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Anyone go to the Gregg School in Broomhill 1952/1955?

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Anyone go to the Gregg School in Broomhill 1952/1955? It was across the road from king Edward V11 school. Mr Arnold was headmaster. Two other teachers remembered were Jock Sutherland and Stewart Rankin. The school closed long ago and the building is now an annex to the Rutland hotel.

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There's a HUGE thread about which school people went to, so due to you asking about a specific school, I will amend the title for you to avoid a merge. :)

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Was there from 54 to 59. Other teachers remembered: Mr Humphreys, Mrs Humphreys, George Midgley (sports and p/e), Mrs Wostenholme, Maurice Barlow, Mr Fuchs, Mr Shanks. And who could forget Mrs Arnold with a hairstyle that looked to me like a well permed haystack? If memory serves it got into trouble with the Bank/Inland Revenue and Arnold had to leave. Messrs Sutherland and Rankin had a go at keeping it going, but it went under in the late 60s.

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We had a reunion a few years ago and Mr Rankin was invited and he turned up looking elderly but very well preserved must be in his eighties now. I remember Mr Arnold nicknamed "Dick" was fond of gin and I had the duty of disposing of lots of gin bottles once.

He thought he was a spiritualist and I recall some of us having a bit of fun at his expense doing spooky things, so much so that he sent for Jessica to witness "happenings":loopy:. Remember well during the Cuban missile crisis he came into class looking very concerned and we always knew he was going to say something very serious when he looking over his specs which were perched on his nose jerked his arms quickly forwards to clear his wrists from his cufflinked cuffs. This was one of his mannerisms. Mr Fuchs took physics and maths and was a serious fellow who was held in great respect and commanded great attention. We believe he was of Germanic descent probably Austrian and he had a scar on his neck which in the immediate post war period we would fanticise about as a wound of honour but we never found out the truth. We probably never will know now unless someone out there knows more. Was great when Mr Sutherland took over as principal nicknamed "Jock". he went on some great school trips with us. He also commanded great respect. Mr Rankin took French and Mr Midgley took art. I was in an art class with Mr Midgely (Midge) when Mr Rankin barged in without knocking. Midge said " get out of my class you french poodle". As Rankin was deputy head at that time Midge's career from that moment was very shortlived. We had speech days at the City Hall and Duke & Duchess of Devonshire as speech day dignatories giving out prizes. It was a great honour for me to get a prize from such aristocrats. Best trick I remember done on Rankin was when the "big" lads carried his red mini along Broomfield Road and around the corner. :) Without attendance at Gregg School I would not have appreciated and been tolerant of other cultures and faiths, we had jews, muslims, catholics etc at a time when this was altogether unknown. I also remember teachers Miss Anderson, Mr Short and Mr Trendall. I made friends and became aware of more things than just school by being there.

It was an education beyond belief. :D Thanks Dick, God bless you.

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I remember Mr Arnold, Mr Rankin, Jock Sutherland and Shanks but none of the other teachers you mentioned. I think there was a pretty high turnover of teachers at that school the cause being that the pay wasn't all that good. Mrs Arnold was also a teacher there when I attended and sometimes the daughter Jessica subbed for a teacher if he or she was out. Arnold used to smoke his head off most of the time. I was in his office once and he lit up a fag and still had one going in the ashtray. The art teacher was a Mr Smith a little old bald headed man with a wooden leg. Had lived in Cyprus for some years and used to tell us about life there. Some of us used to go down to the Botanical Gardens during lunch time and tear around the paths making a racket, Someone compalined about us and the whole school was assembled and Arnold looking very grave announced that henceforth the gardens were out of bounds. Luckily for us he didn't push the issue far enough to try to find out who the culprits were. There was a Mrs Thompson who taught algebra. A real old cow. I was a bit thick on that subject and she started to pick on me. This graduated to making remarks about my Yorkshire accent trying to correct my pronunciation so that I would talk like somebody posh. Put up with it for a while but then lost it one day and yelled out "Course I bloody well speak with a Sheffield accent. I was born here and that's how we all talk at home". A trip to Arnolds office followed shortly after. But it did the trick. She never bothered me again after that.

I left in 1955 because we moved down south. I was enrolled in the Gregg school in Croydon just outside London. What a dunp that was. Their curriculum was about one year behind Sheffield Gregg. I stuck it out for one year then left and got a job.

Some students names I remember. Terry Wibberley, Peter Snell, Thomas Mclaughlin, Mary Earnshaw, Roger Newton, Richard Storrie,

Eileen Ellis (parents had a little shop at the top of Broomhill), Pat Nisbet. May ring a bell if you were there 54/55.

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Anyone go to the Gregg School in Broomhill 1952/1955? It was across the road from king Edward V11 school. Mr Arnold was headmaster. Two other teachers remembered were Jock Sutherland and Stewart Rankin. The school closed long ago and the building is now an annex to the Rutland hotel.

 

I was at Gregg School in 1943/4 when it was in Fargate where Marks and Spencers now is, Principal Miss Berry who was very strict, no fancy subjects then Shorthand, Touch typing, Book-keeping, Commercial Maths, English. I took an entrance exam and obtained a 50% bursary otherwise I wouldn't have been able to go, still got my certificates received on leaving and still write things up in shorthand.

 

I was at the Reunion but was the only one from my year.

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As you mention it that you were at the reunion I seem to remember someone stating that they were the only representative of that year, I cannot place you in my mind as there were so many unfamiliar faces. I attended Gregg School from 1959 to 1963.:)

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Unfortunately due to the fact it was wartime and you couldn't buy films I have no photographs of my time at Gregg School. I started my first job as a shorthand typist at the princely sum of £1.5shillings (£1.25p) five days 9.00 to 5.30, Saturday 9.00 to 12.30.

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I now remember the reunion being in 1999 and Rankin was then 82 years of age and still looked fit.:) I wonder if he has made his nineties yet? I had great respect for him, he was always turned out very smartly dressed and groomed.

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As you mention it that you were at the reunion I seem to remember someone stating that they were the only representative of that year, I cannot place you in my mind as there were so many unfamiliar faces. I attended Gregg School from 1959 to 1963.:)

 

Do you remember a Barbara Barker? Started there in 1957

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I now remember the reunion being in 1999 and Rankin was then 82 years of age and still looked fit.:) I wonder if he has made his nineties yet? I had great respect for him, he was always turned out very smartly dressed and groomed.

 

How about Jock Sutherland? Any news on him?

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Jim - the daughter's name was either Margaret or Christine, saw her on Ecclesall Road a couple of days ago, Jessica was Mrs A. Mrs A used to do some teaching too, though I don't know that she was qualified, but things were much easier in those days.

 

As you say Richard A always had a ciggie on the go - Craven A if I remember correctly. Like the idea of him being a spiritualist, but always thought his came from the bottle. On the annual school outing, usually to Blackpool, he had two bottles of gin and two crates of tonic on the coach. He and Mrs A disposed of one bottle on the outward leg and the second bottle on the return. The drink was donated for free by my future father-in-law who ran a pub at that time, 58/59, and had two sons at the school. My wife also recalled that he had a habit of turning up with Mrs A at the pub, loudly announcing that he was there as a guest of the landlord and expecting free drinks for the rest of the night. Sometimes he would take a class himself. Once he decided to give us a maths lesson in Form 3, but he could easily be diverted from the task in hand, and on that occassion he spent most of the period explaining in detail how a fridge worked.

 

Of the students you mentioned only Richard Storrie rings a bell. From my time I can recall Roger Sherwood (of hairdressing fame), David White (owns Slater's Model Engineering at Matlock Bath), the Acaster brothers, Susan Mellor, Geoff Arnold, Harry Wilcockson, Malcom Marsden, Avril Wright, John Murray, Gerald Hall, Gillian Johnson, Paula Savage, David Whitehead, Irene Crossland, David Copley, the Lisham brothers Billy and Roger, Hamish Fotheringham, Watson Thom, Barry Bolton (seen recently on Fargate), Muriel Ainley, Patsy Crawford, Wendy Harris.

 

There was annual football match with the Gregg School at Hull. That all came to an abrupt halt when George Midgley, who was refereeing the match at the City Surveyors ground, was accused by the Hull staff of showing too much bias towards us. The match and the fixture were abandoned for good. The Hull school appears to have gone the way of Sheffield and the only one now showing on Google is at Southampton, which looks to be a success.

 

One speech day, I think 1959, the Master Cutler was the guest of honour, and on a previous year Miss Berry mentioned by Multiparvo was there.

 

I'm not sure about the educational quality, but it was certainly an experience spending five years at Broomfield Road.

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