From: Alan Barlow
Sent: 24 September 2000 15:41
Subject: Re: Benjamin "Ben" Lyon
Ben Lyon was a character
out of Dickens. He was a portly figure and was my Form Master in either the Third
or Fourth Form (I think). As I recall, he taught us Mathematics and Religion,
and he was at Carfield when I first arrived in 1951. Once of his 'endearing traits'
was his habit, when receiving a wrong answer to a question or misquotation of
a memorised quotation from the Bible, of grabbing one by the lobe of an ear, twisting
and pulling one to one's feet while yelling, "Stand up, Sir. Stand up!" to receive
a verbal dressing down from him. I don't know whether his false teeth were loose,
but I had the misfortune of sitting directly before him in the front row and was
often the butt of his ear twisting and consequent spittle spraying. I know that,
in today's context, this all sounds pretty awful, but we all loved the old bear.
At the special Assembly held for his retirement at the 'new' school he received
an ear-splitting standing ovation. Of course, it could have been because we were
glad to see him go.
While I'm talking to you, do you know of one of my contempories, Ernest Brown?
He did much of the wiring for the stage in the school auditorium and was quite
a whiz at chemistry, although the last I heard he was working as a projectionist
at a cinema (in the early 1960's). Ernie and me were good friends in the '50's.
I find it quite discouraging to visit the web site and find myself perfectly alone
from my group, I suppose it's a penalty of aging.
Best Regards,
Alan