Woodbridge School and Sixth Form
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It is 16 October 2017 as I write. A Facebook post by Rob Turner, Chair of the OW Liaison Group, reminded me that on that fateful Thursday in October 1987, he was an excited CCF Army Section cadet in the fourth form (Year 10 for those under 40) about to do his self-reliance test.  I was a fresh young officer who had ‘joined up’ the year before so I too was excited about finding out what a self-reliance test was, whilst pretending that I was well aware of what was going on.

A young (yes, really) Lt Broaderwick led 2Lt Youngs (mother of Emma, one of the cadets), me and a dozen or more cadets in two minibuses to Bromeswell, near the rugby club.  There we had a jolly evening pitching tents in pairs (assessed) cooking an evening meal (assessed), being quizzed on the Country Code (individually assessed as it was so important) and then Lt Broaderwick had organised a fun night-navigation exercise, because he liked things to be fun. And importantly for cadets to be tired. Which they were and so they got in to their tents and went to sleep, knowing that passing the self-reliance test depended on it.

The officers who had been very busy all evening assessing and cooking their own meal had had no time for tentage, so they laid their sleeping bags between the two vehicles in a Dutch barn (all corrugated iron roof and few walls). And as it was nearly half term, gratefully fell asleep.  I remember half waking and for the first time ever pulling the cord of the sleeping bag tight above my head. I normally like fresh air when asleep but felt that claustrophobia was a better option than  all that sand that was blowing around.  And the roof was very creaky…

At some point once I was asleep again, I came to very vaguely to the sound of that dread word: “Sir. Sir!”  That meant I was on duty.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Sir, our tent’s blowing away.”

Still in the spirit of self-reliance I astutely pointed out that I couldn’t help and that they should go round all their pegs and guy ropes to ensure they were secure.  Then I pulled my cord tight again. The cadet (which may well have been Rob, who was always good at organising) didn’t take the hint and insisted that really, not just his but all the tents were blowing down. I propped myself up on an elbow and squinted towards the row of tents only to find seeing anything in the swirling sand was hard but I could make out corners of fly sheets whipping to and fro. And the barn roof was really being buffeted.

In an instant we were all up, the order was given to strike camp and bundle the tents and their contents in to the minibus any old how (the only time that order has ever been given in CCF history) and for the cadets to get in too, at the double. No time to lose!  We moved quickly out of the barn and in a very few minutes the minibuses were full to the roofs with an assortment of tents and cadets (officers had the privilege of a seat to themselves at the front) and we moved the buses to the lee of the WRFC buildings. We couldn’t have gone any further as there were trees down over the track. So we sat, in the dark, in cramped conditions in the minibuses, waiting it out. It was quite scary but at least being out of reach of trees that might have fallen, and protected from the worst of the gale was as good as we could manage.

Daylight showed that quite a lot of trees had come down; with pine trees in sandy soil that is likely to happen anyway, the gale just made the scale worse. And the barn where we had been trying to sleep still had its uprights in place. The roof had departed long since, to be found half a mile away across a field. Lt Broaderwick and I went for a walk to see how to get to the road. Whilst battling along the track I was lifted by the wind and deposited face down in a rut on the track, which was full of muddy water.  In front of the minibuses. Was that cheering I could hear, just to make the situation even more perfect?  Once Lt B managed to control his convulsions of laughter he offered me his spare army trousers that he always carried on exercise. Had he been a Boy Scout in former times?  I made a mental note re spare kit for the future. The front of my shirt was wet as my combat jacket had scooped up a quantity of very muddy water and sloshed it down my front. My mouth was open in the shock of being removed from the ground so that too filled with muddy water.  And I had to put up with ripped pockets on my combat jacket for some months after,  before a replacement arrived.

Our recce showed that we could skirt some of the trees on the track but the road was still impassable. Lt B loped off to find a telephone.  In those distant days, you couldn’t put one in your pocket. Of course lines were down so a call took some time. Eventually he got through to school to say we were all safe and that we would work at getting back to school as soon as roads were clear. The US Air Force was still based at Bentwaters and they had huge machines for keeping runways clear and these were despatched to move trees off local roads.  This allowed us to make our way very slowly, carefully skirting fallen electrical cables, the few miles back to school. We got there late morning, having had nothing to eat since our rations the evening before.  The kitchens had been expecting to cater for boarders and those on Field Day but in school. No one had come in to school, quite reasonably, so we were treated to a memorably welcome cooked breakfast.  I have rarely enjoyed a meal so much.

We then set about sorting out the tangle of camping gear and personal kit, and returning the cadets to their parents. What the latter had been thinking, lying at home listening to the wind crashing around while their children were out camping for the night can be imagined. But such was life before mobiles; you knew that things would probably be all right and they almost always were. Eventually, later in the afternoon, I drove very slowly home to Ipswich, avoiding trees, branches, stonework, cables on the roads.  Going along Park Road, I had to avoid the tree that had come down in the Bishop’s garden, demolishing a section of his brick wall.  A little later I drew up in front of my own house to find the concrete tiles from half of my roof, strewn in pieces on the pavement in front of my house. I shuddered at what would have happened to a passer-by.  Then I spent the evening clearing up bits of tile, finding a roofer and starting the insurance claim.

And as Rob rightly remembers, all the Intermediates passed their self-reliance test, even though the tests planned for the morning had not surprisingly been abandoned. Lt B ensured they were carried out on the next CCF afternoon though.  CCF contingents don’t become excellent by letting standards slip!  And that’s another lesson I learnt.  What I haven’t learnt though is not to go camping in October. Today finds me on a campsite in Cornwall with the wind so strong that I can’t make a planned move to Somerset today. But at least with Hurricane Ophelia, there is no sand whipping round, no cadets to be responsible for and I’m not in a tent!  Now an intrepid outing to the Smugglers Den Inn at Cubert for lunch.  And if it tastes half as good as that breakfast in the school dining room thirty years ago, it will be worth the (careful) drive.

Any former cadets out there with memories of that 24-hour exercise?  Or indeed other memorable field days?

 

On Friday, 13 October we held our Mufti Day to raise funds for the children’s charity Over The Rainbow, whose aim is to enhance the lives of children who are living with a serious or life-threatening illness, by providing financial support for specialist equipment for day to day living or to organise special days out to make their wishes come true.

Pupils wore their own clothes with a rainbow theme and all colours of the rainbow.

Year 4 hosted a cake sale in the hall at break and there was a bring and buy stall run by the librarians, a pick a stick stall and knock the mugs over. Well done to all.

In their third game, the Junior 3s were back on attacking form, with Tess Walker leading her team to a 7-1 victory. Coping brilliantly with the different surface (a grass pitch!), the girls put the opposition under a great deal of pressure, attacking well, riding the tackles and taking on advice to shoot as soon as they entered the D – to great effect. The second half offered an opportunity for the girls to try some unfamiliar positions and the defenders showed as much skill and determination in attack as their peers had in the first half! A highlight was Sophia’s run from defence, down the right wing, looking up, passing the ball into the D to Chloe on the P spot, with only a heroic save from the keeper denying the perfect ending. Well done, girls! Goals came from Tess, Libbie, Kat and Iris.

Their second match was a much tougher affair, the girls having to show how well and for how long they could defend. Despite defeat some excellent covering by Elise and Lucy kept the score relatively close. Our goal, scored by Kat, showed great determination, pushing through the midfield and forcing her way into the opposition D. 1-1 at half time was promising but Norwich came out firing in the second half and the Junior 3s couldn’t quite sustain the necessary intensity in defence. Much was learnt from the 1-4 defeat; a particular plus was the brilliant goal keeping by Lily Yallop.

The Junior 3s had a wonderful start to the season with a comprehensive 8-0 win against Langley. The girls showed great teamwork to work the ball out of defence, passing it around cleverly to make openings for goals by Kat, Iris, Chloe and Libbie. Although the match was not a true test of their ability to play under pressure, the girls were strong in their tackling and were fiercely competitive, regardless of the score. Even playing out of position, they attacked and defended well together. A great start!

The U14A team travelled to King’s Ely on Saturday with a small squad due to various other commitments, but nonetheless started in their trademark dominant fashion. The first goal came from a drag flick by captain Molly Marshall in a short corner routine. Later Molly was to score again, fine reward for the constant pressure she put on the opposition. Others to make notable contributions were: Olivia Bedford who made some great driving runs down the right side and supplied many accurate early balls; and Ella Walker and Clara Simpson also worked very hard to win the ball back and feed our team with some super balls. In their desire and enthusiasm to score a third the girls did concede a late goal on the break, but the win was secured. Final score 2-1 with some really good play and a well-exercised King’s Ely goal keeper to show for it!

The Woodbridge under twelves travelled to East Bergholt High School keen to continue where they had left off in their win over Orwell Park. No sooner said than done: immediate pressure on the EBHS line allowed Alex Barker to score; soon after man of the match Theo Howard made the most of a poor clearance kick to pounce and score; next Henry Tetley sidestepped, skipped and twisted out of tackle after tackle to make huge gains; Josh Barstow ran hard and straight from a close-range penalty to score; Erwan Gouedo went over in the corner after great passing by Theo, Tommy Burrows and Rob Stewart; Tommy then scored himself after a clever interception; Fazil Akyol gathered a clearance kick and cleverly sent Erwan on his way to a second try; Jonny Evans Lombe kept up a constant stream of good ball from scrum half; next Theo completed his star performance, darting through the beleaguered defence, dummying magically to scoot over and complete the first-half whitewash.

Half time brought some changes to try to even things up a little but Woodbridge continued to dominate in a new formation: first Henry scored from an opening created by Rob, and then captain George Na Nakhorn wrapped up the game after Akyol ripped the ball free and offloaded. Exhausted? You, the reader, might be – as for the boys? Not a bit! This was a good solid team performance with excellent lessons learned: Woodbridge 9 EBHS 0

Our under thirteens travelled to East Bergholt and were perhaps still ‘on the bus’ when the hosts ran in the first try after only one minute… It could have unsettled the visitors… Nothing of the sort! Woodbridge kicked the restart for territory and pinned their hosts back, but after a lengthy stint in their own half, a little rub of the green and a missed tackle, East Bergholt had doubled their lead. At half time confidence was high following a try by Tom Martin and the talk was all about how to take advantage of every opportunity. Pressure was ruthlessly applied to the home side and Woodbridge seemed almost certain to score, only to concede on the break. East Bergholt then made try saving tackle after try saving tackle to hang on for a deserved victory.

Match won by 43 – 26.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a very open and entertaining game of rugby played on a large pitch; both teams were eager to make the most of free running rugby. Woodbridge decided to do the hard work up the slope in the first half; Bergholt had three strong, athletic runners and took an early lead. However, as the game wore on it was clear that Woodbridge had the stronger all-round team and by half time we found ourselves with a seven point lead. Wise old heads reckon that with intelligent play the slope on Tollers is worth 10 points. Bergholt seemed to run out of gas and eventually space opened up enabling John Hendry to open his legs scoring 4 of our 7 tries. That said this was a much-needed morale-boosting team victory; yes, we still have work to do to be at our best but now we feel our season has truly started. Well done to everyone involved.