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JOHN NEVILLE BARCOCK. AUTOBIOGRAPHY CHAPTER 3                       

Chapter 3. The 1950s

3.1 The 1950s began with the 1951 Festival of Britain
3.2 The end of rationing
3.3 Early Schooldays
3.4 My Teenage Years at school


3.1 The 1950s began with the 1951 Festival of Britain which turned out to be a very dramatic experience for me. My mother and her sister, Aunt Ida, decided to have a day out to the Festival of Britain exhibition on the South  Bank of the Thames and the funfair at Battersea Gardens in Battersea Park . We got to the South Bank exhibition and I remember seeing " The Dome of Discovery" but I'm not sure what was inside. The "Skylon" mast was impressive and the "Shot Tower" which was where there made lead shot for shotgun cartridges by dropping molten lead from the top into water I think. More exciting to me was to go to the funfair at Battersea Park. There was a special river service to take visitors from the South Bank site to Battersea Gardens. We had a look round the usual funfair stalls and rides and then made for the Roland Emett train. This was a little railway made in his fantasy designs. He helped design the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car of the film fame. We boarded an open carriage about 2 seats from the front in the station. There were two trains which shared the single track and a baton was exchanged where they passed just outside the station before entering the single line to ensure safety. As the train started out slowly I suddenly had a premonition that it was going to crash! Whether I had seen the other train coming in I don't know but I knew something was wrong. I grabbed my Mum's hand and shouted "We must get off, it's going to crash" or some similar warning and pulled her up. We got out with Aunt Ida while it was still moving and seconds later the two trains hit head on. It was terrible, the crash and screaming people. In the melee that followed we lost touch with Aunt Ida. All I wanted to do was run but Mum kept hold of me and we remade contact with Aunt Ida in the fairground.
I later learned that the engine of the train that hit us reared up and crashed down on that first carriage we were in and killed a woman and injured several others.
I sometimes wondered if I imagined I had a premonition, but the fact remains that we escaped injury.
I found this reference to the crash in "Time" July 23rd. 1951


3.2 The end of rationing, in particular sweet rationing most importantly to me. I associated that with the return of Winston Churchill as prime minister and the end of the times of austerity after the War. The rationing of sweets was the only aspect of it that affected me as that was what my pocket money went on, together with comics.
I used to collect as much of the others ration coupons as a needed, but it never caused a great problem. Rowntrees gums, pastilles and loose sweets were usually available, then with the end of rationing there was a short period of euphoria as more sweets appeared and money was the only restriction on having them. The novelty of excess soon wore off.
My favourite comics from the 40s were "Radio Fun" and "Film Fun" and "Knockout". Then as I got older "The Wizard" which had stories in. But the most prized were the super heroes "BatMan" and "Superman" and "Captain Marvel". I collected those comics which if I had them now would be worth a fortune, like the dinky cars.

3.3 Early Schooldays. My Junior School was Stimpson Avenue in Northampton. It is still there as a Primary School. I was there from age 8 to 11.
It was there that I developed my interest in sports, academic studies were always rather boring to me although I enjoyed maths except for mental arithmetic which I could never respond quickly enough to. But PT (Physical Training) and any games I enjoyed a lot and could always have a good go at. They had a school football team which I eventually played for in the last year. My greatest triumph was being captain of the "Cromwell" house athletic team at the school sports and we won the Cup. I have a picture somewhere of that.

3.4 My Teenage Years at school were not the difficult times that teenagers seem to have now, although I had my moments I suppose. Significantly I managed to pass the 11+ selection exam for Northampton Grammar School. This is now the Northampton School for Boys and is celebrating its centenary this year 2011. Initially I thought I had failed because when everyone else received their results letters, I didn't get one. But, to my surprise, and everyone else I think, it came the next day with the good news. My parents never made a fuss about it and I never had any special coaching or promises of presents if I passed, but they were clearly delighted and I got a new sports bike! This led me to join the Northampton Invicta (cycle) Road Club eventually.
Being at the Grammar School was like sporting heaven and that was the what I enjoyed most there. Academic studies were again not much interest to me except maths, particularly geometry, and Latin strangely enough. I suppose it is a mathematical language. Art was also a favourite, but games were what I lived for. It was my introduction to Rugby football and Cricket which I had played a bit but only for fun. Those two games I think are the most enjoyable to play. The school employed sportsmen as teachers and I was lucky to be there when Frank Brookman of Bedford Rugby club and Frank Sykes of the Northampton Saints rugby club and England and also Taylor of Saints and England were there as sports masters. Frank Sykes was very well liked and a tribute to him and his wife is in that link for their present work at Cate School, California.
I did make the Northants County boys team and played at Franklins Gardens where the Saints play. My rugby playing days continued with the NGS Old Boys Association.


 Here is the Colts team, some of the names I remember. I am 2nd from right on the front row.
 Back Row L to R: 
 ?, John Pearson, Michael (Mick) Marlowe, ?
 Centre Row L to R:
 ?, ?, ?, Barry (Fatty) Lewis, Price, Trigg.
 Front Row L to R:
 Keith Earl, Howard (Wally) Walton, ?, David (Spike) Botterill (Capt.), ?, John (Nobby) Barcock, John Greener