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Clifton at Bude

It was late in the day to find a new home for the school in a safe area: all suitable accommodation that had been available in 1939 had since been requisitioned by the War Office. But, thanks to the intervention of Sir Robert Waley-Cohen, the Army agreed to release some hotels in Bude and occupy the College building in exchange. (Later in the war, the U.S. Army took over from the British, and General Omar Bradley’s headquarters for the planning of D-Day were established in School House.)

Meanwhile, at the end of January 1941, the school packed up. The advance party left on 1st February, and the whole operation was completed in ten days. Improvisation was the key-note, but life at Bude, though inconvenient was exhilarating. It has been described as “camp like under a roof”. Boys were quite likely to get soaked more than once in a morning. Yet it was a time of much creative activity. The House Art and Drama Competitions began; meals in houses gave way to meals eaten centrally with all other pupils and it was a period of academic success, particularly in awards to Oxford and Cambridge. Also, the Clifton College vs. Tonbridge cricket match was played at Lord’s in 1941, 1942 and 1943. Above all, there was the sea – and the winds that blew away the cobwebs and confirmed Clifton’s best traditions. The Bude years for Clifton – like the sixties for public schools generally – were a time of jettisoning outmoded customs that had no visible purpose. After Bude, Clifton was never the same again.

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