Technical College Maidstone Tonbridge Road and the old golf club

Leaving St. Francis school at the tender age of fourteen I went to the Technical College in Maidstone, first in the old building in Tonbridge Road and in the final months moving to the old golf club off Bower Mount Road.

These were quite happy times and to someone from a catholic school a bit of a revelation. The lecturers treated us more like junior employees than yobbos still at school, not that we had the privileges of today’s students and there was still a strong sense of discipline.

P.T.

I remember Mr. Russell our p.t. teacher. I am sure that many of you will remember him; he was South African and a Professor of fencing. Until I went to the college I never knew there was such a thing.

English Literature

I remember Mr. License who taught English literature. Mr License was an actor through and through; he was quite tall and would walk very elegantly around holding onto his lapel quoting Shakespeare at the slightest provocation. He had a presence about him; if he came into your class you would stop whatever you were doing and listen.

There was another lecturer called Mr. Connor who taught English Literature in the first year. He always wore a long black overcoat, had a beard, extremely solemn and drove a lovely black hearse, without the coffin, which tickled us all a great deal. I do remember one of his class books as Lorna Doone, cannot remember a thing about it apart from the name.

English Language

There was Mr. Greene who taught English language, not very well in my case. Again a real character; he would talk as if he was joking with you until he was upset and then he would talk louder and louder and stutter more and more, of course we did try to encourage this trait.

Accounts

Mr. Bates taught accounts and what an unfortunate man. I remember him relating a story about his recently repaired Triumph Herald after an accident. With the newly repaired car he decided to turn right at a junction and indicated, it seemed that the front indicator showed correctly and the rear one showed that he wanted to turn left. Bad luck or what.

Clive Pitt

Maidstone I remember it well: I remember Maidstone Technical College at Westree Road in the 60's. Because we were under 16, we had the misfortune to be made to do PE. I remember Mr. Russell came into the gym late one day and caught us playing with the fencing swords. Mr. Maine that used to have his hearing aid turned off most of the time during classes. If anyone spoke to him, He would turn his hearing aid on and ask you to repeat what you had said. Mr. Clarke was a great chap, he used to join us when we sneaked out to the toilet for a crafty cigarette. I also remeber Mr. Dowdell.

Mr. Russell was one of very few in the country let alone the world to have the title of Professor of fencing. What a nice guy. Yep I have a lot of memories of the old Technical College mainly good. Peter