Coronation, 1953

As part of the coronation celebrations, St Gregory’s was invited to make a contribution to the publication Youth Chronicle. The following is a copy of part of the page written and edited by boys from the school.

Written and edited this week by the boys of St. GREGORY’S CENTRAL SCHOOL, MANCHESTER

Something About

Our Saint …

IT is well to recall in this momentous year the Saint whom we have to thank for the Christian ideals which inspire our Monarchy and Way of Life.

It was St. Gregory’s chance meeting with the Angle slaves in the market place of Rome that filled him with a deep love for our country. He it was who sent St. Augustine and the first missionaries to England, and his earnest prayers contributed largely to their success.

Always progressive, it was St. Gregory, too, who helped to restore order to a Europe savaged by vandal hordes, and we, in this school dedicated to him, are confident that his intercession in heaven will bring us the blessing of peace once more and make our country, under our new young Queen, prosperous, great and good.

Something About Us …

ST. GREGORY was also a musician, so it is fitting that our choir should have some notable achievements to its credit. It formed the major part of the boys’ choir that sang with the Hallé Orchestra when Benjamin Britten’s Spring Symphony was first performed in Manchester; and this year the choir is privileged to be chosen to sing the solo part in “Songs of the Fleet” in the Coronation Concert at the Free Trade Hall. 

WE ACT

THE Drama Group’s pride and joy is a scale model of the school stage, complete with cyclorama, curtains and model lighting system (remote controlled). It is a great source of enjoyment. Sets are designed on it and “moves” are worked out before rehearsals begin. We will be represented in the Schools’ Coronation Drama Festival at the Library Theatre, and we are hoping that our play will deserve the same compliment that the adjudicator paid us last year: “Thank you, St. Gregory’s, for a most memorable performance.”

WE PLAY

OUR school is often referred to as the “football school”. And, without being boastful, we think we deserve it. At some time or other in over 26 years we have won nearly every trophy, including the “Daily Dispatch” School Trophy and the Hayes Shield – twice. This year we are runners-up in two league championships, a third has yet to be decided, and we are favourites for the Payne Shield.

WHY NOT – 

An exchange scheme for British and Colonial students? Let us benefit by a year abroad and at the same time strengthen the links of the Empire.

Widen the syllabus in schools? Have courses in business administration, journalism and advertising.

Develop indoor sports in schools? Many boys are not interested in the usual sports, and popular games, such as table tennis, could be adopted.

A cheap three-day ticket issued by the Lancashire County Cricket Club for boys still at school? Interest in cricket is stifled by the expense of attending games.

THE STARS AND YOU

MANY people think that astronomy is a science for ageing intellectuals and poets.

Study of the stars has been my special hobby for about three years. It has grown from a slight interest to a deeply absorbing hobby and I earnestly exhort my “Young Elizabethan” contemporaries to embrace it.

The joy and sense of wonder it creates will be most rewarding. A perusal of “Time and Space”, by Sir James Jeans, will set you off to a good start.

At this time of the year, at about 20.00 hours, we see Orion, a mighty hunter whom legend says was placed among the stars by Zeus after he died from a scorpion’s sting. As he strides towards the west Leo the Lion pads up from the east, while Gemini, or the Twins, move arm in arm towards the north-west.

Once you have seen, as you will see, if you take the trouble, the golden splendour of Venus, the diamond light of Jupiter, the malevolent red glare of Mars, and Saturn’s yellow glow, I am certain that you will soon be an enthusiastic observer, and will experience, as I, and many others do, the deep awe at the mysterious grandeur of God’s Stellar Universe.

A link with the famous

WHATEVER career or profession we young citizens decide to follow, we can be quite certain some Mancunian has already found world fame in it.

For instance, John Dalton, who hailed from Manchester, revolutionised chemistry in his day, and many of the “back-room boys” in atomic research came from Manchester University.

Will Hay (yes, the comedian) and Jeremiah Horrocks were Mancunians who were renowned astronomers.

Two of our citizens, Alcock and Brown, made the first-ever transatlantic flight, and, of course, experts at the Manchester firm of A.V. Roe produced the first jet delta wing bomber.

Lloyd George, the statesman, Chetham and Rylands, educationalists, Cassidy, the sculptor, to name but a few of the many, rejoiced in being citizens of Manchester.

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Footnote:

Following this contribution, Youth Chronicle’s editor had this to say:

“Perhaps among Manchester’s ‘New Elizabethans’ there may be one who will bring peace to a world, torn by opposed philosophies.”

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