Memories
Chris Porozny
We all have fond memories of the school, and especially of Mr and Mrs Rushbrooke and the mother of all matrons, Mrs. Evans -- "Now stop that racket or I'll bounce ye down the corridor!"
Petronilla (Nila) Tax
My friend found this site and read Elizabeth Rogo-Ondieki's description of Dad (Mr Tax) to me, and I told him that that was a very good description of him. The only thing that bothered me was someone describing me as being a wee one when Dad passed. I was definitely not that young. Anyway, I have really good memories of Kaptagat.
Danny Walmsley
Ex Eldoret and a staff member during 1968/69 involved with science and sport.
I remember the school as the most wonderful place I have ever worked in. The environment, the kids, the activities, the Kaptagat Arms, the fishing and the waterfall.
Mark Warwick
My memories are filled with beatings from Jim Chitty, NS Cards, Mr Tax - teaching Latin, Mr Jupp - teaching Art, Mr West - teaching music, Bobby Tyres managing the Kaptagat Arms and so on. Mad contact with Andy Hogg and a few late comers after our time.
Gareth Thomas
I was at KPS between the years 1958-1963. What character forming years those were... between dodging Jane Chitty, the tackie and cane of Jim, and being swamped by the kindness of Archie Fraser. Sigh...
Ken Matende
I was in Kaptagat from around 1969 to 1974. I have very fond memories of Kaptagat. I am glad that I attended the school. As Kaptagat Alumni Mark Warwick and I have been corresponding with Liz (in Halifax) and Mary Thuo (in Pennsylvania). I currently reside in Vancouver but am schooling in Halifax.
Does anyone remember the periodic invasions of army worms on the school playing fields? They used to become a writhing mass of green and yellow.
I remember 'Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang' with his ferocious attacks on the behinds of anyone who went astray. Mr Rushbrooke was even worse in his use of corporal punishment. I remember him telling me to bend over, touch my toes, and 'enjoy'(!) the pleasures of his size eleven tackie. Why did I receive this? Because I hit his wife on the hockey pitch (remember where it was? ... just after Fernickity's Den) with a hockey ball, quite unintentionally. Incidentally, I was hockey captain at the time and ended up giving up the sport!!!
Do you recall the school photographs we'd take by the swimming pool? There was a chap who used one of those really old cameras and hid in a black cloth.
I remember Richard Walugembe who was the first 'African' prefect. I was so inspired by his leadership and I became the first African head prefect a few years later. I was shocked to hear Richard has since died.
Mr Tax was one unique person. I can never forget him smoking 'nyota' (the cheap cigars). He taught me carpentry and Swahili. He offered one Maasai (100 shillings) to anyone who could catch a crow, and he said he taught crows to talk.
Mr Tax never put on long trousers - those well-ironed khaki shorts of his! I remember him putting his arm on my shoulder during a Greek Mythology class and proclaiming "Hapana fikiri kijana" ... you can't do it. He got carried away with his Latin classes till we nearly missed lunch.
Elizabeth Rogo-Ondieki
I am now in Houston. A few years ago I was in Halifax, Canada with Ken Matende. We attend the same university... but you wouldn't know it since we hardly bump into one another....oh the student life! I was at Kaptagat just after Ken had completed, but didn't know of him until he met me at the university library last year. I must say it was a real thrill meeting him as we "Kappies" are a rare breed. Like Ken, Kaptagat holds sweet memories for me. My sisters (2) and I were actively involved in many areas. At that time Mr. Rushbrooke ("Rushie") was in charge, and boy didn't he rule with an iron cane. I last heard he was dying from lung cancer in England. Mr. Tax must have been around when you were there. In case you didn't know, he passed away in the 80's but left two lovely children (Sammy) and Petronila; she was just a wee one when he passed away. Mr. Tax was what made Kaptagat a haven for many of us. Mythology and Latin, which he taught, were some of the most popular classes to take. My baby brother went to Banda and has just completed his "O" levels at Harrow. The Banda is doing very well. Never met Chitty but we all know of him. I don't know if you wore the awful school uniform of maroon, grey and blue (yikes!). The only thing we liked were our Panama Hats and blazers.
Joff Start
You no doubt recall Dennis Western with whom I partook in an escape, (much to J.A.L.C.'s consternation) well I did catch up with Dennis some 30 years ago. Other than that, there are a number of people I would love to catch up with.
So if you have names and addresses or email addresses - put them together - pass them around - lets see what we come up with.!!!
I would particularly like to contact: David & Colin Scarse, Dennis Western, Finn & Kanute Arneson, Valerie Harris, Donald Wills, Rory Thompson, Dudley Owen Thomas, Gordon Savage and the others, but rust and brain cells are causing blockages.
To very briefly update you with my situation and history
After D.O.Y.S. worked 6 month in Kenya
1967 - Australia
1972 - married Kenya girl
Started married life in Western Australia and still here.
Farmed for a living till about 1985, then went into transport and am still peddling a truck up and down highways.
Kids x 3 - all girls. 2 married, one to go! One grandchild, one due in December
My parents and brother (Anthony) are also in W.A.
Lynette Thomas
Pippa's mum (Mrs Williams) taught Latin, Embroidery (only to the girls of course!) and riding. We had some memorable treks around Kaptagat on the ex-polo ponies and some great gymkhanas too. She also taught sport - hockey I definitely remember. Although I can also remember Jupp shouting at us and calling us "a load of broody hens" while we languished in defence! He also distinguished himself by his habit of chucking chalk and once I nearly copped the eraser, but got my desk lid up in time to deflect it.
Honestly, when I think back to those days, it's like a St Trinian's movie or a Famous Five novel!
Andy Russell
Who can forget the river ... source of so much fun, building dams, seeing how deep we could wade. There was a rocky outcrop at the end of the 'gully'. Next downstream was the Hotel's River Garden, which I thought was close to paradise. The Foster's garden (not often allowed in there). Then the garden of the next house (Mr Bax's), where there was a stone causeway across (presumably some previous attempt at a dam). Then the 'Rocky Place' with the cockamunda lizards. And finally the waterfall, which I thought was huge. How high was it actually? Caves with bats, a big ravine, the rock hyrax.
Wow, were we lucky! And staff who didn't mind taking us to these places on walks, and who didn't seem to care that we were getting muddy and soaked.
Alphonse Ogulla
Greetings from Nairobi, Kenya.
I joined Kaptagat Prep sometime in September 1982. I started off in form three (the classroom facing the fountain and swimming pool) and was in Taurus house (the green). The headmaster was then Mr. Rushbrooke, aided by Marash (Mrs. Rushbrooke) who seemed to have an upper hand. Neil and Helen Rushbrooke are still very much in my mind, Neil as a brilliant rugger player and Helen the rounders captain. Mr. Tax was our class master and taught us Latin, French, Kiswahili, and of course Greek Mythology (Hercules, Centaur etc). On a sad note, Mr. Tax passed away in Dec 1988 and more recently his son, Sammy, in 2000. Petronilla Tax, a great colleague, is somewhere in Poland, with her aunts, married with one daughter. Please touch base.
During my years, I saw several headmasters come and go, some of who are, Mr. Bergman from Canada (84), Mr. Hildebrand from America (85), and Mr. Rose (86). A few teachers that I remember include Mr. Boyd (math & rugby), Mrs. Pierce (science & bird watching in her VW combi), Miss. McKenzie (art & cookies), Ian Bateman (science), David Higgins (english, history, math, cricket, hockey & athletics) and lastly Suzy Bridgewater (english). Not forgetting my good old friends, I wish mention Joshua Ejangu or Professor in those days, Erika Zechner (before you defected to St. Andrews Turi), Mehbub Abduldaim (Mawingo), Daniel Sang & Kimuge, Robert Abaliwano, Jackie Mangoli (I have been trying to get in touch with you), the late Sammy Peter Bird (passed away with his brother Charles William in a fatal road accident on May 1st, 1999), David and Dorcas Mulira, the Lukwagos, Martin Walusimbi, and many others. Just in case you find your name listed above or remember me, please send over a mail note.
Memorable events at KPS during our time were the Guy Fawkes day bonfire accompanied by the fireworks, Halloween and the Cock House party, but one that I find impossible to wipe off my mind was the kiss chase on Sunday evenings. Girls chasing boys was not much of an issue as most boys just stood and waited, but the opposite sent most of the girls scampering or sprinting back to their dorms for safety. My bet is that such events can no longer take place lest the school is sued for harassment. I wonder how far this tradition dates?
Carol Chitty
Staff - Niece of JALC
I was a teacher at Kaptagat from Sept 1966 for about 18 months and then went on to the Banda for about another year. I was at the Banda when John Bax and his wife Margaret were there. While I was at Kaptagat, my name was Carol Chitty. My father was Jimmy's older brother. Jimmy was the Headmaster of a school in Ceylon shortly after the war and I remember how delighted he was when one day a former pupil from that school turned up at Kaptagat to enrol her child. He was house master at the Dragon School Oxford when he met and married Jane. Caroline was just a baby when they came to Kaptagat. I remember him saying if I ever happened to qualify as a teacher there was a job for me - so I took him up on it. I remember having a pet bushbaby which was not an altogether good idea. It escaped eventually. I think you have mentioned most of the staff I knew. I also remember Audrey the matron
I spent one Christmas almost alone at the school and had a wonderful Christmas dinner with the Fosters and the Africans were outside my room singing carols. It was magical. I also remember that the rain used to arrive at almost the same time every afternoon when we were playing games. And there were huge doodlebugs that came out at night. When I was there with the Baxes I lived in a tiny house which I think has gone.
Chris Burn
I have fond memories of Kaptagat in 1949. The head master then was Col.Pratt.(Peanuts)!! A Mr Burt took us for sports, and must have taught something else, but I don't remember what. Mrs.Burt was Matron.
Another memory was being made to drink two glasses of boiled milk every day. Disgusting. I still don't drink milk!
Richard Le Mare
I had the dubious 'pleasure' of attending KPS somewhere around 1963'ish and for a few memorable following years.
Sadly, probably memorable for the wrong reasons. It was the Chitty era, and I remember being young and vulnerable - which opened me up to the beatings we used to get for not knowing our multiplication tables (getting an 'ns' on our report card), for possibly talking after lights out and more. I remember being yelled at by Mr Jupp and hit by West, the music teacher with his baton.
Fondest memories are of the train journey home to Kampala at the end of term.
Brian Vidler
I was at Kaptagat from 1954-1959. My parents lived in Mbale, Uganda. I used to join the train back to school at Tororo with pals like Donald Wills and remember those long lumbering climbs up the escarpment in a steam train fired by gum trees. I am still regularly in touch with Rory Thompson who now lives in Auckland, New Zealand ( l live in Taranaki, New Zealand).
Your site is a trip down memory lane after all these years. I am the young lad with Archie Fraser at the stamp club. It gave me quite a shock to see it! I also appear in the school photo of 1958. The names, Chitty, Veal, Bax and Jupp are like ghosts from the past.
The school made such a huge impression on me. I loved it and I loved Africa, and always regretted that my parents sent me to boarding school in Scotland when I felt I should have gone on to the Duke of York's with my mates
I remember that I was in love with a dark-haired, dark eyed, Sally Harris who appears in the leavers photo.
I have a memory of ringing the school bell, an old piece of railway iron hanging from a wooden arch by the games room about 2 hrs earlier in the morning than normal, and getting the whole school up and dressed. Needless to say, we (couldn't remember my accomplice) had to own up to a beating from Chitty. Other memories include lining up once a week for sweets bought with my newly doled out pocket money, weaver birds which fascinated me in their nesting colonies, days spent looking for poisonous snakes by the river, we did spot a black mamba once, exchanging soap brought back from hols with the local African kids through the fence for bows and arrows armed with blunt stunning tips, dens in the Cyprus hedges surrounding the playing fields, climbing the trees as high as we could until we were swaying in the wind at the top and looking yearningly back in the direction of home.
I remember the Fosters, the polo ponies and the gymkhanas. I learned to ride there and it has stayed with me since. I became a horse vet and now breed Arabian horses. The kindness of the teachers was immeasurable. Archie Fraser in particular. The polio scare when we were forced to gargle with salt water!!! At least none of us ever caught the disease. My love of art was stimulated by David Jupp, we all thought him terrific but slightly bizarre in an exotic way.
These and many other memories have made me indebted to Kaptagat. Its influence has been with me all my life and I have known it. Thank you for the opportunity of reliving it.
Victor Ogutu
I joined Kaptagat in September of 1978 in Form 1. My sisters, Edith and Beryl, were in Upper and Lower Six respectively. I was barely into Form 2 when they moved on to Secondary School
I remember racing out of class at 4.00 pm on Wednesdays with Eddie Sang, Tim Fort and Kiptoo Kibogy hot on my heels; mission: to get the fastest horse for the riding lesson that day. If you weren't riding Silver, Mouse, or Andy, then you might as well have skipped the lesson. After the usual tips from Ben and Mr. Cullen (he left and then came back in the '80s) there was always a race on the Kibogy's farm just after the wheat had been harvested.
Then of course there were the walks to the Old Rockies and the Wattle Woods where we would play cops and robbers... oh yes, and Ma Rush washing your mouth with soap if you swore. Last but not least who can ever forget those lovely mince pies at the Christmas party.
Lucas Mboya
When I was there Mr Rushbrooke was the headmaster. His wife is in the UK or Spain, last I heard. Neil (his son) was in the same class as myself. There was also a younger sister, Helen. A most excellent family. Mr Tax was the mythology teacher, some other teachers: Miss Jack. Miss Roselli, Mr Andrews, who had his eye on me always, and a terrifying way of teaching maths. (the whole class had to stand on their chairs and he would walk round with 12 or so rulers in his hand, asking at random what x times x was and dealing ruthlessly with anyone who could not answer in 10 seconds) needless to say, I didn't do well in maths. Harry Pachet, Mrs Jarvis, Mrs Jones. Mr Dick Lauder and Miss Gordon Jones (very close) I wonder whether they ever went on to get married.
Miss Dobson, Mrs Evans (the boys matron), Miss Atika (girls matron), Mr Grieves Cooke. An old Asian fellow Mr Singh, was the school engineer and kept the generators running.
We had two generators, one for 'load' running that is early evenings, and another that automatically came on at about midnight. Kaptagat had all the sporting facilities of a modern day school even back then. We played hockey, rugby, cricket, swimming, tennis, squash, rounders, football (not competitively) and had all the equipment to boot.
Our common rivals in rugby, cricket and hockey were Pembrooke (we lost every rugby match but one which we drew). St Andrews Turi, we beat them most of the time in most games, Greensteds, Greenacres, and Hill School, who would field guys up to 17 years old in our rugby matches. None of us were over 12 years old. All Kaptagat boys longed for the day they would be selected to play rugby for the school. It was with great pride that one pulled on the maroon and white striped, double seamed rugby shirt to represent the school.
The normal uniform was grey shorts (no trousers), navy blue short sleeved shirts and maroon pullovers. Black shoes with grey stockings with a double maroon band at the top. Kaptagat is not all gone. This uniform lives on in the Banda school in Nairobi. A sister school to Kaptagat, also owned then by the Chitty family. The school badge and motto are the same, 'Ardus ad Stellas'
Food; Kaptagat had the best food I can remember. Only Turi had better meals. My favourites, bread and butter pudding, rhubarb crumble, and the spaghetti bolognaise were to die for. I wonder where those cooks are now.
We had two houses, Taurus and Orion. Taurus wore green sweatshirts, Orion wore yellow
Kaptagat was one of the most expensive schools in the country. In 1979 our parents were paying KShs 7,200 per term at an exchange rate of about 13-17 KShs per US dollar. Do your math. Prep was 7-7:30 pm for juniors up to 8.00 pm seniors. lights out at 8 juniors 8.30 seniors. Weekend entertainment; play till you're dizzy, giddy and anything else. Films or disco on Saturday night and a play from any class on Sunday evenings. Had a nice old hall with fabulous stage and lighting. Had a fully equipped lab too. Will try to get some photos and send to you.
Kaptagat was sold to the African Inland Church sometime between 1980 and 1982
Kaptagat: the best days of my life were spent there.
Jenny Russell
Alphonse Ogulla wonders how far back the Sunday evening kiss-chase was in existence. It was there in my time (1951-55) but I can't say that it was weekly or on Sundays -just whenever the boys started it up. The girls never initiated it! There was also another game - British Bulldogs - played on the field in evening free time. My memory is of something too rough for me, something like rugby tackling, falls onto hard, dry ground, bruises and grazes and running for one's life to escape capture. My other feared activity on that field was cricket. Way ahead of his time, the sportsmaster (who?) thought girls should play - mixed cricket. That very hard red ball would be bowled at me by some hulking great lad and I was petrified. When fielding I did my best to stand at Long Stop. I don't think mixed cricket lasted very long.
David Pritchard (1957 - 1959)
I can probably think of more stuff if prompted, but the following recollections stand out.
the horseback riding and the annual gymkhana.
the overnight train ride from Kampala.
Mrs Chitty's ballroom dance classes, in which Anne Owen Thomas was probably the most adept student.
appearing in a production of "Julius Caesar".
the weird art teacher, Mr Jupp.
the solid Mr. Fraser and his butterfly collection.
an athletic husband and wife who were teachers; she was German (the Veals).
maths lessons from Mr. Chitty in the windswept banda.
the end of the playing field (where the shed was, Fernikites) that was reputedly haunted.
Malcolm Parry
Hi - I went to Kaptagat in 1955 or so and left in 1957/8 I think.
Mr Chitty was the head there and I was only ever in the younger dormitory. I remember the food was not very nice, taking paludrin each even though Kaptagat was too high for malarial mosquitos, but at the start and end of each term people coming from or returning to malarial areas had to take paludrin and crazes of jacks, pick up sticks, cotton reel and elastic band tanks, macouttie (palm leaf roofing) shacks, cooking grass hoppers on the sanitorium fire and eating them (funny the kind of disgusting thing you do when you are 6 or 7 years of age, and games with knives called splits, polio in the school and the journey home in a train to Gilgil. Mr Fraser was the house master and Lady Baden Powell visited the school. I have keen memories of the place. My sister Lesley Parry was also there with me. I had a friend called Mike Power that I really missed when I went to Nakuru School, although the food was better. God, that was all such a long time ago, it seems so remote
Tim Belknap
If you want some memories, here they are:
The torture of waiting hours outside Chitty's office to get "the cuts" with other miscreants caught talking after lights out - then hearing them get caned while waiting your turn; the bogs and the Bronco toilet paper, which seems to have been case-hardened through some sort of waxing process, certainly character-building; the addition of protein to the diet in the form of live maggots in the purportedly boiled cabbage; the hedges and all the "shacks" with secret passageways and feuding clans; Saxon (the dog) - the only member of the Chitty family with whom I maintained affectionate relations; terrorizing East African Railways and Harbors employees and fellow passengers, including the kid we debagged and then held his shorts outside the window, only to be blown away before his very eyes; being one of only three Americans (plus Canadian Dick Beach, but not including my two bros, whose tenures overlapped) and being somewhat persecuted for the same; holding the Roman Games involving safari ants, tarantulas, dug pits, and magnifying glasses; clearing 14 feet in the long jump; getting my knee twisted for the Stuarts (Sandringham?) in the final moments of our rugby match against the Windsors and limping down the san supported by best friend and fellow Yank, Gray Goodman, because everyone else had cleared out without noticing my misfortune and were having dinner when we came into view in the driveway--the nurse, Mrs. Walker??, came running out when she saw us through the window; Jane Chitty's and David Jupp's periodic in-class tantrums; riding through some wonderful country on nimble ex-polo horses; Jupp's talent as a history and art teacher; ditto for Jane Chitty, who helped teach me how to write an effective sentence; the kindness of Archie Fraser. I could go on... the place, for better or worse, was unforgettable. Regards, Tim.
Sam Worrall
My days at Kaptagat have left a deep impression, some moments of sheer terror and some of happiness. The fact that I endured some of the more testing times gives me some pride as I look back on those days.
My brother Ian and myself had previously gone to a very relaxed international school in Istanbul, which was run by liberal minded American teachers, most of whom we were on first-name terms with. We had long hair, no uniform, and chewed gum endlessly. Needless to say, it was a bit of a shock to be interned at Kaptagat. The first thing that Rushy and Ma E did was mockingly cut off our long hair and confiscate our stocks of Wrigley’s juicy fruit! I felt like I had been wrongly convicted and was doing time for a crime I hadn't committed.
To me, the place seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and had a strange gut wrenchingly lost feeling, sort of melancholy, quite nice in a surreal sort of way
Here are some of my memories:
Playing gilli gilli gander and nyabs, where spiders, black widows and dombies were highly prized. Does anyone remember the rules for GGG?
Curled up avocado sarnies and tepid watery squash at break time. Cheesy sick with onions for lunch, where you had to play a deadly game of bluff and double bluff with Undies (Mr Andrews) by pretending to like the meals you hated so that he would not give you an extra large portion. The occasional feast of Guinea fowl when the Fosters had been out shooting.
Bath time in those old baths with the enamel worn off at both ends, full of muddy water and presumably the pee of those that had previously bathed. I remember one occasion when Ma E made Ian Mills sit in a bath that was clearly too hot, he was screaming, and after a bit he could stand it no more and stood up with a bright red tide mark from his nipples down! All good character building stuff!
Watery posho and watery porridge on alternate mornings, watery cocoa at bed time.
Anne, the assistant matron who could kick off her flip flop and smack you on the arse with it at ten paces.
Swimming terror lessons in the icy pool, with Undies standing on your fingers when you tried to have a rest from swimming endless exhausting lengths without using your arms or legs ( no, not both at the same time). I used to snort tap water up my nose in an attempt to feign a cold in order to try and get out of this, my most dreaded activity.
"Ta Tatey Ta" music lessons with Rushy, who used to shout "Ha! yu'Dopey!" at you on a regular basis.
The lovely old Mr Tax who sometimes lit the filters on his fags by mistake to which we would all joke "abam abas abat Taxy is a prat!".
The old shed of a library full of Enid Blyton books and bees, that had a distinctive smell of musty old books and honeycomb.
Invasions of siafu ants in the boy's locker rooms and swarms of bees interrupting sports.
Miss Woody and her dog Timmy (who was tragically poisoned by sheep dip).
Mr Evans? the eccentric English teacher.
Extremely exciting but rare trips to Kaptagat Falls. Horse riding in the wattle woods and racing up the airstrip. I remember seeing Sammy Tax flying through the air, still sat on his saddle as the girth strap snapped, I think he broke his arm? Hide and seek on horseback in the woods too, which was difficult as the horses would keep on neighing.
The house with the least points being excluded from the end of term party! How that hurt!
And sundry people I remember, Alif and Karim Lalji, Kinky Lane, Fiona Wood, Bereky Brooksbank, Celia Bedford-Pim, Karanja & Njoroge Kamau, Anthony Kegode, Ian & Stephen Mills, Sandy Lane and I'm sure there are loads more that my poor old grey matter can't quite grasp.
On balance despite the occasional horror, I wouldn't change a thing if I had my time again, well maybe a couple of things�..
Would love to hear from any old chums - worrall_sam@hotmail.com
Kate McKenzie
I was a teacher at Kaptagat very briefly form 1982-83. I was the Art teacher and also class teacher of about 24 6-year-olds ( I can't remember what year they were called!)
Clive & Yvonne Rushbrooke were in charge at the time and a very lively bunch we were! There was Sue Miller who also taught Art and cooking (I think). John Boyd, who joined at the same time as me, taught Maths and Geography to the older pupils. Sue Wright arrived late in the school year and left early in the following year as she was involved in a car accident. Sally Pierce was a well-known bird watcher and lots of fun, I think she taught Science. There was another Sue, but I'm afraid I can't remember her surname, and Nigel, who loved climbing and taught PE and science (I think)
It is very sad to see how it has deteriorated from the photos taken a few years ago. I lived in a lovely bungalow not far from my classroom, which was directly opposite the swimming pool. It was a really interesting time of my life for me and an experience I will never forget. I have not kept in touch with any of the staff who were there with me, but have always wondered what they have got up to since I left.
Karen Kendrick (now Gruss)
My sister and I attended Kaptagat from the early 1950's until 1958 when we left Kenya and came to South Africa. In those days, it certainly was a school with a difference, and depending on the type of child you were, you loved it or hated it. My sister and I are very different personality-wise, and I loved every minute spent there, and she hated every second! Having just come out to Kenya from UK, we were not accustomed to having so much space or harsh African living, you learned very quickly at Kaptagat.
I met the wrong end of Mr Chitty's cane on my third day there for talking (and singing Red sales in the sunset) after lights out. He must have had the most incredible hearing that he could hear what was going on in the girl's dorm all the way from the main house.
The polio outbreak was remedied by lining us all up outside the dorm and giving us all a large dose of malt and cod liver oil. It was he most revolting concoction I have ever had to swallow in my life!
had a French lady (whose name I can't remember) who was our class teacher. She had a funny eye and you never knew if she was watching you or not. She was extremely partial to scrambled eggs. One morning, having had eggs for breakfast she sat in class looking very strange and then "lost" her eggs all over our books that she was marking.
Mr Jupp was both flamboyant and eccentric. Even if you were not at all artistic, he managed to "see" something in your artistic efforts.
At break we were given brown bread and butter and half an orange. I can't remember why but I decided I was going to run away. My accomplice and I saved our bread and oranges for a few days and then after lights out "broke out". We got as far as the hedge at the bottom of the sports field and into the field beyond. I am not sure if it was a cow or a monster of great proportion but something moved, and the speed that two little girls returned to the dorm was phenomenal.
Zoe Foster was an incredible lady who, in spite of having callipers on her leg, still played polo and taught us to ride horses. The family used to field the "All Foster Polo Team" which consisted of Zoe, Francis, Robert, and Mary.
We used to walk to the stables and on the way there was a shed that contained hard yellow mielies that we used to pinch to feed to the horses. When we came back from our riding lesson, we used to take the horses to a very muddy pond where they drank and rolled in the mud.
I still have photos of horses with names such as Thistle, Conway, Complacence, Akbar and Ayisha written on the back in my untidy childhood writing. (Which never improved)
We had annual gymkhanas on the polo field. There was a sort of jumping lane on the side, with brush jumps along it. Once you got into the lane there was nowhere else to go. You learned very quickly to hold on tight and "go with the flow".
I was part of the St George and the Dragon pageant on the Fosters front lawn in honour of Lady Baden Powel. We practiced for months before and were very proud of ourselves when the event finally happened. Lady Baden Powell spoke to each and every one of us after the display.
I rode in many of the musical rides with red bandana type scarves and white lanyards.
Credit has to go to Zoe Foster for getting 15 or 20 children on horses going in the same direction for what seemed like an awfully long time.
The river was always a very special place and most Sunday afternoons were spent building dams and paddling. When I was there, the Fosters had a pet Duiker that wandered around the front lawn, with peacocks for company. He was very tame and used to follow us kids down to the river.
Mary Foster's 21st birthday party was held in the school hall. We were all locked up for the night, but to this day, if I hear the songs Sugar Bush or Picking a Chicken, which I think were sung by Connie Francis, it reminds me of Kaptagat.
During half term we didn't always go home but a lot of our parents came and stayed at the Kaptagat Arms, and from there took us on different outings. My father told many a good story of the parties that the parents had at half term!!
Having read the different opinions of the various different alumni and I can only say that the years that I spent there had a huge influence on my life. I was encouraged to be independent; I developed a lifelong love of horses, and still, to this day, compete at a high level. (I now carriage drive instead of riding) I have a love of the outdoors, especially forests and waterfalls, and most importantly I still live in Africa.
Mr Chitty was a disciplinarian of note. He ran the school like a military unit.
I don't think that our Spartan living did us any harm. We were given the chance to be ourselves and to spend time outdoors at the river and in the forest. It certainly was a different world to the one I had left behind in England. I was given a legacy that I have passed on to my children and grandchild.
I was very privileged and fortunate to have attended Kaptagat.·
Karen Gruss (Kendrick), Johannesburg, South Africa
Nick Hogg
I live in the foothills of the Alps in north Italy and the crisp air in the early morning often takes me back to standing in the queue outside the hall for assembly.
Here are some reminiscences you might like to include:
I remember the rugger team pushing Mr. Kelly's vintage Rolls up and down the drive to strengthen shoulders.
Gymkhana and sports days with parents in attendance.
Being taken to the Kaptagat Arms as a mid-term treat.
Birthday parties in the dining room and one in particular complete with fireworks that led to some punishments, unheard of even for JC.
I remember the official outfitters in Eldoret.
On the toilet paper score, I remember we went without any for what seemed like months in 1963.
I was responsible for collecting the films from JC's office and preparing them for Saturday cinema.
The science block and Mr. Kelly's experiment to show us the power of air pressure, or the weakness of a vacuum (not sure which). He took a kerosene can, poured water into it, boiled the water, let the can fill with steam, put on the cap and let it cool. Magically the can crumpled before us. The only physics I still know.
Learning the twist and the Madison with Miss Knowles to the accompaniment of Bert Kampfert's Swinging Safari.
Finding a tick-ridden puppy and looking after it until JC discovered it and made us take it to the African community that lived near the stables.
A nine-mile ride at the end of one term, bareback, sore and perfectly wonderful.
I remember the African staff pretty well and Mr. John the cook with one amazingly hot curry in my last year that most of us could not eat. The food, on the whole, I remember as being quite good.
Writing letters home in class every Monday morning. My fortune was to have David Jupp as the teacher in charge of that task, and he regaled us with stories about how he used to make up the content of the letter presumably because he thought nothing ever happened to us. One of our number took him at his word and wrote a letter about how Mr Tax's (I think) contract was coming to an end and he would be leaving the school shortly. We were not aware that letters were routinely read by JC who raised the roof at supper in the dining room and I think the unfortunate girl escaped expulsion only by a hair's breadth.
I have good recollections of several of my contempories but sadly hardly any of them yet appear on the alumni list. Where are you (Tim Hanson, Alan Milstead, Jomo Newlands, Niko Makris, Graham Newlove?) I see myself in all the situations mentioned by other correspondents: tacky, cuts, DT, hysteria, train rides, debagging, ?weird? teachers, talking after dark, the rough and tumble of the dorms etc, but the highlights are much stronger in my memory than anything terrible that happened and induced me to return with my new wife in 1990.
Janet Hyde-Clarke
My time at Kaptagat: 1939 to 1945. Chris and Malcolm Young were headmistress and master. The system was co-ed and PNEU - we numbered about 60 (among whom Robert and Francis Foster). Where are my other contemporaries on your site?
Short reminiscence: I was working in Kenya in the early 70's and visited Kaptagat. Was shocked how much the field had shrunk, and amused to hear the cabin just out of bounds called "Fernicketes". It was constructed in my day to house the only other man on the staff apart from Malcolm - Mr. Fenwick. I don't think he could have lasted long because I can't even remember what he did*. I do, however, remember taking mock Kenya Prelims in "Fenwick's Cottage"** long after he had left. (We were very spoilt during those sessions - allowed to roam free, and fed on the teenage equivalent of champagne and caviar, with the result that I always enjoyed exams.)
Janet now realises that Mr Fenwick was the games master, who left in 1940 to join the Navy, as recorded in Zoe Foster's letter in the 1958 magazine, so presumably the name Fernickites derives from "Fenwick's Cottage"??
Sue Ballantyne (nee Hyde-Clarke)
When we first went to Kaptagat in 1939/40 I was 3, as our father was (along with other able bodied men) on the 'Abyssinian' border with his knobkerry or elephant gun or what have you supposedly ready to defend us all from the Italians, whilst our mother was doing 'valuable war work' (goodness knows what, typing boring letters I believe) in Nairobi. A group of us always went up on the train from Nairobi to Eldoret with an escort, usually one of the mothers. Our mother got left behind once at Ravine Station (does that still exist?) collecting a thermos of chocolate ice cream for us from our great aunt Jessie, wife of Leslie Tarlton, one of the early 'great white hunters' so of course we did what we liked for the rest of the journey. We collected our bed rolls on departure and always examined them thoroughly for ticks, of which there were many. Chris and Malcolm (M.T.) Young ( the Heads) ensured we worked hard, but we also had a lot of fun, like taking part in paper chases on horseback (Janet of course, with the older group, climbed out of windows at night to have midnight feasts or go exploring). The two baths in the girls' bathroom were known as Oxford and Cambridge; food was pretty poor, puddings were 'Kaptagat Glue', Foundation Stone, Boiled Baby etc and of course the ubiquitous frogspawn; iodine was always put in the drinking water - if you dropped a bit of gravy in it, it turned blue. Chris Young once arranged that lunch for the whole school was salad with lettuce leaves wrapped round toothpaste, as she reckoned we were all too profligate with the stuff.
Karim Lalji
Random Thoughts in no particular order:
Anthony Worrall doing the sit ups and being ball boy for the golf balls, knuckles being rapped in class after failing to answer the memorization games. End of term house raids and the farts in the lunch room by Mr W... the carpentry classes, nyabs and gilly danda (I believe the rules were modified cricket and baseball but who really knows).
Weak juices and meagre snacks at break time, the Saturday shops to buy stuff that probably already belonged to someone. The marmite on bread as a treat, trying to get into the nurses when classes just became too much. The dashes to the pool and the cross country runs and the rugby practice that I never made. The Kaptagat Airforce. The short sheets in the beds, and the old smelly with the treads on the bum for weeks.
I am in Boston now.
Keith Jones
I was a teacher at Kaptagat (Physics and Chemistry) from 1968 (Part Time) to 1971 (Full Time). My name is Keith Jones and I was the first Project Engineer for the East African Seismic Survey, prior to Bob Gill. My wife, Margaret, was the San Sister following the departure of Audrey Payne.
I also remember Clementine Jarvis (Clemency). I took her son to Nairobi Hospital when he had a fish bone stuck in his throat. I don't know of her whereabouts though. I saw Ma Evans when she was at the Banda just before she died.
I have a large number of photographs taken during the late 60's and early 70's if anyone is interested. I also have a few taken on a return visit in about 1989/90'ish. My wife would remember the date more accurately.
Nice to see that Kaptagat is still remembered. I had a marvelous time there. Teachers during my era were as follows: - Jimmy Chitty (Headmaster), Jane Chitty, Archie Fraser, Molly Logan, Pauline Macadam, Lawrence Tax, David Jupp, Hugh Cowie, Sean Jackson, Margaret Jackson, Clementine Jarvis (Secretary), Danny Walmseley, Mrs. Gill
(Bob Gill's wife), Charlie Cullen (Horse Riding), Audrey Payne (San Sister), Margaret Jones (San Sister), Mr & Mrs John (Cook and House Keeper), Ma Evans (House Keeper). There was a Roger something who used to play a guitar and teach cricket, etc.
I used to rent the cottage owned by Robert and Francis Foster down by the river. I also remember the Kaptagat Arms when it was a Pub and owned by Bobby Tyers. I stayed there for three months in 1968.
Katherine McCullough
I was there ca. 1969/70 for a couple of years and have quite a few memories.
Remember being made to eat scrambled egg by Ma Tom (name we knew her by).
Also remember Foster's farm and swimming in the duck pond. Walks in the river and the Wattle Woods. Remember the bathroom and waiting for your turn in the bath to come round - very muddy water, I seem to remember. There was a portrait of Jomo Kenyatta and one of the Queen in the Hall. Tuck shop on Saturdays with toffee bars and those large lollipops with a flower on for sale.
Films being shown.
Writing out Hiawatha for prep in the dining hall.
Awful uniform. (straw boater and blazer) to be worn when out on an 'exeat'. Various other memories.
It would be nice to know of anyone else who was there at that time. I remember a family called Jensett (Peter, Anna and Edit) - wonder what happened to them.
Also, Annette Macabe and Belinda Nychart spring to mind. Annette was a prefect in my dorm who liked to have her feet tickled as she was going to sleep by the person in the bunk below. Usually me, unfortunately!
Colin Purchase
I was there in 46/47 while my Father was working for the Sudan railways as an architect. The headmaster in those days was Colonel Pratt.
Of course, horse riding was one of the important subjects and scouts was just being introduced, which Pratt was not really in favour of.
My memories are the dancing classes and the Saturday dances with the Girls and boys coming together in the Hall, the food was pretty ordinary, Macaroni Cheese. I detested it and had to eat it with plenty of bread and butter to get it down. Favourite was the Chocolate pudding !!
Remember learning to write running writing, and when going to Brentwood School in England had to start all over again.
I also remember running away due to being threatened with the strap, ending up with some of the local tribes and eventually being captured after some hours as it was getting dark.
My other memory is lying on the playing field and having my head covered with driver ants.
Mark Gibson
My main memories are
riding lessons around the sisal fields
playing camps in the sisal fields (i.e., whole groups of kids setting up camps and running mock battles, etc
the river with the smooth rocks, great for paddling
the ground hornbill that must have belonged to the headmaster, Bax
pushing one of the teacher's ancient motorbike around the quad, trying to bump start it
having a sweetie tin (which had to last between exeats), and personal peanut butter
exeats in Eldoret
the death in a car crash of a visiting former teacher. I think it happened on an exeat day. She left the school before we were collected, and she overturned her convertible Triumph Herald on the road between the school and Eldoret. Does anyone else remember this? We drove past the car on our way to Eldoret later that day.
Hugh Burt
I attended the school from 1960 to 1962 and ended up loathing the place because of Chitty's propensity for corporal punishment. Shame really, as the school should have been a wonderful experience.
Things I remember, in no particular order, are :
"Mountaineering" along the outside end wall of the classroom block using just the cracks in the brickwork. (Didn't find this of any use whatsoever when I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro).
The school crazes, in particular, marbles, hopscotch, "the· splits", and best of all, cap guns, until Mrs. Chitty had them all· confiscated.
Playing for hours with plastic soldiers on the far football field.
Standing in the hot sun during the lunch break outside Chitty's office because of an "NS" on my report card.
Queuing up outside the SAN to get a daily spoonful of malt.
Making wooden propellers to hold out of the windows of the school train.
Making cotton reel tanks and playing for hours with Dinky racing cars pulled along by a piece of string tied to a stick.
Tying strands of long grass together to make a loop, to trip people up.
The fish and chips that some American kid's parents sent him from Ethiopia.
Bernacca's weird bowling action - never seen anything like it since.
Playing "Kingy" and "British Bulldogs".
Telling new boys all about the "third term bashing" they had coming to them.
Looking for chameleons in the hedges.
Mr. Jupp playing mahjongg and his odd tantrum.
Looking to see if Chitty's white Merc was in the garage before we were due to have him for Latin.
Keith Ellson
It is interesting to read the different experiences of past pupils at Kaptagat, most of these dependent, at least in my time and belief, on your relationship with the Chittys.
I was at Kaptagat from 59-65, the Chitty years. Not what I would call the happiest in my life!
For reasons beyond my control or understanding, the Chitty's seemed to pick on me (also my sister and a few others in each intake) and subjected us to a lot of physical and verbal abuse during our time at school.
I was not good at maths, taught by Mr C, and for this failing I got caned on a regular basis, hit around the head in class and told unceasingly, until I believed it, that I was thick and good for nothing. Funnily enough, I was always in the top three for History, English and Geography, maybe not so thick after all. Even getting a degree later on.
Many weeks were spent each term on report cards and of course suffering the consequences (three strokes for each NS) of having regular NSs - for maths coincidently. At one point I held the school record of 9 NSs in one week. A busy week for the cane.
In my opinion this was not a great way to teach, to encourage one to learn and build up your self-esteem for later years!
I was, at the time, pleased to note Mr Tax's complete disdain for this system and would never give an NS on principle.
I guess I was an unlucky one and maybe many readers will think this is a bit over the top. But, like it or not, this was a fact of life at Kaptagat during that time for the chosen few and just be thankful you weren't one of them.
Good points at Kaptagat
Riding in the early days with Mary Foster, favourite horses were Gaylark & Bijou.
Mr Jupp was an excellent history teacher, even if he was a terrible snob, and instilled a love of the subject in me. His wall paintings also livened up a couple of the classrooms.
Mr Tax, he who smoked his '10Centis' during class, think of that today! He was a man of integrity and care.
Getting hockey colours. Bus rides to away matches and stopping off for sweets either in Nakuru, Naivasha or Eldoret depending on where the match was.
Good friends at school such as Guy Bailey, Miles Logie, Susan Bainbridge and David Steadman who went on to Allhallows with me.
End of term - Going home!!"
Pete Comley
A few more reminiscences of Kaptagat, for what they are worth. I was there from '59 to '63.
We used to prepare for the end of term train trip home by cutting a few leaves from the tobacco tree a week or so before, and drying them out in our secret tree houses in the hedge. We would cut and roll them to shape, then wrap them in a sheet of Bronco toilet paper. They were truly dreadful cigarettes, (perhaps real tobacco doesn't come from a tobacco tree?), but we bravely coughed and hacked a couple in the train compartments while Mr. Jupp was having lunch. We also made "Montgomery Fuses" for the journey. These were the centre page of the Eagle comic, which featured Montgomery of Alamein, and we cut it back and forth to make a long 1" wide strip. You'd stand on the seat holding it up above your head, then someone would light the bottom. The boy who held on longest won.
I remember waiting at Kaptagat station in the early hours of the morning for the Nairobi train, being allowed in the stationmaster's office and being fascinated by the instruments, with the large brass section keys in, and the occasional 'ding'
or 'click'. Then we'd hear the whistle and could see the train a couple of miles away. My journey home was somewhat complex, train to Nairobi, East African Airways Dakota to Dar-es-Salaam, then a train to Dodoma.
There is an errata in the prefect lists on the boards! I was actually Captain of Sandringham in 1963 and left that year, but they forgot to paint my name on. Afterwards they put my name on the board, but in the wrong year, 1965.
My friends there were Paul Townsend, Guy Bailey, Miles Logie and Terry Brick, also Dudu (because he was small, I can't recall his real name).
Margot Bureaux (nee Hensen)
I was table head, dorm head, prefect then head girl. I remember going with the head boy to give invitations to the year-end party, etc. I held the position with such fond memories, you just can't imagine.
Nicki Partridge and I had to leave school just before the big trip to see the full eclipse of the sun (1973). She had been left in my family's care as hers had already returned to England. She held a British passport and the British were being evacuated from Uganda. I had had appendicitis, bringing my mother out of Uganda - quite an ordeal - and the Canadian Government, once they met her in Nairobi, said she wasn't going back. Anyway, the long and short of it is we both left school early and at the same time to return to England/Canada.
At our last assembly I was given an incredible honour by being given my school colours a second time, for netball. First time in the school's history. They gave me such a wonderful goodbye and I received a standing ovation as I walked down the aisle to receive my award.
Anyway, Kaptagat was the most wonderful experience for me as I was given a chance to shine as never before.
I've read the terrible accounts of other students and their experiences there, I feel really badly - I really didn't see any of that. I think it was a good time to be there with one Head Master leaving and Mr. Rushbrooke being so new and all. He was quite open to new ideas.
David Curry
I started at Kaptagat in 1961, just before my seventh birthday, I was there until our family left for Australia in late 1965.
My memories are similar to others:
The contradiction of close friendships and good times on Sunday walks, horse riding, sports trips, Valentines day, secret notes in the desk from shy admirers or locusts to surprise the girls, secretly admiring some of the girls, kiss chase, cock house, stolen mealies in the hot water tank fires, Saturday night films, rest time sweet swaps and Sunday comic swaps, packing trunks and the train home with the severity of the regime that Chitty ran. The NS report cards were the stuff of nightmares. I remember Jupp giving our class a history test every lesson he had with us for a week until I had one of the dreaded cards. His aim was to catch me out and give me as many NS’s as he could. A very strange man. One minute he would be taking us out for lunch, the next full of spite. I remember him chasing me round the Hockey field trying to bust a hockey stick over my back. Thank god he smoked a lot and ran out of puff.
Even in those days I thought the best way to teach/learn was to get people interested and encourage them to enjoy learning. That didn't seem to be the way at Kaptagat.
A few of us made a pact on the train back to school one term, Declan Ross (Decci) was one of them, (I think he was in my class well) to get caned as many times as possible in the term to come. It was a way of confronting the fear (toughening up) or the “terror” as they put it in the film “Apocalypse Now”. Decci won hands down, I’d be interested to hear his side of the story.
We had some very strange role models and some good ones as well. Mr Archie Fraser (Frisky Fraser to his friends), Pat Kelly for his commitment to teaching us the skills of the various sports and the extra time he put in. I remember one female teacher (don’t recall her name) giving us all a hug good night one night. It was the one and only hug I got that term till I got home. Miss Knowles was kind and probably should have married Pat Kelly. We all used to speculate when we heard his footsteps going up the corridor and down past Fraser's dorm in the evening after lights out. Then Miss Swann turned up from Scotland. I think it was Miss Knowles who had us all growing our own vegies, she really had no idea how to grow them herself. I loved that little veggie patch though. Cecil (Arthur Askey) West with his classical music lessons, choir practice and trips to the edge of the Rift Valley in the Anglia Panel Van. Miss Dan, who had come up from South Africa in a bullock-drawn cart. Pa Tax and his “ten centies”, I thought his language skills were amazing, particularly Swahili.
The school nurse, Mrs Walker used to sunbathe in the “altogether” between the Hall and the macrocarpa hedge, behind a well-placed log.
David Trussell
I was astonished to see the negative comments made on the Chittys and the school in general, by a number of contributors who seemed to have been scarred by the place.
I think it would be hard to find a better school environment for any child to grow up in. Every time I set out a Maths problem, I use Jimmy’s layout. Every time I write a letter, it is with Jane’s words still ringing in my ears.
Many years after I left Kaptagat, I went to Kenya for a holiday from the UK, and bumped into Jimmy at a petrol station. He offered jobs to my girlfriend and me, and we taught at The Banda School for a couple of terms. He and Jane Chitty seemed little changed, and I had a wonderful time teaching a huge range of subjects. It was also interesting sharing a staff room with David Jupp. I was never one of his favourite boys, as I had zero artistic talent, and little sense of history, but it was interesting to get to know the man.
Kaptagat Prep School
Kaptagat, Kenya, East Africa