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You
cannot imagine how I felt being plunged into this noisy place with
all these boys. Because the war was on, we were all sleeping in the
basement of the main building in the most unsatisfactory conditions.
For the first few weeks, I was sleeping on a brick floor with a thin
mattress and a couple of blankets. A few days before my arrival at
Goldings a bomb had fallen on a workshop and killed the bandmaster.
You
were not assigned to a house or trade of your choice immediately.
You were placed with other new boys and were known as 'spare'. The
'spares' were given all those nasty jobs that had to be done to keep
the college running smoothly. I was put on cleaning toilets. A
horrible job, as you can imagine with over 300 boys!
Later I was upgraded to the masters' pantry to work I had to stand
on an upturned box before a wooden sink that was big enough for me
to have a bath in. I would fill this with very hot water, wash the
plates, cups and saucers, all the knives forks and spoons; then
having dried them all, put them away into their proper places in
wall cupboards and drawers. As soon as I had finished the breakfast
dishes, it was time to start with the lunchtime ones and so on. This
job lasted for a few weeks.
 Not
having anyone to advise me as to what trade I should learn, I
decided as I had always enjoyed working with wood, I would take up
cabinet making. It sounded more interesting than being a carpenter.
When I eventually got a place in the cabinet work shop, I started by
learning how to use, sharpen and look after the tools. We were
taught to recognise the different types of wood by their grain. Many
hours were spent practising, cutting and making the different types
of joints that are used in cabinet making and how to draw a plan of
what we were going to make to scale. While being taught all these
aspects of the trade, we were put to work on making three tier bunks
for the London Underground air raid shelters. We didn't have time to
make furniture, but we learnt a lot that would stand us in good
stead later on.
I
spent just one year at Goldings. When I went home for Christmas
leave in 1941, I was offered an apprenticeship as a compositor at a
printing works. Had I known this, I could have opted for the
printing trade at Goldings, instead of cabinet making. But the
training I had, has served me well throughout my life.
Leslie Lack
Receiving House 1931
Boarded out 1931‑ 41
Goldings 1940‑ 41
Reproduced
from The Guild Messenger Winter 2004 |