The New Horizon Our first two terms at Handcross will live in the memory for many years. In September, van-load after van-load of school equipment was despatched from Surrenden Road and taken the 17 miles along the A23 to Handcross, where a team of senior boys was waiting to distribute it to its correct location. Unfortunately, building schedules had not been maintained and the new accommodation was therefore not available, with the result that temporary storage had to be found. The gym. was soon full and so were the free classrooms. Tarpaulins were procured and mountains of material built in the playground. The fitful weather added to our problems by providing us with most unwelcome deluges, sending us all scurrying for shelter and delaying every move. All this work was proceeding in the hope that everything would be completed by the time the main body of the school returned, with every item found in its correct place and all books and other equipment ready for distribution. In some mysterious way, despite all our setbacks, we were more or less ready for the invasion when it came. Providentially, the Clerk of the Weather came to our help by sending us delightful autumn conditions. The boys, too, grumbled in a most co-operative way, for in nearly all cases the suggestions they made to increase their comfort and make the running of the school easier were within the realms of possibility, and in one way and another school began to function. Almost immediately we were back into the familiar routine-mock examinations, examination entries, inter-House quizzes, competition football, and even a start with the inter-House Festival. Although it was to be expected that we would have to make adjustments, we discovered, in fact, that the Surrenden Road machine managed to operate in the new environment. The junior boys were absorbed into the existing Houses, House Captains got to work to prepare their teams and organise other activities, and before we really knew where we were we seemed to be properly in harness. The Cambridge examination period closed in and the examination candidates took the strain. The term seemed both long and short-we seemed to have been hard at work for a very long period, but the time available to get everything done seemed to be inadequate. Snags and problems could not be ironed out in moments, but out of our tribulations emerged an astonishing new esprit de corps, with new boys becoming infected with the same enthusiasm and willingness to help which characterised the best Surrenden Road elements. Everybody seemed to have constructive ideas about the organisation of meals, the re-equipment of the library, the provision of a basket-ball pitch under the old Dutch barn, and the establishment Page 2 Previous Page Next Page Back to Main Page