Paul Chapman: Carpenter & Joiner
Paul Chapman has been working as a carpenter at Benenden School, in Kent, since he was sixteen. The school was founded at Bickley in 1923 by three teachers from Wycombe Abbey. They moved into Hemsted House, re-naming it Benenden School, in 1924, having bought the property from Viscount Rothermere, but the site’s history goes back beyond the Norman Conquest, with archaeological evidence of Roman occupation.
Paul’s father George, who worked there as a gardener, came home one day with the news that there was work available for a painter, gardener or carpenter, and Paul thought he would give it six months and see how he got on. He started work in January 1966 with an initial wage of £4-4s-6d, and that September also embarked on four years’ training for the City & Guilds Carpentry & Joinery qualification (two years’ day release and two years’ block release) at the technical college for all trades at Westree, Maidstone. Benenden paid his fees, and Paul paid for his books and tools, working three days a week at the School with Alfred Day, who had himself been in service there since 1932.
Between them, they made furniture (including dining room tables, pews for the Chapel, endless shelves, cabinets etc), carried out repairs, designed and built scenery and technical equipment such as a console for the lighting dimmer board in the theatre, and taught carpentry to the girls (Princess Anne amongst them). They hung doors, built an extension under the stage to house the School’s costume collection, and outdoors staging for the Pageant, which every four years re-enacted the history of Hemsted. On occasion they were called to lift and dive under floorboards to locate the source of unpleasant smells – decaying rodents usually – a service no longer required since the advent of carpets! And as a memorable extra-mural duty, in past days when entertainment was home-grown, Paul played drums while Alf tickled the ivories for School and village-hall dances.
Alfred Day retired in 1982 after fifty years, and Paul carried on, this year in his 41st year of continuous employment in his first job! There must be something about working at Benenden – Horace the boilerman, who retired in the early 1990s, was there for 59 years.
Paul has found it a fascinating job down the years: “You never know what you’re going to do from one day to the next – there’ll be jobs you’ve never done before, and you just have to find your way round it. If a job’s right, you don’t hear anything more about it, unless there’s something wrong!” In 1987, he was called on to replace the many windows blown out in the Great Storm. These days, with the expansion of so many areas of the School’s curriculum and activities, some things have been taken over – eg the School’s Design & Technology department helps with construction of scenery now – but Paul still designs and makes furniture, though nowadays more is bought in.
In 1984, Paul was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and spent a month in hospital. He wasn't able to speak or hear, and couldn't feel anything from the waist down (though he was able to walk). He’d known for a while something wasn’t quite right; he liked to play football twice a week, and when he started to run, he found he couldn’t see, plus his speech began to slur, as if he was drunk. Paul had initial treatment with steroids, and was told to get all his fillings replaced (the School generously paid for half of this), and has been blessed since with good recovery. He cycles round campus, and thinks that it’s his work that keeps him going. His wife Sally works in the School’s Domestic Bursar’s department, and they have lived in a house on site for over 30 years. Their son Andrew is a graphic designer.
Paul hopes to work on until retirement age at Benenden, when he too will have completed his ‘half-century’.
Paul’s father George, who worked there as a gardener, came home one day with the news that there was work available for a painter, gardener or carpenter, and Paul thought he would give it six months and see how he got on. He started work in January 1966 with an initial wage of £4-4s-6d, and that September also embarked on four years’ training for the City & Guilds Carpentry & Joinery qualification (two years’ day release and two years’ block release) at the technical college for all trades at Westree, Maidstone. Benenden paid his fees, and Paul paid for his books and tools, working three days a week at the School with Alfred Day, who had himself been in service there since 1932.
Between them, they made furniture (including dining room tables, pews for the Chapel, endless shelves, cabinets etc), carried out repairs, designed and built scenery and technical equipment such as a console for the lighting dimmer board in the theatre, and taught carpentry to the girls (Princess Anne amongst them). They hung doors, built an extension under the stage to house the School’s costume collection, and outdoors staging for the Pageant, which every four years re-enacted the history of Hemsted. On occasion they were called to lift and dive under floorboards to locate the source of unpleasant smells – decaying rodents usually – a service no longer required since the advent of carpets! And as a memorable extra-mural duty, in past days when entertainment was home-grown, Paul played drums while Alf tickled the ivories for School and village-hall dances.
Alfred Day retired in 1982 after fifty years, and Paul carried on, this year in his 41st year of continuous employment in his first job! There must be something about working at Benenden – Horace the boilerman, who retired in the early 1990s, was there for 59 years.
Paul has found it a fascinating job down the years: “You never know what you’re going to do from one day to the next – there’ll be jobs you’ve never done before, and you just have to find your way round it. If a job’s right, you don’t hear anything more about it, unless there’s something wrong!” In 1987, he was called on to replace the many windows blown out in the Great Storm. These days, with the expansion of so many areas of the School’s curriculum and activities, some things have been taken over – eg the School’s Design & Technology department helps with construction of scenery now – but Paul still designs and makes furniture, though nowadays more is bought in.
In 1984, Paul was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and spent a month in hospital. He wasn't able to speak or hear, and couldn't feel anything from the waist down (though he was able to walk). He’d known for a while something wasn’t quite right; he liked to play football twice a week, and when he started to run, he found he couldn’t see, plus his speech began to slur, as if he was drunk. Paul had initial treatment with steroids, and was told to get all his fillings replaced (the School generously paid for half of this), and has been blessed since with good recovery. He cycles round campus, and thinks that it’s his work that keeps him going. His wife Sally works in the School’s Domestic Bursar’s department, and they have lived in a house on site for over 30 years. Their son Andrew is a graphic designer.
Paul hopes to work on until retirement age at Benenden, when he too will have completed his ‘half-century’.
