LINCOLN 1940-1941
by Bill Cowling

Lincoln is said to have 2000 years of heritage, according to the information provided on the Internet by the Lincoln City Council., which details such notable events as the Roman Army establishing a military garrison there around AD 90; construction of the famous Cathedral, starting in 1121; and the earthquake in 1326. No mention is, however, made of the 1940 invasion of Lincoln by Bablake School. Had E.A. Seaborne been alive today he would, no doubt, regard this omission as an indictment of the concept of the Internet, with a distinct preference for traditional methods of providing information.
In the early days of the War, Bablake had continued to operate as normally as possible - with an interruption of normal studies whilst the Air Raid shelters were being built and students worked at home on a tutorial basis. This was followed by periodic sojourns in the Air Raid shelters, until the "All Clear" was sounded. The night of November 14th 1940 brought this semblance of normality at Bablake School to an end, when the heaviest raid of the War on any British City resulted in so much damage to the School and to the homes of its pupils, that a continuation of normal studies appeared to be impossible.
The decision was taken to evacuate the School to Lincoln, and this was made feasible by the availability of the former South Park Girls School buildings, which had been vacated on completion of a new school for the girls.
My parents' home was severely damaged, whilst we huddled in the cellars of one of the former homes of novelist George Eliot, so we had to leave Coventry anyway - my parents to stay with friends near Leamington, whilst I headed off to Lincoln with the group from Bablake. Whilst we were greatly indebted to all those in Lincoln who provided hospitality and friendship, it would not be true to say that the move was an easy one. Clearly the very reasons for the abandonment of the old South Park School in favour of a new building made it a less than desirable location for the Bablake evacuees.
One of the problems was immediately apparent - the heating system was inadequate, and we froze in the classrooms and clustered round the radiators at every opportunity to defrost ourselves. It was said that the only warm place in the school was the Headmaster's study! The lack of Laboratory facilities made it particularly difficult for those of us in the 6th. Science Form to continue our practical studies, but the Laboratories at the new South Park Girls School were made available to us by the generosity of the School authorities and our progress did not suffer.
Another real concern was the fate of our families who were being subjected to continued bombing in Coventry and surrounding areas. April 1941 was a time of severe attacks, and it was some considerable time before we received news of our families' well being. I was fortunate to be "billetted" with a caring family: Mr. and Mrs. Marcon at 269, Wragby Road. They did their utmost to make me feel at home. So much so, that when they entertained Mr. Horace Curt - the Bablake History Master, who had been one of the prime initiators of the move of Bablake to Lincoln, and who my hosts knew from his early days in Lincoln - they included me in the group. They did not realize the social divide between Masters and Pupils at Bablake and, although Mr. Curt was one of the most approachable of Masters, I remember the incident as being acutely embarrassing. Mr. Marcon, who was a Statistician employed by Ruston and Hornsby who I believe were farm machinery manufacturers) was, in his spare time, busily constructing a most elaborate model railway system, nominally for his young daughter. He was also a very keen gardener and he invited me to join him in working on his allotment on some of the stoniest ground that I have ever seen. He produced vast quantities of a wide variety of vegetables, which I was supposed to enjoy, but unfortunately did not! I have never since been able to acquire a taste for Swedes, Turnips, Curly Kale or Parsnips.
My hobby was, and still is, photography. My darkroom equipment, including my home-made enlarger, had been destroyed in the "Blitz", but fortunately my prized plate camera survived. I joined the Lincoln Photographic Society, where I was welcomed as their one and only "evacuee" member, and I was able to use their darkroom facilities. The Society was asked to make a photographic record of the historic Lincoln Cathedral, in case it was damaged by bombs, but I had neither the time nor the appropriate equipment for this job.
Fortunately no bombs were dropped on Lincoln, although German bombers frequently passed overhead, and I joined with my hosts and neighbours on "Firewatch" duty. Bombs were dropped nearby, as planes returning to Germany after visiting the Midlands disposed of any unused bombs to lighten their load and speed their return.
At the end of the school year in 1941 I, unwisely, decided not to continue with my schooling, but instead to enter an industrial laboratory in Coventry. My Chemistry Master: "Flap" Atkinson, tried hard to dissuade me from leaving Bablake, with the comment that, in Industry, I would be: "Nothing but a bottle washer". I spent the next nine years obtaining diplomas in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, whilst I "washed bottles". Flap was right, my career would probably have been a lot smoother if I had taken his advice, I might have ended up teaching Chemistry instead of running the Canadian operations for Courtaulds!