THE boy's stammer was so bad he could not even pronounce his own name. (From Warrington Guardian)

THE boy's stammer was so bad he could not even pronounce his own name.

The 12-year-old had put up with other children's ridicule about his speech impediment since he mouthed his first words.

But an interview for a place at Shrewsbury School changed Noel Cornes' life.

Far from ridiculing young Noel, the school head had long held an interest in speech therapy and took the boy under his wing.

"He told my mother not to worry. He would do something about it," says Noel.

The teacher had already worked with Hollywood actress Jennifer Jones on a film role where she played an English woman.

But instead of speech repetition classes, the teacher at the private school thought Noel's problem was his breathing.

"He sent me to an amateur theatre group and told me singing was the answer," he says.

The young teenager's first job was to make the tea and sandwiches for the group.

"I used to sing along to the musicals during rehearsals and it seemed to do the trick," he says.

The boarding school pupil felt confident enough to join the debating society and by the time he was 18 the stammer was unrecogniseable.

"It was much better and enough not to be made fun of," he says. "It was all thanks to my teacher and theatre."

John Noel Cornes was born in 1933 in Alpraham near Tarporley.

He spent his first few months in hospital because he couldn't keep his food down.

John was a christian name which ran in the family. His grandfather was called John and so was his dad, though nicknamed Jack.

But the family's second son, born on Bonfire Night, was called by his second name Noel.

"People asked me why I wasn't called Guy instead of being given a Christmassy name," he says.

His dad Jack was a railway booking office clerk before rising through the ranks to divisional manager.

But Noel's early memories are of the war years.

"As a child it was an exciting time with soldiers and evacuees staying at our home," he says.

Americans, Australians and Canadians all stayed at their new family home in Gresty, near Crewe.

"They brought their wives and some even had babies born in our house," he says.

While Noel was staying with his aunt a soldier took him by the hand and walked with him towards her house.

"I told him 'You can't go in here', but he just walked into the cottage saying 'You don't know me, do you?'" he says.

The soldier was his aunt's fiancee and they married soon after.

Living near Crewe and with bombing in Liverpool and Manchester, the schoolboy was frequently taking cover in air-raid shelters.

"We used to have lessons in the shelters sometimes and teachers wouldn't allow us to leave for anything," he says.

Gresty was virtually cut off from towns during the war.

"There was very little petrol so cars weren't used and buses were infrequent and irregular," he says.

All Noel's serving relatives survived the war but he remembers the worst moment being when the postman arrived with telegrams.

"People would close their curtains until he had passed your house when there was an enormous sense of relief," he says.

A year after the end of the war the working class lad won a scholarship to a private school and moved to Shrewsbury.

"I felt a bit like Richard Attenborough in the Winslow Boy but there were other boys who had won scholarships too," he says.

When Noel was 18 he began his two years of National Service in Lichfield.

But his introduction to the Army did not go according to plan.

"My father told me if anybody hit me I should just fall to the ground," he says. "So when a sergeant pushed me along for walking slowly, during an exercise, I just fell to the ground."

After taking an aptitude test the new recruit was quickly dispatched to Woking to serve in the Military Police.

Noel was posted in Germany when the country was partitioned among the victor powers.

His duties were to look into any incidents involving British sevicemen and then to pass the information on to a special investigations team.

But the young Cheshire man had his own way of dealing with minor problems.

"They used to call me the preacher because instead of booking, I used to lecture them," he says.

Noel saw a lot of Germany playing cricket for the Army.

"I personally had no problems driving through the Russian zone," he says. "Their soldiers were fine and even shared caviar with us."

When the 21-year-old finished his military service he returned to Gresty to work in the family butcher business.

He joined a youth theatre group in Crewe and directed a couple of plays.

But it was not until he had moved to Plumley a few years later when things started to take off.

"I was in my bungalow one evening when I heard a knock on the door," he says. "A woman was standing there and she said I believe you are interested in amateur theatre. We are a society looking for like-minded people."

The Plumley Dramatic Society started off with six people but by the mid-60s their plays were receiving rave reviews.

"It was unbelievable," he says. "We all clicked. We had some very talented actors and people came to see us from all over the world."

It was during a production of Carousel 30 years ago when Noel first met his second wife Beulah.

She was one of the dancers in the musical and they hit it off immediately.

"If anyone has influenced or inspired me more, I have yet to find them," he says.

Beulah advised him to give up butchery and become a teacher.

Noel had married 10 years before but his work interfered with the couple and they divorced amicably.

"It was a killer," he says. "All my uncles had died early after being involved in the business."

The 39-year-old had been urged by Manchester Univerity lecturers to apply as a mature student.

And 28 years ago he made the decision to sell his business and start a degree in Theatre Studies and English.

"On my first day I walked into the classroom early and sat down," he says. "Then the other students arrived and seated themselves opposite me."

Noel was surviving on the sale of his shop, his grant and the help of Beulah.

But after graduating, he was asked to apply for a job as head of drama at Bramhall High School.

Two years later, he was told there was a job coming up at Knutsford High School.

"I loved working with children," he says. "The look on their faces makes it all worthwhile."

He and his wife lived together in Plumley with two young children from her first marriage before marrying 23 years ago and moving to Fir Tree Avenue, Knutsford.

Now father of four, Noel has taken an external degree in drama and special needs, staged mystery plays in historical towns and directed productions at Knutsford Little Theatre.

He has sung in musicals and played parts as diverse as Pontius Pilot and Otto Frank.

After playing the part of the latter in a play in Manchester a man came up to Noel in a deserted train.

"He took me by the arm and said 'Thank you,'" he says. "I noticed a tear in his eye and a number written on his arm."

The 66-year-old retired two years ago but is still involved in directing plays and is an external examiner for the NEAB.

But since retiring the grandfather is spending time umpiring Cheshire cricket matches.

"It is my claim to fame," says Noel. "My name is written next to Dickie Bird's in the official umpires' list."

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