Roger Martin [STILL LOOKING...]

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antiphon
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Roger Martin [STILL LOOKING...]

Post by antiphon »

Housemaster, teacher, inspiration... Please does anyone have a telephone number for him?
Guy Kirkwood - BaA, LB, MaA 78-85
jdshippen
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Roger Martin

Post by jdshippen »

Roger is alive and well and living in Reedham in Norfolk jds
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Roger Martin

Post by UserRequestedRemoval »

Well I can just echo everyone's sentiments about RM. The man was a genius at turning hopeless cases into passable candidates. I was expected to get F in both language and literature, I got him for a year and passed both!
How do you thank a man for that?
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DavebytheSea
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Post by DavebytheSea »

Whilst still at CH, I murdered him night after night in Cathedral after Cathedral. Roger and his friend, Francis Warner (Mid B), were talented facilitators even when they were still at school. Their first joint production, Heritage, a medley of medieval music and drama, was performed to national acclaim in a bombed out church in Soho. I still have an old press photo of myself in full Housey (which we even had to wear during the holidays!) applying make-up to some unfortunate villein or serf.

The following year, with Roger playing the archbishop, the same band of CH boys, together with some girls extracted from Avery Hill Education College, toured south-east England with Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral. Roger by then, was the proud owner of his first car and I remember him driving me home late one night to my parents' home in Surrey. The drive was remarkable in that there was thick fog and Roger was able to drive in the middle of the road using the cats' eyes - a device which I had hitherto not seen and which I must now presume had only recently been invented.

Subsequently,while at Cambridge, Francis was to direct another production of Murder in the Cathedral in the chapel of Kings College, once again with Roger as the archbishop.
David Eastburn (Prep B and Mid A 1947-55)
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Post by UserRequestedRemoval »

Trouble is folks, I think I would get all tongue tied were I to meet him now. He gave me a love of Shakespeare that lives to this day and he became a kind of idol to me.
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Post by paddy »

Roger Martin - what a great house master. Good old Barnes A. A bit tatty, very liberal, very creative, very happy - I was so proud to be part of that house, and much of it was down to Roger the Dodger's influence.

Who else would, on request, hand over industrial quantities of liquid soap, so that boys could go to the changing rooms, flood the floors and then have a happy afternoon sliding round the polished concrete floors at high speed? Extremely dangerous, and incredibly good fun. All thanks to Roger Martin (and some kudos to Barnes Wallis).

I was mildly disapointed he didn't make me a monitor, but then again, he did catch me attempting to smoke in the lav ends one night! Soooo annoying, so embarassing. Everyone else was on 40 Gitanes a day, part of the buzzing social scene down "the Lake" or behind the Manny. And I muck about for 5 minutes with a dog end and a match in the lav end, and it ruins my career! Hi ho! Maybe it saved me from a lifetime in the police force... ;)

Last time to saw Roger (many years ago, and a few years after leaving CH) he stared at me and said "The face! The face!" which I think was his way of saying he reconised me, but couldn't bring a name to mind.
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Post by michael scuffil »

A curious memory of Roger Martin.
He left (I think) in 1955. But he returned the following year on Passion Sunday to stage, with Corks, an evening processional St John Passion in a darkened chapel, for which I, and about 20 other first years, was dragged in to hold candles for the choir to sing by. Not to put too fine a point on it, it was a very camp occasion.
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DavebytheSea
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Post by DavebytheSea »

Well Michael - it was either 54 or 55 and he came back to teach at CH twice!!

By a curious co-incidence, I arrived back late this evening from Birmingham to find that Francis Warner (Mid B) had sent me a parcel containing a recording of our 1954 touring production of Murder in the Cathedral with Roger Martin in the role of the archbishop and Frank Warner producing. These two teamed up again a few years later in the same roles in a production in King's College Chapel, Cambridge.

It was strange to hear my own voice again from over 50 years ago - neither my wife nor my younger son could recognise it!! Funnily enough the chorus of women (drawn from Avery Hill Training College) sounded younger than we did - I was only 16 at the time.
David Eastburn (Prep B and Mid A 1947-55)
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jhopgood
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Post by jhopgood »

Where did the connection with Avery Hill come from?
I know the area only too well and when you were cavorting with the student teachers, I was outside playing football with my junior school team.
I have a friend whose playing field maintenance business includes mowing the fields at Avery Hill.
Interesting that just across the road they built Crown Woods, possibly the first comprehensive in the UK, certainly in our area.
Barnes B 25 (59 - 66)
tim stonhill
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Re: Roger Martin [STILL LOOKING...]

Post by tim stonhill »

I also have a curious memory of Roger Martin. He was, if my grey cells are still working, junior housemaster - I know Eric "Chump" was Housemaster. He had just bought a Land Rover, but I think he had also just come back from Africa - and most of Sussex was flooded. I recall we went out for days on end in this Land Rover rescuing people from flooded roads! Great fun then - probably refrain from getting wet now!
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DavebytheSea
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Re: Roger Martin [STILL LOOKING...]

Post by DavebytheSea »

... and I have since made contact with him - he is alive and well.
David Eastburn (Prep B and Mid A 1947-55)
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Re: Roger Martin [STILL LOOKING...]

Post by MrEd »

Perhaps this thread should be locked in the light of current issues.

I was taught French by RM in my second form in 1978, the text book that I had had his name in it as a pupil.
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Re: Roger Martin [STILL LOOKING...]

Post by jtaylor »

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