Retford, Market Square c.1965

Photo ref: R261078

The photograph of the front of the Sir Frederick Milner School brought back memories. I taught English there from 1963 to 1970 in the second classroom to the left of the entrance. This was my first teaching post although I knew Retford well as I had been a pupil at the King Edward VI Grammar School. One of my pupils at the Milner School was Derek Randall who went on the play cricket for England. After the amalgamation ...see more

I was at Sir Freds until about 1953,'Rocky' Lane was the art teacher,later renamed Frankie I think,he was an ex circus strongman even though he wasn't very tall,at the school concert he would bend an iron railing into a U shape and drive a 6' nail through a block of wood.He told us in the circus he'd lift circus ponies on a steel girder using shoulder strength only.Needless to say we didn't play up in his class

During my time at the National school , a couple of children in my class said they had stomach ache , so the teacher told thenm to sit outside on a chair till home time, my friends and I thought that sounds good as it was a lovely summer day. So we put our hands up and complained that we too had stomach ache . So we joined several others sitting outside in the sun till Home time. That ...see more

My memory of Sir Freds, was in the 50s with Boss Green as head master, Gunner Meadows, Messers, Rodgerson, Birket, Conniff, Dier, Firth, and Franky Lane among others. I remember that playground fights, where taken to the Crush Hall and sorted out properly, with boxing gloves on and a ref, with prefects as seconds.