Category: Community (Warminster)

The Victoria County History Of Wiltshire, Volume VIII, published in 1965, on page 133, mentions:

In 1959 the New Close Junior School was built at Woodcock by the county, but the old buildings in the Close were in 1963 still in use as part of the new school [Ex inf. Mr. H.N. Dewey].

1964

Danny Howell writes:

One of the highlights of the school year at New Close, during my time as a pupil there in the mid to late 1960s, was the annual sports day which was held on the school field at the end of the summer term. My mind might be tricking me but I seem to recall that sports day was always blessed with hot and sunny weather. The grass was cut short especially for the occasion, the running track was marked out in brilliant white lines, and the sand pit in the south-west corner of the field was spruced up for the long jump. Wooden benches and classroom chairs were set out for the many parents and a few of the local dignitaries who came along to watch. It was usually the mothers who came along to see the children competing, as the fathers would have been at work and unable to get time off. My mother can’t remember coming along to watch but I’m sure she did.

I can remember there was a lot of pressure on us as we waited to take part in the various races, and the places achieved by pupils gained points for whichever school house they were in. The school was divided up into houses called Beeches, Cedars, Limes and Willows. I was in Willow. No matter what race I was in I never seemed to be able to make first place. However fast I tried to run there always seemed to be someone better and you could always rely on the egg falling off the spoon several times during the egg-and-spoon race or your mate in the three-legged race tripping you up the moment the starter Mr. Cotterill shouted “On your marks, get set, go!”. It was very competitive and one felt very downhearted if you came so much as second, and you felt truly ashamed if you came last!

In today’s world we hear of sports days being banned “as it is unfair to the losers.” Likewise many of the races, we are led to believe by newspapers, have now been banned on health and safety grounds. Running with a mate spread-eagled in front of you mimicking a wheelbarrow or hopping to the finishing line in a hessian sack can now lead to litigation and compensation for injuries, but back in the 1960s that sort of thing was unheard of. If you twisted your ankle or something like that, well, it was just tough luck. You got a bit of first aid and a teacher or your mother “kissed it better” and you lived to fight another day. Sports Day was really looked forward to and, in those days when a childhood was full of simple pleasures, we thought it was great fun.

I still have in my possession a copy of the results for the New Close School Sports Meeting in 1964, when I was 8 years old and came a respectful second in the Potato Race. The names of the winning competitors bring back many memories for me. It is my pleasure to publish these results here as I’m sure they will have a similar effect on my contemporaries. Sadly, a few of the people mentioned, like Peter Cox and Martin Smith, have since passed away, but I still see some of the others, like Jonathan Wyer (now a police constable), Lesley Lucas (now Mrs. Bevis), and Barbara Berridge (now Mrs. Steve Aylesbury) in town today. And, it goes without saying that quite a few of the people mentioned have moved away from Warminster, including Pat Jones (who moved to Canterbury way in Kent), Linda Walker (now resident in Andover), and Paul Craddock is now living in Somerset, to name but a few.

As I said earlier, the school was divided into “houses” named Beeches, Cedars, Limes and Willows, which are abbreviated as B, C, L, and W, after competitors’ names, where listed.

INFANTS

40 yards Race, 5 year old boys:
1^st Kevin Lucas,
2^nd Dermot MacKeevan,
3^rd Simon Peck.

50 yards Race, 6 year old boys (race one):
1^st Christopher Wyatt,
2^nd Geoffrey Hudson,
3^rd Kevin Feeney.

50 yards Race, 6 year old boys (race two):
1^st Peter Moody,
2^nd Shane Feeney,
3^rd Donald Charlo.

60 yards Race, 7 year old boys:
1^st Andrew Kelsey,
2^nd Keith Jones,
3^rd Peter Maunders.

30 yards Race, 5 year old girls (race one):
1^st Laura Allardice,
2^nd Mandy Lapham,
3^rd Francine Veck.

30 yards Race, 5 year old girls (race two):
1^st Karen Phillips,
2^nd Elaine Woods,
3^rd Gillian Ephgrave.

40 yards Race, 6 year old girls (race one):
1^st Maureen Parker,
2^nd Helen Raymond,
3^rd Gillian Sims.

40 yards Race, 6 year old girls (race two):
1^st Diana Berridge,
2^nd Penny Golding,
3^rd Christine Guy.

50 yards Race, 7 year old girls:
1^st Margaret Maxwell,
2^nd Margaret Broadhead,
3^rd Sally Cotterill.

OLDER CHILDREN

Flat Race, 8 year old boys:
1^st Jonathan Wyer (L),
2^nd Peter Woods (L),
3^rd John Earney (B).

Flat Race, 8 year old girls:
1^st Alison Webb (C),
2^nd Susan Soiza (C),
3^rd Lesley Lucas (W).

Flat Race, 9 year old boys:
1^st Michael Rivers (L),
2^nd Jimmy Allardice (B),
3^rd Graham Beach (W).

Flat Race, 9 year old girls:
1^st Carole Nield (W),
2^nd Angela Keegan (C),
3^rd Beryl Curtis (W).

Flat Race, 10 year old boys:
1^st Peter Allman (C),
2^nd Dudley Ford (B),
3^rd Alistair Duke (L).

Flat Race, 10 year old girls:
1^st Carole Gulley (W),
2^nd Rosalyn Reynolds (W),
3^rd Patricia Jones (B).

Flat Race, 11 year old boys:
1^st Stephen Hogg (W),
2^nd Keith Carr (B),
3^rd Roger Tirrell (L).

Flat Race, 11 year old girls:
1^st Sally Ann Ford (W),
2^nd Evelyn Clark (B),
3^rd Janet Lythgoe (C).

Three Legged Race, 7 and 8 year old boys:
1^st Robert Williams & Peter Cox (C),
2^nd Brendan MacKeevan & Andrew Edwards
(L), 3^rd Andrew Leigh & Stephen Gulley (B).

Skipping Race, 7 and 8 year old girls:
1^st Barbara Berridge (W),
2^nd Deborah Brishousne (C),
3^rd Lynne Walker (B).

Skipping Race, 9 year old girls:
1^st Monica Bentley (C),
2^nd Teresa Hogg (L),
3^rd Elaine Newns (L).

Skipping Race, 10 year old girls:
1^st Rosemarie Ephgrave (B),
2^nd Lucinda Pickford (C),
3^rd Jane Stanley (W).

Skipping Race, 11 year old girls:
1^st Pamela Winward (W),
2^nd Jennifer Place (L),
3^rd Jane West (B).

Sack Race, 9 year old boys:
1^st Michael Rivers (L),
2^nd Martin Smith (W),
3^rd Malcolm Goodman (C).

Sack Race, 9 year old girls:
1^st Julie Bond (B),
2^nd Vanessa Stott (L),
3^rd Pat Parker (B).

Flowerpot Race, 10 year old boys:
1^st David Green (C),
2^nd David Dredge (L),
3^rd Roy Povey (B).

Wheelbarrow Race, 11 year old boys:
1^st Brian Williams & Tommy Cusworth (W),
2^nd Robert Rainbow & S. Walker (C),
3^rd Philip Naylor & G. Walker (C).

Potato Race, 8 year old boys:
1^st Donald Kent (C),
2^nd Danny Howell (W),
3^rd Paul Craddock (L).

Dribbling the Football, 9 year old boys:
1^st Peter Sherwin (B),
2^nd Nicholas Place (L),
3^rd Leonard Jenkins (B).

Threading the Needle Race, 8 year old girls:
1^st Angela Brotherwood (B),
2^nd Carol Broadhead (L),
3^rd Anita Richards (L).

Egg and Spoon Race, 11 year old girls:
1^st Glenda Griffiths (B),
2^nd Gloria Stanley (L),
3^rd Patricia Norris (W).

Relay Race, 7 and 8 year old boys (4 x 60 yards):
1^st Beeches,
2^nd Limes,
3^rd Willows.

Relay Race, 7 and 8 year old girls (4 x 60 yards):
1^st Cedars,
2^nd Limes,
3^rd Willows.

Relay Race, 9 year old boys (4 x 70 yards):
1^st Limes,
2^nd Beeches,
3^rd Willows.

Relay Race, 9 year old girls (4 x 70 yards):
1^st Willows,
2^nd Limes,
3^rd Cedars.

Relay Race, 10 year old boys (4 x 80 yards):
1^st Cedars,
2^nd Limes,
3^rd Willows.

Relay Race, 10 year old girls (4 x 70 yards):
1^st Beeches,
2^nd Willows,
3^rd Limes.

Relay Race, 11 year old boys (4 x 80 yards):
1^st Willows,
2^nd Cedars,
3^rd Beeches.

Relay Race, 11 year old girls (4 x 70 yards):
1^st Willows,
2^nd Beeches,
3^rd Limes.

House Medley Relay Race:
1^st Beeches,
2^nd Limes,
3^rd Willows.

High Jump, 8 year old boys:
1^st Jonathan Wyer,
2^nd Andrew Edwards,
3^rd Anthony Chivers.

High Jump, 8 year old girls:
1^st Susan Soiza,
2^nd Linda Walker,
3^rd Jane Banner.

High Jump, 9 year old boys:
1^st Michael Rivers,
2^nd Philip Lyons,
Tie for 3^rd Philip Burden & Graham Beach.

High Jump, 9 year old girls:
1^st Jennifer Ford,
2^nd Linda Wills,
3^rd Carole Veila.

High Jump, 10 year old boys:
1^st D. Green,
Tie for 2^nd Peter Allman & John Russell.

High Jump, 10 year old girls:
1^st Susan Spiller,
2^nd Ann Jackson,
3^rd Pat Jones.

High Jump, 11 year old boys:
1^st Roger Tirrell,
2^nd Keith Carr,
3^rd Richard Myall.

High Jump, 11 year old girls:
1^st Janet Lythgoe,
2^nd Sally Ann Ford,
3^rd Veronica Bridle.

Long Jump, 10 year old boys:
1^st Alistair Duke,
2^nd Brian Soiza,
3^rd Derek Edgecumbe.

Long Jump, 10 year old girls:
1^st Valerie Walker,
2^nd Lucinda Pickford,
3^rd Rosemarie Ephgrave.

Long Jump, 11 year old boys:
1^st Stephen Hogg,
2^nd Alan Jackson,
3^rd Peter Rhodes.

Long Jump, 11 year old girls:
1^st Jill Humphrey,
2^nd Evelyn Clarke,
3^rd Corinne Overton.

SPORTS DAY FINAL SCORES –
1^st Willows, 69 points.
2^nd Cedars, 65 points.
3^rd Limes, 62 points.
4^th Beeches. 60 points.

HOUSE SHIELD. The House Shield for 1964 was won by Beeches, with 1,125 points in total.