It and the High School were designed to be the Grammar Schools for the surrounding area; it was situated in Wellingbrough because that town had the largest population of school children. 

Rushden school boys were NOT interlopers, WGS was designed as their school just as much as it was Wellingborough's, and Rushden deserves the kudos and brickbats of WGS's achievements just as much as does Wellingborough.

Bert Catlin was of course, after being a WGS boy head of Rushden Boys Secondary Modern and Comprehensive.

Opportunities to fly were much appreciated and with a training airfield only a few miles away at Sywell it was easy to reach by bicycle.  They were always signalled in advance so that we could go dressed in uniform.  I flew twice.  The first time was one Wednesday morning when an Airspeed Oxford, a twin engined multi purpose plane, was delivering something to Sywell. Arrangements were made for the aircraft to remain for a while for some of us to be taken for a short flight.  We saw the plane arrive and soon were climbing in.  No seat belts, in fact no seats.  We sat on the aluminium floor and slid around a bit from time to time, got a peep out of the windows and came back feeling quite exhilarated.  Sywell airfield was used for preliminary pilot training with Tiger Moths, an elderly biplane with open cockpits one behind the other.  The training schedule sometimes allowed time for ATC flights on a Friday afternoon and with advanced notice a few of us went for our turn.  We were dressed in warm over-suits and hoods and helped one by one into the rear cockpit, strapped into the seat and had inter-com sets put over our ears so that we could listed to the pilot telling us where we were and what he was doing.  The engine revved up and away we bounced over the grass of the field there were no runways at Sywell I believe.  Airborne and in level flight with a wonderful rush of air around my face the pilot asked if I could hear him on the intercom. Satisfied that I could he asked where I lived. ‘Rushden, sir, I replied. ‘O K’ came his friendly voice ‘we’ll go that way. It’s a bit far to fly over the town, but you’ll be able to see it’.  And we did.  Then returning to the ground I realised that my mentally stored log of time spent flying had advanced to twenty minutes. By this time I had received the little embroidered star on my arm showing that I had passed the first level of competence.  Eventually however the corps faded as an interest and in my school certificate year with exams approaching I resigned, handed in my kit and spent a bit more time on school work.  

My best friends went with me to Wellingborough Grammar School, David Clark, Colin Craddick, Jack Hodgkins; except Jack Cook went to Wellingborough School; other kids went to the Intermediate School in Rushden which was a new prototype Comprehensive School, and was not highly regarded because the school certificate was not available.

I thus became only the third person in our wide extended family to embark on a first class Grammar School education following on from Uncle Tommy and cousin John Hanger, also at WGS. In those days 5% of kids got scholarships to a county funded Grammar School. Another 5% of kids went to private Public Schools, that is, posh private schools…..

….. Back home we went to school by bus as usual. Britain was short of oil and a coke burning gas producing trailer was attached to the back of the bus. The double decker buses now moved much more slowly. Uncle Harry Froggat was often the conductor. He was a stickler for keeping the bus on time and looking at his half hunter watch he would lament the slowness of his bus at home that is. On the bus itself, he never compromised his important official duty as a bus conductor by so much as giving me a wink.  The double decker United Counties bus started at Raunds via Higham Ferrers, Rushden and Irchester to Wellingborough with a second bus from Rushden.

At the final physical training period at school we were weighed and measured and the information was entered on our school reports. I was 10 stone and 10 lb and 5 foot and 10 inches. This is only 6lb lighter and ¾ inch shorter than now so it can be said I was fully grown before I was 15. Wartime food was probably better for us lucky people than pre-war food, in health terms. We were probably the fittest generation ever, because kids became progressively less fit in postwar years……

…… I answered an advert for a job at Fred Hawkes, a small light engineering works supplying the shoe factories with reconditioned machinery, grindery and other requirements. They were looking for two well educated boys to train up in the brave new post-war world. A boy from Wellingborough School was taken into the workshop and I was taken into the office with pay of twenty-two shillings a week. When the school certificate results came out I had the best results of any Rushden boy; six credits and two passes; my very poor memory made any distinctions too hard to get. I failed French.