Does anyone remember a pupil called Coffin Bearer?  He was in the same year as that bloke called Stolle, if you remember him.  I don't know if Coffin Bearer was his real name or not, but he certainly looked like one (a bearer that is, not a coffin), so it was fairly appropriate.  When he left school he got a job as a dustman, so we used to call him Dustbin Bearer.

If you're out there, Coff, I mean no offence.

I don't remember anyone called Coffin Bearer, but I do remember a particulary weird kid in the year below me.  If you look on the long picture of the upper school from 1969 you will see him sitting just below Lippett and making a strange face.  I think his father was an undertaker.  Pete Stolle was in the year above me but re-took his O levels, so dropped a year.  He is in row 2 position 12.

Lennie

From: Karl Wiggins

I can't really say that the kid sitting below Lippet looks any weirder than the rest of us, but what a picture it is when you study it as all the faces download in slow motion.  The first thing that strikes me is that hardly anybody is smiling, not even the teachers!  Except Polly Ibbotson, that is, but then she was always smiling, wasn't she?

Seriously, we all look like we're in a concentration camp.  Take Bigger, for example.  What the fuck is he so pissed off about?  I mean, what an arsehole, eh?

There's a few girls smiling, David Harrison's grinning from ear to ear, there's a bloke called Jerome, who was always in trouble, trying to duck out of the picture, and there's a really intense, evil looking kid standing next to Ian McDonald (not you, Terry, the kid on the other side).

I found myself drawn to the image of Miss Kendall for ..... well, I lost track of time as my mind raced along on it's own ..... but for quite a long time.  I actually got the same feeling looking at Sue Jones and Pat Bradley.  And Pennie, you look sultry, sweetheart.  You must have been practicing that look.

I look like a complete dick, but just look at the teachers one by one.  They hated that job, didn't they?  You can see it written all over their faces.  What a weird picture when you study it in detail.

But Miss Kendall, Man ..... WOW!!

From: Andrew Forester

From reading Wiggins' past contributions I would normally be inclined to the opinion that his claim there was a kid in the school called "Coffin Bearer" was yet another manifestation of that peculiar imagination of his.  However, there was a librarian at university who used to sit behind the check-in/out counter with is little nameplate proudly announcing  MARTIN PINE-COFFIN, LIBRARIAN.  I later learned that the "Pine-Coffins" were a famous, old Devon family.  Fuck-Knows where the "Coffin-Bearers" hailed from.

I am prepared to believe almost anything when it comes to people's names.

I have known a vet who worked on sheep called Dr. Shepard; a physician called Dr John Drinkwater who was a raging alcoholic and ended up in prison for commiting a sex-killing; Three aquatic biologists called Fish, one called Herring and Professor Fred Fry who worked on salmon and trout.  I've come across a medic called Dr Murray Krotch who worked on human reproduction and fertility and used to collect sperm from students and a urological surgeon in Toronto Called Dr Stubbs who had an operation for lengthening the penis having learned the technique from a Chinese surgeon called Dr Long.  There is an archeologist called Dr Frank Hole [dig-it?], a Lt. Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador called Maxwell House; a Philipino Cardinal called Sin, a Canadian MP called Inky Mark [presumably he carries a leaky ballpoint in his shirt pocket..] and...and... the list goes on....

So, Mr Wiggins' sense of humour notwithstanding, I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt with "Coffin-Bearer".  Anyway, I'm prepared to cut some slack for a person who's main aim in life is to track down old Biggar and give him a light massage with a broken Guinness bottle...

The weird kid was Colin maybe *****.  He used to expose himself to younger female pupils and set fire to his uniform when he left, my year group 65-70/72, I remember him scraping fluff off his teeth.  He used to draw pictures of graveyards and was very friendly with boy called Alan.  Alan was strange but i liked him.  He left after couple of years i think and we were never told where.

nicki sigston nee westcott - known at school as 'nickers'.

Hey.. Nicki Westcott.
How the hell are you??
Colin ***** as I recall was well into his jam amd peanut butter sandwiches... seemed most odd at the time!

Marion McAlister. as was

Hi All, I think the 'weird kid' being referred to was indeed Colin *****, and yes that is him in front of Lippett in the '69 photo.  As I recall he was obsessed with sex (as were the rest of us!) and death, and had some talent at writing song lyrics.  I seem to recall he had a version of Creedance Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" under the new title of "Stiff Prick Rising" !

Don't remember him becoming a dustman though.  Thought he was friendly with a long haired chap Steven England/English?

Just looked at the '69 photo again and am really struggling to remember too many names, can get about half of the 65-70/2 boys in the front rows, but thats about it!

Best wishes to all,
Barry

"The weird kid was Colin... maybe *****.  He used to expose himself to younger female pupils and set fire to his uniform when he left... " <<<they say it pays to advertise.......

Karl, we were all freezing, gusty wind, bad photo for all of us, though Marion Mac, standing next to me, told me today i looked serene, thanks Marion.  Miss Ibbotsen, did what was required, the rest of us were shuddering and trying to keep hair out of way, it's difficult to smile when you're shivering, lighten up

Peter Stolle was in my year group and I don't recall anybody with thaaaaaaaaaat kind of "nickname" but then the boys at the time did not share their "social life" with us girls unless it was to chat us up with other ideas in their heads!  Perhaps this bloke was in Pete's younger brother's year?

You are probably talking about Colin *****.

He was a real weird kid.  Seriously disturbed with a fascination for death.  Used to ritually kill insects, make coffins from match boxes and bury them by throwing out of the rear window of a 140 bus.  Only kid approaching him for weirdness was Anthony Abbey who used to foam at the mouth a lot and was "asked to leave" at end of 2nd year (went to Chandos I think)

Colin

Hi Colin,

Definitely Colin *****, referred to here, exactly as you describe, but, what about Alan Portsmouth who also disappeared after couple of years.  I remember being quite fascinated by him, or am I really confused?  Who was Anthony Abbey?

Don't remember the name.
nicki ('nickers' as was)

hi Marion,

Thanks for replying, great to hear from you and your news.

How's it going?
'nickers' as was