Greenfield Secondary School 1953

 The following was sent to us by Colin Ridgway.



As the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II  approaches I thought it most appropriate to look up a school photograph taken in the Spring of 1953 of Form 4R at Greenfield Street Secondary Modern School.
As I recall, all the Hyde schools had class photographs taken to commemorate the Coronation.
The country was still recovering from World War II and the Coronation was to be a big event, to be held as a great morale booster for all. So, perhaps the enclosed photo may serve as a reminder of this momentous event.
I have appended a list name of the pupils on the photo; however, after 60 years I cannot recall everyones name !
Hopefully many thereon are "still around" and can remember this happy time in our lives.




Back Row
Jack Fitton, ?, Clarence Hulme, Peter Ridgway (no relation!) Keith Brookes

Middle Row
John Shaw, ?,  Michael Lees, Me (Colin Ridgway) , John Saville, Melvin Jones, ?, Tony Hunt, Teacher ?

Front Row
John Bateman, George Swindells, Keith Rider, Ian Stone, Jimmy Foden, Joe Wilde, ?

Seated
Neville Hulme, George Robinson.

Many thanks for your time and trouble, Colin.
Much appreciated :)

Temperance Seven and the White Hart

Here are some more photos taken by Tony Downend's Father.

Over to Tony....

"This time it's one of Newton's own, I discovering this local fact much later.
A young Cephos Howard of Temperance Seven fame and son of the landlord of the once White Hart Pub on Old Road.  
Also, there are a few pics, indeed a study,  a good insight into just how much things and we have changed is gained by simply looking at the faces of the early 1950's, our grandparents, our heritage and how we once were.  

God Bless them All".

 Cephos Howard



 Cephos Howard Jnr



The Howard Family

Harry Smith and his Wife

 The following are unknown locals of the White Hart on Old Road




 
 Off to powder his nose :)

Mr and Mrs John Travis




Many thanks again,Tony.
Wonderful photos. very evocative of the age. :)

Thank You :)

Yesterday saw the views of the Blog go past the 500,000 Mark !!

Many thanks to our readers for making this possible and here's to the next 500,000!

 

The Irish Rising of 1841

 The following article can be found in the 

Annals of Hyde and District 

by Thomas Middleton

 

Captain Hyde John Clarke RN JP

A procession of May Queens

The following photos were sent to us via 

Graham and Joyce Sharpe.

Hyde Chapel May Queen circa 1935
Margaret Baddeley is 2nd from the left.


Miss Seddon's Dancing Class circa 1945
Joyce Baddeley Back row,third from right.


Hyde Chapel May Queen circa 1941-42
Hesba Craig
Joyce Baddeley First on left, centre row


Leigh Street School May Queen
Barbara Merrick circa 1942-43
Barbara was the daughter of Mr Merrick who had the bakers shop on Stockport Road in Gee Cross.
Margaret Baddeley, far left.

Many thanks Graham and Joyce. :)

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.

 

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.. :)

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 !!

 

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. :)

Hattersley Monkey Puzzle Tree

The Hattersley Monkey Puzzle tree was planted in 1968 by Barry Tongue in the back garden of his house on Garnett Road. The house along with others in the area were demolished as part of the Hattersley redevelopment plan. By then the tree had become a local landmark and a preservation order was placed on it in 2007. 
Other Roads demolished to make way for a Tesco Superstore were were Garnett Close, Garnett Way, Vannes Grove, Hayward Way and Moreton Way.




The Tree before it was moved to its present location on Ashworth Lane.
Mottram Church, or St Michael & All Angels to give it its proper name, can be seen in the background.


As seen from Ashworth Lane before the move. McDonalds can be seen in the distance.


Aeriel view of the Monkey Puzzle Tree, near bottom middle, after the houses were demolished to make way for the Tesco store.


Map of where the monkey puzzle tree stood before Tesco was built.

In 2010, after planning permission was granted for the superstore to be built on the site, the tree was moved around the corner to the other side of Ashworth Lane.

New Home for Tree 

Thanks to Gerald England! :)

St Mary's Rose Queen.

The following was sent in by David Hamilton.
Over to David....

"Here are some photos of St. Mary's Rose Queen 1961/62, when I was Crown Bearer. The Rose Queen that year was Joan Keighley, daughter of Councillor John Keighley, who lived next to my Grandparents on St. Mary's Road. John Keighley was also at some point, Mayor of Hyde. Joan emigrated to South Africa, and passed away some years ago. I can't name any of the others, I wonder if any of your readers can ?.

At the end of the year I was presented with a copy of the New Testament by the vicar, E. Billington."




Incoming and outgoing Rose Queen

 
Incoming and retiring Rose Queen in church

 
Me in church with New Testament

 
Me in church with one of the Attendants


New Testament. 

 
New Testament presented by E. Billington

 
Rose Queen 1 - Serious work !

 
Rose Queen 2

Many Thanks David.
Excellent, as usual :)  

Bennett Street Memories

We recently received these charming pictures from David Hamilton showing himself and his brother outside the house they lived in in Newton. What a pair of cheeky chappies !

Over to David.....

"We lived at 138 Bennett Street, I've enclosed some photos of myself and my younger brother taken there in the mid 60's.

It is on the corner of Bredbury Street, it was only 25 metres from our gate to the school gate at Flowery Field !

I found a photo of the same location, taken in 2012, on Daniel Demain's Flickr site".

 







In the same row as 75 Bennett Street, about half way along, I remember there used to be a sweet shop, and at the far end, next to the railway bridge, was a hardware shop called Braddocks, if I remember rightly.
I've just been looking on Google maps. and it's still there. It doesn't look to have changed in the last 40 plus years !
 

Braddocks today


It still has the pink paraffin stickers in the window !

Many thanks to David for sharing and also to Daniel Demain for his Flickr photo. :)

James "Jimmy Richie" Richardson

We recently received this message and photos from Bill Lancashire.

Over to Bill ..........

"A friend of mine from Romiley, Jean Murray, has asked me to let you have these two pictures of her dad, James Albert Richardson.

He is probably better known to lots of older Hydonians as 'Jimmy Richie', who was a star player for Hyde United in the late forties and fifties before he went on to captain Macclesfield.

Jimmy is the second from right on the back row of the St George's Class 1 in 1931 and is also the young lad with the bow and arrow on the left of the middle row on the pageant picture.  We have no idea where the pageant was, probably in the school yard judging by the stone wall in the background, or what it was commemorating.  Could it be St George's Day?  Maybe someone who was there could tell us and maybe identify some of Jimmy's classmates."

Many thanks to Jean Murray and Bill for sharing these great photos with us

James Richardson Macclesfield Town FC   1950-51 to  1954-55   Centre-half

League 158 Apps 12 Goals   Cups 35 Apps 4 Goals Debut 4 November 1950  -  Runcorn (Away) Moved from Hyde United and was soon appointed captain. He was the linchpin of the  Freer-Richardson-Shepherd half-back (centre-back) line and the team's penalty taker. Featured regularly  throughout his time at the Moss Rose, gaining a Cheshire Senior Cup winners' medal in 1952 and 1954 and was an important member of the team which were Cheshire League champions in 1952.

Woodend Lane - Past and Present

Below are various postcards of Woodend Lane in Hyde.
It must have been considered a local beauty spot judging by the amount of photographs and postcards that are around.



 






Present day photo
It's nice to see the original wall still remains. It now belongs to Charnley House residential home which is the oldest residential home in Hyde.