William Golding at Bishop Wordsworth's School would repeatedly walk up and down the room during some classes. Pupils later wondered if this regular, constant movement came from his naval experience of pacing the bridge for exercise or to pass the time, or perhaps to be occupied during the tension of impending action.
Sometimes with a volume of Greek in hand he would develop his self-taught knowledge, maybe at one with Odysseus in his naval life. At others he would remain similarly insular at the master's desk writing his earlier novels in longhand manuscript in school exercise books. Yet even in later years he was "as sharp as a tack, missing nothing that was going on in class." Steady silences prevailed in these lessons and for some acquiescent pupils that seems all that can be remembered; and these memories are tinged with degrees of criticism for their neglected education.
The majority of reminiscences gathered here are, however, fond tributes to 'Scruff' Golding and testaments to his impact upon those concerned. For many he was a teacher apart, a true educator as one who drew out - and so different from those schoolmasters who crammed in. Whether for his own research or not he is recalled as active in certain lessons - both of English and Religious Knowledge - in questioning boys and eliciting their ideas, insights and self-perceptions. It seems that, whether to young boys or potential Oxbridge scholars, "his idea was to provoke us into thinking, which most schoolboys did as little of as possible." One sixth former can recall the use of what would now be called role play, when, in philosophical or political discussion, William Golding would insist upon a student's talking as, for example, a communist - and he would do it himself as well. He also showed the importance of empathy when studying different religions - each one presented as if he believed in it. Pupils found this close involvement with the given subject a contrast to more didactically delivered lessons, and many received the indelible impression of a man of deep spirituality unimpressed by the trivial or the routine. Once he asked a boy what made the Bible different from other books. When the wretched youth replied "Don't know sir", Golding thundered out "It's the only one that's the word of God!"
William Golding clearly had authority and discipline whether dealing with pert or precocious boys, or with the member of a play production crew who played the Russian (rather than the British) National Anthem before a performance, or with the culprit who attempted to conceal an ignited sparkler in his desk. Despite his unkempt appearance - or perhaps because of it - he was a leader, not least in his running of the school's Sea Cadets and command of the whaler at Marchwood on Southampton Water. Many remember his dependence on boys' rations on trips away, and also his close observation of them, presumably not only as commander but as author as well. He was an excellent sailor but one anecdote shows a less practical aspect when he organised the construction of a lifeboat in the garden of his London Road house. Rather like Robinson Crusoe unable to move his new craft William Golding and his cadets found theirs too large to move round the house. Unlike Crusoe he could organise a crane to lift his over.
For one absorbed in his own creations William Golding gave much to school life. He regularly sang with the choir in chapel services and was a soloist in the live 1945 BBC Radio broadcast of The Finding of the King (written by F.C. Rappold) shortly before leaving the Royal Navy and rejoining the staff at Bishop's. He also played the oboe in the school orchestra. One musician recalls how "When an orchestra tunes up it is of course the oboist who 'gives the A' to which everyone else tunes his instrument. At one particular rehearsal the school orchestra was sounding even more excruciating than usual. 'Mr Golding. Can you give us that A again?' Golding was a stickler for correct English usage. 'I'm afraid I can't give you that one,' he replied, 'but I'll give you one like it!'" On another occasion in a memorable Bishopgate debate he actively upheld the worth of classical music as opposed to traditional jazz.
He brought his dramatic expertise from outside school to bear upon play productions such as Oedipus Rex in December 1940 before leaving to join the Royal Navy. A lecture he gave on mediaeval stained glass is recalled as knowledgeable and interesting and as master in charge of a trip to Figsbury Ring he gave permission for the boys to form into two groups - one to attack the fort and one to defend it. The author's opportunity for close observation of boys in conflict was further extended.
William Golding had been an unpublished novelist for some years. Many pupils can recall being given sheets of manuscript to read - or rather to produce accurate word counts for each page. These readings were tantalisingly piecemeal but enough to show some readers that the extracts were rather in the style of C.S. Forester's Hornblower. In time he acquired the substance and style of Lord of the Flies so much of it apparently written in class and reputedly finished under cover of his old green-tinged gown during a Founder's Day Service. In his frequent solitary perambulations in the garden of No.11 when not reading classical Greek he could be observed with familiar science exercise book in hand. He would jot things down filling just half a page before moving on to the next one, presumably planning and plotting his craft as he went.
To most colleagues he was courteous but reserved. In music and in chess he could engage in close partnership but companionship was limited to a few. To some his involvement with his own work was a debit and others viewed his published writing as concerned with negative aspects of life. Perhaps a typical pedagoguery was evident in an encounter between J.P. Hellmann, Senior Master at BWS, after they had both retired. "Well Golding, I am pleased that you are so successful with your novels. I cannot stand them myself but my people think the world of them." Other colleagues of more sympathetic perception found him a man of compassion and capable of being a good raconteur when in the mood, and they were well able to appreciate his novels as among the best in English Literature of the twentieth century.
It has been a fascination and a privilege to share in these tributes. I hope that this selection gives a fair if not a comprehensive view of the subject, at least in the third and longest of his times at the school. I have not acquired any insights into his teaching practice at BWS and only a few into the period of April to December of 1940 after his work at Maidstone Grammar School and prior to his war service. He returned to BWS in 1946 and taught there until 1961 when he was granted sabbatical leave for a lecturing appointment at Hollins College, Virginia in the United States of America. It was during this year that he decided to resign and have more time for writing.
Click here to go back to Sir William Golding's page.
Click here to go back to Salisbury Plaques Home Page.
Click here to go to the Salisbury Civic Society's Home Page.
Click here to check validation.