"They were sweet and meant well"

[Ajarn Philip]

Someone used this phrase to describe some members of staff at Hertford, and it got me to thinking who would have (or maybe still would!) fit this description at Horsham. Ladies, feel free to contribute with your own memories, but I think you may have had a few more than us!

Teachers only - no matrons, dieticians, nurses, gardeners, etc. allowed!

The only one I can come up with at the moment from my era is John Hall Matthews.

[Mid A 15]

Someone used this phrase to describe some members of staff at Hertford, and it got me to thinking who would have (or maybe still would!) fit this description at Horsham. Ladies, feel free to contribute with your own memories, but I think you may have had a few more than us!

Teachers only - no matrons, dieticians, nurses, gardeners, etc. allowed!

The only one I can come up with at the moment from my era is John Hall Matthews.

I'm not sure if I have correctly interpreted the thinking behind this thread as "sweet" is not a word that naturally comes to the front of my mind when recalling male teachers!

However.... as others have said elsewhere Nell Todd the art teacher was a lovely lady even to those like myself who had little or no aptitude for her subject. A Maine A trade in my first year was to fetch her dinner on Saturday nights and take it to the Art School. I used to try and get this trade for two reasons. Firstly there would invariably be a plate of food as a "reward" - at a time when meal portions were not the largest for growing lads- and secondly she would invite us in to have a cup of coffee and a chat which was always enjoyable.

As regards male teachers there were two I can think of who were quietly spoken and not the greatest disciplinarians in class and thus suffered a certain amount of disruption to their lessons. However when I spoke to them individually about difficulties I was having with their subjects I found that they were only too willing to help and were extremely patient with my inability, general thickness call it what you will. Those teachers were Roger Biddick (French) and Rex Roberts (Maths with Statistics).

I appreciated the time they gave me but am unsure as to whether the adjective "sweet" is apposite!

[jhopgood]

As regards male teachers there were two I can think of who were quietly spoken and not the greatest disciplinarians in class and thus suffered a certain amount of disruption to their lessons. However when I spoke to them individually about difficulties I was having with their subjects I found that they were only too willing to help and were extremely patient with my inability, general thickness call it what you will. Those teachers were Roger Biddick (French) and Rex Roberts (Maths with Statistics).

I appreciated the time they gave me but am unsure as to whether the adjective "sweet" is apposite!

Curious, when I saw the heading, Biddick's name came to mind.
He tried to teach a bunch of us Russian in our Grecian's year,(an optional subject). We learned nothing, probably because there was no pressure to learn anything, but Biddick seemed uninterested. We had the double lesson that started at 1055 in the classroom that Pop Massen used to have on the top floor at the end of the Maths block near Big Side. Biddick always arrived after 1100, so one day, when he was even later, we escaped, going down the stairs, round the end of the block and through the New Quad back to House. As I left, I looked back and Biddick was standing under the arch watching us all.
Nothing was said, ever, which I thought was a bit weak of him.
Another name was Bibby, whose mere name and quietness led to a fair bit of mickey taking. He had a blackboard that could be flipped over, and someone put a whole load of pictures cut out of a Playboy type magazine on the backside of the board.
Bibby duly filled up one side of the board, flipped it over, flipped it back and cleaned the front side, and again, nothing was said.
We would never had dared to try anything on with Rae, Massen, Rider, etc, but we certainly seemed able to pick on the "sweeter" ones.

[englishangel]

You 'orrible lot.

Our 'sweet' teachers brought out the best in us, we were all very protective.

Mrs Betterton springs to mind and I don't think anyone would disagree. There are some others who some liked and some didn't, but Mrs B was generally considered a darling.

[michael scuffil]

I suppose one could add Peter Austin Jones and Michael Cherniavsky and David Herbert. All three were "sweet", but to say they "meant well" suggests they were ineffective, which was not true.

Whether Biddick even "meant well" I don't know. He was certainly known to be lazy. Someone once took a French essay to Arthur Rider, who went through it at length making lots of helpful comments. When they got to the bottom, somewhat to Arthur's embarrassment, was the comment in Biddick's handwriting: "This seems to be along the right lines."

There was a music teacher called Malcolm Drummond to whom this description could apply.

(Amazing: I never knew there was a Maine A trade to take Saturday evening dinner to Nell Todd. As a woman, she was barred from the Common Room.)

[Ajarn Philip]

...to say they "meant well" suggests they were ineffective, which was not true.

Yes, I should have spelt this out. I intended the interpretation to be "genuinely had the best of intentions" without implying any ineffectiveness.

[chaosriddenyears]

This is interesting - does "sweetness of temper" (this makes me think of Jane Austen) necessarily mean lack of forcefulness?
Does someone have to be nasty in order to have a lasting influence?

[Mid A 15]

This is interesting - does "sweetness of temper" (this makes me think of Jane Austen) necessarily mean lack of forcefulness?
Does someone have to be nasty in order to have a lasting influence?

No.

Immediately off the top of my head I give you Christopher "Bomber" Nicholson to make my case.

[Ajarn Philip]

Immediately off the top of my head I give you Christopher "Bomber" Nicholson to make my case.

Yep, and Bob Hailey, to boot.

[Angela Woodford]

Nobody could forget the sweetness of darling Mrs Betterton.

I always thought that Nutto could have been perceived as a dear lady if she had been treated with more kindness. The awful sadness that was etched into her face - I've posted before that she seemed to have no friends.

[fra828]

Nobody could forget the sweetness of darling Mrs Betterton.

I always thought that Nutto could have been perceived as a dear lady if she had been treated with more kindness. The awful sadness that was etched into her face - I've posted before that she seemed to have no friends.

I agree about Nutto, I think we played her up as she was an easy target, which is awful to think of now, even if it was 'only' quite minor things like flicking ink. I never remember seeing her smile either; I believe that under that sad exterior, she was kind-hearted. I wasn't taught by Mrs Betterton, but can see her scurrying across the playground, a petite figure, books tucked under her arm, she always seemed to have what I can only describe as a caring, contented look on her face.

[Euterpe13]

I did German with Nutto, before I had to give it up because it clashed with one of my O-levels - she was indeed a very sweet lady, good teacher and very involved with her subject - she not only taught the language but culture and customs as well - and to this day I am still complimented on my Heidelberg accent ( very upper class, hochdeutsch, apparently!)
I don't think that the other teachers bothered with her.

[Angela Woodford]

I was always aware that Nutto seemed so lonely, and nobody seemed to like her much.

I know I've written about this lots before - sorry! - but the story about calling Nutto a "Nazi" was just awful.

Goodness, I wish now that I'd done some German. I was brought up on "Little Women". Remember how Jo March learns German with dear Professor Bhaer? German, from then on, had a sort of romance to it for me!

Hochdeutsch indeed! Sigh.

[fra828]

I was thinking that maybe as it was only just over 20 years since the end of World War 2, that this was still fresh in that generation's minds-the staff's generation . Nutto could have been alienated for that reason. My grandmother very sadly lost a son in the war, and was horrified when I wanted to write to and possibly visit a German penfriend.

[Kim2s70-77]

I had a fearful crush on one Ms Copley, scripture teacher in the mid 70s. She was sweet and kind - at a time when that was 'Manna from Heaven' and , needless to say, I won the Scripture prize that year!!