INSPIRED by ‘a very full life’ Redditch man Roger Henry Lippett has written a book on his life which began living on the Batchley Estate. He went on to serve in the Royal Navy and wants to share his story.
He was born on January 30 1939 on the council estate, with his dad’s name Henry, being given to him as his middle name.
Here he sheds light on his life family and friends as a social record of sorts that may be of interest to his children, grandchildren and the people of Redditch.
Although he said he had never achieved great wealth or fame he felt his life had moments worth recounting.
In his words: “I now live in the beautiful city of Plymouth in Devon but I will always be a Batchley boy.
“Far have I traveled, and much have I seen and this is my story, serialised in the Redditch Standard.”
Chapter 31
IT WAS whilst I was teaching at Knowles Hill School that I was informed my mother had died. She had suffered a stroke and was taken to the Alexandra Hospital, in Redditch.
We drove up to see her in hospital and although she recognised us, she had difficulty in talking.
It was so sad to see my mother in such a state.
We stayed overnight at my brother Martyn’s house before seeing mum again the next day. We then drove home to Plymouth after promising to drive up to see her again the next week.
Sadly, we did not get the opportunity to see her again as she died on April 3, 1991.
We drove up again for the funeral, which took place on April 14.
She was a good mother who did not always have the easiest of lives, bringing up a family during the war years, and she was much loved and missed.
She had a good sense of humour and a waspish wit. I have a lot to thank my parents for.
So school life continued and I enjoyed my work, though planning and preparing for lessons and demonstrations took up a lot of my time in the evenings and at weekends.
In 1996 I had been teaching as a fully qualified teacher for 12 years. I had a good record of examination results and my relationship with the staff, the pupils and the school governors were good.
Then things began to change for the worse.
John Skirton (my head of department) decided to retire. John and I made a good team. We worked together well and ran a tight ship.
His replacement was a man named Nick Hall and we did not get on well together. He appeared to have a dislike for people who had previous experience outside of the academic world of education.
I watched as the department slowly deteriorated. John’s electronics workshop and my classroom where everything had its place became a shambles.
The Head – Barbara Dunball – also retired and the new head, Colin Pope, proved to be very different. Unlike the previous heads, he did not like me.
He broke the staff room up and dispersed the teachers to other parts of the school. Where break time had once been a time to relax and have a cup of tea and a chat, we found ourselves separated.
Life became miserable and stressful and it began to tell on me.
I began to find my patience running thin and less tolerant with bad behavior in class and was now unhappy in my work.
It had been my intention to teach until the usual retirement age of 65 but that became to look unlikely under the circumstances.
Then came (as it was to turn out) a welcome turn of events. The school was to become grant maintained. This, as I understand it, meant the school was to be run like a business and control its own finances.
It meant it was free to lose teaching staff if they so wished if they thought it was financially viable.
Many of the staff were approached by the head and asked to consider leaving, including me.
At first I declined. It had not been my intention to take early retirement but the more I thought about it, the more attractive the idea became.
So at the end of the summer term 1998, my teaching career came to a close.
There was the usual end of term party in the main school staff room where farewell speeches were traditionally made by members of staff who were leaving.
So I conclude the story of my working life, and this is where I intend to finish and continue living contentedly with my darling wife of 62 years.
I feel we are getting to know each other really well.
