Last year Caldicott held its Centenary Celebrations. Originally in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, it opened as the Prep School for The Leys in January 1904. There is even romance in the name: its first Headmaster, James Heald Jenkins, had married Miss Theodora Caldicott Ingram the year before, so what better name could there have been for the school? It rapidly built up a reputation, developing from just eight boys when it opened to eleven the following term. The school was able to put out a cricket team, providing that no-one was ill! By 1920 there were 58 boys. Expansion continued, buildings were added and adapted.

By the early thirties, however, there was a need for new premises. Over twenty-six properties were inspected and it was not until early in 1935 that one was found which was considered suitable, East Burnham Lodge, a small estate of seventeen acres in Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire. The property was duly purchased and at the end of the Summer Term, the house in Hitchin ceased to be a school after twenty-four happy years. Caldicott re-opened at its new home, Farnham Royal, in September 1938 with only 21 boys, and there were fears that it might not survive had the joint Headmasters Gordon Wood and Jack Cooper not gazed into a crystal ball - for they could not have chosen a better site. Annually numbers increased and many new buildings appeared so that today there around 250 boys and the school enjoys the reputation of being one of the best preparatory schools in the country. There are four Houses, named after those who made this possible: Jenkins, McArthur, Wood and Cooper. Games are played on the Gordon Wood Memorial Field, the fine Harrison organ can still be heard in the Chapel, and many other memories of the days of Hitchin can seen by the visitor. The cricket pavilion, built by the school carpenter for the boys at Hitchin, is now restored to its former glory and has a place of honour on the playing fields.

Here are some memories from Caldicott's history. The first is from Hitchin, by a boy who remembered the delivery of the new organ:

At Hitchin I believe there were two groundsmen known as 'Tweedledum' and ‘'Tweedledee'. Story has it that they told the Headmaster, Gordon Wood, that the organ had arrived at the station and should they take the wheelbarrow to collect it? It was of course his specially made Harrison and Harrison organ which you hear to this day. Perhaps they pictured an organ with a monkey on it!

One from the 40s:

Both joint headmasters, J Shewell Cooper (Oops) and F Gordon Wood (occasionally Oods) were keen on the scout movement. I became a patrol leader of the Foxes, and was very proud of my patrol hut. I was secretary of the Scout Committee. Round the camp fire we used to yell, with one assertive crescendo:

Caldicott, Caldicott, patrols in number five,
Bats, Crows, Foxes, Peewits and Owls we thrive.
Very much, very much, very much alive!
Very much, very much, very much alive!

The school Sister, Anna Bertha Clay (Who could forget her initials?) was a dragon. Those on medicines had to line up each morning. If anyone spoke, she would walk along the line and hit each boy on the top of his head with a heavy dessert spoon and it did hurt. On bath night she would empty a tall enamel jug of cold water over your body as a rinse.

The Housekeeper was a vast lady called Miss Elgar, and she was not one to be trifled with. In spite of this, we evolved a special method for dealing with the dreaded macaroni cheese. The technique was to load it into a spoon and lower the spoon under the table to knee level. The final move was to identify a disliked colleague and flip the food to land by his feet so as to allocate the blame to him.

The last is from the early ‘50s:

In 1952, King George VI died and Princess Elizabeth succeeded to the throne. We saw a great deal of the preparations for the Coronation, as a huge flypast was organised involving hundreds of aircraft. Extensive practice went on for several weeks beforehand to get all the planes, flying at very different speeds, to arrive at their scheduled times over the Mall in London. I found out later that the reason that we had such a good view was that Caldicott was a very easy landmark to spot from the air, perched as it is on the edge of the escarpment of the Thames Valley, and so it was used as a positioning fix for the incoming planes, which is why they passed directly overhead. From Caldicott the route took them to Slough Trading Estate, again easily recognisable, and there they turned eastwards and followed the Great Western Railway mainline in to London .

I remember spending many hours on the bank above the playing field watching all the planes coming over in their formations. At our point the flypast was spread out over several hours … by the time they all reached London the flypast only lasted about 20 minutes. It was interesting for the plane spotter, because there were planes that I had never seen before and many I have never seen since!

The new Centenary Hall opened last year. On one side of the building a stone has been incorporated into the design. It was taken from Hitchin, where it had been laid first in 1909, then again in 1931 as the school developed. Higher up there is a modern plaque, celebrating the opening of the Hall by ex-pupil and England Cricketer Andy Strauss. He is pictured on the front of this magazine after taking a practice session with the boys.

Si Momimentum Requiris Circumspice - If you are looking for a monument look around you.