Clarendon Secondary Modern School Memories 1964 1969

I went to Clarendon when Mr Harris, a lovely man, was headmaster and his deputy was Mr Bob Coyle, my form teacher was Mr Faulkner, later it was Mr Dent known as Dollie Dent. Mr Dent took most of the class to a Theatre in Stockport for a Shakespeare production, I can't remember which play (it was 50 years ago) much enjoyed and appreciated. I left Salford when I was a teenager and now live in Cornwall, I still have very fond memories of my Salford childhood days.

I welcomed your feedback - the first time I have chatted to anyone from the old school since 1969. I also remember Dollie Dent.He was tall and wore distinctive glasses. He was a craft teacher and I remember making a tie and a scarf during his lesson. I also took part in one of his school plays.I played the role of Black Dog in his production of Treasure Island in 1968.
Charlie Walker and Bud Howarth were woodwork teachers :Selkirk and Hassall taught metalwork:Hodson was the art teacher :Sally Saunders taught maths and French and George Stamp taught maths too.I left Salford in 1974 and I don't suppose I would recognise much of it today.Anyway it is good to reminisce.

Hiya Steve Done, hope you are well. Read your blog completely by accident and it opened up a Pandora's box of memories, just had to respond. I too have have fond memories of Clarendon and of you. Can you tell me was Albert Tomlinson aka Tut?
Would like to hear from you soon, Ann Smith xx

Well , well , well lass . It's great to hear from you . I never thought I would hear from you again . Absolutely brilliant . I hope life has treated you tolerably well . I can't complain myself . Been married for 42 years now and I have a 41 year old son ! How time flies . If you like we'll have to have a proper old natter online somehow . I am on Facebook if you want to contact me . My email address is : gasmaskgrimshaw@outlook.com - please send a message any time . I have just got your message via Joe Busby by email . If you remember , it was through Joe that we first met in Peel Park in September 1968 - a nice piece of irony ! I can still remember our last contact . It was on a Saturday afternoon 16 August 1969 , just when the Woodstock music weekend was on . I was stood at the bus stop on Cross Lane when you passed me on your way home from your job at the shop just across the road . I think we'd fallen out over some silly thing . Ah well , what a pity . My memory is still vivid on many things . I suppose it should be after being a history teacher for over twenty years . I am just reminded of a song by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap " Kiss Me Goodbye " whose lyrics I stole to write you a poem in one of our early tiffs .I've got the CD in front of me now to check the details . I know - I'm still a sad piece of humanity . I'll leave it there for now and hope all is well with you .Please , please keep in touch . It would be great to catch up on things .

I first went to Clarendon Boys school (renamed Windsor High School) in 1964, you could enter the school at the front or like i did, the rear although the school was demolished (i think) 20+ years ago, the front gate posts and one gate still exists! I have been friends with Stephen since 1964 and are still friends with him today. I still remember all the teachers he has mentioned, although i was in a different class, Mr Shah was my form teacher in the first year,again in the first year there was a maths teacher called Mr Warburton who always had a slipper in his right hand ready to throw it at anyone not paying attention, his accuracy would put an olympic marksman to shame. The headmaster was, of course, Bob Coyle, who i feel sure thought boys couldn't wait to get to school, cartwheels of joy etc. not me. Coyle was so frightening that i remember a teacher saying even they were afraid of him! My most liked subjects were art and english, Frank Hodson was the art teacher. Stephen has mentioned George Stamp, a maths teacher, i will finish with two memories of a really nice fella. One day, studying algebra, he wrote a calculation on the blackboard which stretched from the top to the very bottom, he then asked if anyone had any questions, expecting a response specific to the calculation, i raised my hand and asked "when we leave school we would not have a job were we would need a calculation of that size" his response "wrong, if you had a job were you needed to calculate the velocity of a bullet, you would need this calculation" as i worked for Salford Councils legal services division for 39 years before retireing in 2011, i can confirm we never needed bullets...there were some good friends in my class, Mike Cuddy, Philip Bardsley, one or two others but i feel that i have to say that some are from my past and should stay there but lets see what happens........

Another blog of memories of Clarendon Boys School,firstly to Dolly Dent,a typical theatrical type,used to wear a bow tie,as Stephen has mentioned,he taught handicrafts including pottery,believe it or not,i still have a brown clay pot i made in his class in 1965,it still has my name and form number etched underneath"busby 1b". Mr Lee mentioned that Dollie took him and others to see a play in Stockport about 50 years ago,well,by coincidence,about the same time he took a group of boys,including myself,to see him and his wife in a play also in Stockport,of course i cannot say for certain that it was the same play but may have been,however,the play i saw was set in victorian times and not shakesprian,the play was called"The Importance of Being Earnest"and Dollie played the lead caricature,earnest. Stephen has mentioned the treasure island play in his blog,again,Dollie was involved,he directed and produced it,as mentioned,Stephen was a pirate,Black Dog and my part was that of Ben Gunn,who had gone slightly mad after living alone on the island for so long,i enjoyed playing this loopy caricture,which had the audience in stitches,incidentley,i bumped of Black Dog with a dagger(nothing personal mate)i cannot recall anybody else after almost half a century! Another memory is of Mr Saunders,our french teacher,one room in the school was made into a language laboratory(we called it the gab lab)the room was divided into cubicals,each complete with a tape recorder and headphones,what you basically did was speak a phrase of french onto the tape and then play it back through the headphones to check pronunciation ect.one day during the last months ar school,somebody persuaded him to pipe pop music through all the headphones,which he did,Bob Coyle never found out. Along side doing legal work for the council,i also played the drums in local social clubs,thr reason for mentioning this is that the music teacher at Clarendon was Frank Burke and in my school report(which i still have to this day)covering summer 1966,he remarks that i was a "quiet trier",bet he wouldn't have said that had he heard me play the drums.Finally,ther are two more persons i would welcome to get in touch,Roy Johnson and Alan Beresford,like Stephen,i also knew Allan Rome,well thats it for the time being.

i went to clarendon when it was boys and girls together i loved that school i remember mr koyle and mr. harris there was a teacher mr.whitehouse that came from canada he was tall and very handsome i also remember a few of my classmates joseph piggott vivience pearce and beryl ackers i often wonder where they are now..those were the best days of my life

Yes. I do remember Steve done and all the others that were mentioned.teachers as well bud howarth was my favourite he took us on the two youth hostel trips to the lakes and Scotland and if Steve done remembers we used to play football in the school yard after school and was always late home for tea.you remember those old wooden goalposts.but we never got on the school team?.I was the artist it was always my favourite subjects.with woodwork coming second.the rectangle was the favourite smokers haunt along with the woodwork block.and Roy Masterson and mamoun n greenhalgh were the rugby n footballers.and Alec wheeldon was a good mate both in and out of school.li couldn't wait to leave school with the outside world beckoning me I have been to and worked in several parts of the country and had quite a few turbulent relationships with women with two sons to prove it I am 65 now and live with my present fiancee who is 43.yes Clarendon and Salford hold a lot of fond memories for me. Ho I,m tony platt by the way.

whilst I was on this web site I was wandering. Did anyone remember the cross .lane area where I lived west Wilton place. East kirkham street and myles street I know tom myccock.went to clarry and tom Davis.rob dyson to and les Jones did to.before they started ripping them down to make way for the dreaded Salford precinct,

Hi Tony , Steve Done here . Hope life has treated you tolerably well . Can't complain myself really . Been married 43 years now . If you fancy a proper old chat tag on to my email address or Facebook, where you will also find Barry Burrows , Jim Maamoun and Jim Foy . Cheers for now .

43 years you don't get that for murder,ha ha ho I, ask Barry burrows does he remember going to st Josephs, church disco on a sunday night, and we all piled in the pub after I do.n he still never got a round in.only jokin.when I left school (with no qualifications)I started work for an electrical wholesalers boy was that boring my best job was in the 70s I went to the isle of man with my then glfriend Liz,and and signed on as a steward for the summer with the IOM steam pkt company that was fun n made some great mates,nbut there was one big distraction crumpet was everywhere.and Liz chucked me.ah well win some u loose some speak to you again sometime Fiona as got my tea ready n I'm starving.

Tony,in your blog of 25th you enquired if anybody remembered Cross Lane,well,by shere coincidence,i actually lived nearby (however i understand this blog is for Clarendon Boys School memories) whilst attending Clarendon,i was in 1b,2b,3b,4t and 5t at Clarendon,ironically,i cannot recall your goodself (sorry) mind you,you were in a different class and almost half a century of time has passed. Why not put a similar blog on the Salford Memories general pages and see what response you get,i would then be in a position to contribute in more detail.

Yep behind the Carlton cinema.there were three streets and a bit of waste ground they called a car park.there was a florists on one corner and a barbers on the other barbers was stations tony station used to play with us and he went on to be a p.e teacher at carendon.and I believe there was quite a lot of pubs along cRoss lane bout thirteen I used to knock about with Alec wheeldon in and after school and Gordon Jackson.and we used to sneak in the Carlton thru the fire exit doors and see a film. Film categories then were u.a.x.don't know if you remember .

Tony,i lived in Woodbine Street,as you are aware,the Carlton Cinema was at the Cross Lane end. I knew Alec Wheeldon from being a friend at that time,he lived somewhere off Lytham Street although i can't recall him attending Clarendon! Gordon Jackson was,of course,Long John Silver in the Treasure Island play i mentioned,i have a very vague recollection of Les Jones. In Stephen's original blog,he mentions Arthur Norbury,who i remember to be a very pleasant school friend,whose parents owned a school boys dream.....a sweet shop.

I used to knock about with Roy Masterson to he was on the school footy, and rugby team and was a bit of a big head still he did pull the girls and he lived in Eccles new road flats but I did know Alec wheeldon for quite some Tim I think it was port soderick st he lived. Jacko used to live i n the maisonettes next to carry but moved to a sweet and tobacco shop with his mum and dad off Trafford rd.I used to go to old Trafford with my dad and had nearly all the 68 European cup winning teams autographs besty included what you think that wud be worth now,!

I went to Clarendon in 1965 and left after doing a 5th year in 1970.
I'm not sure how much academically I learnt over those years but I did see a lot of life.
I remember the visit to the Garrick Theatre at Stockport that 'Dolly' Dent organised to see The Importance of Being Ernest, I've never been able to pass the Garrick without thinking about it, despite that I've only been to one production there since despite it not being too far from where I live.
If I remember rightly the language laboratory was installed in 1965 the year I started. It was the state of the art at the time. Perhaps I am wrong but it seemed to be not in use for much of the time awaiting being repaired. I was never any good at French and like many of my school subjects I wish I had applied myself.
Names I haven't seen mentioned here are 'Donkey' Walsh who used to teach science, 'Bomber' Brown (a West Indian who came to the UK during the war to join Bomber Command), he taught religion. Mr Flatley had previously taught PE but had moved over to pottery. The teacher who inspired me to have a love of history was Brian Milner,
I remember the mural that was painted on the wall facing the playground door by Frank Hodson and pupils

Chris,i appreciate you don't know me,i'm Joe Busby,you were in a year below me at Clarendon,the comments number box has been 15 for a year and when i saw the number had gone up to 16,i thought "yes". ......not sure what you mean by "see a lot of life" ....in my class they were pupils who weren't interested in learning but just marking time in class and intimidating fellow pupils,then they were classed as disruptive pupils,now we call them scumbags......... I certainly recall the teachers you mentioned,Mr Walsh was a huge,he was ok with me,Mr Brown was somebody i felt for,being ethnic minority and teaching R.E.,he took awful abuse from the scumbags in my class,i thought he was a very pleasant man who loved cricket. Mr Flately was small(ish) and taught P.E. I do remember Mr Milner,tallish and wore glasses and,of,Mr Hodson,who taught one of my favourite subjects art.. its a pity you didn't mention were you lived whilst attending Clarendon.To finnish another tale of Bob Coyle. He hated boys having any length of hair,if he passed you in the corriador and thought your hair was to long he would stop you and tell the same moronic joke time after time,and if you didn't laugh..........his joke was as follows....he would bellow "AM I HURTING YOU BOY - no sir - I SHOULD BE,I AM STANDING ON YOUR HAIR.......

Hi Everyone. I am Chris's elder brother and went to Clarendon from 1963-1968. The comments above are very interesting and bring back a lot of memories. We were taught Maths by Fred Faulkner who had a very old habit of sucking the end of his chalk prior to writing on the blackboard !!. Charlie Walker took us for woodwork and Mr Hassel for metalwork. We had Mr Burke for music and of course Bob Coyle was the headmaster. I believe that both of these two took there own lives years later. They were very happy days as I remember and I think overall the education we got was very good. Classmates I remember are Andy Jardine (sadly died 2018) Joe MacCaffrey Alan Boden Barry Packwood John Tweedley John Delaney. Anybody remember these people.

Hi joe just read your blog now I have finally learned to work a computer I remember you well from westliver and clarry and yes I remember the play very clearly thank for the memories you have opened happier days than now all the best Les Jones

Hello old friend,i was unaware you went to West Liverpool Street school,as i did,oh well,back to Clarendon,not sure what you mean by"happier days than now" however i do sort of recall you,curly hair and glasses,mind you,half a century plus has gone by,without obviously giving what you regard as personal details,basic details of what has gone on in your life since leaving Clarendon would be nice,do you still live in Salford? Do you still keep in touch with any of the Clarendon 1a/1b pupils or know any details of past pupils,if so,share the info. Regards,Joe Busby.

Thank You for replying Joe sorry took so long to answer yes i still see Alec Wheeldon and Hear from John Wallwork after school idid my Apprenticship as aButcher with F red Oddie on Cross Lane and have had many jobs since retired old man now the last time i saw you was when itaxed my first car at pendleton you wer behind the counter and yes your,e right it is best to leave some those characters back in the past cheers for now

HI Les , hope you are fine and hope that life has been OK with you . It's Doney here by the way : Steve Done . Feel free to use my email address if you like as I have a story to tell you concerning Ann Smith . What have you been up to ? What jobs have you done ? Married ? Kids ? It was 1968 when I last saw you . Over the last few years I've managed to contact Jim Maamoun , Jim Foy . Barry Burrows , Gordon Jackson and Tony Platt . Are you still the joker in the pack ? Joe was my best man When I got married in 1975 and we still keep in touch . After not Seeing Allan Rome for 29 years we are now back in communication . Again , feel free to email . Take care during these difficult times .

Hi Steve sorry not got back sooner can it really be fifty two years, I went into the Meat game when I left Clarry but very nearly did,nt see the Seventies due to severe scooter crash in 69, but someone must have been looking over me, as i survived to have many more Adventures got married in 75 also but now sadly Widowed but you have to keep pushing on I suppose, Ihave seen Jim Mammoun acouple of times over the years his brother knows my mate also ex Clarry and I still see Alec Wheeldon and John Wallwork who lives in Canada now but two Years ago he came over and we all had adrink just like old times As you probably can tell i,m pretty new to this Facebook thing still learning is that yor e mail at the top, by the way last time Isaw AnnSmith was near the Market Clock she was talking to me and john briefly as Isay frightening to think how fast the years have gone by anyway i,ll sign off for now and will catch you later best wishes JONAH

Hi Les,sorry it has been so long getting back to you,for some reason the FF website wouldn't let me log on and i had to contact them to sort it out! Ok,your last blog mentioned me working at the Local Taxation Office (LTO) yes you are correct,it was the days when a person actually filled in a form when taxing their car,it was my first job in local government,i recall whilst being there Noggin Greehalgh came in and was very embarassed that his car insurance was(his words)"on the knock" he felf much better when i told him that my van insurance payment was exactly the same and i worked there...i can'f recall anyone else coming in from Clarendon....on election days,either local or national i did some duties in various polling stations and seem to recall some Clarendon pupils calling in to vote but i can't recall exactly who...... From leaving school in 1969 and working at the LTO in 1972 i did a few jobs including being a proffesional drummer at(long gone)Mr Smiths night club on Brazil Street Manchester...those were the days. Ok i will leave it there for the time being......