St Joseph's Society
Living and studying at Upholland College was a positive and enjoyable experience, which, while not resulting in confirming a calling to the Priesthood, undoubtedly made me a better layman and a more committed Catholic. It assisted me in developing inter-personal skills, which helped me in a variety of ways in my professional career as Chief Executive of a quoted logistics company.
My time at the College started with a disappointment. I was an enthusiastic Boy Scout and when I saw, for the first time, the wonderful country setting in which the college was placed – the lakes, the woodland and the rolling hills – I asked my guide, Fr. Gaine, the Senior House Professor, if Upholland had a Scout troop? He replied ‘No, but we do have the Legion of Mary!’
**It seems there was a Scout troop, at least for a while. Instigated by Bishop Halsall, a troop went to Rome for the Holy Year in 1950, and stopped over for a very successful and enjoyable visit to an International scout site in Kangersteg, Switzerland.**
Once enrolled at the College I began to appreciate the opportunities to engage fully in community life. I was accepted into the choir run by Fr. Snape and distinguished myself by getting too close to a candle and setting my hair on fire during the Easter Vigil! I enjoyed singing twice at the Christmas concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall – the first time as a treble and the second, much later, as a bass!
Sport played a major part in our daily lives. My sporting career continues to be a triumph of enthusiasm over ability and back then I was a keen footballer (often being twelfth man for various teams) and cross-country runner (mostly finishing runner-up). I was once awarded the Orrell and District Mile Championship when I was the only one who turned up for the race! This somewhat hollow first place did not prevent Fr. Cheetham from claiming official victory for the College. My House Captain, Barry Coyne, introduced me to tennis and taught me a few strokes. I still love tennis and my wife and I continue to play competitively today. Both in the Higher Line and Upper House I played lots of table tennis and organised various outings to play matches and watch International games. I loved the game, met my wife-to-be through it and am still playing in various leagues today. I remember being struck by how lucky and privileged we were to have our sporting facilities to hand without having to travel to them. During meditation one day, it occurred to me that we had our Chapel and God’s presence under the same arrangement!
We used to have Retreats each year, when the ‘Magnum Silencium’ – the rule of silence – normally operating from night prayers to breakfast, was extended for those days and a visiting Spiritual Director would offer several homilies each day. Afterwards we were meant to contemplate his words while strolling along the corridors or through the grounds. On one such Retreat, the Spiritual Director – a monk wearing a humble habit and open-toed sandals – suggested that we had a ‘Question and Answer’ session instead of the final homily. He placed a Question box on the altar rail into which we were meant to place our queries. At last the final session arrived but the box contained only one question, ‘Do your feet get cold in winter?’ The Good Lord works in mysterious ways and the embarrassed adolescent laughter was quickly replaced by a collective feeling that we had let our Spiritual Director down. Within minutes we were engaged in an uplifting session of discussion and clarification thus finally ending our Retreat on a spiritual high.
One of the highlights of my time in Higher Line was when I was one of the three students selected to visit, on a regular basis, the local approved school to mix with the incarcerated boys there. We engaged in different activities and jumped out of the way of their tackles on the football field! Whether we did any good or not is for others to judge, but we enjoyed the experience.
After ‘A’ Levels the Upper House beckoned. The top six in our Sixth form – much more intelligent than I – had been sent to University and I, the seventh, was not. I began to feel very uncertain about my future and found myself questioning whether I was following the right path. I decided to leave at the end of the year and study for a degree so that during this process I could finally decide where my true vocation lay.
Not only did I subsequently graduate but I also met my future wife – a fellow student and table tennis player. Now, as a father of four children and grandfather of five, soon to be six, grandchildren, I look back at my Upholland days with deep affection and appreciation. They shaped my approach to life and I will forever be grateful for that.