Page 23 - The Badger - Issue 8

THE BADGER Celebrating 125 Years of The Downs
“ On fine days we were often mucking about in our blue boiler suits, making dens and treehouses in Brock Wood, or cooking beans and tinned sausages on camping stoves. In summer, we could use the outdoor swimming pool, but only once the temperature reached 58°F. That’s just 14°C! ”
Richard Taylor (1953-1959)
Jim Brown (1969-1974)
Bridging Tradition and Modernity
Jim Brown, a long-serving teacher turned Headmaster, had first joined The Downs in 1933 and returned after military service in the Second World War. When he became head in 1969, he ushered in what many consider the beginning of the ‘modern Downs’.
He pioneered science education at the school, building the first dedicated laboratories and securing cutting- edge equipment through collaboration with Malvern College and the national Nuffield Physics trials, an initiative focused on hands-on, experimental learning. His philosophy was simple: “Do and understand.”
Brown also reshaped the school environment itself. Although uncommon at the time, carpets replaced wooden floors in classrooms to soften noise; modular
desks allowed for flexible arrangements; and boys were encouraged to create and personalise their own wall displays. Outside the classroom, the athletics programme continued to thrive under his watch, culminating in a major victory at the first National Prep Schools Athletics Meeting in 1973, with The Downs winning both the 800 metres and the triple jump.
Brown closed his time as Headmaster with a simple, quiet, heartfelt farewell: “For my memorial, look around you.”
“ Jim Brown became Headmaster in my final years. He was a good leader and a war veteran. I’ll never forget him saying to me, ‘Oh thou art a holy halfwit, go away and sin no more.’ When I do something daft now, I still hear his voice in my head! ”
Jim Parker (1968-1973)
Doug Norton
23