Former West Borough Secondary School pupil John Hawker is wondering if any of his old classmates recall this school-trip to Rochester Castle?

The photograph was taken in 1948, midway in Mr Hawker's two years spent at the school - he later transferred to Maidstone Technical School for Boys (then in Westree Road).

Mr Hawker said: "To be honest, I don't remember much about the trip - beyond a bit of a feeling of disappointment. I was very interested in history and I think I was expecting a bit more than just a shell of a castle."

Mr Hawker, now 84, recalls his time at West Borough quite fondly, except perhaps for the headmaster, a Mr Smith (no Christian names then) who he described as "a bit of a Tartar."

He said: "His chosen instrument of torture was the tawse - a Scottish invention I believe. It consisted of a wooden handle with a leather strip frayed at the end like a cat-o-nine-tails."

Mr Hawker received the tawse on only one occasion.

He said: "He had given me a good rollicking over something or other - I don't remember what. But as I walked away after being dismissed I smiled at my chums. He saw, called me back and said he would give me something to smile about!"

He said: "I don't believe I told my mother, but that's probably because she would have just said that I must have deserved it."

The "fearsome" metalwork teacher, 'Nobby' Clark was another who Mr Hawker recalled with some trepidation, but he got on well with history teacher Mr Phebey because of his love of the subject.

Then there was Miss Baldwin. He said: "All the boys were in love with her. She was certainly the youngest, most attractive teacher that I had ever seen."

One other teacher was memorable as being ahead of his time for the interest that he showed in fostering extra-curricular activities for some of the children in his care.

Mr Hawker said: "Mr Bailey, affectionately known as Ernie, actually invited a number of us to his home in Hastings Road where we listened to his jazz records; something that would not be countenanced today."

"He also took a number of us, boys and girls, on a camping holiday to a farm that belonged to a relation of his at Swingfield near Dover.

"Eight boys shared, and filled, an enormous ex-army bell tent. When I told my grandfather he said that twenty-two soldiers would have been the regulation number of occupants."

Those boys in the party who were Scouts proved to be in their element as being the only ones capable of digging the latrines.

The girls took on the cooking. Mr Hawker said: "I can’t remember any particular food apart from the well-known Scout speciality of “dampers” but nobody was poisoned so it can’t have been too bad.

"I remember this as being a happy and carefree time despite the fact that I had a large and painful boil on the back of my neck."

"Mr Bailey even continued the treatment of hot poultices that my aunt had started and, at some time during the week, managed to remove the boil."

Mr Hawker, who now lives in Pickering Street, Maidstone, spent much of his life working in the paper trade, first at Aylesford Paper Mills where he was an apprentice paper-maker, than at Townsend Hook and at Corrugated Paper in Tovil, before his work took him to London, Swindon and finally Bristol.

It was in Bristol that his life took a different course. He quit the paper business and became a team worker at a boys correctional school. He found he liked the work and so re-trained as a teacher before heading back to Maidstone.

He taught his old favourite subject of history at Vinters Boys School (now Valley Park) in Maidstone and at the Homewood School in Tenterden.

He is still touch with two former classmates from West Borough. Trevor Lawrence lives round the corner from him in Norrington Road and married a girl who was a friend of Mr Hawker's wife Pamela.

'Can you help with missing names?'

The pair are also in touch with Warrie (short for Warrington) Philps, who now lives in Hampshire.

Mr Hawker said: "I've known Warrie since our first day at school at St Michael and All Angels - even before West Borough. He was the best man at my wedding."

Between the three of them, the chums have been able to recall the names of most of the people in the photograph, but four question marks remain. Anyone who can fill in the blanks is asked to contact Mr Hawker by email on johnhawker@outlook.com

Back row: ?, Anne Lindley, David Bramley, John Hawker, David Bishop, ?, Tony Mitchell, Shirley Bing, ? Bing, David Adams, George Cordery, Sheila Bolton, Doreen Norris and Roger Brooker.

Middle row: Sheila Parsons, Gwenda Stringer, Valerie Hayman, Sheila Francis, Gloria Armstrong, Mr Phebey, Miss Baldwin, Iris Cottee, Aileen Bull, ?, Colin Hadlow and Trevor Lawrence.

Front row: Molly Dray, Margaret Hollands, Tony Maker, Alan McKee, Gordon Lawrence, Teddy Gibson, Pat Jeal, Frank White, Ron Clarkson, Tim Town, Donald Weeks and Warrie Philps.

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