Page 17 - The Gonzaga Record 1990
P. 17
mention everybody. Besides. I hope that it will be understood that the
tendency of old age is to fasten more on th e distant past. In th e words
of Jean Anouilh 'When you're forty. half of you belongs to th e past -
and when you· re sevent y. nea rl y all of you· . One Henry A dams, an
merican historian at the turn of the century. remarks that 'Nothing is
more tiresome than a superannuated pedagogue·. This might have
discouraged me. but he ha s also this: 'A teacher affects eternity : he can
never tell where his influence stops·.
Now that I' ve got th e introduction over. I just don't know where to
begin. A shuftle through my old photos helps to jog the memory. Ind eed.
without thi s aid I'd find it quite difficult to recall the old scene.
On those who now drive up the wide. well-surfaced avenue there bursts
a view of excepti onal beauty-elegant buildings. spacious playing- fi eld s,
arb oreal lu xury. Only I and a number of golden oldies can remember
a narrow. rutted. pot-hol ed passage lin ed with ancient oaks that led to
a sin gle building. th e present community res id ence. once known as
Sand ford Hill. There were. of course, the ya rd buildings: but in 195 I
these were still th e old stabl es fronted by a cobble-stoned area entered
through a large green gate. and where. to get to the second storey, one
had to climb ri ckety ladders and emerge through trapdoors onto crumbling
fl oors th at still held their qu antity of ha yseed. A couple of years pa ssed
before we got possession of the other building. Sandford Grove (now
th e Junior School) whi ch had been housing the refug ees who had been
burned out of Milltown Park in the disastrous fir e of 1949. At thi s time
th e grounds we re limited to th e front fi eld and a confined area behind.
where we now have our tenni s courts and th e small Junior pitch.
What is now the 'Cottage'. that Sixth Yea r clubroom so littl e appreciated
by it s present denizens (to judge by its treatment). was th e home or the
res ident gardener. Mr Jimmy Byrne , a littl e home (then only half its present
size) where he raised a famil y before his earl y demis e. I have a photo
of th e ya rd area festooned with nappies !
Hard to remember, too, was th e condition of th e front fi eld. now more
usuall y referred to as th e front lawn. In the beginning it was completely
surrounded by railings, part of it was producing potatoes and down the
centre ran a deepish trench with a generous crop of dandeli ons. As years
went by it was gradually brought to its present excell ence - thi s by the
introducti on of a couple of ten-ton steamrollers and by th e blood. sweat
and tears of yours truly who. mounted on a Denni s mower. often worked
late into the night to keep the jungle at bay.
At thi s time the rear of the hou se was a miniature 'rollin g downs' dotted
with trees, both big and small. There was no suggestion then of tennis
courts. And it 's hard to believe that on most of our present ru gby-pitches
cattle were grazing and the grunting of pigs could be hea rd from a corner
near the Milltown Road.
In many ways it 's great to have been a pioneer and to be able to look
back to the days when our community residence wasn't quite so
15
tendency of old age is to fasten more on th e distant past. In th e words
of Jean Anouilh 'When you're forty. half of you belongs to th e past -
and when you· re sevent y. nea rl y all of you· . One Henry A dams, an
merican historian at the turn of the century. remarks that 'Nothing is
more tiresome than a superannuated pedagogue·. This might have
discouraged me. but he ha s also this: 'A teacher affects eternity : he can
never tell where his influence stops·.
Now that I' ve got th e introduction over. I just don't know where to
begin. A shuftle through my old photos helps to jog the memory. Ind eed.
without thi s aid I'd find it quite difficult to recall the old scene.
On those who now drive up the wide. well-surfaced avenue there bursts
a view of excepti onal beauty-elegant buildings. spacious playing- fi eld s,
arb oreal lu xury. Only I and a number of golden oldies can remember
a narrow. rutted. pot-hol ed passage lin ed with ancient oaks that led to
a sin gle building. th e present community res id ence. once known as
Sand ford Hill. There were. of course, the ya rd buildings: but in 195 I
these were still th e old stabl es fronted by a cobble-stoned area entered
through a large green gate. and where. to get to the second storey, one
had to climb ri ckety ladders and emerge through trapdoors onto crumbling
fl oors th at still held their qu antity of ha yseed. A couple of years pa ssed
before we got possession of the other building. Sandford Grove (now
th e Junior School) whi ch had been housing the refug ees who had been
burned out of Milltown Park in the disastrous fir e of 1949. At thi s time
th e grounds we re limited to th e front fi eld and a confined area behind.
where we now have our tenni s courts and th e small Junior pitch.
What is now the 'Cottage'. that Sixth Yea r clubroom so littl e appreciated
by it s present denizens (to judge by its treatment). was th e home or the
res ident gardener. Mr Jimmy Byrne , a littl e home (then only half its present
size) where he raised a famil y before his earl y demis e. I have a photo
of th e ya rd area festooned with nappies !
Hard to remember, too, was th e condition of th e front fi eld. now more
usuall y referred to as th e front lawn. In the beginning it was completely
surrounded by railings, part of it was producing potatoes and down the
centre ran a deepish trench with a generous crop of dandeli ons. As years
went by it was gradually brought to its present excell ence - thi s by the
introducti on of a couple of ten-ton steamrollers and by th e blood. sweat
and tears of yours truly who. mounted on a Denni s mower. often worked
late into the night to keep the jungle at bay.
At thi s time the rear of the hou se was a miniature 'rollin g downs' dotted
with trees, both big and small. There was no suggestion then of tennis
courts. And it 's hard to believe that on most of our present ru gby-pitches
cattle were grazing and the grunting of pigs could be hea rd from a corner
near the Milltown Road.
In many ways it 's great to have been a pioneer and to be able to look
back to the days when our community residence wasn't quite so
15
