by Cliff James

“Get out, you wretch-ed boy!“ That bellowed bark was my introduction to the phenomenon who was Clive Gammon. The command wasn’t directed at me – not on that occasion, at any rate! The object of his wrath was a much older boy he’d spotted sneaking along the corridor during morning break at the new Bush campus.

Over the next 5 plus years, I would get to know and respect that powerful voice, used skilfully and expressively in all manner of situations, because he became my English teacher and Form Master for the remainder of my Grammar School years. Even when I left school, to start teacher training at Swansea College of Education, the voice followed me, because Clive became one of my English Lecturers there! He was, indeed, one of the most powerful shaping influences in my early life. Years later, when I was teaching English myself, I found myself laughing at a pupil’s amusing banter in the same staccato way that had been a feature in our classes with Clive – and suddenly realised that I also sometimes referred to erring pupils as “Wretch-ed boys!”

In our English lessons at Bush, he had gradually discovered our various interests and encouraged us to use their subject matter in our essay-writing. One of my hobbies was bird-watching and that chimed a chord with Clive’s own love of the outdoors. He organised a number of trips to Skomer Island and those memories are still sharp and bright in my mind. He also invited some of us to attend evening lectures given to the West Wales Field Society by guests such as Bernard Venables and Ronald Lockley. That sort of encouragement meant a lot to many of us He had us try our hand at various forms of writing, including poetry, and it was no coincidence that I’ve taught Creative Writing at various levels throughout my adult life. I still remember the words of my cheeky effort at a Limerick he’d set as part of one homework. We had to begin with the line “There was a young lady from Spain…” My limerick continued: “whose uncle was really insane/His name it was Gammon/He looked like a salmon/Come fresh out of Bosherston drain.” My classmates roared with laughter, and I fully expected to be called to his desk and chastised in some way; but, to his credit, Clive guffawed loudly along with the rest of them.

The greatest gift he gave to me was a love of English Literature. One of our favourite times of the week was when he would tell us to finish off our Precis, Comprehension or Clause Analysis exercises and then ask which poem or other text we’d like him to read. Hands would shoot up with various suggestions: “The Listeners, sir”; “The Highwayman”. He’d mull over the choices. Then, “Is there anybody there? said the traveller…” he would begin and we would join in, from memory, “…knocking at the moonlit door”. Although I didn’t realise it at the time, he enjoyment I had in those lessons taught me the importance of an ‘excellent first reading’, so that each poem or story can be clearly understood and really enjoyed - not only by the listener, but for the reader too.

An illustration of how completely involved he became in the text he was readin occurred on a particularly windy day in late Autumn. He was sitting by the radiator in front of the classroom window, reading us a short story. One of the large panes above him had been cracked for some time and suddenly there was an enormous bang and it shattered completely, showering him and the floor around him with pieces of glass. Like all of us, he was naturally very startled but just shook the glass shards from his clothes and hair, moved his chair closer to the middle of the room and carried on reading from the exact point he’d reached before the glass window came in.

In Swansea College of Education, he produced the American play “Our Town” and asked me to take on the role of the embittered Simon Stimsom – a part he had played so brilliantly in the PGS school production. I felt quite honoured to be entrusted with the portrayal of ‘his’ character. In the final year, I became President of the Students Union, and his quietly uttered “Well done, Clifford” was worth all the other congratulations I’d received put together - meant so much more to me than he ever knew. Another ex-Swansea College student - best selling author Catrin Collier – pays tribute to his influence in the Preface to her novel Swansea Girls, writing that Clive Gammon was instrumental in shaping her success as a writer, when she was “a college girl in the 60s".

So, thank you, Clive Gammon, for the inspiration and knowledge you passed down to so many of us. We’ll never forget you.