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Praise for the new building, 1962
On 2nd March 1962, Ardwick Green Park and its surroundings were the subject of an article in the Manchester Evening News describing the various firms and buildings, including St Gregory’s. An illustration for each item and a very good aerial view of the Green and neighbourhood also appeared. The aim of the article was to show how Ardwick, a once-thriving suburb but now in decline and neglect, could be improved and made to look more attractive. The school was cited as a good example of how this could be done. Writing about Ardwick, it stated:
“One of the best examples [of modern architecture] is St Gregory’s Roman Catholic Technical High School where, in the past two years, more than £200,000 has been spent on modernistic extensions.
It started life in 1923 as a central school and part of the building contains the Georgian house once occupied by that famous man John Rylands.
Like other schools in the area, St Gregory’s is without any playing fields for its 790 pupils – yet it still manages to produce young men outstanding in the sporting world. Behind the school, flats and modern terraced houses have risen in post-war years on a large redevelopment site – a pointer to what Ardwick of the future may look like.”
St Gregory’s Technical High School, 1962
This interesting photograph shows part of the newly extended building, opened about 1959-60. The pupils’ former entrance, on the extreme right-hand side of the old building, was now obsolete: the door remained permanently bolted and locked, as did the iron gates outside. Also rendered obsolete was the metal protective pedestrian barrier on the pavement.
View of the front of the school, 1962
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