Chapter One continued.... The waiting time.
Patience is a virtue, or so they say?.... I certainly needed some patience back then, after the experiences of the interview faded slowly away, into the memories of a summer now past.
The aircraft still thundered over regularly on the approach to Heathrow Airport, reminding me of future possibilities.
It was now September 1979, back at school, and enrolled into the 'A' Levels course in the Lower Sixth Form class, at the now defunct Isleworth Grammar School. Roll on the new merged, new socialist social experiment comprehensive school! Political meddling sounds 'ripe' for educational disaster, and it was as predicted! Schools were becoming cost driven educational factories, churning out kids in ever larger class sizes; administered by faceless people who know the cost of everything, and the value of nothing - the idea seems to be continuing on even now.
The school was starved of funds and facilities for years, whilst it was a lonely bastion for a while to selective exam based education, and stubbornly held out against being made Comprehensive. Now when it capitulated and surrendered to the socialist education plan, the Labour party were 'comprehensively' voted out of government, and the Conservatives under 'Maggie' were now in!!! Almost following the movement of Labour politicians, some of our best teachers also decided that it was time to go, amidst this new chaos.
Another addition to this 'toxic' experiment mix, were all the 'dunces', 'hard' or was it 'head cases?', 'wasters', and other school social misfits (a bit like me I suppose?), now added from the local Comprehensive school we merged with; with a bit of a naff 'reputation' for trouble and under achievement to preserve!
That's perfect timing for you?! as well as having a building site at school, suddenly appearing all around in 1979, as we were trying to study for exams, and then starting our 'A' Level studies earnestly?! Well, maybe not so keenly involved in educational activities!
At least it was a good excuse, all that noise and disruption at times, with builders roaming around in their hard hats, not to pay attention to lessons!
Out of the 'ashes' of the old Grammar School, came the new Gym, a new Art room and Science labs, and a Woodwork shop, as part of the new Comprehensive School 'shiny new world'. Just the minor problem that nothing much worked! or was wired up in the new Science lab rooms, when they were opened according to the 'Master Plan', with their bright white and yellow painted walls. So the old Science rooms had to be temporarily used again, until the work was eventually properly finished.
Being the Sixth Form, we got the old Woodwork shop as our common room. But since it was formerly a workshop, we got no extra heating, just a quick brush over of cream coloured paint on the walls, and it gave a good temperature impression of the inside of a fridge, in the onset of Autumn and Winter. The stone cold feeling charcoal grey rough carpet tiles, with the added 'ambiance' of easy chairs, which looked just like a job lot that fallen out of a local junk shop; with their flimsy wooden flaking varnish arm rests, and thin and tired looking pale green and grubby yellow cushions, with the now flagging stuffing just about to burst out of them, was meant to give the look of adult sophistication for teenagers soon about to enter the adult world.
Small scratched wooden coffee tables were added to the chaotic and 'clapped out mix', to catch shins and ankles on, if you were in a hurry to get somewhere?!
I don't know why, but the fashion of the day seemed to be groups of students, huddling around these low wooden coffee tables, playing the card game Bridge, whilst leaning over, and not trying to get backache in the easy chairs!
Being a teenage rebel to convention, and anti- fashion, with 'mop head' hairstyle, wearing my dark blue and white striped, thin nylon and plastic sports mac - very sweaty and very '70's! with a Gulf Air Tristar badge pinned on it. Badges of various sorts were still fashionable - some liked CND, Mod or Punk themes, and I liked Tristars! Finished off with a sweater (very apt!), dark brown corduroy trousers and green Dunlop trainers. Plus not having a clue how to play Bridge properly! I tried to ignore all this tedious daily break time activity.
There are memories of a radio someone had brought along in the room, playing Tubeway Army's "Are Friends Electric?" in the background, and the moody synthesiser sound suited my teenage feelings at the time perfectly. I also liked Blondie's "Atomic" and Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army", which was also being played, and also in the pop charts at the time. A discussion was going on whether some of us thought Rod Stewart's "Do you think I'm Sexy?" is better than 'boring' Tubeway Army?! Status Quo was one of my main contenders in the boring sounding groups according to me, which would bring 'howls' of derision.
I also remember thumbing through a copy of Time Out magazine, and reading the reviews of new films such as "Radio On", with it's unique monochrome art design film poster (I liked the Inex Adria DC-9 aircraft in it!), except that I didn't have the spare money to go and see the film in the cinema! There was a deep recession going on in Britain, and money was tight. Other quirky films around at the time, I remember, were Jabberwocky and Alien.I've added a clip of the film, that I found recently, to give people a feel of what it was like at the time.
With the introduction soundtrack of David Bowie - Ahh! The memories of youth!
Thanks to the Narcissist071 and the BFI for the film clip.
Also glamorised at the time were cigarette adverts, and on the back page of the magazine, there was an advert purveying the cool image of French Gitane cigarettes with blue and white statuettes.
It certainly did influence us teenagers, since by then about a quarter of our class excluding me, were regular smokers when they could afford it! And more about this later on.
A cold wintry feeling draught of air flowed around at ankle height, just above carpet tile level, chilling the feet if you hung around too long without moving, in the easy chairs; fed from the ill fitting window frames that ran along both sides of the room. On one side, were rows of pale yellow wooden lockers where we could put our books and bags in, which I suppose did act as a little bit of insulation and kept some of the cold air at bay. A handful of ancient cast iron radiators that had seen better days in the 1930's, did their best to provide a feeble level of background heat.
This was supposed to be adult style sophistication? now we were allowed to have our own common room, and not have to wear school uniform any more.
For some strange reason, the school 'Tuck Shop' was placed in the corner of the room, that used to be the workshop office near the room entrance, so the kids could get their 'fix' of highly refined sugar, fat, salt and caffeine; in chocolate bars, sweets and Coca Cola, to keep them going and hyperactive through the day at school! I suppose that it was a bit better than the reputed health hazard 'Maxpax' machine that lurked in a poorly lit area of the school near the main hall, dispensing an affront to the reputation of hot beverages, for ten pence a time!
Even though they paid a small retainer for a couple of Sixth Formers to run the 'Tuck Shop', I couldn't be bothered to get involved with it. I had far more important 'teenage angst' things at school to get on with.
The routine was so dull at the time, that the memory of lessons was just a blur. I had elected to study 'A' Level Physics, Mathematics and Art; but only had a real interest in Art, and just muddled through the other lessons.
One of the last main memories of School lessons, was being in the new Art room after school, to finish off some work on my art project painting I was doing. The picture was getting quite large, so needed a lot of time spent on it. It was in October, about after five p.m. in the evening, and soon time to pack up and go home. Looking out of the large panoramic ground floor window, I could see the main school building tower in the clear evening sky. The sun had just set below the horizon, and I observed a Trans World (TWA) early version B.747 jumbo jet fly over low, soon to land at the airport. The approach and landing lights were on, as were the logo lights which lit up the tail area in the darkness, so the airline colours could be seen. I could just about hear the sound of the four Pratt and Whitney PW JT7D turbofan engines through the glass as they were throttled back on the approach. It was quite a memorable sight, soon followed by another smaller aircraft in the darkening sky, on the approach landing path.
There was also a small transistor radio in the Art room as well, which provided with me with more musical memories. Earlier on, Kraftwerk had been on playing "Autobahn", and as I was thinking of clearing up and putting my things away on the work table, the tune of "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles was now on the radio. This tune stuck in my head for quite a while, since it was played so frequently on the radio at the time!
Steve the class Mod, with his olive green parka, who was also working on a painting next to me, got interrupted by 'Rothmans fag packet' Phil, one of our classmates not doing Art; who unobtrusively suggested that it was time to slip off quietly to the toilets for a 'fag break'! The new woman art teacher must have got suspicious by now, seeing students sometimes with classmate visitors, going off regularly to the toilet together; or maybe she thought that they were developing homosexual tendencies?! Knowing a few of them, possibly both!
Steve also told me that he wanted to experiment with hash sometime soon. I told him that it was a daft idea and not to bother, but who knows if he did actually try that rubbish eventually?
The newly refurbished toilet block in the corridor, near to the new Art room and Woodwork shop, acted both as a magnet and haven for the 'smokers' and the so called 'hard cases'. Sometimes the cigarette smoke was so thick, that it could be smelt in the corridor outside. I only once used these toilets, and faced a thin mist of bluish white tobacco smoke lingering around, from the aftermath of the smokers antics, behind the bright yellow Melamine faced cubicle doors. The place smelt like a giant ashtray, and I didn't bother to return ever again, unlike the many nicotine addicts!
During my last few months at school, one of our supposed 'hard cases' and 'drop out', (who was originally quite a studious type) nicknamed 'Weebil' made school notoriety; when he turned up in his black punk gear, and wearing a swastika arm band. Then after having a fag in the toilets, felt bored and decided to vandalize and rip one of the 'canary' coloured toilet doors off its hinges. Just as he was doing this, a teacher walked past in the corridor and heard the commotion, went in and caught him in the act. 'Weebil' swiftly found himself in front of the Headmaster and was soon expelled from school. The last tales of the toilets I heard about, was that one of the 'tough nut' teachers caught the smoking group in action, then several other teachers soon arrived and rounded up the miscreants, and humiliating punishment was swiftly handed out from what I heard, including the confiscation of their 'valuable' smoking materials!
During this period, as a present from my parents, I also started driving lessons in a new 'fancy styled' Toyota Starlet hatchback driving school car, and had to fill my head now with the Highway Code in my spare time!
I was offered UCCA Clearing House paperwork to apply to go to university, but I had no interest, and after spending some time forgotten in my school holdall bag, they got filed away in the bin eventually!
One other memory was that my painting which I called 'abstract realism', got to be displayed in the Art room show on the school open evening! And got many complimentary comments.
At last, in the beginning of November, the keenly expected letter from British Airways arrived at home. When I opened the envelope hurriedly, it was a letter telling me that I had got the apprenticeship job, and the starting date and details.
Feeling elated that morning, I went to school and to the amazement of my classmates, emptied out the school work contents of my locker into the nearby grey metal bin! I then went to the Headmaster's office, and saw the Deputy Head instead. I was told to go to my lessons and hand my textbooks in to the teachers concerned, and I also returned the large reinforced heavy cardboard drawing/painting folder, that I had been lent from the Art department. Goodbyes were said, and I soon found myself sitting on the shiny black leather settee, in the dark wood panelled main entry foyer, normally reserved for school visitors, positioned opposite the meaningless (to most of us) school trophies glass fronted case. Several classmates I knew, stared at me as they walked past, wondering what was happening to me!
After what seemed quite a few minutes of waiting, the Deputy Head took me up to his office, and we had a chat. He gave me a short lecture about the new adult world outside, and I told him that I was glad to be leaving school!
So before I knew it, I was walking down the school main entrance steps for the last time, and into the bright sun with blue skies, feeling that I had finally escaped! I never looked back as I walked along the grass fringed driveway, past the teacher's cars to the school main gates, and a new direction in my life. That was it now, really no turning back!
Whew! That was a long episode, and the last one in the First Chapter. If and when I recover from all this work, I may eventually get the energy and enthusiasm to type the next episode in the new Chapter.
I wonder is there is still anyone awake out there, after reading all of this?!
