4 Years At Clarendon Secondary Modern

A Memory of Salford.

I was born at Hope Hospital in March 1947 and lived in Ducie Place off Liverpool St, close to the Oldfield Rd end. I went to Hope Street school till I was 10, and then my mum sent me to West Liverpool Street school, thus making sure I went to Clarendon when I became 11. For reasons known only to the Gods I was placed in 1b1. The headmaster was Mr Harris, the deputy was the formidable Mr Coyle, who I believe became headmaster after I left. Ducie Place was cobbled (of course!) and was a cul-de-sac with a brick wall blocking off one end and on the Liverpool St end was the Druids Arms (on the left) and Smiths butchers (on the right). I played rugby league for Clarendon and have a photo of the team; Roger Byrne was the captain and Mr Flatley was the coach, and my form teacher. A teacher called Mr Faulkner also taught at Clarendon and who I was at school with at Hope Street. He was lethal with his cane, as was Mr Coyle. It was a tough area where I lived being situated between two railway tracks, a gas works to the right of us on Liverpool St, and big junctions of canals and canal basins down Hampsons brew across Oldfield Rd, to the left. Of course many of the areas in Salford were 'tough', particularly the area off Regents Rd where Coronation St was, including Archie St, which the television soap was modelled on. The Salford Lads Club was in this patch and has a great history of producing good boxers. Ah well....I guess we could all write a book about those times... someone did....."Love on the Dole"