Other Items, 1962

“Twelfth Night”, 1962

The school’s amateur dramatic society once again rose to the occasion in putting on superb performances of Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, the success of which was a tribute to the voluntary hard work of pupils, staff and others. Four evening performances were staged for the public in the week before the half-term break: on Tuesday and Wednesday, 27th and 28th February, and on Friday and Saturday, 2nd and 3rd March. (The school closed for half term on Friday, 1st March and reopened the following Wednesday, 7th March; only two days off in those days.)

Regrettably, efforts to obtain a copy of the cast and production team have not been successful.

Summer camps

The practice of boys being taken to summer camp – established from the very early years of the school’s life – continued into the Sixties. Rob Howard, of the 1960 intake, recalls the following:

“In July 1961 and 1962 I went on a week’s school camp to Strines, near New Mills, led by Mr Terry Sheridan and Mr Bernard Caulfield. The camps took place in the first week of the summer holidays which necessitated the boys taking a rucksack carrying their clothes and boots etc to school on the final day of the term. Although it is now difficult to know exactly where the camp was, it was located in a field on a farm surrounded by hills. I really loved both of these camps and had a great time in the countryside. On the Wednesday each time, we spent the day climbing Kinder Scout. I remember a lot of us going one evening to see Fantasia at the cinema in New Mills."

Mr Wilfred Hopkins

Billy Hopkins, who was better known to his family and friends as Wilfred Hopkins, was appointed by Mr Rocca as a temporary teacher and taught English at St Gregory’s from January to June 1962. Born in Collyhurst in 1928, he attended schools in Manchester. Before going into higher education, he worked as a copy boy for the Manchester Guardian. He later studied at the Universities of London, Manchester and Leeds and was involved in school-teaching and teacher-training in Liverpool, Manchester, Salford and Glasgow. He also worked in African universities in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Malawi. He is best remembered as a best-selling author of books such as “Our Kid”, which is the much-loved tale of a northern lad during the Second World War, and “High Hopes”, the charming tale of a young school teacher in the 1940s and 1950s. He also wrote several other books.

Dirt

The state of cleanliness of the school had been a matter of some concern in the year following the retirement of Mrs Wilson, and Mr Rocca was far from satisfied. He frequently toured the school, inspecting classrooms, offices, toilets and floors. On one occasion, following a return to school after a Whitsuntide holiday, he discovered that the toilets were dirty and had not been swept or cleaned. He also noted that “the Entrance Hall floor was dirty with remains of school dinners still on the floor”. On another occasion he noted that the “boiler room was in a disgraceful condition”. 

So incensed was the headmaster that he requested the M.E.C. Supervisor of Caretakers to visit and inspect the school, which he accepted. Mr Rocca took him around the school and afterwards recorded that: “In several places, and in particular under my office desk, I swept up black dirt with my hand. For a new school I consider this state of cleanliness appalling.”

There being no significant improvement to the situation, a report was compiled and sent to the governors and the M.E.C. Shortly afterwards the school’s caretaker resigned.

New caretaker

Mr William (Bill) Howell was appointed caretaker in April 1962, a position he held into the Seventies. A Scotsman, Bill often enjoyed telling of the time he once boxed for the Navy at Madison Square Garden in New York. 

Head of Department Posts

It was announced to the staff that from the 1st September 1962, there would be the following head of department posts: four at £450, four at £355, two at £260 and one at £165.

Sixth-Form room

With the sixth form having increased to 55 by the autumn of 1962, there was the problem of finding the students a room in which they could study. No such room was available. The matter was reported by Mr Rocca to the governors with a request that an “application be made for use of the [Ardwick] Town Hall”, which was next door and standing empty. Although this initiative was unsuccessful, Mr Rocca was undaunted and a few months later he received a visit from an official to “see about the Nissen hut behind the Ardwick Town Hall”, which Mr Rocca wished to use for the sixth form.

Fog

Pupils were dismissed at 3.30pm on 4th December 1962 as a blanket of fog descended over the city. The problem persisted the following day and attendance was down considerably.

School choir ‘first’

The custom and practice of Catholic school choirs performing at Christmas time at the historic St Mary’s Church, Mulberry Street – known as the ‘Hidden Gem’ – began in 1962 when St Gregory’s became the first school to do so.

Mr Rocca’s final classes

The departure of Mr Pegna at Christmas 1962 was not followed by a replacement being appointed. One of the consequences of this was that Mr Rocca took over teaching some of Mr Pegna’s classes in French and Italian in the New Year. 

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