Meeting at the Barrier – Tony and Jill Johnson (Classes of 1958)
Tony Johnson (Class of 1958) and Jill Johnson née Whitworth (Class of 1958) first met in 1955 when they were 15 years old through a Sunday night youth group at Baptist Church in Woodgate. They went on their first date when they were 16 and some 65 years later the couple are still together with three children. We wish them every happiness as they celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this year! We asked Tony and Jill about their memories of meeting at School and their connections to the schools throughout their marriage.
Tony and Jill were an item at a time when mixing between students at LGS and LHS was strongly discouraged and Tony recalls how he was very nearly expelled from LGS as a result. At the time, Tony was sporty and played cricket for the First XI. His team were batting, and it was coming up to 4pm when the girls finished school, so Tony saw an opportunity to sneak off and meet Jill at the barrier for a chat, forgetting that he was instantly recognisable in his cricket whites. The next morning, much to his horror, Tony was summoned to Mr Pullinger’s office and told, “I hear you were cavorting with the girls. You know we don’t encourage any association between boys and girls. If I hear this happens again you will be instantly expelled!”
As well as cricket, Tony was a member of Air Training Corps (ATC) which was the forerunner of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF). Tony would march his squad to salute the girls when the sixth formers played hockey. He recalls how the girls’ science lab windows opened out onto Burton Street and the boys would finish school earlier than the girls, so this was a good place to meet. Tony used to travel to school on his bike and for some reason always found he needed to stop and pump up his tyre outside the physics lab where Mrs Mackley was teaching so he could wave to Jill and her friends. Jill would get very embarrassed.
When they were 16, Tony was wondering how to arrange an event to bring him and Jill together. At the time there used to be classical concerts at De Montfort Hall so he bought two tickets and asked Jill if she would like to go. Being 16 and not having much money, their seats were very far back. Tony splashed out on a gift of maltesers to share but he was so nervous he dropped the whole box! The maltesers rolled down the sloped wooden floor towards the stage and he remembers they all got crunched on during the interval by the people sitting at the front. Maltesers still have a special place in their hearts today.
They both moved to London where Tony qualified as a teacher at Goldsmiths and Jill went to Middlesex Hospital to train as a nurse. Then, Tony’s father died very suddenly, and he returned to Loughborough to look after his mother and younger sister. Jill followed completing her nursing training. In Loughborough, Tony taught Biology and PE for 26 years in five schools. He was Head at Cobden Junior School and Shelthorpe Primary, now known as Beacon Academy.
Tony taught in the LGS lower school back when Fairfield was still part of Loughborough High School. He and Jill were both House Parents in Denton between 1964 – 1968 alongside assistants Michael Downward and John Hainsworth under Headmaster Norman Walter. Tony and Jill arrived with 10-month-old Nick (Class of 1981) and had their son Robert (Class of 1986) and their daughter Pip during their time at Denton. Their boarders were aged 7-11 and Tony recalls most of their parents were in the Forces. Jill acted as the boys’ unofficial matron and Tony ran the under 11’s rugby team. He fondly remembers teaching Marcus Rose who went on to play for England and Martin Drane who played for Leicester Tigers.
Tony left teaching in 1986 and studied Theology at St John’s College at the University of Nottingham, before going into the Ministry in 1988. He met many of his former pupils at weddings and parents’ funerals. Retiring in 2009, Tony is Honorary Sports Chaplain at Loughborough University and still serves with Jill on the Loughburians Alumni Association Committee.
Jill’s father, Sergeant Charles (Paddy) Robert Whitworth (Class of 1929), was also a Loughburian but was killed in a flying accident during the second world war when Jill was just two years old, and her mother was expecting her sister Patricia (Class of 1958). His name can be found on the WW2 roll of honour on Burton Walks. Charles’ best friend at school was the infamous Colin Tivey.
