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More on The Indefatigable YearsHere you can follow a further extract of The Indefatigable Years, 1977-1991, an autobiography by Patrick Purser.
It was during these Indefatigable Years, according to Patrick Purser's reflections, that he attempted to guide these young lads in the right direction and prepare them for an exciting career at sea.
It was beautifully mild and sunny day as we trundled north on that early autumn morning, up the A5 and across the border into Wales. Stopping for a snack at a transport cafe en route, we arrived outside “N 3 Plas Llanfair Villas” soon after noon.
The driver was anxious to get back to Somerset, and after helping to unload my pitiful belongings I was left to sort myself out and ponder upon my new situation.
Over the next few days I was introduced to the Deputy Head; and because I had been appointed without consulting him or attending a formal interview, he was, for a long time afterwards, very suspicious of my exact relationship with Bob!
Was I there to ‘spy’ on them all? Was there nepotism in the air?!
It was from him I learnt that there was no real job for me except to be a remedial teacher in Maths and English, and “oh yes - you will teach RE with help from the Rector, Victor Jones!”
I immediately began to feel a little ‘unwanted’. Victor Jones, our honorary chaplain would visit the school assiduously once a week, take each class in turn AND enthuse them.
Not an easy task considering these were 14 to 16 year old adolescent boys. Many of them extremely ‘streetwise’!
Victor was what I would call a ‘Muscular Christian’. He would dragoon boys into being confirmed by telling them that they would then get the best treatment at the various ‘Seamen’s Missions’ they would come across in the seaports of the world!
It was not unusual for a batch of thirty boys or so to be confirmed by the Bishop of Bangor! Victor and I agreed to work together on the CSE RE syllabus, which was relatively easy, as it merely meant being familiar with the Bible stories designated for the examination.
Some years later, whilst on his was home from the school Victor suffered a heart attack and died. He was a sad loss to us all.
The parish priests who followed took very little interest in the boys, except to conduct the obligatory special Sunday morning service down at the little church of St Mary’s near the water’s edge. This took the form of a church Parade when the whole school was marched to worship!
Back to the present. I was issued with my ‘badge of office’ - two gold shoulder stripes for my ‘woolie pully’ (regulation navy blue jersey). We all wore a pseudo-naval uniform - the teaching staff boasted two gold stripes; the deputy Head three, and the Captain Headmaster four.
The boys wore the sailors’ ‘square rig’ for divisions and formal occasions. Naval type ‘ No 8’s’ with blue shirts, trousers and gym shoes were for everyday wear; where each boy had sewn onto his shirt pocket a strip of white linen on which had been stencilled his name and allotted number.
To an outsider, this did give the impression of an orphanage or reform school!
In fact, contrary to popular belief at the time, ‘Indefatigable’ never accepted delinquent boys. It would however take boys who could go wrong if left in their present environment. These boys needed guidance at a crucial time in their lives, and the regimen and discipline offered by the ‘Indefatigable’ offered such a ‘lifeline’.
It gave these boys a pride in themselves and a purposeful meaning to their lives. Over the years I have spoken to many ‘ex-Inde- boys who told me that if it hadn’t been for the school they would have ended up in trouble.
And these remarks cam from those who had subsequently made a real success of their lives. Remember to watch out for the next extract from The Indefatigable Years.
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