Harrow County School for Boys

Jim Golland

by Michael Portillo

Jim Golland's death is a blow to everyone who had the privilege to be taught by him. 
 
My early years at Harrow County made me feel a sense of great excitement at the knowledge that was being opened to us, and for me that was particularly true of literature and theatre.  From my second year at the school I encountered Mr Golland directly in the classroom, but in any case he headed up an impressive English Department that included Fred Bilson, Gerry Lafferty and C.I. Anderson.  We were fortunate to be taught by such people.  They brought out our enthusiasm and made us keen to learn. Motivated by them to discover the wonders of dramatic art, in our early teens we would head off to the theatres of London, feeling unbelievably chic.
 
Extraordinarily I can remember to this day individual lessons taught by Jim and specific remarks that he made.  He was firmly in control in the classroom not least through the force of his deep voice which carried the bark of command.  He was not bad tempered but he could be gruff, and a favourite phrase used against a recalcitrant boy was "little guttersnipe".  He had authority and we were very aware that he was head of department.  He loved to encourage creative writing and he laid great store by "logbooks" in which boys could write anything that poured out of their adolescent minds!
 
In our second year he ended one lesson by calling for volunteers to work in the bookroom, Room A2.  For the following five years that room became office and virtually home for a group of us.  It became the headquarters for a clique and the place where many real-life dramas were played out.  I whince at the memory, but A2 also made Francis Matthews and me amongst others, Jim's special disciples. As our time at school ticked by we thought of Jim increasingly as a friend.  Even then he displayed great pride in our achivements, for example Francis's portrayal of Hamlet in the memorable school production (of 1971 I think).
 
Jim had every right to be proud of the school.  The achievements of the staff were remarkable.  Our year saw the school gain 22 places at Oxford and Cambridge of which 21 were exhibitions or scholarships.  That was the last year of the grammar school.
 
I was appalled to see the school dismembered, but particularly to see the staff scattered about.  Jim went to Harrow School where he was placed a long way down the pecking order in the English Department.  It was awful and it must have been difficult for him to take.
 
He told a story to illustrate how different from each other socially were Harrow and Harrow County. At his new school Jim asked the boys to write about their summer break.  One boy's essay began, "On our return from the Seychelles we discovered that one of our Great Danes had died from swallowing orchid fertiliser."  I think he particularly liked the "one of"!
 
I am happy that I saw a fair amount of Jim in his retirement.  There was a memorable dinner for about twenty masters given by ten "boys" from my year twenty years after we left school, so that must have been 1991.  It was held at the House of Commons and Jim and Clive Anderson made speeches.  Recently, the wonderful school website has led to a plethora of reunions at which Jim has been a keen attender.  When we met there, he liked to recall the great school plays, many of which are to me just a name or a photograph on the school corridor wall - for example "Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay" or "Antigone".
 
His pride in his former pupils seemed to shine from him.  If our careers gave him some pleasure I am delighted that we could offer something small in return for all that we received from him.  He was a great inspiration.  He spread out horizons before us, and challenged us to explore them.  He broadened our understanding, reading and aspirations. 
 
Those people who encounter a teacher like that during their formative years are fortunate indeed.  That is real privilege and of course it makes a huge difference to a person's possibilities in life.  We happy few...
 
Latterly I didn't see Jim exactly frequently, but I miss him already.  He is the roots of a generation of Harrow County boys, and a part of us has withered at his death.

Michael Portillo

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