Eccles Grammar School --- Archive --- 11 December 2024

This website preserves materials relating to the former Eccles Grammar School (Eccles, Lancashire). They are freely available for all who want to see them. The school, which was located on Park Road, Monton, served thousands of students between 1911 and 1977. If you have access to any materials appropriate for inclusion, especially ones not known on the present list, and that you are willing to share, please contact me at hkingy@yahoo.com Special thanks to Eleanor (Chapman) Barker (1951-58) who has been greatly helpful in kick-starting this Archive as well as providing scanned photos and providing many names. Many thanks, too, to John Trace who maintained a school website for many years, keeping the school "alive", and that has been the source of some materials shown here. Harry King.

The School also has a Facebook page, followed by more than 700 members. On that site, which requires that you join Facebook, members can keep in touch with other former schoolmates and swap memories with them. The site is at: EGS Facebook Page

Materials newly added are highlighted in pale pink.

RECENT CHANGES (14 Sep 2024); Jacqueline Gain came to the School from France for the 1946 school year to serve as French Assistant. She wrote a letter to her parents in that year, describing the school. Her son kindly sent it to me (and translated it). Read it in the "Brief History and Stories ..." section. Merci Beaucoup to Jacqueline's son, Eric Sheldon.

RECENT CHANGES (15 Oct 2024); Kay Murray kindly provided us with three photos of her uncle, Lol Kay, on Football and Cricket teams from about 1951-53. (See 'Photographs ... 1950 and later'). She also shared with us an obituary (2023) that she wrote of Lol Kay. He was a legendary figure around the School for many years after he left, brilliantly talented academically, athletically, and culturally. That obituary is added in the 'Stories of Former Pupils/Teachers' section. Many thanks, Kay, and to Andy Brooks who knew Lol and identified most of the people on the photographs.

RECENT CHANGES (18 Oct 2024): I received a wonderful surprise letter from Mr. Darbyshire's son, John, who sent several new photos and related materials. His dad, a wonderful and beloved influence on the successes of many of us, taught at the School 1935 to 1971. These photos, highlighted with pink text, are in the sections "Photos Before 1950", "Photos 1950 Onwards", and "Other Materials". Your contacting us has been greatly appreciated, John.

RECENT CHANGES (18 Oct 2024): Just about everyone looking at this site will be a former pupil of the School. Some get confused about whether they are Old Essians or Old Essayans. I have tried to set the record straight (see the "Brief History of ... the School" section).

RECENT CHANGES (11 Dec 2024): The ever-active Tony Elwood sent photos of Old Essians getting together recently for a hike and a pub lunch. See the "Re-union Events" section. Thanks yet again, Tony !

Click for list of ALL the changes (and of people who kindly contributed) made over time.

Brief History and Stories of the School

Here is a chance to show off your literary talents -- perhaps inspired by the English classes of Mrs. Sainter, Miss Baker, Wiggy Gower, Fingers Ellis, or others. Can you recount a short story (... up to, say, two pages) about your memories of the school ? You might write about a memorable incident, or have more general memories. The pieces by Christine and Margaret serve as nice examples. C'mon, show us what you learned !

Essians and Essayans: the Subtlety of Wording

What do we mean by Essians and Essayans ? Here is what you may have never realised.

School History

A rudimentary attempt has been made to recount the history of our School. Those of us who knew the School at first hand are becoming less in number, and our memories are becoming more faded. Have we any talented researchers/writers who are ready to tackle that interesting task ? In the meantime, the account given here will have to suffice.

Letter to France, 1946

Jacqueline Gain came to our School for the 1946 School Year as French Assistant. She wrote to her parents in France describing the school. Her son, Eric Sheldon, kindly sent me a copy of this letter.

Memories of Christine (Sunsburg) Fairclough

Christine (Sunsburg) Fairclough wrote a nice little piece, remembering some incidents from her time at the school (1961 to 1968). A good, literary eye, I can see.

Things that stick in the memory

Christine (Sunsburg) Fairclough puts pen to paper, again, for us.

A famous pop music star is snared

Margaret (Muskett) Moxon recalls the funny circumstance that led to a famous pop music star opening the 1965 School Christmas Fair.

Saint Dorothy

Harry King recounts an act of great kindness by one of our teachers that greatly affected the opportunities that came to him.

Miss Baker and Ena Sharples

The creator of Coronation Street, Tony Warren (... his real name was Tony Simpson) was a pupil at EGS, about 1947-1951. Our headmistress, Miss Baker, inspired his writing career and kept in touch with him when he became famous. Joyce (Sheppard) Draycott was in class that day when the announcement of the birth of the great soap opera tickled Miss Baker's pride.

A Very Sad Memory, and a Memento

Margaret (Muskett) Moxon tells a moving story about losing a school friend and having a rather unusual memento as a result of the event.

Incidents from Memory

Trevor Lunness digs deep in his memory to remember incidents that have stuck in his mind, always managing to keep a forgiving tone!

All-School ("Long-Roll") Photographs (Electronic Version)

Eight "long roll" photos are made available below. The originals, some in heavily-damaged condition, were between about 35" and 42" in length. Here, each roll photo is presented in 4 pieces, the pieces overlapping so that no-one gets "lost". The most recent update of names on each photo is shown in the table. Each "quarter" photo is between about 9.3" wide (the 1949 photos) and about 10.8" wide (the later photos). The resolution is always 300 dpi to ensure good quality, so file sizes are of the order of 2 or 3 megabytes. The photo files are stored on Google Drive. Here's how we got them:

The very rare 1938 photo appears thanks to Sue Green, daughter of the teacher, Mr Bill Evans. (See a little more about Mr. Evans in the January 2017 changes via the "changes" link above.). The latest addition to the Archive, the 1946 photo, preserved by Ena Molyneux and retrieved by Graham Lowcock, came in well deteriorated condition, partly because of irreparable water damage. I have done what I can to make it fairly presentable. Audrey (Shawcross) Davies, on the photo herself, has kindly identified every one of the teachers. The 1949 originals were scanned many years ago, and had names added, by Gordon Dixon (1947-53). These originals have been slightly re-arranged. Photos from 1952 were from an original scanned by Eleanor Barker, and I renovated them. The 1955 photo was provided by John Russell, who has provided many names. The 1958 photo is my own. For the 1961 photo, James Ashworth kindly loaned his original to Sue Green, and Sue did her usual excellent job of scanning. Twenty years ago I had a database of names of people on this photo, and I have added them to the photo itself. The 1964 photo comes courtesy of Eleanor Barker. who twisted the arm of Gwen Riley to borrow the photo, then scanned it to perfection. Thanks Eleanor and Gwen (... hope the arm isn't sore, Gwen ... .) I added many names to the photo, collected over the years from many people. The 1970 photo, from Lynne (Garner) Wilkinson, has names of a number of the pupils and teachers on it. All photo versions have names and numbers, the numbers helping you to pin names to faces, of course. If anyone has other photos, or can provide names, please make them available. Accompanying the link to each photo is the date that it was last updated.

Many kind people are trying to add names to the photographs. To do so requires you to be able to report which NUMBER corresponds to the person you're naming. That isn't always easy, especially for old eyes. I have made a short "guide" that will train you, and gives you a couple of little exercises. Try it -- it's fun. GO TO THE MINI GUIDE

YEAR	Section	Section	Section	Section
1938	Left 26 Jan 2017	Mid-Left 26 Jan 2017	Mid-Right 26 Jan 2017	Right 26 Jan 2017
1946 w Names, Numbers	Left 22 June 2020	Mid-Left 2 June 2020	Mid-Right 3 Oct 2019	Right 2 June 2020
1949 w Names, Numbers	Left 4 Apr 2019	Mid-Left 16 Nov 2022	Mid-Right 2 June 2020	Right 9 Oct 2017
1952 Plain	Left 22 Jan 2017	Mid-Left 22 Jan 2017	Mid-Right 22 Jan 2017	Right 22 Jan 2017
1952 w Names, Numbers	Left 11 Apr 2021	Mid-Left 11 Apr 2021	Mid-Right 5 Apr 2019	Right 5 Apr 2019
1955 Plain	Left 12 Jan 2017	Mid-Left 12 Jan 2017	Mid-Right 12 Jan 2017	Right 12 Jan 2017
1955 w Names, Numbers	Left 28 Nov 2019	Mid-Left 27 Jul 2017	Mid-Right 27 Jul 2017	Right 27 Jan 2020
1958 Plain	Left 22 Jan 2017	Mid-Left 22 Jan 2017	Mid-Right 22 Jan 2017	Right 22 Jan 2017
1958 w Names, Numbers	Left 28 Nov 2019	Mid-Left 26 June 2020	Mid-Right 7 Jun 2022	Right 8 Aug 2019
1961 w Names, Numbers	Left 13 Jul 2021	Mid-Left 3 April 2021	Mid-Right 3 April 2021	Right 24 Dec 2021
1964 w Names, Numbers	Left 9 Jan 2022	Mid-Left 9 May 2023	Mid-Right 11 May 2023	Right 9 Jan 2022
1970 w Names, Numbers	Left 28 Jan 2024	Mid-Left 4 Dec 2024	Mid-Right 11 Feb 2024	Right 11 Feb 2024

Can anyone come up with long-roll photos other than those shown here ?? DOES A 1968 PHOTO EXIST ?

School Photographs (pictures outside and inside building)

Photos of the School's Interior

Photos of the School's Exterior

1933, Aerial View of School and its Grounds

Can other photos of the inside and outside of the building be located ??

Photographs of Staff and Pupils (Pre-1950)

Photos of Staff and Students pre-1950

Can other photos of teachers and pupils from these early years be found ??

Photographs of Staff and Pupils (1950 and later)

Photos of Staff and Students after-1950

Can other photos be located ??

School Performances/Plays

School Performances from an unknown 1930's date.

A School Performance from 16 January, 1931

A School Performance from 4 March, 1932

A School Performance from 23/24 February, 1934

1963 School Play "She Stoops to Conquer"

1965 School Play "When We Are Married"

Reunion Events

• 1998 Reunion. (It was held Sept 12, 1998.) This group attended the school in the 1950's and 1960's, apparently, The photos are unfortunately quite blurry. Can anyone provide better copies, and identify some of the people ?

Group Photo of Women attending the reunion

Group Photo of Men attending reunion

• 2010 Reunion. Four old classmates shared a beer in 2010.

Four friends from the 60's/70's.

• 2012 Reunion. This group attended the school between about 1969 and 1974. Thanks to Niven Howlett who provided the photograph and added all the names.

Group Photo of 20 of the Attendees

• 2012 Old Essians Dinner. A group of long-time friends at a dinner held in 2012. All of these went to the school in the early 1950's. Eleanor (Chapman) Barker kindly provided the photo.

A Very Historical Group, "60 Years On" they titled the photo.

• 2019, 50th Reunion. Held in Monton, June 15 2019, and was attended by over 50 people who attended the School in the mid/late 1960's. It was a great success, thanks to the good number of people who organized the event. Norman Jackson showed us his skill with a camera (... clever bloke that ...) and sent videos to help record the event. He taught John Britton how to do it, too, and John chipped in with his own video. Many thanks, Norman and John.

Attendees at the Reunion ("On the Red Carpet" by John Britton)

The School Hymn, a new rendition !

My generation -- never too old to rock

Music Quiz organized by Pete Williams

"Three blokes" play "Johny B. Goode" (with a lot of crowd noise accompaniment!).

• 2023 Reunion, 22 Nov 2023. Held at the site of the Free Trade Hall. More than three dozen "old codgers" got together to commemorate the Speech Day of 1963. The following links tell the story:

Slideshow record of the event

Transcript of the (mock) Awards Ceremony

"Intelligence" Quiz Given to Attendees

• 2024 Reunion, December 2024. A pub lunch and a hike by a set who named themselves "Monton Ramblers". It wasn't explained to me whether the "Ramblers" name was chosen to describe their physical excursions or their conversational tendencies at the pub ... .

Taking some glasses of ale.

The sturdy hikers brace themselves for the adventure,

Honours Boards

Honours Boards

The School Hymn

• The School Hymn, as I remember it, was created in 1953 when some of we oldies were in school. Mr Varley, the then music teacher, composed the music. The words, in 8 verses, as shown here, come from a poem by Rudyard Kipling composed in 1906. (Prior to 1953 the music of the hymn was by "J. B. Miles", words again by Kipling. Anyone know who JB Miles was ? A music teacher?) The cheerful and strongly accented Yorkshireman, Mr Varley, conducted his hymn with great gusto. Coming not long after WWII had ended, these patriotic words were probably more in line with the sensibilities of us and our parents than they would be considered to be today. (Many of our teachers at that time had in fact served in the War.) We can hear it sung at the 2019 Reunion Gathering in another section of the page.
• The Score of the School Hymn is provided for all you clever people who can make sense of crotchets and quavers.

School Magazines (The Essayan)

1916 December

1917 January

1953 December

1954 July

1954 December

1955 Summer

1956 Easter

1957 Summer

1958 Summer

1959 Summer

1960 Summer

1961 Summer

1962 Summer

1963 Summer

1965_December

1967 Spring

Can anyone come up with School Magazines other than those we have here? The series seemed to start in 1953. We are missing 1964, and 1966. Anyone out there have them ??

Speech Day Programs

1931 (4 Dec., At School)

1932 (2 Dec., At School)

1933 (8 Dec., At School)

1938 (25 Nov., At Town Hall)

1951 (30 Nov, Princess Cinema)

1952 (21 Nov, Ellesmere Cinema)

1953 (13 Nov, Ellesmere Cinema)

1954 (19 Nov, Ellesmere Cinema)

1955 (25 Nov, Ellesmere Cinema)

1956 (23 Nov, Ellesmere Cinema)

1957 (6 Dec, Ellesmere Cinema)

1958 (21 Nov, Ellesmere Cinema)

1959 (20 Nov, The Free Trade Hall)

1960 (24 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1961 (17 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1962 (23 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1963 (22 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1964 (20 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1965 (19 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1966 (18 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1967 (1 Dec, Free Trade Hall)

1968 (22 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1969 (28 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1970 (20 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1971 (19 Nov, Free Trade Hall)

1972 (27 Nov, School Hall)

Can anyone come up with Speech Day programmes from before 1951 (if such things exist) ??

Eccles & Patricroft Journal 1973 Articles About School Closing

Article "Farewell Eccles Grammar!" (historical notes)

Article "Memories of W. J. Shercliff"

Article "Pupil Memories of the School"

Memorials of Pupils Lost in the Wars

Pupils of the School lost their lives in WWI and in WWII. In 1949, memorial tablets were installed in the School, and a memorial service accompanied the installation. After the School was closed, and it got demolished in the 1990's, John Trace retrieved the tablets and stored them. In November 2005, the memorial tablets were installed in the Remembrance Chapel of St Paul's Church, Monton. An Old Essian, F. R. (Freddie) Cooke, 1946-53, who had become a minister, preached a sermon at St Paul's prior to the re-installation. He hade some fond recalls of his time at the School.

Tablets commemorating pupils losing lives in WWI and WWII

Memorial Service in 1949 dedicating War Tablet installations in School

Names of pupils losing life in WWI and WWII

Memorial service by F.R. Cooke at 2005 tablet transfers to St Paul's, Monton

Old Essians' Association Materials

These interesting items list members of the Old Essians' Association in 1939, 1946, and 1953. (The latter shows 'Life Members' only.) Many of these members were undoubtedly of the same families as later attendees of the School -- grandparents, parents, and other. We are indebted to Sue Green, daughter of the teacher Mr Bill Evans (as noted above), who supplied all these materials. Can anyone make available similar items ?

1939. Membership Booklet of the Old Essians' Association.

1946. Membership Booklet of the Old Essians' Association.

1953. Old Essians' Association Activity Summary

Other Materials

School Badge (cloth)

Prefects' Badge (metal)

The Dress Code Regulations

1950 -- People passing 11+ -- the passport to EGS

1959 Photo, Old Essians Presentation to Mr. Alec Pearson (on retirement)

1959 Invitation to the School's Christmas Fair.

1969 Retirement of "Miss Jackson"

1969 Airline Accident affecting 39 pupils

1971 Program for a "Summer Spectacular"

1971 Photo of Mr Darbyshire, near to his retirement

1971 Eccles and Patricroft Journal, article reporting Mr. Darbyshire's retirement

1971, Mr. Darbyshire's gift presentation at retirement.

1972 Charity event showing the film Woodstock

Cricketing career of our school's History teacher, "Mr Worsley"

EGS's Answer to Banksy -- John Britton

Teachers with Long Associations to the School

Baker, Beatrice Annie	Teacher and Senior Mistress, 1930-1965, English
Ball, John	Teacher 1928-1963, Chemistry
Bryan (m. Broadley), Elizabeth Mary	Teacher 1925-1963, Physical Education
Cannon (nee Cooper), Dorothy Rose	Pupil 1915-22, Teacher c1949-c67, Latin
Cowlishaw, Thomas Inglefield ("Tic")	Headmaster, 1911-1937
Darbyshire, Wilfred	Teacher 1935-1971, Physics
Evans, William	Pupil 1929-35, Teacher 1947-55, Latin, Maths
Fairweather, Harold Herbert	Headmaster 1937-1964, Geography, Religion
Gunter, John Henry	Teacher 1911 - 1946, Chemistry, Acting Headmaster WWII
Hollis, Arthur	Teacher 1914-1948, Handicrafts
Ingham, Sadie	Senior Mistress 1917-1942
Pearson, Alec	Teacher 1926-1959, Maths
Petford, Ida	Teacher 1915-1946
Pryor (m Legge), Marion	Pupil 1923-30, Teacher 1946? - 1972?, Maths
Shercliff, William	Teacher 1912-1951, Geography, Mathematics

Stories of Former Pupils/Teachers

Clicking on the opening line will go to a source with more information.

Nick Higham, 1972-1977

It is appropriate to have Nick at the top of our list. A very distinguished mathematician, Fellow of the Royal Society, author of many books, recipient of many prestigious awards. His list of accomplishments is rather staggering. All of us connected to the School are greatly honoured to count Professor Higham among our number.

H. H. Fairweather, Headmaster 1937 to 1964

Mr. Fairweather was a towering presence in the history of the school. We never doubted his tremendous commitment, his zealous concern for our welfare -- even if his rather militaristic style sometimes frightened us and infuriated us. He was a man of his age, and his leadership was outstanding. Darrell Jackson had the foresight to take a wonderful portrait photo of him in 1964, close to retirement.

2009 Obituary: Keith McEwan, Headmaster 1964 to 1971

Mr. McEwan was only rather briefly at the School, but he transferred across to the Eccles College where he remained for many years.

1963 Obituary of John Ball, teacher 1928-1963

John Ball was a teacher of Chemistry from 1928 to 1963. He influenced a great many students who went on to to have stellar careers. The following obituary was written by the headmaster, Mr. Fairweather, after Mr. Ball's sudden death while still in his teaching years.

1997 Obituary of Dr Mary Niddrie, teacher 1950-1965

Mrs. Niddrie was an effervescent teacher of French at the school for 15 years, remembered warmly for the trips to Europe that she led with many students. In these, her charges were always amazed by her complete fluency in every language. She was raised in Africa, and came to England when her husband started teaching at Manchester University. After leaving EGS, she lived and worked in America for over 30 years.

1921 Obituary of John Walmsley (Headmaster, Forerunner of EGS, 1873)

Before the school, as we knew it, was formed, there was a non-public forerunner, also called Eccles Grammar School. John Walmsley started it in 1873, and was headmaster for 48 years. He is buried in the Peel Green Cemetery (from whose website this obituary is taken).

2001 Obituary of Frank Newby (Engineer)

Frank Newby was a structural engineer who designed many important buildings. He was at the school in the 1930's, and his obituary was published in the Daily Telegraph.

2010 Obituary of Jack Tinker (physician)

Jack Tinker went to Medical School in Manchester. He became a leader in the medical community, becoming the Dean of the Royal Society of Physicians, and was credited with "setting the standards of modern intensive care in Europe". His obituary in British Medical Journal is not available online (and must be sought out by more conventional means), but the RSP website, shown here, offers a generous tribute.

Fleur Penford (travel book author)

Under her married name of Fleur Speakman, she has published many guide books to walking in Europe, as well as guides to Chester and the Yorkshire Wolds. Fleur was a pupil in the 1950's.

2016 Obituary of Tony Warren (Coronation Street creator)

His name at school was Tony Simpson, and he had a most unusual time there. Despite that, he went on to become the creator of Coronation Street, Britain's longest running soap opera, followed by millions for over fifty years.

2012 Obituary of Peter Jackson (Technology Journalist)

Peter wrote about technology for national newspapers including the Guardian and The Times, and also for the prominent PC Magazine.

2000 Obituary of Sir Hubert Bennett (Architect)

Hubert Bennett attended the school near the time of WWI and rose to become the chief architect of the London County Council (later Greater London Council). As such, he was highly influential in how the capital city developed and was knighted in 1970.

Ian Isherwood (Professor)

Dr. Isherwood CBE was professor of Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Manchester. He pioneered the use of CT (Computed Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) that radically transformed the practices of medical imaging in recent decades. His papers at the M/c University Library, occupy nearly 10 feet of shelving ! He died in September 2018. An obituary gives extensive details.

2018 Obituary of Tom Neil (Distinguished aviator in WWII)

In his youth, Tom Neil he had a remarkable career as a fighter pilot in WWII, and was interviewed for the documentary film Spitfire, released July 2018. He also wrote what has been described as the best book on the Battle of Britain, in which he participated as a pilot.

Eric Skeels (Pro footballer)

Eric had a tremendous soccer-playing career, making a record 592 appearances for Stoke City. He played from 1959 to 1977. He was team-mate of such famous legends as Stanley Matthews, Dennis Viollet, Jimmy McIlroy, Gordon Banks, and others.

Henry Buckley (Scientist)

The Buckley family may well be the most accomplished to have been pupils at our school. Sam, Robert, Henry and William (Pip) all became top-notch scientists who had distinguished careers. Henry had the distinction of having a British Museum collection named after him.

Martin Baggoley (Author)

Martin was at EGS in the early 1960's. Following a career as a probation officer, he became very knowledgeable about crime in all its guises, and combined that with his literary ability. He has written an armload of books, including "Hanged in Lancashire" and "Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Manchester". He has also published many articles in Crime magazines, and a wonderful book of old photographs of Eccles that has pride of place on my bookshelf.

Harry Muskett (Author)

Harry Muskett, at EGS in the mid-sixties, has written an interesting and entertaining book about his youthful years, the major part being about his time at our school. It's a very honest account of how -- as a working class lad perhaps over-influenced by the cultural changes of the sixties -- he felt he missed out on his opportunities. It's full of good Northern humour and realism, thoughtful insight, and self-effacing modesty. It's a very enjoyable (and sometimes a bit shocking) read. "Harry Who ?" is available through Amazon in paperback or Kindle format.

Alan Dyer (Scientist, Lacrosse leader)

Alan (PhD, 1958, DSc, 1981) had a very distinguished 40+-year career at the University of Salford, specializing in the study of Zeolite minerals. He published 252 papers, 3 books, held 12 patents, and supervised 66 PhD students. A lacrosse player with Boardman and Eccles in the 1950's, he became an ardent supporter of the development of the game, as the obituary on the National Lacrosse website shows.

2023 Obituary of Laurence ('Lol') Kay, An Amazing Talent

Laurence Kay must have been the most multi-talented student we ever had at our school. He became a professor of Physics, was an outstanding athlete in many sports (was on the books of Manchester United at the time of the renowned Busby Babes), was a professional musician. After he left School, our teachers were in awe of him, telling we later students that he was the example we should strive to emulate.

Can you share appropriate articles/websites ??