The Hidden History of the JCR

By Emily Banks and Noah Sennhauser

As you may know, Shiplake College dates from 1959 and has a lot of forgotten history. It may surprise you to find that this includes a bit of drinking culture! In this article, we will delve into the hidden history of the JCR. Now, what is the JCR you may ask? JCR stands for “Junior Common Room” and it was the epicentre of sixth form life up until the late eighties. It was much like today’s sixth form café, except it housed music, was flowered in dazzling Shiplake colours, and had just the right amount of alcohol.

The JCR was originally based to the left of Skipwith house, in some old-style dark green Nissan huts left over from WW2 and was a very popular amongst the Shiplake boys. The well-liked ambiance was also due to the music, which in the 60s would have been played on a record player and played the likes of the Rolling Stones, The Trogs, Cream, Pink Floyd, The Byrds, Jimmy Hendrix, and The Beach Boys. “It was a great time to be 17/18 and the only thing missing was the girls!” one Old Viking reminisced. The only girl at the time (in 1970) was Rosemary - the first and only girl in the entire school, who joined 28 years before the school formally became co-ed in the sixth form.

Eventually, the JCR got an upgrade from the WW2 bunkers. Former headmaster Mr “Jack” Eggar allocated a new space for the new JCR. The students were responsible for doing it up and running it. “The main attraction was the draught beer” said another Old Viking.

By Emily Banks and Noah Sennhauser

The sixth form students sanded and polished down a large piece of wood by hand - forming the top bar from which they served drinks, funding the bar themselves through an honesty box. The idea behind this was that it would teach the students responsibility, allowing the sixth formers to feel more independent and treated like adults. The general rule was that if you were over the age of 17 you could have two pints. It was open two to three nights a week, especially after house rugby, school rugby and hockey matches. The bar had encouraged sixth formers to stay on campus, as it had become popular at this time to sneak out on “expeditions” to the Greyhound pub in Wargrave.

Some Old Vikings who were around at this time agreed with the idea that the JCR should be reinstated but with a few modifications: One of our Old Viking interviewees stated that it “definitely helped morale (and) may well have taught a more controlled approach to alcohol. If a limit of two drinks is enforced and parental permission given, (it) seems pretty good to me as a

Allowing regulated drinking made students less inclined to bounce off the roof with alcohol once turning 18. By reintroducing responsible and supervised drinking to Shiplake in the evenings (just as is does with hot chocolate nights for boarders), we could encourage teenagers to handle their alcohol better – even if it's only for year 13 students with a latenight pint in the sixth form café or year 12s that are of age alongside a meal. This compares favourably to the European approach to alcohol, which allows teens to have small amounts of alcohol, teaching them self-control so that they can handle it better and avoid drinking irresponsibly when underage.

Want a drink; what do you think? Let us know your thoughts at VikingVoice@shiplake.org.uk