Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

Mr. Munson, the Woodwork Teacher

According to an old, inactive Facebook post, “Mr. Munson, the woodwork teacher, ran an after-school club where students built canoes. Upon completion, the club went on a canoeing expedition to Ross-on-Wye (I believe) in the same canoes. Does anyone remember this or join the Canoe Holiday? I’m sure the canoes were tested in the swimming pool beforehand!”

Indeed, Mr. Munson ran an after-school woodwork club where I spent my time building a canoe for my Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. However, I’m not sure if other students were exclusively working on canoes.

The canoes used on the River Wye holiday in Wales were provided by an agency organizing the trip—not built by us pupils.

Rapide MK II

As for my canoe, it was a true masterpiece! My father and I built it together, following a design Mr. Munson had given us. Mr. Munson gave me the plans, showed me how to cut and assemble the plywood, and introduced me to fibreglassing techniques.

While the plans called for plywood and fiberglass, my father and I added our own personal touches. We used oak trimmings, pine wood dye on the top part of the canoe, brass screws, varnish, and white enamel paint for the bottom. It turned out to be a beautiful canoe. Although I never used it myself, my parents took it with them when my father moved to Thurso, Scotland in 1969. The Thurso scout group used the canoe after patching up a few leaks!

The result was a sleek and beautiful canoe named “Rapide Mk II”, later recorded in my official award book and signed by Adjutant Rushton from our squadron (See 1474 Wickford Squadron). My father and I gave it the finishing touches at our home in Billericay, Essex,—oak trim, pine dye, white enamel paint, and
brass fittings.

Although we weren’t close—his disciplinary role at home often strained our relationship—this project gave us a
rare and meaningful moment of collaboration. He also helped me later repair my BSA 650cc Golden Flash motorcycle, something he had experience with, having owned a similar bike in the 1930s.

The River Wye Canoe Holiday

One of my fondest memories is the one-week canoeing holiday I had with the school on the River Wye. The cost was £14—a princely sum in those days—which my mother generously paid. Whether this was out of sympathy for me or a desire to get me out of the house for a week, I’ll never know. I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt and say it was motherly love. 

To go on the trip, we had to be able to swim 25 yards fully clothed and perform life-saving techniques in the school’s swimming pool. It was tough, but I managed to pass! It was less “Baywatch” and more “drowning in denim,” but somehow I passed. I wasn’t exactly a natural in water—more like a floating wardrobe—but I was determined.

Paddy and Dunkley

The River Wye canoe holiday was unforgettable. On the trip, I made friends with Paddy, a
sporty chap from the year above me. He was a famous cricketing legend in the school lore. Paddy famously bowled out the headmaster, G.G. Whitehead, on the first ball for two consecutive years.
To put this in perspective: imagine a 6-foot-6 man, fully padded in cricket gear like some Edwardian gladiator, marching solemnly to the crease, only to be immediately sent packing with his stumps scattered like pick-up sticks.

I shared a canoe with Dunkley first, and then with Paddy. Paddy and I became close friends, and he later played in a local rock band, often wearing a T-shirt that read “Girl Wanted.” Dunkley and I also became good friends, often playing tennis together (he usually beat me!).

There was another school on the holiday—an all-girls’ school! Needless to say, I developed a few innocent crushes. One of the girls later wrote me a 32-page “love letter,” but it was more of a day-by-day account of her activities than a heartfelt expression of affection. I remember she visited my house in Billericay with her friend. Her friend was blonde, dainty, and more attractive, so naturally, I became more interested in her. We went for a walk to a local farm to “lie in the haystack in the barn”, but my little brother Gavin was tagging along. Despite my efforts to get rid of him, he wouldn’t leave, so nothing came of that day.

I owe a lot of my cultural knowledge to my school teachers, especially Mrs. Mulverhill and Mr. Hayhoe, who introduced me to the works of John Wyndham and Shakespeare. However, it was Dunkley who introduced me to D.H. Lawrence, particularly “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, which had been banned for its explicit content. Dunkley and I found its forbidden nature all the more fascinating!

During the River Wye trip, the mix of canoeing, romance, and some cider drinking left me with vivid memories of growing up, full of adventure and mischief.

Paddy, Years Later

Years later, I ran into Paddy at a party thrown by my college friend John Barker. At the time, I was running a small minicab business with my brother Stuart near Oxford Street—“Langham Cars”. I arrived in my trusty Cortina, accompanied by one of our phone operators, a pretty Irish girl with long black hair named Sheena. Things almost blossomed between us, but we never quite crossed the Rubicon of romance—though we did circle it several times like lost Romans.

Paddy and I, as often happens, lost touch—life pulling us in different directions.

In Conclusion

The memories of my time with Mr. Munson’s woodwork club, building the canoe, and the subsequent canoe holiday remain precious to me. I’ll always cherish the friendships formed, the adventures had, and, of course, the experience of growing up in those thrilling years.

And if I learned anything from that holiday, it’s this: Never underestimate the power of a well-timed bowl, a forbidden book, or an annoying younger brother.