Plymouth Grove Annexe, 1964-67

The September 1964 intake at first reported to the St Gregory’s building at Ardwick Green where, after assembling in the hall, the boys were placed in their form groups. There were five forms in all – 1G, 1X, 1S, 1T and 1Q. It was decided that 1G would remain at the main school for the duration of their first year while the boys in the other four forms were escorted to Plymouth Grove Primary School, a large Edwardian building that opened in 1905 and which was situated approximately one mile away on Plymouth Grove West just off Stockport Road (A6).

Pupils were accommodated in the upper-floor classrooms and pre-fabricated buildings. Mr Brian Makin was placed in charge and he was assisted by colleagues that included Mr Dudley Farrell, Mr Joe O’Connor, Mr Michael Delargy, Mr Peter Tobin, Mr J. Singleton, Mr J.M. O’Grady, Mr A.  Edmondson, Mrs M.  Miles and Miss M. Sheridan.

At first all lessons at the annexe, as it came to be called, were given on the premises. Teachers from the St Gregory’s site were not required to commute to the annexe and pupils from the annexe were not required to travel to the main building for lessons, except from 1965 when boys walked there for woodwork lessons. The annexe was, to all intents and purposes, a self-sufficient educational entity with staff being required to teach more than one subject. Pupils were bussed to Hough End where they were supervised for games in winter and to Birchfields Park in the summer. In addition, swimming lessons were taken in the pool at nearby St Pius’ Secondary School.

Part of the reason for the annexe was to provide “accommodation for unplaced Catholic grammar school boys”. As previously stated, there was a crisis in Manchester catholic high schools in the sense that there were insufficient places for boys (but not girls) who had passed the 11+. Two new boys’ schools were being built to accommodate them: St Augustine’s, in Sharston, which opened in September 1965, and St Peter’s, in Prestwich, which opened in September 1966. Many of these boys attended the annexe for their first year before moving on to their designated school.

Some of the 1964 intake included boys who had passed their 11+ and were earmarked to transfer to the new St Augustine’s Grammar-Technical School when completed. In the following year, 1965-66, the annexe accommodated boys from the north of the city who were destined for the new St Peter’s School.

One former pupil, John Greenwood, who transferred to St Augustine’s in September 1965 as a second-year pupil, had this to say about his ‘year in limbo’ at the annexe:

“The old annexe building was quite a contrast to the brand-new Augustine’s. The main part of the school was one of those typical three-storey school buildings, probably built around the early part of the century, complete with separate entrances marked ‘Girls’ and ‘Boys’. There were some pre-fab buildings in a section of the playground separated from the main area by a large brick wall with a single arched entrance. A typical Manchester inner city school environment I suppose.

Together with the top floor of the main building, these comprised our classrooms and playground area. The whole of this school complex sat amongst houses and shops etc. that had been there as long, if not longer, than the school itself. Add to this the sometimes wet, grey, smoggy weather of a pre-smokeless zone Manchester and you will probably get the sense of how it felt to be a young kid used to the green fields and open spaces of Wythenshawe.

We shared the main building with the junior school, our classrooms being on the top floor. There was a science lab…

Woodwork was experienced for the first time, learning the joys of mortise and tenon and trying to make a dovetail joint.

At break time the lads I hung about with mostly played football, usually with a tennis ball, which did wonders for your ball control.”

In 1965-66, there were five first-year forms at the annexe: 1G, 1S, 1T, 1Q and 1X. All pupils – both Gregorians and non-Gregorians – were treated exactly the same. They were all required to wear the St Gregory’s uniform and were all subjected to the same regime in terms of rules, regulations, do’s and don’ts and so on. All pupils were eligible for sports teams, the choir and Speech Day prizes. All were regarded and treated as Gregorians.

An interesting development during this time was that of the annexe’s choir, which was taught by Mr Dudley Farrell. Apparently, it performed to a very high standard indeed. Mr Farrell was also known for carrying out regular morning inspections of the school uniform.

The final year of using the annexe was 1966-67, by which time there were only four first-year forms: 1G, 1S, 1T and 1Q. All the pupils were Gregorians.

There is very little surviving written evidence about the ‘annexe experience’ and information has been gathered from recollections of past pupils.

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