Pupil's Tie	Cap Badge	Prefect's Tie

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Cap Badge reproduced by kind permission of Howard Woolcock 1962
Ties from the memorabilia of Jack Thynne 1957

School Motto

"Let Cheerfulness Abound With Industry"

The very last piece of our Old School
see Photos section and below article for more information

KOB or SOB?
As reported elsewhere, the action on retaining the last piece of the Old School is hotting up.  Two ginger groups have now been formed; the first being rallied under the banner of Keep Our Brick or KOB and the second who have called themselves  the Save Our Brick or the SOB group.  In actual fact it doesnt make too much difference what the ginger group name is, providing that the BRICK doesnt get cast into Gurneys Brook.  After all there isnt too much difference between being called a KOB-ber or a SOB-ber, but retaining the BRICK should be a priority to all OBs.  Pleading, and some times impassioned, emails are being received by your Co-President Tom Slaughter (email address below) as keeper of the BRICK, so keep up the pressure please.  As usual there is no charge to belonging either group.

The Moving Finger Having Writ Moves On
Which OB doesn't remember the "bloodied" mark on the far wall of the Woodwork room above the machinery?  My Woodwork master was Mr Samways but at the time the accident happened it was Mr Bentley and the boy who lost his finger was Ernie Toombs sometime after September 1941.  The accident was recalled to all the new intake of boys to demonstrate what could happen if you your attention was diverted when operating any of the woodworking machinery.  I am pretty certain that Mr Samways used to repaint the mark each year so that it was really blood red to add drama to the caution.  Whether Mr Bentley did the same I will have to wait to be told by the OBs of that era.
Have just heard from Mike Ellson (3W 1954), who now very happily resides in Tasmania, that he was present in a woodworking class in 1955, when Mr Samways removed his finger on the very same saw table that Ernie Toombs had lost his finger in 1941.  Clearly that saw table has a lot to answer for!!!!!!!!!!
I await confirmation of this (bloody) event from classmates of Mike.

Reunion Report Admission Years 1954-56
One of the better weather days of the year allowed 9 OBs enjoy some late summer sun and convivial chatter.  We all met at Lakers Hotel, our usual venue for these specific year reunions, and were very happy to ensconce ourselves in a corner of the Inn where we could all chat away and catch up on our news.  It was particularly enjoyable to welcome Fred Kircup, over from Brazil, and Alan Comber, although not coming so far from Cornwall, to enliven the gathering.  On this occasion we only had one wife – Pat Harbour – to add additional grace to the gathering; but we are always very pleased to include wives and partners into our reunions.

By strange coincidence we had 3 of the 4 OBs who were part of the Road Safety Quiz that was held in March 1957;  Terry Priestman, Bill Brophy and Alan Comber .  Their knowledge of safety was undiminished and had Anthony Borer been there we would have had a full house.  The photo showing the Fab Four is in the Photos Section  - “Winners of Crusader Trophy.  Inter Schools Road Safety Quiz  March 23 1957 “.

We all enjoyed our usual buffet lunch which Lakers provide at a very reasonable £5, do we need to say more!

Tom gave an entertaining speech that included reference to the famous brick.  His attempts to cast it into Gurneys Brook received such an outcry that it is unlikely to be allowed to happen but to ensure this it has been suggested that an action group be formed under the acronym of SOB (Save our Brick) and all who join will be called SOB-bers. If there is any support for this ginger group, email Tom asap.  BTW membership to SOB is, like your membership to RJTSOBA, free.

Attending were 

Apologies were received from:- 

 Reunion Report.  Admission Years 1950 - 51  June 13th 2008 at Betchworth
Well it certainly wasn’t a typical Friday 13^th day.  The sun shone, the venue, Roy & Audrey Richardson's garden at Betchworth, was perfect and the company excellent with 31 OBs and wives/partners attending.

Enjoying the day and conversation were 9 1950 OBs plus 2 Hon OBs (wives) and 12 1951 OBs and 8 Hon OBs (wives & partners).  The OBA was deeply indebted to Roy Richardson (1950) and his wife Audrey for allowing the gathering to take place in his superb garden.  Also deserving a mention in dispatches were John Gout (1951) and his partner Sandra who not only provided the marquee but also kept everyone well topped up with food and drink.

There was, of course, some small formalities and Co-President Roger Marples welcomed everyone especially John Smith (1951) who had come over from Spain. John seems to make the reunions with fantastic regularity so a big thanks you to him for making the trip. The efforts also made by many other OBs who travelled considerable distances were welcomed.  From everyone’s desire to attend it shows that your OBA is strong, has many years left, and your Committee will continue to provide opportunities for OBs to meet, greet and chatter about old times.  Thank you all for attending.

Your other Co-President Tom Slaughter opened his speech by commenting that a further 6 copies of his book had come to light from the Surrey History Centre stock BUT these were definitely the last and if you want your own copy do make contact with Tom asap. Two are already spoken for so there are only 4 copies left at £10 inc p&p.  His contact details are on the Home Page of this website.  He was pleased to tell everyone that he has just received a copy of a book written by one Adrian Bristow in 1999 titled “Pride and some Prejudice” which deals with the rise and (regrettable) fall of the countrys’ JTS’s.  If you would like your own copy of this interesting and reasonably priced (£6 inc p&p) book contact Tom who has details.  
An update on the numbers game of OBs that are still missing from our register shows that we are still some 350 short of a complete listing and should anyone come across an OB who doesn’t know of the existence of the OBA please do let him know and if he is happy, pass on his contact details to either Roger or Tom. 
Before closing Tom indulged himself in a little personal trumpet blowing by telling the gathering that along with the arrival of the above book was a letter advising him that he had achieved a 2 - 1 from the University of Surrey at Guildford  where he was awarded a BA (Hons) in Combined Studies -  History, Literature and Art History.  Well done Tom.

The speech part of the reunion closed with Roger Marples presenting Audrey Richardson with a bouquet of flowers as thank you for providing the venue and the use of her kitchen.

It isn’t the intention of the OBA to make a profit from these gatherings but even when the food and drink costs were taken into account it was only necessary to charge £10 per OB or £15 per couple to cover our outgoings.  We did make a small profit and that will go into our fighting fund for the next All School Reunion or to cover any small shortfall from any other reunion.

From 12:00 there were happy stories and smiles on all faces until about 15:30 when OBs started to drift away. The day was deemed to have been a great success with promises being extracted that there would be more reunions.  Your Committee will work hard to ensure that these year reunions continue.

How about an All School 85/45 Reunion in 2011 or even one sooner.

Those attending were

 Apologies for absence (with note) were received from

The Definitive Book on RJTS 1926 - 1966

After a run of almost 5 years the excellent book on RJTS, written as a labour of love by your Co-President Tom Slaughter,  has come to an (almost) end.  Tom wrote the book to record the history and activities of the School, its Pupils and Masters and in this he has produced an outstanding literary work which all OBs will be proud to have on their bookshelf, if only to answer the inevitable question that a grandchild would ask such as "which school did you go to Grandpa" or "was your school a nice one"?  There will be no reprint so if you have a book hang onto it and your survivors can expect to see it on Antiques Roadshow with a phenomenal valuation, sometime in 2040!!!!

To date 545 books have been sold, 290 by Tom personally.  The final unsold pair have just been located in the Redhill Centre for Local & Family History plus a 'return' from a RIP OB.  If you want one get onto Tom asap, as they won't be around for long.  

Tom has sent books to OBs as far away as :- 

3 to NZ; 1 to South Africa; 2 to Oz; 1 to Florida; 1 to Georgia; 1 to New York; 1 to Seattle; 1 to Alberta; 1 to Saskatchewan; 3 to Ontario; 2 to France and 1 to Spain.

Not bad really, as with a total of 2900 boys passing under the wrought iron archway over the imposing entrance and steps to the schools' front door, it works out as 1 book per 5 OBs (almost).  Well done Tom and I am certain that all those who have a copy will treasure it.

Roger Marples 1951

The OLD BOY'S ASSOCIATION Don't forget that ALL former pupils, including the Commercial Girls, St Vincent Girls and Teachers will have automatic  Free Life Membership of Redhill Junior Technical School Old Boy's Association or RJTSOBA, with Associate Membership for immediate relatives being very favourably considered.  So you are all Life Members no exceptions! Data Protection will be adhered to and we will only pass on any information with your permission.

GENERAL INFORMATION In a few instances a pupil may have been placed inadvertently in the wrong school year and there may be some odd surnames or forenames which have been spelled incorrectly . Hopefully, these have been kept to a minimum but should you consider that an error has occurred or that you can offer more information on a particular teacher, pupil or any of the girls who attended RJTS  please email Roger on r.marples@virgin.net with the correct information ANOTHER WEB SITE One of our OBs, Bill Marsh Admission Year Spring Term 1937, has put together a web site reflecting his personal memories of his time at RJTS.  An interesting read as it shows a totally different environment to that which many later OBs experienced. I suspect that as the Tech was in its foundling stages, it suffered a from a lack of identity and purpose but in later years this was dealt with and some of the less savory elements had been severely suppressed by the Teaching Staff.  Certainly the vast majority of OBs will remember the School with affection and praise the manner in how the Teaching Staff dealt with anti-social issues.  You can visit Bill's site by clicking on the following link (or paste it into  your browser) http://marshkent.freeservers.com/rjts/rjtsinterent.html   Co President Tom Slaughter 8 Forest Way Ashtead Surrey KT21 1JL United Kingdom Tele 01 372 276900 E-mail   jtmslaughter@btinternet.com     Co President Roger Marples 3 Hartswood Farm Barns Off Slipshatch Road Reigate Surrey RH2 8HD United Kingdom Tele 01 737 243666 E-mail r.marples@virgin.net