Last week we had some very bitter weather, but we did not feel it much as we wore our sweaters under our greatcoats. The other day we went off for a ripping walk over the hills, right across into Wales, a good step on the other side, and home through a sort of cutting.

      Only nine more weeks if I come home on the 4th.

      Yours loving

      son,

      J.

       TO HIS FATHER (LP III: 239):

      [Cherbourg School]

      May 14th [1911]

      My dear P.,

      Thanks very much indeed for the money. I certainly did have a great fright, I could not think what had become of it. However I realised that it must have got left behind. I am glad to hear that Warnie has got his shove, where is he in his new form? I was pained and surprised to hear that you were not producing ‘an old soldier and his wife’, they would have been a novelty if nothing else.

      We have found this time that it is much more comfortable to have lunch at Shrewsbury and go on by a later train.

Thank goodness that old pig Jonah has left, so I shall be able to enjoy myself this term. In his place we have got a chap named Turner, he is quite decent. In fact he is a very queer fellow indeed, I do not understand him and I think there is a good deal more to find out about him than anyone guesses. He is very quiet. Next week we are going to see Benson³ in ‘The Merchant of Venice’.⁴ Of course Malvern has a rotten theatre, but it always gets very good things, I can’t think why.

I enclose a photo of the characters in our play (that we had last term), in their stage costumes. The people from left to right are back row, Clutterbuck,⁵ Nadin, front row, Me, Maxwell, Bowen.

      your