Jump to content


Newfield School History

Recommended Posts

Hello there,

 

I am a current student of Newfield School and I am carrying out a School history project. I have carried out the project to archive the old school before the place was rebuilt totaly. I am getting quite concerntrated now as I have found a huge box of old photos along with a record player two cassette decks and old cinefilm.

 

I have interviewed students who attended the Boy's School in 1959, but between then and the present day I have no information. So I have gathered that many members of this forum have once been students of Newfield, so I thought it would be a good idea to ask here for information.

 

To make it more organised I have made a forum which is http://newfieldhistory.myfreeforum.org . I would be very grateful for information as I plan to put the whole booklet and video documentary together over the holidays, so the information would be very useful.

 

Also if you do not want to register on the forums please post any comments in this thread.

 

Thanks, Danny

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I went to Newfield Girls 1962 - 1966. amongst the teachers I remember are:- Mrs Hughes, Mrs Compton, Mrs Fletcher, Mrs Warburton, Mrs Quinlan, Miss Wilson, Mrs Dewsnap, Miss Topliss was the Head, at Newfield. We were told that the girls school which was blue should really have been the boys, makes sense if you think about it blue for boys and red for girls, never knew why they changed it though. The girls used to start 10 mins before the boys at 8.50 and finish 10 mins earlier 3.50ish i think, so that the boys and girls wouldn't meet. It worked at night but not in the morning. The houses were rivelyn, loxley, porter and sheaf, Loxley was Red, sheaf yellow, I think rivelyn was green so porter may have been blue. We were taught in rows of desks - 2 to a desk and we were not allowed to talk at all. Prefects would stand at stgrategic points before registration and after breaktimes, to tell us to stop talking or running etc. and woe betide us if we were not wearing the correct uniform, the girls was bottle green skirt, blazer, raincoat, beret and tie with a white blouse. We had assembly everfy morning where we said prayers and sang hymns. If you need to know any more specific questions, p.m. me and I will do my best to answer.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Hazel 51 for your information which has come in useful already to the Houses question.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I attended from 73 onwards, and it was mixed by that time, year 1,2 in the blue building and year 3,4,5 in the red building.

Quite daunting to go from a single class at Heeley Bank to this massive 1000+ pupil school. Some teachers i remember-

 

Mr Thraves - Head

Mr Threlfall - Replaced Thraves about 74ish

Mr Wilson (Chinney)

Miss Whitham - Dep Head

Mr Lindley -Assistant to Whitham

Mr Thorold-Maths

Miss Hill- Girls PE

Miss Fletcher- Maths

Mr Headley-PE (later Careers)

Mr Heaven-Chemistry

Mr Mc Dermott- Maths

Mr Pye- Music

Mr Ingram- Geography

Mr Pepal (Radio Sheff fame)-French

Mr Hancock

Mr Broadhead- Tech Drg Woodwork

Mr Norwood-Metalwork

Mr Harvey-Tech Drg

Mr Cunnington-PE

Mr Laslet-PE

Mr Schofield-Woodwork

Mr Phillips ,Mr Dyson Physics

Mr Stanley (Caretaker Blue Building)

Pinhead (Caretaker Red Building)

 

There must be several more, i have missed but hey its 30+ years ago, i wish you well with this project, and it would be great if you could post some of the photos you have on here. I watch the film Kes and i feel this give such a portrayal of Newfield and no doubt other comprehensive schools of the time. As a school it had its good points, and bad, and i suppose the disapline was atributed from a lot of the older teachers experience during the war, and national service, 'i can still hear Chinney shouting down the corridor'.

Good luck with the project.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot boston that has been the stuff I was looking for. There was a gap of information between the 60's and 90's.

 

I have not been allowed to scan the photos at School due to the data protection law (Boring I know). I will however try and upload some of the older photos that I found in the local studies library which date about 1959.

 

Also Boston, were to buildings referred too as the Blue and the Red building in your time of Schooling?

 

 

Also Mr. Cunnington is still here and he is now a Geography teacher.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I hope Mr Cunnington is well, i remember him starting which would be around 73/74 time (he must have been in his early 20s). The red building was the upper school and the blue the lower school.

There are some photos posted on Friends Reunited of this time- Mr Thraves retirement, school band, Threlfall at sports day, and several teams where you will see pictures of some of the teachers mentioned.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes Mr. Cunnington is well and doesn't seem to have run out of power yet. So were the "Upper School" and "Lower School" totaly seperate, or did teachers teach in both buildings?

 

And I will try friends Reunited. Thanks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Danny

 

I was a Newfield pupil, 1958 - 1963 and was proud to become Head Boy.

Represented the school at football and athletics. Member of the side that won the Clegg Shield in 1962. We beat Beaver Hill 3-0 I passed the ball to Jimmy Finney for the 1st goal. I think Mick Harrity scored the other 2 goals. Many happy memories of former friends and teachers. Member of ' Rufford ' house, the others were York, Barlow and Grove ( names of fox hunting organisations )

Proud to wear the black blazer with the school badge.

Went on holiday in 1960 with the school to Blankenberg in Belguim.

Mr Houdmont, Mr Kirk and the headmaster Mr Thraves led the party.

Mr Houdmont was a strict discipilnarian, but an excellent teacher who taught strong morals to impressionable young lads. I still see him occasionally.

My school pals were Brian Kay, Les Stevenson, John Gascoigne, Richard Atkinson. Could name many more.

Had a hell of a scrap with Tommy Justice on Lees Hall Road after school, with a large crowd watching.

Disappointed to leave school with poor exam results !

Elated when the girls school opened. There were some lovely lasses to occupy a young mans mind !

 

What more do you want to know ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for this Runningman. You have now finished off the debate as to what the house names were.

Am I right in saying that Mr Houdmont was the Maths teacher?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Danny

 

Yes, Mr Houdmont was the Head of Maths. He was a Belguim by birth. When we visited Belguim with the school in 1960, I remember him calling at the family home in Bruges.

More memories - Failing the 11 plus was a real blow, but once we had visited Newfield for a look round prior to starting in Sep '58, WOW !! The location, what a view over the city. Sports pitches all around the school. A gymnasium and science labs. Woodwork and Metalwork areas, the large dining room and what I considered to be very enjoyable dinners. Cross country running and an athletics track. Art classes with Peter Owen Jones and memories of sitting and sketching at the side of the old farm. Music lessons with Mr Kirk, an obsessed Wednesdayite ! Jim Witheford was the PE Teacher, a really decent fellow and a Unitedite ! I remember the first Harvest Festival I had ever attended and the official opening in March 1959. I think the girls appeared in Sep 1959. Winning the Clegg Shield at the Ball Inn ground in 1962 after a memorable semi final victory, when after being 1 - 3 down at half time against Shirecliffe, we came back and won 5-3. Graham Wild who lived somewhere around Alderson Road had a brilliant game that day.

I will put the thinking cap on again and come back later with some more memories. Are there any former pupils reading this the same age as me ( 60 )

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks again Runningman. When you say scetching the old farm, which farm was this?

 

Thanks, Danny

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Farm I referred to was Clarkes Farm, accessed by following the lane from Cat Lane, past Rose Cottage and up the hill, where the track to the farm turned right near the Lees Hall Pond ( now restored ) I believe there are a pair of old gate posts still remaining.

Can 't remember when the farm was demolished.

 

Just found an old school magazine ' Full Cry ' 1963. Reading through brings back many happy memories. The school play in which I appeared " the Importance of Being Earnest " and mention of another play, " The Admirable Crichton " in which Albert Merrill appeared. Albert now lives in New Zealand and I still correspond with him.

Mention of the following teachers who had left. Messers Beddall, Huntingdon, Keeton ( keen cyclist ) and Charlesworth.

Mr Huntingdon kept a large photographic record of the school. Hope that still exists.

Carfiled school had closed and Newfield welcomed the following teachers from there. Russon, Philips, Davison, Vickers and Williams.

 

I will call a halt here, could be boring a lot of people.

 

Back later if time permits with more info from 40+ years ago.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.