Paulsgrove Secondry Modern , Portsmouth .

                                      PAULSGROVE SECONDARY MODERN

　

Well here I am, I’m about thirteen and a half years old and I have just moved to Paulsgrove , just outside of good old Portsmouth , I have a few of good memories of growing up here .

Like I said I don’t remember moving to our new house in Paulsgrove , my first memory of school is sitting at a desk and looking out of the window , the teacher was babbling on about something , and I really was not interested , I think I was in three D , and D , is what it stands for ( Dunce ! , ) I was in the right class , I met a good friend Jimmy Billet , I think his first name was really James , he had a nice sister , who I met briefly a couple of times after leaving school , Jimmy and I became good friends , and we often walked home together .

My brother Peter showed me how to smoke cigarettes ," just puff it" , he said , so I did , I coughed my heart out , " just try it ounce more " ! he said ," breath it right in " , well I did , I died , I could not breath , I coughed some more , my chest hurt , and I died some more , but still jimmy and I would often buy a packet of five cigarettes after school , that’s if we had the cash , and to start with , we would cough and splutter all the way home , just think if I did not start smoking then I would not have a problem with my heart today .

I did see a young girl from Paulsgrove Secondry Modern , (now King Arthers ) school get knocked over , she was hit by a car whilst crossing Allaway Avenue , just outside of the school , she was laying on the ground with a big gash in the top of her upper leg , it was about 5 inches long , and quite deep , you could see inside of the wound all the white fat and blood , all the other kids started to gather around , so it got to the point where I could not see any more , I had seen enough anyway , and was feeling a little bit sick , so I went on my way . WAS THAT YOU ?? .

I think the teachers did not like to waste time on me , because I would often find myself outside in the quadrangle laying a path , or gardening , and often when the others were inside doing their work , I remember I liked carpentry , I made a very good coffee table , if I do say so myself , one day I was allowed to take the Coffee table home , and proudly I carried the table under my arm with the legs sticking out , Crossing the road and talking to jimmy , I failed to see the lamp post in front of me, the table leg hit the lam post and snapped right off , I was Gob smacked !! , I was proud no more , Devastated is the word that comes to mind , begrudgingly I carried it all the way home and tossed it into the shed , not to be seen until the fifth of November , Bonfire Knight .

I remember the school had two play grounds , one for the girls and one for the boys , like prisoners we would talk to the girls through the fence , I had two girls friends whilst I was at that school , Jackie L , was my first true love , we met on the side of Portside Hill , I was grass sledging , at this time I was sitting on the grass , and as I looked up , and there was Jackie , I know it was a childish love , but I had it , we had a bond straight away , and from then on for a while we became inseparable , you have to remember, in those day they did not teach you about the facts of life like they do today , you had to learn as you went along , of course we fumbled about a bit , it's what teenagers do , and I'm sorry to say I was not a very good lover , ( I did not know anything about sex !! ,)  there was of course the other girl , Madeleine H , in truth I was spoilt for choice , after a long time I ended up with neither of them , when I eventually went out with Madeleine H , she in the end, two timed me , when I found out I was very angry , I was so mad I went to the kitchen draw and took out a large knife , I was fuming , I got as far as the front door and realised what I was doing , I put the knife back and went to wait for her at the bus stop , she go off the bus , saw me and stood still with an amazed look on her face , we talked a bit and to my shame I smacked her , then I held her , I realised then it was over , it did not end well , although we did end it with a kiss .

I liked painting , I would go onto the sports field , sit down , and paint the boys playing cricket ,or stand on the bridge just behind the shops on Allaway Avenue and paint the railway tracks, or paint the Horses in the field , that sort of thing .

We my brother and I did play strip poker with the girls next door , it was a bit of a laugh, we never did get down to the nitty gritty , it was just a bit of fun .
When I was about 18 , home on leave , I came out of our back door , I noticed the girl next door and said all very friendly " HI !! how are you? ", I was all smiles , she looked at me , stuck her nose in the air and walked off , what did I do ? . ( But she did look good half naked !! ,)



I eventually left school when I was 15 years old , because I was so thick, my first job , was with a paper delivery firm , I used to ride a push bike with a basket on the front , I would go round to the other shops and deliver rolls of papers , that was when I realised that to get on in life I needed a better education , I told my sister Shirley of my intent and she offered to help me , often after tea she would help me read the Dandy and Beano comics , and then on to other reading material , one day I started on a building site, it was a new job , I stayed there for half a day, and said to myself sod it , I’m off !! , it was not only boring , it was hard work, the next job I had was in the butchers shop at Allaway Avenue , I liked working there , I had the job to make the rissoles , they were very popular with the shoppers , I think it was because the tasted so good , or ? it could have been because they were so cheep , I did have couple of other jobs, old habits die hard and I tended to follow my brother Peter from job to job, my last job before I went into the army was with Winters Fireplace Makers , near Blackfriars road in Portsmouth, there was an old guy I use to work with , I think he must have been close to retirement , we were very friendly so I asked him if it still worked at his age , with a smile he said yes and that it had never let him down yet ! , I can say he was right , it still works .

I went into the army aged 17 1/2 years old because I wanted to learn how to drive heavy goods vehicles,                                                           but that another story !! .