The lower floor front was mostly lecture halls and common room, upper floor students quarters. Rear buildings housed kitchens, dining areas and administration.
Being in its infancy there where only about 20 students, when I attended, now I read there are a thousand plus part time swelling that number considerably.
The principal was a Mr.Powell, assisted by Mr.Mitchelmore who was our primary lecturer. He was very effective and moved up to principal, apparently on the retirement of Mr.Powell.
The accommodation was very generous. We each had our own room, with window to the front, bed, desk etc. Being a new building everything was very clean. Guys where in the first half of the corridor, girls latter.
A dividing secure door ensured separation, but was unnecessary on my account, the mould was cast.
A common room provided various options for relaxation, the most dominant being a full size billiard table
I learned the game and came to enjoy it.
The curriculum was very thorough, but broad based. We covered commercial produce production, hard and soft landscaping, botany. I enjoyed the lectures and gained much useful information, which I would use later in my career.
In our spare time I began to hang out with a very pleasant Scottish guy. He was from a large family currently living in N.Wales.
I had my bike with me and we put together a second machine, to be able to tour some of the surrounding area.
On some weekends we would ride into Chester, about 12 miles to the East. It is a wonderful old city steeped in history. We also found an indoor swimming pool, which became part of our regular itinerary.
When we rode to the West you go through Holywell and on to Rhyll. I see on Google an expressway bypasses the college, so no doubt there are lots of changes, as is the case everywhere.
I visited with his family several times and he came to Oundle one holiday.
I found the courses very interesting and made proliferous rough notes during the lectures, which I copied out neatly in the appropriate notebooks, later in my study/room. I guess these days you could nap during the lectures, record on your devise and up load to your computer, for later absorbsion, just prior to exams.
Under the college buildings where deep corridors to access services. We figured how to get down there and left our marks. Someone could probably write a book on inscriptions written on the walls over the last 55 years.
At the end of the course we had exams for County and National Certification. The County was a given for everybody, but the National was a little more involved. Students sat this exam at all Horticultural Colleges in the U.K. Turned out I got a pass with distinction, one of only 2 students to do so across the U.K. according to the principal. He was most pleased as I am sure where Mum & Dad also.
Jim's family had been talking for some time about emigrating to Canada. I had always wanted to go to the U.S., so started thinking, that's not so far from there, I would really like to check out Stateside.
The Canadian Goverment where very keen at that time to step up immigration and build the Country up. They offered assisted passage, where they would pay all your travel cost and you pay it back over two years when you get there. So we all applied and everything was approved to depart in the Spring of 1958.
I took a job for a couple of months working with a garden maintenance crew that went around maintaining school garden on the Wirral ( The peninsular with the river Mersey on one side and the Dee Estuary on the other) I learnt some useful tips on this job for quick "in and out" fix ups.
I also worked a couple of months at a Chrysanthemum Nursery in Liverpool, disbudding blooms (boring).
I brought a Velocette motorcycle. It was a nice bike, not too big, but one night my lights quit and wanting to get to where I was going, pressed on, traveling a short distance behind a car to use his lights. But he turned a corner that I did not notice and I wrapped it around a hydro pole. That was the end of my motor cycle activities.
Meantime back in Oundle, Mum and Dad had brought a small part of the field behind 100 West St that fronted onto Stoke Rd. and purchased a prefab bungalow. They contracted with a family friend Jack James to assemble the structure and build a brick exterior and roof for £1,000.
Wanting to ensure they moved in before I left for Canada I returned to Oundle a took a job at Ashton Gardens to keep the cash flowing. It was owned by one of the Rothschilds and they specialised in orchids.
As my departure date grew ever closer, there still seemed to be so much to finish before the bungalow could be complete. I spent quite a few nights painting etc and we just made it.
March 10 1958 it decided to snow on us as we carried all the furniture down from 100 West St, through the back yard, the hovel and down through the field to the new bungalow "Warrenby". We made it so I could leave with an easy mind.