Welcome!

H.c: When did you start teaching at Bedford Modern?
Paul: Early September 1969.

H.c: What exactly were your duties?
Paul: Teaching "French and some English." The first year was just one English class, four periods per week. Gradually I turned it around to more and more English. Then in 1977 I taught my last French class.

H.c: So you didn't like teaching French?
Paul: More of a slog than teaching English. So much easier to spend time in France and pick it up (do I hear muffled cries from the graves of my college French tutors?). Pupils were much more likely to need good English and many were/are quite weak at writing/speaking their native language. Also when we moved to the new school site in 1974 I was only ever going to be able to use the state-of-the-art language laboratory with 10% skill. Finally, taking groups of children abroad is not my idea of fun.

H.c: Are you still fluent in French?
Paul: No, but I remember a lot and would be fluent again after a month in France.

H.c: Did you have any other duties?
Paul: Yes. I was persuaded to join the School Scout Troop on Summer Camp in Suffolk in July 1969 (first 10 days of holiday).

H.c: Did you enjoy that?
Paul: It was a long time ago. I do remember, though, that it was just after my first visit to Wimbledon. I queued with Dad for standing room, men's semis, Laver v Ashe, Newcombe v Roche. So Wimbledon punctuated the beginning and end of my career. No visits between. As for the camp, I remember hearing the Moon Landing on the radio at the time.

H.c: What else?
Paul: I was also tutor in one of the boarding houses for my first seven years. It is now an old people's home so I may be returning there before long.

House prices shot up dramatically during that period, so I knew I had to get on the property ladder. As a tutor you are on full salary with no expenses. I should have bought about 3 houses in 1970, and rented them out while counting my cash in the boarding house. In reality I did not buy until 1975 (3-bed semi for £10,500) and I am still in it!

H.c: £10,500. Golly. What was the interest rate on your mortgage?
Paul: The rate varied a lot over the years (1975-2000), but since I had to borrow only £8000 (house cost £10500) I was never paying more than about £45 per month. I had an endowment mortgage, so the debt always remained at £8000, but a concurrent insurance policy eventually paid it off with plenty to spare. I was lucky to avoid negative equity.

H.c: (scratching head and trying to look intelligent) Ah, I see. Tell me something, what was your starting pay at Bedford Modern?
Paul: My first monthly take-home pay in 1969 was £50.

H.c: Why did you apply for a job at Bedford Modern?
Paul: I had played chess for Oundle at Bedford Modern School on Nov. 30th 1963, a week after the Kennedy assassination. Needless to say I still have a record of all the moves of my game: a 32 move draw v Ken New in a match which Oundle lost 1.5-4.5. This match had an effect on my choice of job, because in perusing the Times Educational Supplement job pages nearly 6 years later I saw the name Bedford Modern and remembered they had a good chess team.

H.c: Good Lord! You have the moves of a chess game you played in 1963?

Paul: Yes. I'm on my 42nd book of 50 games, so I can relive past glories and gnash my teeth over defeats. It is fascinating to run through past games using strong computer programs like Fritz, which will quickly find tactics you missed. Keeping the moves of every competitive game may seem a bit nerdy, but do you remember a leading British golfer, Peter Oosterhuis?

H.c: Yes. I remember him.
Paul: Well, I was glad to see he kept a meticulous record of every shot he played in tournaments, analysed it and would file x fractions of millimetres off the grooves of his irons as he thought necessary. You may think this rather sad, but it makes that sort of person happy to have a harmless obsession.

H.c: I understand. Anyway, Paul, we understand that Bedford Modern has had a strong chess team since you've been running the club. Is anyone going to take over?
Paul: The team was strong before I took over and I kept it going with my colleague Malcolm James who eventually retired 11 years ago. Since 1946 (year of my birth) there has always been a club chessplayer on the staff, but next term there won't be. Perhaps the pupils will benefit from keeping chess going themselves. Peter Constantinou is Beds. County Champion and playing in the British Championship at Swansea this year. Follow his results online.

H.c: So you ran the chess club for nearly 30 years. Did you produce any grandmasters?
Paul: 37 years, in fact. Yes, one pupil, born in 1960, became a Grandmaster in 1985, but more from his efforts than mine. He was British Champion in 1990 ahead of Nigel Short et al. Recently he won £250,000 on Millionaire and I hear he was not too popular with the ITV producers because of his attitude. His Grandmaster mate in the audience was asked to leave at one point. He still ranks about 20th in Britain. Unfortunately he has a personal grudge against the Headmaster of his day and won't have anything to do with the school. This is why I am not naming him on the Web.

H.c: And how long did you have to be a scoutmaster?
Paul: It took me 9 years to get out of doing Scouts, but I do not begrudge the time. It wasn't that bad and there were quite a few laughs. One incident that was not so funny occurred when I took the six patrol leaders to a Youth Hostel in Goring-on-Thames overnight so that we could do a recce of the Summer Camp site we were going to use near Newbury. The hostel is on a steep hill with a long road leading down to the town centre by the river. As I was turning out of the hostel car park in the School minibus to go down the hill, I had to brake in order to allow a car to go past. My foot went straight to the floor: no brakes. Luckily the minibus did not have enough momentum to start down the slope so I was able to apply the handbrake. If that car had not gone past I would have discovered the problem only when out on the road and descending the steep hill. I needed a rigid tow to a garage and it took us ages to get back to Bedford by train.

H.c: In recent years I know you've been playing a lot of bridge. Did you have a bridge club at Bedford Modern?
Paul: I did get a bit of a bridge club going towards the end.

H.c: You taught the same classes throughout your career. Were you ever offered a promotion?
Paul: Yes

H.c: Oh?
Paul: It was in 1977. As Head of Middle School.

H.c: Middle School? What's that?
Paul: 1st and 2nd Forms, about 250 boys; now it would be called Years 7 and 8.

H.c: Sounds impressive. You're such a dark horse. I'm sure all Habershons will beam with pride when they hear this. But tell me, didn't this promotion interfere with the Chess Club?
Paul: Um. I turned down the promotion.

H.c: Oh. Why?
Paul: a) I did not consider myself suitable for such a role: too much hassle trying to solve other people's problems; b) the pay differential was not attractive enough; c) there was not much reduction in timetabled lessons; d) there was less time for the daily lunchtime chess club; e)I'm far too lazy to be ambitious.

H.c: DAILY lunchtime chess club?
Paul: Yes. That's every 24 hours. I have also always done a one-hour after-school session every week, two per week when I was a bit younger.

H.c: I see. Tell me, Paul, did you not regret your decision?
Paul: I have not regretted it for a moment. It's lucky that there are people who actually want to fulfill that sort of role (just like some people are willing to be undertakers or dentists). Mind you, they have trouble finding Heads in the state sector nowadays.

H.c: What were the ages of your pupils?
Paul: I mainly taught ages 11-18, but with a little French to 10 year olds and chess to the whole 7-18 range (not timetabled or paid of course).

H.c: So you probably know most of Shakespeare's plays by heart?
Paul: I have got away with knowing only 'Macbeth' and 'Julius Caesar' really well.

H.c: Do you have any favourite quotes?
Paul: Yes. From Macbeth: 'Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day'. Favourite 'Macbeth' insult: 'The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where got'st thou that goose look?' I have also taught 'King Henry IV Part 1', but cannot abide 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

H.c: And who's your favourite poet?
Paul: (without hesitation) Dylan Thomas. And Death shall have no dominion. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
H.c: And presumably you taught "O" level English. What about "A" level?
Paul: My B.Ed(French) degree scarcely qualified me to teach A-Level Literature, but luckily in the 1980s A-Level English Language was introduced, so I got some VIth Form classes.

H.c: So really you organized your life around your passion: Chess. Did you have any other responsibilities?
Paul: Well, in the 1970s all staff had to undergo First Aid training, but I failed the Practical because my method of resuscitation would have killed someone. For a few years I took on some EFL teaching to help the Far Eastern pupils who were filling the Boarding House when British demand for boarding places was declining. I also co-ordinated the register of dyslexics and other Special Needs pupils, sorting out who might need testing, liaising with parents and colleagues, organizing parents meetings and speakers etc.. That has now become such a huge empire I passed it on to someone else.

(The H.c webmistress paused briefly at this point to look up the meaning of "EFL." For all other readers who have only heard of "ESL", here is the difference: ESL stands for English as a Second Language. EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language. ESL is used when people learn English in an English-speaking country. EFL is used when people learn English in a non-English speaking country.)

The interview continues:

H.c: What are the main changes since your early years?
Paul: I suppose Health and Safety is much stricter nowadays. As boarding house tutor I took my turn in supervising general swimming on Sunday afternoons for boarders from all three boarding houses. Usually there were about 60 boys in the pool (aged 8-18), jumping off the high diving board and throwing water polo balls about. I could scarcely swim myself and had no life-saving or First Aid skills. This would never be allowed nowadays.

All forms of corporal punishment have now disappeared; it must be at least 25 years since I clipped a boy's ear.

Academically there is far more record keeping and testing; I'm not sure this has improved learning. AS Levels have spoiled the Lower VIth year.

H.c: So . . . you worked in the same job for 37 years. What was your attendance record? How many times did you fail to show up due to ill health?
Paul: Let me state categorically that there is not necessarily any merit in long service; in my case probably quite the opposite. Most successful teachers change schools and climb a career ladder. I just wanted a hassle-free life. I thought I would be able to boast about my attendance record, but my half term off last Sept./Oct. for my broken ankle spoilt that one. I had another whole half term off in 1985 after an emergency hernia operation. However, those are my only two health absences in 37 years, so I can say I have never been off for a single day and have been defeated only by surgery. I have been very lucky with my health, but when feeling ill I am fortified by Dad's story about when, as a young Royal Navy lieutenant, he approached his Captain to say he was feeling rotten and could he have some time off. The withering reply was: 'Officers don't go sick.' End of story. For superstitious cricketers it is lucky that my 111 terms (3x37) have been reduced to 110 by those half-term absences. 111 is England's unlucky number at cricket and one famous fat Test umpire used to hop up and down for as long as that total was on the scoreboard.

H.c: How strange.

H.c: Did you have any famous pupils?
Paul: Let me think. Yes, there was Tim Foster, Olympic Gold oarsman in Steve Redgrave's coxless four, Sydney 2000. Andy Gilchrist, ex-Firemen's Union leader. I did not teach new England cricketer Monty Panesar, who was only with us in the VIth Form. Taught Toby Litt who has something of a reputation as a new young author but is scarcely a household name. I also taught French O Level to the aforementioned British Chess Champion and happily turned a blind eye to him reading a chess magazine below his desk. It's what I would have done in his place. Nick Habershon is quite famous, but I managed to avoid teaching him. I also taught a boy who became a policeman in Cambridge and is now serving a 17-year sentence in Wakefield Prison for raping a woman while on duty.

H.c: Oh gosh.

H.c: What happened on your last day. Did they throw you a retirement party?
Paul: The term ended at noon on Friday 7th July after an assembly which commemorates the founder of the School, Sir William Harpur (1566). I had to read from Ecclesiasticus (a Book in the Apocrypha) Ch.44 vv 1-15, Let us now praise famous men, etc.. There is then a staff lunch at which someone (usually the head of the relevant department) has to cobble together some complimentary things to say about each leaver. A gift is then presented and the poor leaver is then expected to make a speech. There were about five presentations before mine, including a couple for forthcoming marriages. My present was a cheque towards a quality wooden, loaded and felted chess set and board which I had already bought from 'Chess and Bridge' 369 Euston Road.

In the previous days I had already had farewell meals (Chinese and Indian) with the Year 8 tutors and the English Department. The latter gave me a deckchair with a facsimile of a typical old 1/6d Penguin book cover on the canvas + a book on poker + a DVD called 'Spellbound' (about an American spelling bee). My tutor group (12-year-olds) gave me a garden chess set and board. And I must have had at least a dozen bottles of wine from individuals. Also the staff 'Times' crossword clique, after we had solved the July 7th crossword on my last day (inc. 1 ac CASTRATI), photocopied, signed and laminated it to give me at the staff lunch.

H.c: Nice bunch of prezzies. How did the speech go?
Paul: I did not find my speech difficult as I knew I wanted to thank various people who had been kind to me over the years, including the Head who gave me 9 days paid paternity leave (when Clare was born and Nick needed looking after) before there even was such a concept. Also the current Head gave me a whole term off fully paid when Christine needed taking for regular radiotherapy in Cambridge. I think in many jobs I would have been told that there is a perfectly good county ambulance service, with no account taken of the emotional needs of the patient.

I also told the story of the informal prizes I gave one day at the school chess club. Nick had been on a camping holiday in Scotland and various leftovers of food and equipment were lying around our kitchen. He suggested giving away the remaining Kendal mint cake as prizes, so I grabbed a half finished packet and took it to school. Original prize, I thought. At the chess club the first boy to bite into his prize was not so happy: I had handed out firelighters!

H.c: Oh man. That's so cheap!
H.c: And now what?
Paul: What will I do now? For the time being chess, bridge and golf will do nicely, but who knows what will turn up? I am doing 'Chess and Board Games' for one of the school holiday course weeks this summer. Next term I would be prepared to fill in on the occasional day but would not countenance covering for, say, a whole maternity leave. However, I shall play at least one more season for the School chess team in the adult Beds. Chess League, so I shall be darkening the doors of the school again for home matches. However, I shall not be captain/organiser. I also need to do a lot of sorting out and chucking out at home even before the junk in the loft is tackled.

H.c: Will you be missed?
Paul: Probably not. I have found that former colleagues quickly fade from the memory and so will I. On the first day of next term there will be at least 200 new pupils and half a dozen members of staff who won't know me from Adam. The year after it will be 400, and so on.

Incidentally, although I am officially retired from 1st September, staff have to report back on August 29th with term starting on the 31st. This is because of the two-week half term in October. No, I won't have to go in for those three days - I've got time off for good behaviour.

Although teaching has its moments, I think most of us would prefer to be on holiday. I've been lucky in my choice of school: only 175 working days p.a., private health scheme, free lunches, and school fees reduced by two thirds for staff children at the four Harpur Trust schools.

I am looking forward to not being bound by terms for the first time since I was four. Even my 'gap' year was spent at a school.