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Welcome to the Guestbook
Feel free to add messages relating to the site and the school. The only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).

It would be appreciated if you gave an email address, where you now live and said when you were at the school, but you don't have to.

Plase note that if you click on an email address below you will need to replace ~DOT~ with . and ~AT~ with @ in your email program. The Guestbook presents these this way to avoid email address harvesters collecting your email addresses from the page. I know it's a pain, but it's very much better than the alternative.

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Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello all you readers out there and Mike,
I read Eric’s memo about his ‘northern bluntness’ with much amusement and a little scenario came to mind. I wondered if she misheard whatever he said, with his northern bluntness and accent, and answered, blushingly and coyly, “Oh, Eric, you are direct !!!”. C’mon Eric, ‘fess up and tell us what you really said. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
This observation is prompted by something that happened to me this week. I went down to our in-house convenience store. It’s quite small and carries only a few items, generally necessities. I asked the young guy who was on duty if he had any toilet rolls, His reply was, “Sorry, we’re not allowed to give out medication, you’ll have to go to the doctor.“ My flabber was never so gasted !!
I asked, “Since when has a toilet roll been medication?” “Oh, sorry,” he replied, “ I thought you said ‘Tylenol”, but you do have an accent !!” This from a young Philipino, one of many on the staff, who not only has a heavy accent, but is a high speed talker too. He passed the story on and several of the residents throughout the day offered me a toilet roll. Dopey people are so kind.
Regards from a bright and sunny, cloudless North York,
Alex

Mon 2-Mar-2026 20:59 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Eric Moyse | eric~DOT~moyse35~AT~yahoo~DOT~com

I suppose I am as eccentric as any other nonagenarian but what about directness? Soon after moving from the northeast to Reading Berkshire I was having what I thought was a normal conversation about work with one of the office secretaries when she said "Oh, Eric, you are direct." It was only some time later that I realised that this was not meant as a compliment but was a reference to my northern bluntness.

Sun 15-Feb-2026 16:28 - Reading, Berkshire

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Thanks Neale.

I think HMS Satellite was probably the ship that my father was pointing to and linked it to the training establishment for wayward boys of years gone by.

Sun 15-Feb-2026 16:12 - ruskington lincolnshie

Backhouse | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

OOPS. The Satelitte was towed for breakup in 1947.

Thu 12-Feb-2026 22:14 - Victoria BC

Neale | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

One more from me.
Congrats Alex for breasting the tape at 91! You sound as chipper as ever. Hope I sound just as chipper in June!
Cheers, Neale

Thu 12-Feb-2026 22:04 - Victoria BC

Neale Backhouse | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hi Bruce
I think you might be talking about HMS Satelitte, which was berthed at Corporation Quay in South Shields from 1936 to 1947. Built as a training ship for seamen in 1904, it was based in North Shields before transferring to South Shields in 1936. After the war it was used as a demobilisation centre until it was finally moved to Phoenix Wharf at Gateshead in 1974, where it was broken up.

Thu 12-Feb-2026 22:00 - Victoria BC

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Bruce and all the rest of our readers,
I can assure you that the ferries ran throughout WW2. I was born in North Shields by accident. My mother was visiting her mother and rest of her family who all lived in North Shields and Wallsend, when I unexpectedly arrived a couple of weeks early. From my birth until I started in the Grammar School, we went weekly on Saturday to N.S. and/or W. So that was all through the war years. One time we came back later in the day and were in the middle of an air raid and my Mother told me it was when the Norfolk and Suffolk pub frontage was strafed.
Back in the good old days !!
Bye from a freezing cold night here in North York (-23C)BRRRRR!!!! Just returned from an early birthday supper out with some of the family.
Alex

Sun 8-Feb-2026 02:07 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Some of you (possibly) might be able to add to this tale.

When I was a small boy and was being taken on the ferry to North Shields my father used to tell me about a training ship that was moored in the river. He told me it was where misbehaving lads could be sent.

On consulting our friends Mister Google and Mrs Wikipedia (must be feminine surely) I find that there was such a vessel - called Wellesley - but it was destroyed by fire in 1918.

I wonder if the ferry continued to operate during WW2?

Fri 6-Feb-2026 16:47 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike and the usual suspects,
Following my afternoon coffee outing this aft and its subsequent chagrination, I was having little zizz, when there “flashed upon that inward eye” the words ‘HMS Ruddigore’. Who can tell why? My memory told me it was performed in one late afternoon in my junior days in the school..
I looked through the website but could find no reference to it at all. I was sure I was in the chorus and it seemed like 2nd or 3rd year. So perhaps1948-49. Does anyone else remember it, or is it another eccentric aberration?
Mike, in your latest memo you mentioned the guestbook and having backup messages from 2007. I wonder if there is anyway you could let me have a copy of all of the records you have up to Monday, 4 August, 2014, a letter from Ed Forster. I have printed copies of all the letters since then and they are in my eldest daughter’s hands, to be included in our family history, which is now rounding up to about 400 pages. My 5 grandchildren have shown great interest in the existing pages and I would like to add the rest to our story. My descendants have all agreed that the letters show a different side of me that seems somewhat at odds with the Grumpy Grandpa they’ve grown to know and can sort of tolerate.
One more thing … further to the flooded airplane on the way to Moncton at Christmas, another mishap occurred on the way back to Toronto on New Year’s Day. As we arrived at Moncton Airport, we saw that our flight was delayed one hour for inclement weather. The sun was shining and the sky was blue ?!? Within 10 minutes we were in a violent snow and freezing rain storm. We were an hour late for boarding, then we had to wait another hour for moving to the de-icing area. After de-icing we had to wait in a staging area, because the flight before us had to return from planned take-off for more de-icing. An announcement was made that any passengers on the Toronto flight who would like to change flights should let the flight attendants know. Fortunately there were no takers. Then we had to go back to the de-icing area for another shot. By this time we had been on the plane for five hours!!! Then we taxied to the runway where we sat for another 20 minutes while a new passenger got on the flight by forklift. We found out she was an Air-Marshall … never heard of that before. Then we took off and we were plied with drinks, snacks, cookies and Christmas cake!! Other than that the flight was uneventful.
Cheers from a cool (-10C) North York, 20C colder than Neale’s balmy BC.
Alex

Mon 19-Jan-2026 01:56 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello All,
I've just returned from an afternoon delight, (NOT that kind, Backhouse) but coffee out in the company of two of my daughters. I told them of our recent discussions about eccentricity and said that I had denied being an eccentric. They were both shocked and in unison said I was the most eccentric person they knew!!! I couldn't believe it ... that children of mine would think their old man was "unconventional and slightly strange" (Oxford Languages Dictionary) They went on to say that their older sister and her daughter think so too. They went on to give examples to prove their point. I must admit they provided quite a bit of convincing ammo., all starting with, "What about the time you ... etc." I must further admit that I am one of you guys.
Let eccentricity flourish!!! My new motto.
Regards,
Alex

Sun 18-Jan-2026 22:14 - North York, Ontario, Canada

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