1945 Intake

The summer of 1945 was an historic turning point in more ways than one. VE Day (“Victory in Europe Day”) had been celebrated on 8th May following the death of Adolf Hitler and the eventual surrender of the Germans. The dropping of atomic bombs by the USA on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on 6th and 9th August respectively, led to a massive loss of life and enormous physical damage and destruction, resulting eventually in Japan’s surrender and the celebration of VJ Day (“Victory in Japan Day” or “Victory over Japan Day”) on 15th August in the UK.  In line with other schools, St Gregory’s celebrated VJ Day at the time of the autumn mid-term holiday, from 26th October to 5th November 1945.

The new intake of pupils at St Gregory’s were among the first of the ‘atomic age’, in a world that had changed forever. Many had been evacuated during the war, with mixed feelings and memories, whilst others had been affected by family bereavements and injuries as a consequence of enemy action. Some, as a result of bombings, had been displaced.

Wartime conditions of food rationing still remained and commodities and housing were in short supply. The old slogan of “Mend and make do” was still applicable. In 1947, there was a fuel crisis during the terribly cold winter when some people nearly froze to death.

On the plus side of things, the post-war years saw the introduction, under Mr Clement Atlee, the Labour prime minister, of the National Health Service and the gradual introduction of educational reforms as embodied in the Butler Act.

One old Gregorian who was in that year’s intake expressed the following random thoughts:

“When I arrived at the school there were still bars on some windows (a legacy from the Industrial School, perhaps). The rectangular schoolyard still had buildings on all four sides although, when viewed from the Ardwick Green Park end, many of the rooms and workshops down the left-hand side were not in use, as was the case with those at the far end. In fact, admittance into some of these areas was strictly forbidden presumably for safety reasons.

Although there was a school uniform, wearing it was not compulsory and pupils were merely requested to be ‘smartly dressed’. 

There were still some female teachers but, as men had been demobbed, some of the pre-war teachers returned.

School dinners, which were not made on the premises, received a mixed reaction. Some boys appeared to enjoy them, while others thought they were ‘appalling’.

Dinah Wilson, wife of the caretaker, was fondly remembered. As well as running the school’s tuck-shop by day, at night she had another source of income. She ran a small business at the corner of Ardwick Green near the Ardwick Hippodrome. In a hut or stall, not much larger than a garden shed, she sold sweets, chocolates and other delights to theatre and cinema-goers.

Football was very important and the 1945 intake had many successes and some outstanding players. There was also success on the cricket field.”

Return of Mr Avery

Mr Harry Avery, who first joined the school in 1925 before departing in 1932 to become a headmaster, returned in December 1945.

The Hallé

The appointment of Mr Michael Callaghan in January 1945 was followed by parties of boys being taken to the nearby Apollo cinema to watch daytime concerts given by the Hallé Orchestra under the conductor John Barbirolli. Pupils – both boys and girls – from other high schools were also in the audience. The Apollo was used because the Free Trade Hall, home of the Hallé, was out of use owing to bomb damage. Mr Callaghan left the school in the summer of that year but returned in 1951. By arranging visits to watch the Hallé, he probably introduced many boys to classical music for the first time.

Return from war service

The following teachers, on demobilisation from their war-time duties, returned to St Gregory’s:

Courses for ex-Service teachers

What today might be called “Refresher Courses” were held at Southall Street to enable teachers who had been in the armed forces to familiarise themselves once again with their profession. Several teachers from St Gregory’s took advantage of this course in the years following the war.

Retirement of Mr Whealing, 1946

With the coming of peace, the school set about looking to the future. Much of the old order was no more and possibly this was reflected with the inevitable retirements of the “old guard”. The first to depart was Mr Danny Whealing, the woodwork master who had ruled supreme in that ground-floor department of sawdust and wood shavings. In June 1946, a presentation was made to him to mark the appreciation in which he was held by the scholars and old pupils and by past and present members of the staff. 

Free milk

In August 1946, universal free milk was introduced into schools.

Tramway strike

Pupil attendance was seriously depleted for several days in November 1946 owing to a strike by tramway and bus workers.

New times

From February 1947, the school adopted new times of opening and closing sessions to meet the wish of the Transport Department. The new times were as follows:

     Morning session:       9.30am to 12.30pm

     Afternoon session:    1.40pm to 4.10pm

Raising of the school-leaving age, 1947

In 1947, the official leaving-age in schools was raised from 14 to 15.

Royal Marriage

The school was closed on 20th November 1947 for the celebration of the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to the Duke of Edinburgh.

Silver Jubilee

School was closed during the afternoon of 26th August 1948 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the wedding of Their Majesties, the King and Queen.

The School Certificate

The School Certificate (SC) was an educational attainment standard qualification, established in 1918. It was usually taken at age 16 and it was necessary to pass Mathematics, English and other subjects in order to gain the certificate. Some pupils who did so moved on to Xaverian College or St Bede’s College to take the Higher School Certificate at age 18.

Its full title was the Joint Matriculation Board School Certificate and the Universities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham were responsible for its administration.

These certificates were abolished in 1951 following the introduction of GCE O-level examinations.

Recollection

Another Gregorian of the 1945 intake had this to say:

“Our year had a three-form entry, classes consisting of 1A, 1B and 1C. These names were retained for the first four years, at the end of which pupils sat the Central School Certificate [in the hall]. Those staying on formed one class group in the fifth year and studied for the School Certificate, which was taken for the last time in 1950 before GCEs were taken the following year.

To receive the School Certificate a pupil had to achieve passes in six subjects including English Language, a foreign language, and an approved science, together with passes in three optional subjects. One presumes mathematics was deemed to be part of an “approved science”.

For the first three years or so, both winter and summer games sessions were taken in Platt Fields, a large public park off Wilmslow Road, Rusholme. Football was the main winter game, with cricket being played in the summer term. Trials and practice sessions for both sports were held there, as were matches involving the school’s teams. In games sessions, teams and games were formed according to the house system.

For football, inter-school finals tended to be staged at the ground of Newton Heath Locos, north Manchester.

On occasions, the cricket team would practise in the schoolyard under the watchful eye of Mr Harry O’Brien, himself a particularly good batsman.

As for PT [Physical Training], lessons were held in the old hall on the ground floor adjacent to Ardwick Green North. In fact, the hall was also used for assemblies and music, as well as for staging public exams.

Annual sports days, featuring athletics, continued to be organised and, by the mid-1940s, were held at Belle Vue.

By about 1948 football games sessions began to be taken at Greenbank Park, Mount Road, Gorton."

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