The final three from the Barlow Family Album, all showing Cosham High Street, see if you can spot where the Building School was and where Tesco’s is now!!!
When Peter sent me these photographs he asked why I did not talk about Court Lane Secondary School, so here goes.
But first a welcome to two new old school pals John Lockwood and Phil Wheaton who tells me that he still has an outstanding detention to serve for Reg Davis !!!!
Court Lane School
I suppose that I was like most children in the late 1950’s I thought that if I did not get into one of the Grammar Schools or the Tech. I had failed the 11+ and was doomed to a life at Court Lane.
But once I got over the nervousness of going to a new school, wearing an overlarge new school uniform (it’s got to do you for at least two years dear, I was told), I slowly began to enjoy ‘big school’.
To start with the new school was a bus ride away and if you were crafty you could run down the stairs of the bus and off the platform without paying and so manage to gain extra money in your pocket. The other way was to walk the couple of miles or so, this was fun with your mates on a fine day but I have to admit that on a wet and windy day we resorted to the bus unless there was a cute little lass that you wanted to talk to on your own!!!
Court Lane itself was a bit of a shock. One long corridor with classrooms off, and a two storey building In the middle which housed the headmasters office, his secretary and the holy of holies, the Staff Room. Talking of the Headmaster, he was Wally Dunstan and if you look lower down on the side bar of this blog you will see a photograph of Anida Folland presenting Wally and his wife with a leaving gift. The one thing I cannot remember is his Secretary’s name. Can anyone help?
That long corridor was quite daunting at the east end the first class room was that of Miss Curtis, Flossy as she was known to us! Moving down there was Harry Harrison, Miss Fields a motorcycle riding science terror that we were all terrified of. The George Pledger, the technical drawing expeteacherrt how he ever managed to make such neat drawing on the blackboard with those enormous set squares and rulers I will never know. Further along came June Blitz and her French class, then Ray Dopson who taught English, and finally Mick (Chalky) White another English teacher. Now who remembers these last two collecting the little plastic guards bandsmen from the Corn Flake packets? They encouraged us all to bring in ours from home so that they could race to see who could get a full band first! These were the classrooms where our drama presentations were planned, see the side bar for a programme of three plays from that period. These were the rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms and props rooms whilst the main hall in the Junior School was used as the theatre.
Opposite the headmasters block was the main hall with its two separate entries from that long corridor. Oh, how I remember sitting on the floor in there on my first day as we nervously waited to hear to which classes we were assigned. This hall, as most school halls at the time doubled as a gym hall and a dining hall, I experienced the first but never the second. Off this hall were two classrooms one the music room ruled over by Mr John Stephens, what a production the Messiah was a few years later in Manor Court! The other room was the domain of Bob Coulthard and his Geography students.
Over the years the school had grown and outer building were added, again see the side bar. Here on the east end of the site was the Domestic Science Room of Enid Tuffin and the Needlework room of Miss Crocker. ( I remember Anida telling me that she was never very good at needlework and one day Miss Crocker said in a loud voice Anida Folland I am sure that I would be able to see those stitches from the top of Portsdown Hill. Some eyesight Ehh!!!). Right down by the school fence were the two workshops , the metalwork room of Ken Wells who only passed away in the last couple of years and the woodwork shop of Harold Bennett, I do have to say that I never did well in either of those workshops.
I have left the double ended hut at the west end of the site to last as that is where any red blooded boy really wanted to go as in one end was the class room of Miss Burden and the other the room of Jill Coggan, both well worth staring at for a complete lesson!!
Finally we did not have any playing fields so on sports afternoon it was time to crowd onto a double decker bus as it made its way to the playing fields at East Lodge. The worse thing was there was no time to change before we left either end so we had to change on the bus, very unhygienic. The other sports trip we had was to the original Victoria swimming baths which were right next to the City Mortuary (bet you did not know that!). This was even worse changing wise as three of us had to crowd into a poolside booth and attempt to either put on a woollen bathing costume or afterwards trying to get socks onto damp feet.
On reflection I enjoyed myself at Court Lane with its big playground out the front and what we all thought of as old buildings 53 years ago and they are still going strong!
I also remember the move from Court Lane to the brand new Manor Court, did you know it was originally going to be called Court Manor, doesn’t have the same ring does it? I also remember at the end of the Summer Term of 1960 pushing several four wheeled trolleys loaded with chairs and desks from one school to another, Ah well So much for memory.
Keep in touch
Peter
DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk
You Write:
John Asks:-
The 4 distinct different area's that Manor Court pupils came from in the Schools catchment area were
· Highbury
· East Cosham
· Drayton
· Farlington
Was there any rivalry, did some kids look down on some of the others, I think they did and I was aware of a few fights and stand off between these groups. Hopefully things have changed since them times or have they?
News and Views:
Jack Parnell the man who provided the music for shows such as Sunday Night At The London Palladium and wrote the theme tunes to programmes including The Golden Shot during his time as musical director at ATV died a couple of days after his 87th birthday. In 1951 left the Ted Heath band to lead 12-piece and then a 16-piece band. When ITV launched, he landed the role of musical director for ATV. During his decades at the broadcaster, he worked with legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr, Lena Horne and Nat King Cole. He also made series with Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, acted as a panellist on TV talent show New Faces and was musical director for programmes such as The Benny Hill Show and a production of Peter Pan starring Mia Farrow, Sir John Gielgud and Danny Kaye. He also composed signature tunes for programmes such as Family Fortunes. In the late 1970s he began his association with The Muppet Show, for which he conducted the orchestra and frequently appeared on screen. He retired from ATV in 1982, when it became Central Television, moving to Southwold but continuing to perform with the all-star veterans group Best Of British Jazz with trumpeter Kenny Baker and trombonist Don Lusher. He also played with his small group for weekly shows at the Green Man in Rackheath. Jack Parnell died
On this day 28th August 1960-1965.
On 28/08/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 28/08/1961 the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Blackpool Tower Circus (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 28/08/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 28/08/1963 the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Martin Luther King gives I Have A Dream speech
On 28/08/1964 the number one single was Have I the Right? - Honeycombs and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 28/08/1965 the number one single was I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
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