He was part of a history department at LRGS that could probably match many universities for sheer brain power, depth of knowledge and certainly what we refer to as "teaching excellence".
All three, Jack Lea, Jock Fidler and Bas Salmon as we knew them, also had wide hinterlands beyond school - either in drama, quiz teams and the church, all were High Anglicans.
All three also influenced me very directly in how I live my life. It was sad then to learn today that Flea and Bas have both recently passed away, but they will have been given great send offs filled with love and affection.
Fidler, who survives the other two, I never liked. He seemed a vain and uptight bully who is widely despised by almost everyone I ever meet who was taught by him. Yet there was always a paradox about him, he gave so much to the school and to the Air Force cadets thing he ran - the Fidler Youth, we called it - and whenever I saw him out of school he held the hand of his wife or his daughters, something that showed an otherwise hidden side of a man capable of such warmth and affection. Having shared a version of this short tribute on the Lancaster Past and Present Facebook page I've had a few people give Fids the benefit of the doubt, which is as it should be.
Bas was the first person who suggested I go to university, or rather he just assumed I would be doing, which had a remarkable affect on me at a time when Fidler had made me feel awful, humiliated and useless. I always burned with a desire to go back and show him he was wrong about me, when in retrospect I now simply regret not telling Bas he was right.
Bas was the first person who suggested I go to university, or rather he just assumed I would be doing, which had a remarkable affect on me at a time when Fidler had made me feel awful, humiliated and useless. I always burned with a desire to go back and show him he was wrong about me, when in retrospect I now simply regret not telling Bas he was right.
15 comments:
Your comments about John Fidler and the CCF are not necessary in what is otherwise a nice tribute to Bas Salmon. If you feel the need to air the other things, why not do a separate blog and leave this one as it should be - about a fantastic teacher and motivation to generations of LRGS pupils.
Fair point, but I tried to be rounded and fair to JWF. Also, the contrast in my recollections and feelings is of some significance. I don't mean to be rude about the CCF, I mention it to display JWF's selfless devotion to something which will clearly have brought great pleasure to many.
Actually, the comments re. Jock Fidler made by Mike Taylor are entirely fair and accurate. Fact is, none of the schoolboys liked him, to put it mildly. I attended LRGS during the 1970s and was taught by JWF (never knew what his middle initial stood for) and also by "Jack" Lea and Bas Salmon. Being taught by Jack Lea was fun. Being taught by "Bas" Salmon was a joy - he was inspirational, so naturally all the boys adored him. In stark contrast, being taught by the icy Mr Fidler felt like a real penance. I swear that the temperature in the room fell by several degrees when Jock walked in, and things quickly went downhill from there. Sorry, but even 40 years later I still remember how utterly joyless it was being taught by JWF. Why did he have to be so needlessly stern, so utterly unwelcoming and such a martinet? For boys who had desperately unhappy home lives (and that includes me!) getting more of the same sh!t at school was a real downer. So, thanks for nothing, Jock.
I was truly sorry to learn that Bas Salmon had died. What I remember most about him was his innate kindness to the boys. Put simply he was a thoroughly nice guy who really knew his stuff when it came to teaching history. He made learning fun. It's strange but even now I can still recall a few of his catchphrases e.g. we were in his class so he could "make thinkers out of stinkers" or the jokey one about the 700th law of the Medes and Persians. During my time at LRGS I was also taught by John Fidler. However, since I've always believed that if you've got nothing nice to say about someone then you shouldn't say anything at all, I make no comment...
I too had the pleasure of being taught by Bas Salmon and Jack Lea. I went on to read History at University, have a veritable library of history books and a deep, passionate love of the subject. I can think of no greater tribute to two excellent teachers than that. As for the other one, I became a teacher just to ensure that the children who passed through my class knew they had value and were capable of great things, so that if they met their own version of Jock, they would hopefully be able to survive with their curiosity, love of learning and self-esteem intact. Every child I have ever taught is my own riposte to the Dickensian caricature that Jock was. I always wondered if Bas ever gave his 'Don't be a spiv' talk to JWF!
I am the Mother of two boys who went to Lancaster Grammar School. They felt the same about Mr Fidler. He really should have chosen another career. My recollection of him was about one parents night. We had seen him about one of the boys, ( who have both gone on to have glittering careers) and we were the last parents to be in. He didn’t say much that was pleasant, told me to stack the chairs in the room and swept out. I was astonished at being treated so rudely.....like a 5year old.
As I had been in work all day and was tired....I declined
I dreaded returning home from LRGS because my father went through my exercise-books to see what teachers had written. Barbed comments in a margin earned me slaps across my face and verbal abuse. I spent my childhood feeling uneasy/unsafe. Couldn't wait to escape. Eventually, after one false start in a blue-collar role (as thoughtfully recommended by LRGS), I went to University - something that certain so-called "Masters" at the LRGS had done their best to persuade me (and my parents who were completely in awe of them) I had zero aptitude for. Well, a 2.1 Bachelors (with Hons) and MSc degree later (plus study for a PhD I quit due to a lucrative job offer) I guess they were wrong. Mind you, they'd probably still sneer that my degrees are from Polytechnics, not "real" universities. My point is that teachers can have bad (or good) effects which can radically change the course of pupil’s lives. Suffice to say that away from negative influences I blossomed.
My father was a war-disabled veteran of WW2, haunted by demons: he'd seen quite a bit of death and severe wounds. Unsurprisingly, it left him deeply damaged. Terrified of and submissive to authority figures (he invariably callled LRGS teachers "The Masters" and took anything they said no matter how ridiculous as Gospel truth) he was a tyrant at home.
He threatened, beat and berated me throughout my childhood, starting with slaps and a leather belt, then his fists in my teens. His door-mat of a wife (my mother) watched and did nothing as he criticised/ridiculed anything and everything I did. That's why I’ll always be grateful for having had Mr Salmon as a teacher, plus a few others like Jack Lee & Shaun Higgins etc. Maybe BAS saw I was a lost boy, even if he didn't recognise the cause? Whatever, I always felt the warmth of his personality. It probably sounds pitiful, but BAS was like a uncle. When I had children of my own, I became acutely aware that what I'd experienced at home was child-abuse, plain and simple. Unfortunately in the early 1970s there was no support so all you could do was pretend everything was OK.
I had to join the CCF and stay in it. Refusal was not an option, so I ended up in the CCF RAF. My father's reasoning being that if there was another major war it would easier to join the real RAF and thereby less likely to die in a ditch with the other brown-jobs. I suppose that shows my father loved me after all. He's long dead now, and I really don't know whether to cry over his grave or dance on it.
Unfortunately, the CCF RAF meant double-doses of (now Squadron Leader) Fidler, a man not noted for personal warmth. Given that the CCF was military, Mr Fidler turned the volume up on an already abrasive personality. He really should have been employed by a Borstal not LRGS. Funny, but I still remember his small, rounded almost girlish hand-writing red-inked into my exercise-books.
Physically and mentally, my father was badly scarred. Mostly, he never spoke about it, but in a few unguarded moments (when I mentioned CCF firearms training) he mentioned how accurate the Bren gun was, what gunshot wounds looked like and dead people turning black in the summer heat. I suppose that's a reason - if not a justification - for the appalling way I was treated at home. I just wonder how John Fidler would explain why he treated us like dirt. What reason could there be? Such a glaring contrast to BAS, who was lovely. BAS tried to build you up inside, boost your self-confidence, open your mind and make you feel you had options. I can’t speak highly enough of BAS and will always be grateful for his positive influence.
To end positively, when I had kids of my own I resolved not to "hand on misery to man" as Philip Larkin put it. It's important to break the cycle. If you really like/love someone then try to pay it forward by helping them if you can, because there's not enough kindness in the world.
I found this completely by chance and, as an ex-LRGS lad, remember all three, although not with the same degree of affection. I remember Lea and dear Bas, who spoke to me very kindly when I passed my 'O' level History.
"You worked very hard young man and you deserve congratulation."
I still have my history books from those days and I still use them. Bas was funny and very knowledgeable. The period of history we looked at then (1865 to 1940) is one that still fascinates me today. Because of Bas (and to a degree Mr Fidler) I have a love of history which others have noticed.
I cannot do other than regard all these three with a degree of compassion because they had little option other than to be sceptical at our complaints after what they had seen after WW2. I have studied history in the raw and, I have no other conclusion other than that it was a very close run affair and I have learned how close a call it was. My Dad was mixed up in it in an area of the conflict that Britain wanted to forget. My turn came when I went to sea just like him and I know just what it is like to be at sea, blacked out, no lights, silent routine and, for good measure, run the risk of a limpet mine attached to the hull.
I keep my personality to myself, I do not have any contact with the school but reading about Bas made me remember how much I enjoyed my time with him. He taught me a great deal. And he said my essays were good.
Sorry; must be anonymous.
I was taught by all three of these Masters in the 1970s. Although generally lazy, I loved History and eventually went on to become a schoolmaster at a public school, following a brief period in banking in London. I decided to pursue a vocation as a schoolmaster largely because of the impression made upon me by three RGS Masters: BAS, DSC and JWF.
I fully concur with the observations made about Bas Salmon, who taught me for just one year; his sense of humour made a lasting impression on me, and I was determined that it would be reflected in my own day-to-day teaching. I am glad that after he retired I wrote to him to tell him how much I appreciated his teaching, and he wrote back in a self-deprecatory manner whilst expressing his gratitude.
DSC, who taught Divinity, was subject to ragging by most boys, including me in the Lower School, but his style of teaching in the Shell and Fifth Forms, and especially in the Lower and Middle Sixth, was inspirational, with much discussion-based work. I endowed a prize in his memory.
JWF was undoubtedly strict, but I had immense respect for the disciplined and orderly environment he maintained, and I achieved more in his lessons than in those of any other Master in the School, even coming first in internal examinations. He was, and is, devoted to LRGS, and throughout his career he did so much for it, not only as Editor of The Lancastrian, a time-consuming and laborious task, but also for writing a couple of the School's histories. Furthermore, and very importantly, as founding officer and CO of the RAF CCF Section, he built it up so that it acquired a national reputation for its high standards. Although I accept that a sense of humour would have been of benefit in his class-room, I know from talking to other OLs that there are a significant number of us who hold him in regard.
Although I appreciated the education which LRGS provided while at School -- it was effectively a public school education for no cost, except for boarding fees -- after a career as a schoolmaster I now appreciate it even more; indeed, so much so that I intend to leave a very substantial legacy to the School.
Well I think I found this blog a couple of years late!!However I had the same thoughts about Bas Salmon...he was a great and wonderful teacher...I loved his classes and he made history fantastically interesting!!
I have been teaching for 40 years.....and I have met a lot of teachers.He was one of the best!!!!!
Lea and Fidler I did not have...so no comment.LRGS was a great place to get an education.As a boarder I endured bullying....one event put me in hospital.Those events stayed with me all my life and discouraged me from going back.It was handled very poorly by today's standards.Thankfully the bullying stopped when I left...thank God!!I left that era of my life with mixed feelings...grateful for what I had received...and glad to get away.Many of the friends I made in that period would have been great to stay in touch with.Stephen Harris(1961-1967).Living in Canada
Thank you to everyone for sharing your memories of LRGS, good or bad, happy or painful.
I hope you have been able to find some kind of peace with what happened.
Much love. Praesis ut Prosis.
I had Bas for my first year and despite being some 35 years ago I do remember a couple of incidents that may be worthy of anecdote.
There was a test one day. I remember sitting there in that old history room while Bas walked around our desks asked questions. As luck would have it the swot of the class was sat next to me! I tried not to move my head to see his paper. Of course it was pointless, I saw nothing. Disheartened I looked up and was starting right into the eyes of Mr Salmon. There was an awkward silence. Bas looked at me, I looked at him. Then after about 5 seconds Bas simply wobbled his eyes around like a cartoon cat after being hit on the head with the ironing board. I appreciated the fact I wasn't immediately thrown in his 'dungeon'. Which beings me to the second story.
He told us, probably on the first day, that he had a dungeon under his desk. He moved aside and we could clearly see the trap door. I never did lift it, but the threat felt real.
For my final, "Trebuchet Day". Mr Salmon was explaining something to do with catapults and conquest of castles etc blah. Anyway, in a fit of excitement he was using his 'cane' which was a golf club without a head (remember that?) and anyway, as you can imagine the club became a makeshift prop for a trebuchet. In his demonstration the poor Master whipped the club through the air and cleanly down the overhead projector screen. Oh dear. We laughed with him not at him and so that's why he will be remembered. How many Masters can you honestly say you laughed with and not at when they screwed up?
Regarding JWK, he was indeed strict, all previous posts are absolutely accurate. He was the strictest Master with no exception. Perhaps all are aware of the scale of the LRGS footprint and often to be at the top of the school (woodwork) and to have to pack and be in the JWF classroom in 5 minutes...well it was more than a chore. We'd run and fall down the hill en-masse to get there in time or else some form of detention was likely. Despite the obvious and already described challenges, I would like to mention a few moments of my own that may help to dilute his narrative.
As my first recollection I can say I had two years of history with Mr Fidler plus was also in the CCF. If I was being absolutely honest I probably joined to see if he would give me a break during history (he seemed to give some respite to members). My time in the CCF was not fun, indeed even flying was not great and made me sick every time. I did make some great friends however and the camps and weapons were great. JWF was extremely proud of us, he was always careful and supportive.
So, first story. One time I was at camp and due to an uneven number in our squad I was 'loaned' to a rival CCF group from Kent. During the graded drill my foster squad won some award or other for 'Best Drill' or whatever it was. JWF came to me personally afterwards and congratulated me, he didn't have to do that.
Second story relates to his competence at the rifle range. He was very good. I mean very good. Not only that but the cadets were graded and if graded full marks he would remark on it and was genuinely pleased. In my opinion where he was an excellent instructor.
Lastly, during sixth-form there was another class, 'General Studies'. The content was pretty diverse. Astronomy, English country houses...and a class about crosswords. Please do note I did not know JWF would be taking this class and I did die inside when I found out, but, JWF loved crosswords. We'd show up once a week and JWK would dish out dozens of freshly photocopied puzzles from various clippings from the past week (actually only The Times and Telegraph were considered up to snuff). He explained the subject and was extremely competent himself in deciphering these things. I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this class and he honestly enjoyed teaching it.
Thanks to all of those who commented above. Actually I was having a dull day and this nostalgia was a useful distraction.
I just heard that Fidler too is dead. I was taught by all three mentioned in the piece. My recollection of it all is that whilst Baz Salmon's "eccentricities" were amusing to witness, I'm sure they were hell to endure (I saw one peer sent into the dungeon). As for Fidler: why, all I learned from him was to despise tyranny.
They were a remarkable trio of very bright, motivated and talented men. All could have been high achieving academics, Oxford Dons, one suspects. But they were probably men of action who wanted to 'get things done' in the real world and have an impact in service. And they did so, massively. LRGS was the perfect vehicle for the likes of them and Doug Cameron, Mike Gibson et al. (BAS Salmon's hand-written school timetables were wonders to behold and beautiful objects in themselves.)
Jack Lea and BAS transcended their positions as schoolmasters. They both demanded (and rewarded) excellence but BAS had the grace to recognise that there were also more important things in life to attend to. I remember him telling us (as fresh-faced second years) that "sex is a wonderful pastime", a very reasonable insight that nevertheless felt quite shocking to us in 1983. This was the only time that sex wasn't pathologised or denigrated the whole time I was there (81-87). (Doug Cameron slippered me for being caught with a copy of Alex Comfort's 'The Joy of Sex'.) Emphatically calling her "Mrs Snatcher" was all BAS had to do to communicate his distaste for the then Prime Minister. He smoked his pipe upside down in the rain.
Jack Lea and BAS were true scholars and inspirational teachers. But Fiddler was universally loathed, as these posts attest. There's a splenetic and embittered character in Viz called "Mail Online" who reminds me of him. A fellow pupil showed me his exercise book that Fiddler had marked. Instead of discretely noting that what had been written by said pupil wasn't relevant, Fiddler meticulously crossed out every single word on the entire page, an almost exact sine wave function in red pen. I will always remember him as an angry humourless man who seemed to be forever on the brink of some violent outburst.
Fiddler was a "man among boys". Jack Lea and BAS were equals to anyone of high achievement.
BAS taught me in the third year and as a very poor academic student I loved him in that year. He had his sawn off golf club that he used to smack hard on our desks, but he was also a very funny teacher. I finished 10th out of 40 boys that year and he praised me in a way that I still remember today. I had the most brilliant, best and amazing teacher of history (and maths in the bottom set) for my 4th and 5th years...a very young and enthusiastic Mr Furlong-Brown. This teacher has been my true inspiration till even today ans as a teacher myself for almost 30 years. I only had a class with Mr Fiddler once, when Mr Furlong-Brown was sick and Mr Fiddler took over, that lesson was absolutely fine, though every boy was immaculately behaved that day. I remember Jack Lea but was never taught by him. Ok, now for the controversial part, BAS was my teacher and form master in the two sixth forms. At morning register take, he was amazing and always jocular. As a teacher, lessons were sometimes turgid, with everyone just sitting in a circle and trying to find answers as quickly as possible to BAS questions, in the two books we were given. One was written by Coward, the other by Farmer if I remember correctly, a more comprehensible book which was older but scorned upon by BAS. He was a really lovely man, at a time when other teachers were less so, but then so was GG Watkins and Pete Sampson. Maybe I was just less intellectual , but I found going through the books, with little structure to a lesson to be completely dull. However, he was indeed an amazing maverick and I'll never forget the time he loudly proclaimed that the classroom was so stuffy and full of germs and he then lit his pipe and told us that pipe smoke kills everything bad in the air. Yes, he smoked his pipe in class, which I think is brilliant, but today would result in instant dismissal. He always had a pet name for us and I kept this up in my own classes myself till recently when I was told it was not politically correct and could be considered inappropriate. While I am very late to this bog post RIP to them all.
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