John Guthrie Smithson on Long Dene

Note from AG: John just sent this fascinating description of his connections with Long Dene. I will try to work out how to post it here in a more legible format – copying the PDF didn’t work well. Also would like to include the photos in John’s original version. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy reading his memories as much as I did!

John Guthrie Smithson’s memories of connections with
Long Dene School
I first came to live in Jordans village in 1936, at the age of 6, as a weekly
boarder at Long Dene School.
Why did I come to school in Jordans when my home was in Pinner
Middx. ? My father was in the Friends Ambulance Unit in WW1, and at
the end of the war was stationed at Old Jordans, which was then being
used as a convalescent clearing centre for wounded people returning
from France. Jordans village had not yet been built at that time, but
many of the Friends that my father worked with in the FAU were those
involved in establishing Jordans Village in 1919. When I was ready to
go to school, my father thought those friends from the FAU, that he had
kept in touch with, would be married and have children of their own.
On Easter Sunday 1936 we came over to Jordans, where I can
remember vividly as a 6 year old, sitting on the grass between the
Refectory and the Mayflower Barn seeing Mireille Cooper sitting side
saddle on a donkey, dressed up as Mary holding ‘Baby Jesus’ in her
arms, being led by Edmond Cooper dressed up as Joseph, as part of a
pageant being held at Old Jordans.
My father asked one of the Friends that he was with in the FAU, now
one of those that were helping to establish Jordans Village, “Where are
your children going to school?” The answer was “Oh, we have a little
private school here in the village, run by two Quaker Ladies”. They were
Joy Clark and Annette Eaves and the school was Long Dene, now a
private house. The class rooms had opening French windows all along
the south side and they were open in all seasons, only closed when it
rained or snowed.
So I started as a weekly boarder, in the summer of 1936, my father
bringing me over on Monday mornings and collecting me on Friday
afternoons. The first lesson on Mondays and the last lesson on Fridays
was carpentry for the boys given by my father, this job helped cover the
cost of driving me to school and back.
My parents decided to come and live nearer to Long Dene and bought a
plot of cherry orchard land in Chalfont St Giles to be able to build a
house.
It was now the spring of 1938 and we had moved into the new house in
Bottrells Lane and I cycled to school in Jordans. Joy Clark became
unwell and was advised to go on a ‘World Cruise’ to get well again.
While she was away Leslie England the brother of Keith England came
to run the school. Unfortunately he was running it more as a Play Group
than a school and I found myself expected to play in the sand pit most of
the day. Gretchen Wheen and myself decided this was not good
enough.
One day we decided to take action and I cycled home in the middle of
the morning. My mother asked me why I had come home, so I told her
that I was ‘On Strike’ as I was not being taught any lessons.
I was taken away from Long Dene and went as a weekly boarder to
Beaumont House School, for boys, in Heronsgate, Chorleywood.
However, my brother Anthony, 3 years younger than me, stayed on at
Long Dene as he was quite happy playing in the sandpit all day.
Joy Clark came back from her World Cruise but was still unwell and
unable to continue running the school. Leslie England was offered the
school but did not wish to buy it. So at the end of 1939 Long Dene
School was put on the market.
John Guinness had married Karis, the daughter of Geraldine (Geen)
Heath, who was the owner of a girls’ school called Brickwall, near Rye in
East Sussex; together they were running the Glebe, the junior school at
Brickwall. At the build up to World War Two, the government was
worried about a German invasion and many organizations, including
schools, that were within 10 miles of the south coast, were given orders
to move further inland. Geen Heath decided that she was too old to
move the school and decided to close it down.
John and Karis had ideas on how they would love to have their own
school and run it as a progressive co-educational community. They
heard that Long Dene was on the market and agreed to buy it. So at the
beginning of 1940 together with several staff and girls from Brickwall,
Long Dene was suddenly more than twice the size. Various empty
houses in Jordans village were rented for staff and as dormitories, as
well as extra class rooms. One item on the ‘Boarding School Clothing
List’ was a bicycle, as it was necessary to cycle between lessons in
different houses in Jordans.
Now that John Guinness, who we all called ‘Johnnie’, was running the
school with ‘Proper’ lessons, I left Beaumont House and went back to
Long Dene as a Day Boy. After a few weeks my parents were asked if I
could be a Weekly Boarder rather than a Day Boy, because there was
only one other boy boarder, feeling rather lonely amongst all the extra
girls that had come in from Brickwall. So I went to school on Monday
morning with a ten shilling note to cover the school fees for the week.
Now with so many children and staff it was obvious that Johnnie and
Karis could not run the school in Jordans as they had planned, and they
found that the Manor House in Stoke Poges, owned by South Bucks
District Council, was available for rent. So in 1942 the school moved
down to Stoke Poges and I remained a weekly boarder,
Remember that this was now during World War Two and petrol was
rationed, so it was not possible to drive to and from the school, at the
beginning and end of term, in the car. The Double Decker 353 bus ran
from Berkhampsted to Windsor. We could catch the bus at the
Pheasant Bus Stop in Chalfont St Giles and it took us to Pineways Bus
Stop at the end of Church Lane in Stoke Poges, the nearest stop to the
Manor House.
At the beginning of each term Anthony and I, with my mother, used to
travel to school hanging on to our luggage and my bicycle on the rear
platform of the bus. To get the luggage to the bus we pushed it down to
the Pheasant in a wheel barrow, which was left at the Garage Service
Station for my mother to push home on her return. At Pineways Anthony
and I went across the fields to the school to get a wheel barrow, leaving
my mother sitting on the luggage at the bus stop waiting for me to come
back and collect the luggage. We performed the same process in
reverse at the end of each term.
I used to cycle home at weekends. On my way back to school on
Monday morning I used to stop at a small grocer’s shop in Stoke Poges
village and buy cocoa, and very often, if it was at the end of the ‘Food
Rationing Month’ I was able to buy a tin of dried milk, that the shop was
allowed to sell ‘off the ration’, if he had surplus stock. With this we were
able to make mugs of cocoa in our dormitory at bed time.
However, for the day children from Jordans Village, Johnnie had bought
an Armstrong Siddeley just like this,

…

and fitted with a ‘Gas Producer’ that made gas from coal, that had to be
stoked up from time to time. He ran a taxi service from Jordans village
to the Manor House and back every school day.
All the time John & Karis were looking for somewhere that they could
develop their idea of a Progressive Community School and they found
that Chiddingstone Castle in Kent was available complete with farm and
lots of land.
The time came to move to Chiddingstone and this was after a great deal
of careful and strategic planning, It was carried out over an extended
half term weekend in the middle of the 1945 Easter term. Most of the
children went home, but several of us older children, I was now 15,
stayed to help with the ‘Move’. Several removal vans had been hired
and after loading them up several of us travelled in a van to our new
destination, Chiddingstone Castle.
So much happened in the following five terms that I was still at Long
Dene. The school had the space to expand and did so. It is important
to know that emphasis during lessons was on ‘individual work’, we were
introduced to a problem and then given ideas and suggestions on how
to solve it, and then it was up to us as individuals or in a group of two or
three to find out how to proceed. The teacher was there all the time for
us to ask questions and to help us if it was obvious that progress was
not being made. We were given ‘test papers’ to complete periodically,
so that the teacher could see that the particular subject being studied
was being understood, and if not could give individual help where
necessary.
Here are some memories of things that I was involved in, apart from
actual lessons. John Ryder and I printed the ‘Long Dene Gazette’, a
school magazine with contributions from staff and children. We called
ourselves Smithson and Ryder the Woodshed Press. We had to learn
how to set up the moveable type. All the individual letters had to be laid
out in a frame and then clamped together, this was then put in the
printing press to produce a page. We produced many other things that
needed printing, leaflets etc.
While the war was on, we had ‘Fire Drill’ at least once a week. I was in
charge of the Coventry Climax fire pump that we kept close to the
swimming pool for our water supply, it looked something like this:
When the fire alarm bell went off, I had to go and get the engine started
and be ready to use the pump.
The school had a David Brown tractor that I was allowed to drive.
When a show or a play was being performed I used to help with the
lighting and other ‘back stage’ activities.
One important activity for running the school smoothly was ‘School
Meeting’, where the Chairperson and Secretary were students. Any
subject could be put on the Agenda, which was on the school notice
board between meetings. A few matters could be ‘Vetoed’ by a staff
member.

Everybody had to make their own bed, and each day the dormitory was
cleaned by someone, from that room, by rota, before going on the
‘Morning Run’. Then the housework was done by the students, for
about half an hour before breakfast, Lois Pinchbeck kept a schedule of
who was to work where and we earned pocket money for the work we
did. Our pocket money was kept in the School Bank, which was open at
set times for you to get cash if you wanted to go and buy things from the
Chiddingstone village shop or elsewhere. Your housework wages were
paid into the bank. Apart from cleaning the classrooms and other areas
of the castle, one of the housework jobs was for two of us to help in the
kitchen to prepare the breakfast.
The member of staff in charge of breakfast was about to have a baby, so
at School Meeting, I was one of a group that suggested that we could
take over being in complete charge of making the breakfast, This was
agreed and I was appointed to be ‘in charge’, with the help of two others
from the housework rota. This meant that I had to be up at 5.30am each
day to get the porridge started, but also meant that I did not have to do
the Morning Run. It was a job that I did until I left Long Dene at the end
of the 1946 summer term.
I decided that I wished to be a farmer, and because I was not from a
farming family I had to spend a year as a farm pupil before going to
college. It was Mary Davis, one of the staff at Long Dene, that told me
about a farm at Bishops Castle in Shropshire where I was very well
looked after and obtained my practical farming experience.
I remember travelling to Long Dene once or twice on my James 125cc
motor cycle. I can not remember exactly when, but about 1947, The Old
Denizens’ Society was formed. The society arranged various gatherings
at Long Dene, and in the homes of students, that had now left the
school, mostly in London.
During my time at the Agricultural College in St Albans and later when at
the College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering in London,
where I studied Agricultural Engineering, I attended Reunions and
events at Long Dene until 1953, when I started the first of my overseas
jobs in Uganda, that was to keep me employed in different countries
round the world until I returned to the UK in 1978.
I married Susanna (Sue) Morley. when on my first Home Leave from
Uganda, in 1956. Our first son, Michael, and our daughter, Deborah,
were both born in Uganda. When that job ended, in 1961 we went to
live in Queensland, Australia, all four of us travelling under the £10
assisted migrant passage scheme. A derogatory name for those of us
travelling under that scheme was ‘£10 poms’.
We had been there for four years and were settling into the home we
bought, with 20 acres of land, and enjoying the addition of our youngest
son, Robert, born in 1963, when in 1965 Sue was told that that her
father back in England was very ill and that if she wished to see him
alive, she should come back home soon. The cheapest way was to
travel by sea on what was known as a Boomerang off-season Return
ticket, for either 6 or 18 months. We chose the latter and even this was
to cost £600 which I did not have. After making the booking with the
local P & O shipping agent, who was also the Volkswagen car dealer, I
told them that I had no money to pay for the ticket, and asked if they
would take my VW Transporter Van as payment. After checking the
vehicle they agreed.
We sailed from Sydney and arrived at Tilbury and took the train to St
Pancras station where we were met by my mother and brother Anthony..
What was I going to do for 18 months? I had always done electrical
work. In Uganda I built the main workshop for the Agricultural
Department, did all the wiring and built the electric stand-by generating
station. When I got to Australia they said that I could not do any
electrical work, so with some difficulty I got them to agree to let me sit
the exam to become an electrician, which I passed. Now back in the
UK, I started working for the electrician in Jordans. After a couple of
weeks I saw an advert for a Hotpoint Service Man, which I applied for.
Now I was the Local Hotpoint Man, repairing cookers, washing
machines, toasters and kettles etc., working from Sue’s parents’ home
where we were staying in Jordans.
Towards the end of our 18 months, Sue told me that she did not wish to
go back to Australia. She said she did not mind where we went as long
as she had a return ticket in her pocket. I said that I did not wish to be
the Hotpoint Man for the rest of my working life, so we agreed that I
would look for another Agricultural Engineering job abroad. The Ministry
of Overseas Development offered me a job in Thailand, which I
accepted. We had time to make some plans, Both Michael and Deborah
were ready to go to boarding school. Muriel Cook from Long Dene had
gone to be head of the Junior school at St Christopher School at
Letchworth in Hertfordshire. As luck would have it we met Muriel at the
Old Denizen Christmas Party in January 1967 and told her we were
looking for a boarding school for Michael and Deborah. She said it just
so happened that there were spaces for both Michael and Deborah at St
Christopher, which we accepted with pleasure.
Before leaving for Thailand, we were sent to the School of Oriental and
African Studies to learn to speak the Thai language, a tonal language
with many difficulties for an English tongue. As my job was to be ‘up
country’ where Europeans were rarely seen, we were also sent on a
residential course at Farnham Castle to learn about Thai culture and
customs, so as not to upset the locals.
After 18 months, in Thailand, I was due for ‘home leave’, this enabled us
to arrange for Robert who was not very happy in Thailand on his own,
with only Thai children to play with, to arrange for him to start at St
Christopher School, just before his 6th birthday. This was agreed mainly
because both Michael and Deborah were already well established there.
After 5 years in Thailand, my next posting, in 1972, was in South Korea,
to introduce and train the farmers how to use 4 wheel tractors. Up to
now they were using ‘pedestrian’ two wheel tractors very successfully.
In 1976 both Michael and Deborah were ready to move on to ‘Further
Education’ and Robert had passed his 11 plus. So we decided that I
would not renew my contract with the Ministry of Overseas Development
and return to England.
We were able to live in our house in Seer Green, the next village to
Jordans, that we had bought before going to Thailand. However, after
about five months of not being able to find a job in agricultural
engineering that I was interested in. Although Sue had always joined
me where ever I was posted, we agreed that she would stay behind with
the children and I would look for another overseas posting. Very soon I
applied for a job in Iraq, on an Irrigation Project, and was accepted. I
was told that I would need a car, and the only way was to buy one in
England and drive it to Iraq. So at the end of the 1976 Heatwave, the
weather broke and I was lucky to be able to sail on one of the last ferries
before they had to stop because of the bad weather. The very
interesting trip took ten days to drive to Iraq.
After I had been working for a year in Iraq, one of the agricultural
engineering firms that I had previously tried to get a job with, Howard
Harvestore Products, offered me a job. I explained that I had to give six
months notice, to terminate my existing contract, and luckily they said
that they would wait for me.
So on the first working day of 1978 I reported for duty at the Howard
Harvestore factory, manufacturers of glass coated steel Tower Silos and
storage tanks, at Eye in Suffolk. I was to be Area Service manager for
the North East of England. We were looking forward to going to live in
the part of England where my Smithson ancestors came from. After a
period of training in the main and ancillary products, I was told that my
area would now be the South West of England, an area SW of a line
from Liverpool to Manchester and South to Southampton. After
surveying several areas we chose Chippenham, having concentrated on
finding a good school for Robert, now 15. We sold our house in Seer
Green and bought a house in the chosen school’s catchment area.
During my training period at the factory in Suffolk, I find diary notes that I
paid visits to Lois Pinchbeck, the first of many, for supper with her on 10
January 1978. I remember being able to do odd maintenance jobs for
her.
I see a diary note on 6 May 1978 that I attended an OD Meeting and
Party at 34 Southway, London NW11. So that will be when I become
regularly involved in the Old Denizens Society and Long Dene School
connections again, after 25 years working overseas and only being in
contact by correspondence.
Chippenham was very central to my area, close to the M4 making easy
access to the whole area and back to Jordans for family visits.
I covered over a thousand miles a week and my van was booked in for a
service every Monday morning. Some days I could be in North Wales in
the morning and West Cornwall in the afternoon.
My next recorded connection with ODs was on 5 May 1979, when we
had a party at Faith Butler’s in Denbigh Gardens, Richmond.
The next OD event was a Reunion Party in Golders Green on Saturday
19 April 1980. I had just been made redundant, the week before, by
Howard Harvestore, due to a sudden loss of new business, caused by
the Milk Production Quotas being introduced and the progressive dairy
farmers no longer getting a large payment for as much milk as they
could produce and therefore being able to easily get a bank loan to
invest in Harvestore products.
The next day, Sunday 20 April 1980, I was responsible for organizing the
‘Official’ planting of an American Oak tree, in Memory of Johnnie,
opposite the gate to Long Dene School, in Crutches Lane, Jordans, HP9
2TG.
My next contact with ODs was at Edenbridge on 25 April 1981. We
were still living in Chippenham and it snowed on the way home.
In 1982 we were allocated, by Jordans Village Ltd., Corner Cottage, on
the corner of Jordans Village Green to rent and moved in on the 22nd of
March. Later that year we had another OD Reunion at Faith’s in
Richmond on Saturday 17th April.
In 1983 the OD Reunion was in Jordans on 9th April. I can not
remember when exactly, but it must have been at about this time that,
now that I was established back in Jordans that I became a member of
the Old Denizen Society Committee. At some time I became the
Chairman as, by the Meeting on Saturday 31st March 1984, that is what
is in the minutes, with Louise Martin as Secretary and Susan
Wormleighton as Treasurer.
The Old Denizen Society kept going from when it started in about 1948
until 1995, almost 50 years and over 40 years after Long Dene School
closed. The main reason, for winding up the society was because ‘us
older office bearers’ wished some of the younger ODs to take over the
running of the society. At our last meeting in 1995 it was agreed that the
society should be ‘wound up’. Some consideration was given to what to
do with the balance of funds held and it was agreed that it would be a
good idea to have something written about Long Dene School for
posterity. It was agreed that one of our members, John Coleman, who
had his own publishing business, would be the publisher and that
Susanna Smithson, my wife, although never at Long Dene, was well
qualified to collate and edit all the contributions that Old Denizens were
asked to offer. The result was the publication of ‘Community Adventure,
The Story of Long Dene School’, in 1999 with an ISBN number of 1-
8724-1013-8 paperback. The first run of 200 sold out and a further run
of 100 was printed by Sue Smithson, with the permission of the
successors of John Coleman’s business. Copies are still available.
Since the closing down of the OD Society, a group, still calling
themselves ODs, have met for a Reunion Lunch once a year at various
places, mostly in London but once at our home in Chalfont St Giles on 8
September 2007. The first one I have a record of was on 16 October
1999 at the Movenpick at Victoria. We found this very convenient as we
could each chose and pay for what we wanted and then meet in a
convenient corner to chat. In 2003 we arrived to find the Movenpick had
closed, so we went to a near by Spaghetti Restaurant. The next year
and up to 2008, apart from 2007, we met at the ASK Pizza Restaurant in
Victoria Street. It was in 2009 that I found out about The Albert Pub, at
52 Victoria Street, with a good restaurant and menu, easy to get to by
public transport. I find that I have been making the arrangements to
meet there each year, except for 2015 when we had two Reunion
Lunches at the Quaker Centre in Friends House, Euston Road, London.
On 17 August, 14 of us joined together to meet with Anthea and Chloe
Guinness who were on a visit to the UK. We met again at Friends
House on 10 October as for some reason The Albert had overbooked
and were not able to accept us.
Since 24 September 2009 I have arranged our annual Reunion Lunch at
The Albert, most recently on 29 September 2018.
So I have had connections with Long Dene for 82 years and I think that
it is quite an achievement that we still manage to get between 15 and 20
Old Denizens to attend our Reunion Lunches.