HYDE CHESHIRE

Harry Rutherford's
Festival of Britain Mural




Thursday 25 April 2013

Memories of Greenfield Street School

Hello ex-Greeny-ites,

I have put together a list of teachers and pupils in my class in 1959.  
A big part of a lifetime ago...
Bill Lancashire, who previously made some comments, helped with some of the names.

 Greenfield st photo greeny2.jpg

The teachers over our 4 year period were as follows....

---BIRCH---BRODERICK--HARTLEY---HALLSWORTH---HORROCKS---JONES---FENTON---HOUSE---MELLOR---WAINWRIGHT---WHITTAKER---AND A LADY WE CANT REMEMBER WHO WE HAD FOR RELIGIOUS INDOCTRINATION. I had the feeling Brodders was keen on her !!

Classmates were as follows....

 ----ATKINSON---BALL---BUCKLEY---BELL---BOWKER---(MYSELF) MAX COLLINS---CROMPTON---COOPER---DEELEY ---DEWSNAP---DUFFY---EDWARDS---ELISS---FARRELL---FARQHUAR---FRY---HADLEY---BILL LANCASHIRE---LEWIS---MORRIS---NASH---NEEDHAM---ROBOTTOM---SCHOFIELD---SMITH---STONE---THOROGOOD---TINKER---TOON--- WILSON. ---PROCTOR---GARSIDE.

Those who no longer with us include RUSSELL COOPER---BRIAN LEWIS-- -BILLY MORRIS --- PAUL FARQHUAR.

Russell was crazy about Chemistry.. He had a fantastic lab at home. He was always mucking about creating explosives and nearly blew his mother up !!.
Billy Morris I remember having a bad time after getting a dart in his eye.
Paul I remember as being a bit withdrawn.
I can't remember Brian Lewis Unfortunately.


Several remarks have been made about the amount of floggings by some of the teachers . All I know is I am sure I was flogged more than anyone else in the class. Some memories are still very vivid .
I got the pump off Birchy one day and as I went back to my desk he farted.. This was probably due to getting over excited whilst flogging . He tried to cover it up by saying that Max Collins had done a trump when he had the pump too Which I replied "No Sir, it was you" Which got me six more but this time he didn't fart.. :)

 photo 67a8161c-a656-477c-a16d-631774a5a2e8.jpg

I took a heap of Love Heart sweets into Beaky Mellors class once. Most of them got crunched up all over the lab floor. The next lesson was Tech Drawing and there was a rapid appearance by Beaky in the classroom. ..He wanted whoever had made the mess or he would flog the whole class . So, John Nash and me stood up and got six of the best.  It was the hardest I have ever been caned and couldn't hold a pencil afterwards.
I never had any swastikas on my arse from Houseys pump though..   It was christened James size 11 !!

Another memory was with Peter Toon and myself  being stopped from bringing in conkers to school and selling them  They made too much mess in the playground apparently..
If anyone knows the whereabouts of Peter Toon, please contact the blog as I would like to know.

Whatever we got in corporal punishment I think was balanced by the fact that without any doubt the majority were very good teachers.

Some of you must have some recollections of Greeny. get them posted before we become no more than history - Time is getting short !!

 D2GreenfieldStschool photo D2GreenfieldStschool-1.jpg

I bumped into Baz Wainwright about seven years after leaving school and apparently he was of the opinion that we were an outstanding class.. My thanks to you, Brodders if you are still with us for what I was given by you regarding English.. Bill seems to have the same feelings for this too..

So, I'm hoping that a few others might post remarks - Who knows, maybe sometime in the future a few of us might have a pint together - The one with the most wrinkles pays ;)  !!
It'll probably be me. .

Bye for now.

Regards,
Max Collins

(Corrections to any of this invited).

Many thanks, Max, for taking the time and trouble to send these great memories in to us. :)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the memories Max. I was in 4R at the time. I remember all the teachers you mention. Herman the German (PT) chalked a swastika on the sole of his plimpsol so it transferred to your backside.

Horrocks for music I liked him he was a kind man, one day he fell over onto an electric fire and got badly burned.

Remember "quarter George" for woodwork?

Wainright carpentry and tech drawing. I was in woodwork class one day and he screamed out my name "TAYLOR". I went over & he said "Is that your plane on the bench?" I said "yes sir" then quick as a flash I got the hardest slap across the chops I have ever had for leaving it with the plane blade downwards! I have never done it since :-)

I was only thinking about
Russell yesterday in fact. He had this thick red hair swept back and looked like a lunatic serial killer. He convinced me to go home with him one day to show me his "lab" it was very impressive, then I scarpered sharpish when he asked me if he could inject me with water for an experiment!!! Not bloody likely mate.

I am still in touch with a few classmates John Dutton for one. He now lives in Hattersley.

Cheers

Bill Lancashire said...

Max called me (out of the blue) last Sunday evening. It was a complete surprise because I hadn't seen or spoken to him since we all left school. He had been thinking about his time at Greeny and tracked me down through this site and the telephone directory. We had a good old 'chin-wag' for about an hour, mainly reminiscing about our time at the school and trying to recall our classmates and teachers. Max had got most of them, but I was able to add a couple more and also fill him in on the ones who I knew were no longer with us. I think a couple I missed out though were Gerald Smith, who was killed in a car crash in Whaley Bridge, and Ralph Wilson who suffered the same fate in Canada. Max now lives in France, but has promised to get in touch if he is ever coming back 'up North'.

PS. A message for Max. I didn't receive your email and I don't have your number so can't at the moment keep in touch.

ceecee said...

Reading all the stories about you lads at Greeny always gives me a good laugh. I often look at the Greeny remarks to see if there are any new stories. It makes us lot that went to Leigh street seniors seem quite sedate.

Mike, now living in Fullerton L.A. said...

Unlike Max Collins, who I knew when he lived on Knott Lane, my memories of Greenfield Street are of a school that was rotten to the core. I hated the School and teachers and could'nt wait to get out of the hell hole it was. All the teachers except for Mr.Jones were sadis.

Bill Lancashire said...

I've just received a message from John Ellis. He reminds me that the mystery young female teacher, who was the object of Mr Broderick's affections, was called Precilla Hyde.

Susan Jaleel said...

Bill, did John Ellis live in Kensington Street, with an older sister, Pat?

Geoff Preece said...

thanks for the memories,i,m still in touch with a few of the lads from greenie,roger lambourn jonnie farrel ,dave needam,and afew others.i was foot ball captain in junior and seniors,and left school in 1961.looking through the class window whatching the fair being erecting was always a thrill for me.love to hear the storyies of greenie.Geoff Preece

Bill Lancashire said...

Yes Susan, that's the same John Ellis, generally known as Edgar in those days.

Susan Jaleel said...

Well, well, fancy that. Give him my best please - I was Susan Ollerenshaw from No.3. John would have been quite a bit older than me I think but in the rich community life of the street age didn't matter and we all mucked in together. There were other lads too who may well have been at Greenie - John Barlow, Lynn Oldham, Alan and Glynn Baldwin and goodness knows who else. Good memories here!

Anonymous said...

I think Russel Cooper lived on Knott Lane at one time and had his Chem Lab in a shed.

Unknown said...

When I knew Max Collins he lived at Pinfold, Hattersley and then in a cottage near Tetlow Fold Farm (Osborne's Farm) across the A57 from Godley Hill. He joined the navy after school and we had a lot of good times when he was home on leave. The other contributors read like a who's who of Leigh St Juniors - Geoff Preece, Roger Lambourne, Johnny "Fuzzy" Farrell and, of course, Russell Cooper. Russell never lived on Knott Lane. His parents, Harry and Betty, had a house on Godley Hill. She had been a Cotton Queen and worked in the Wall's ice cream Kiosk on Mottram Road, Godley. The chemistry lab was in the front room. I have no idea where he got the chemicals from, but they were all in the correct glass bottles with the names etched on them. Russell switched to Hyde Grammar when he was 14, as did Ian Harrison and Albert Ashbrook. Russell eventually worked at Wall's on the technical side, but died while still a young man.
Regards,
Sam Brooks (Durban. S Africa)