8th February 1984


Dear Mrs. Boxhall,

I first went to Kinmel School. as a modern language master. After one years teaching at a private commercial College in Liverpool.

The school opened in September 1929. With I believe 44 boys and seven teaching staff. In January 1935, I was one of three new Young Masters who joined staff while the schools numbers rose to 55.

The governing body were hoping to emulate the success of Stowe, and the first Kinmel bursar, had been the Head Masters secretary at Stowe. Sadly, his health broke down after two terms and he was replaced by a former Alumni Secretary at University College London.

Among the governors were Lord Teynham chairman. Pretty General Magnus Moet F.K.C.. Reverend Doctor Edwards, both the latter were members of Kinmel Colleges council. Hon. G. Roper cool and RN. Lord Teynham’s son I believe. The honourable WN Bruce CB and his brother. Brigadier General the Honourable GS Bruce CB. One brother was. ‘Bruce of Everest’.

The financial expert behind the venture was a. C.W. Neville, who had two sons in the school and who had I gather been responsible for the disastrous developments of Peacehaven on the South Coast.

You refer to the ‘7 Lives of Kinmel Hall’; early in the school's history, these seven might well have been reduced to five, or increase to 8 or more.

As you know, the hall seems to have been particularly prone to suffer from fire for many years after the school closed. I still retain a brass bowl (originally, part of a light fitting) on which some boys had scratched an inscription. Commemorating my outstanding courage! as a Fire Fighter

The instant recorded thereon could have been quite serious. One afternoon, about four I came in after games and went up to my room on the second floor.

The room almost immediately facing the head of the stairs was then in use as a classroom and had a coal fire burning.

At the end of the morning school. Some boy had made up the fire and considering it to have burned rather too low to be sure of reviving, he had propped up a poker and stretched duster across the opening to make it draw more strongly. He had obviously forgotten to return after lunch to check on it.

So that when I passed outside the door at 4:00 PM, I smelt smoke and went in to inspect.

The Duster had caught fire and had fallen onto the bare floorboards which had ignited and by the time of my intervention had burnt right through at one spot so that a draught was created (the window, also been left open) and there was already quite some blaze which I had some difficulty in extinguishing.

I think that one of the best things I can tell you about (since no other record is likely to exist) is the excellent relationship between the school and its previous owner Colonel Hughes who had lived a bachelor existence in the hall until he made it over to the school.

He now lived in a dower house about halfway to Abergele. He regularly had boys in small groups go to him for tea and always did them quite royally. Masters and their wives were also invited to dinner, for which he took a pride in arranging his own menus.

One of his hobbies was to collect and refurbish player pianos. There were about eight of them in a large music room. With innumerable rolls and he delighted and entertaining his guests to piano recitals of both the popular and classical music.

He also visited the school for Rugger matches and other games. for plays and concerts and was always very popular with the boys and staff.

I find this. I have two duplicate copies of volume 1 #9 and of volume 2 #4. So, I'm sending them. onto you. The torn half page contained on one side a rather pointless contribution called ‘A Simple Story’ and on the other side of short poem called ‘The Anchor’ otherwise. I have volume one, numbers 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and volume 2 numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5 volume 2 #6 would have been the last published because Kinmel School ceased to exist at the end of December 1934. Of its demise i shall let you have details later.

The dream of 450 boys to which you refer was never achieved. In fact, the final total for list of all former members that take compile (in 1934) came to 194 boys and 24 full time teaching staff alas!

For the moment. All good wishes.

Yours sincerely, RM Williams.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                     24th February 1984

Firstly, let me use myself for this paper. It seemed more suitable than ordinary note paper. In this is more. Conducive to the. Verbosity of an old man who was many memories that he fondly imagines may be of interest. To the chronicler of. My beloved kinmel

I have had a very. Welcome an interesting letter from Alex Gough. I have not heard from. Tyzack

The drawings of Kendall on the cover of the magazine.

It's the work of Charles Loud, the elder of two brothers. Whose home was at Grove house, Tenby. They both joined the school in its first term. Charles left to study medicine at Kings College Hospital, London. You will notice that in his magazine cover he incorporates (wrongly) the main part of Kinmel shield which you have retained on the official Kinmel notepaper. As a Welsh speaking Welshman I naturally regretted his omission of the Motto which you have resurrected.

Incidentally, have you ever had it translated? It means

                                        ‘The grace of God and freedom’.

Very apt Motto, for its planned future. I presume you have already noticed the frequency with which the initials HRH are carved in I think in wood and stone throughout the present buildings. You also probably know that HRH’s daughter where Ladies in Waiting. We never authenticated any Royal visit to Kinmel, but we, the young staff gave the title Queen Vic's bathroom to a large bathroom approximately above the front entrance. Which in our day had a large bath, furnished with handles, resembling those that used to be the controls on tram cars.

Did you ever explore the upper reaches of the park and come across a circular pond which we were told have been dug and filled to supply water for the fire hoses that were installed by HRH (the Colonels father) after an earlier Kinmel Hall had also succumbed to a disastrous fire.

Once one summer, about 32 or 33, we had a drought and at the last half term half-a-dozen Carp were found floating on the mud left uncovered by the drought. Several of them finally landed in the new biology lab and were duly dissected.

You asked whether I remember seeing the soldiers in the area that had in the First World War been Kinmel Park camp.

No, by 1930 it was deserted but there still remained a few huts and hundreds of the concrete pillars on which the huts had stood. It had been a very large camp, certainly not restricted to Canadian troops, I have met hundreds of men a little older than myself, to whom the name Kinmel meant only the camp where they had done their early training in the 1914-18 war.

Incidentally, our first married home was a bungalow. One of two which have been built for the Camp Commandant. They were sighted just down the lane at the corner of which stood an old public pump or fountain near the Golden Gates of Kinmel on the road towards Bodelwyddan.

Mrs. Williams and I bought it and loved it. But lived there for only a year because the school was closed at the end of 1934. During the Christmas holidays ’34-35 without any previous hints to parents or staff arrangements were made presumably by the governors for boys to be transferred to Wrekin College in Shropshire, where they formed a House of which our Hughes Housemaster - Brigadier General N. Fawcett took charge. Brigadier General N. F. Carter became. HM of Ely Cathedral School. He was an old Tonbridgian and in 1945 I joined the staff of Tonbridge and I'm still in close contact with the school and with the house in which he and several brothers were brought up.

Other members of staff too were fortunate at that time. The physics master. J. L. Hinton took a temporary post at Eton and remained there for many years.

The geography master and Dinorben House Master RW. Griff became later a housemaster at Blundell’s in Devon, K. N. Strange my colleague in modern language staff was for many years Senior Modern Language Master at Worthing Grammar School and I after a short course of special study at Exeter College Oxford joined the staff of Victoria College, Jersey. Later became a housemaster and would probably have remained there until my retirement had the Germans not occupied Jersey and, in September ‘42 sent me and my family, amongst many others, to internment camps in Germany.

In your first letter, you mentioned the Venetian Gardens which in our day were called The Dutch gardens. You also mentioned Mr Pickwell, the gardener, whom I remember very well. There were also the school Carpenter, Mr Ledsham who lived and had his workshops as his classroom in the stable yard.

The gamekeeper too who lived near the St  George Gates was a great friend of ours who often arranged clay pigeon shooting sessions for the last Headmaster, (C.B. Shepherd) and myself.

But most important of all, I must mention the Rector of St. George the reverend E.T Jones. who acted as part Time Chaplain and was a most valued colleague to us and a very close friends of the boys.

Once each term, at his instigation, the whole school visited the village church, usually for evensong and the Master on duty and Prefect on duty read the two lessons.

One Sunday evening, I being the Master on duty I was about to enter the vestry. Having the boys settled into their pews when the vicar stopped me and asked whether I would agree to read my second lesson in Welsh, because that evening the service should really have been in Welsh and a few parishioners would expect to have some parts of the service in their native tongue.

I readily agreed and only when I was standing at the lectern did I suddenly realise what a shock it would be to the boys. (All English monoglots) I need not tell you how nervous I was but it all went well and the only comments from the school that came to my ears later was that one boy was heard to ask on the walk back.’ I wonder why Williams read the lesson in Spanish.’

That really must be all for today. I hope you can read my scribblings. Good luck to ‘The Kinmel Story’ from the author, very juvenile, of the Chronicles of Kin Mail in several Kinmelogue’s

Yours sincerely,
 
R.M.Williams
 
 
‘My Wife insisted on my doubling my Contribution!’
                                                                                                              4th June 1984
 
The buildings comprising engineering shop, gym etc. were put up during the first few months of Kinmel school's existence.

Incidentally, the plan in the brochure shows their positioning very clearly.

Again, yes, the drawing room was partially used as the six form room. The windows above it, which in the brochure photo seems to have some sheets on the sill was in my time, my bedsitter and the second floor room above, that was a Masters common room from the window of which we had to install a canvas.
tube for the fire escape for the adjoining room. Near the centre was the scene of the conflagration.