On 16th March 2009 Dr John Lofting visited the Salesian School at Chertsey which he had left as a 14 year old in 1941.

Dr Lofting in the garden of Salesian House Chertsey

As he describes he has led a charmed life, but without his education at Chertsey he would probably have ended up pursuing a criminal rather than a medical career.

He was brought up in Addlestone by his mother, a district nurse who because of increasing deafness was forced to try her hand as a cafowner. When this experiment failed, John ran wild and the local school attendance officer had to send him and his sister back to school, firstly a state primary in Addlestone and then the Catholic School in Weybridge. Here the Headteacher realised that while John and his sister had considerable potential they were in need of boarding care. With the recommendation of the Parish Priest, John was interviewed at St George's College. He was not admitted there, but was accepted by the Salesians at Chertsey as a 'charity boy', a fact he did not realise till years later when he was going through his mother's papers.

John came to the school at the age of seven and finished his School Certificate at the age of 14. In those days only about 5% of pupils ever achieved the school certificate but as this was the equivalent of GCSE there was no automatic pathway to University. John managed to get a job as an office boy in the Oxford City Engineer's Department and he spent two years working his way and saving up to be able to complete his schooling.

Fortuitously, he developed appendicitis and was taken into the Radcliffe, Oxford's teaching hospital. The day after the operation the surgeon was taking a group of students round the ward, teaching and questioning them in Latin, as the old custom was. John, who had been used to interpreting for his deaf mother when she was district nurse and who had a good grasp of Latin, was appalled at the apparent ignorance of the medical students and their lack of linguistic skills. He proceeded from his sick bed to correct both, much to the amazement of both doctor and students. John thereupon decided that what he wanted to pursue a medical career.

To attain University Matriculation John had to return to the classroom, at the City of Oxford Boys' School. While he was there he began to do some chemistry but was advised to go down to the University to carry out some of the more difficult experiments. The Chemistry lab he worked in had about 16 undergraduates pursuing Oxford's famous fourth year experimental work. Two of these were girls who took pity on this stray schoolboy, clearly out of his depth. One was Margaret n Roberts, later Mrs Margaret Thatcher, and the other became a famous Oxford chemist.

John's plans did not immediately come to fruition because he caught mumps and spent 6 weeks in isolation. He did not make the grade in all his subjects so he entered the army and was selected for Officer Training. After his spell as a soldier he managed the entrance exam for New College Oxford and trained as a doctor. He practised in Norwich and was a GP there for 30 years. He is still an active member of the Catenian Association.

Dr John drove for three and a half hours to visit the school, where he spoke to some Sixth Formers and met Mr Ciaran Stapleton, Head of Sixth and Mr John Lydon, Assistant Head. He was entertained to lunch at the Salesian House by Fr John Dickson SDB, Chair of Governors.

Br John Finegan SDB