Memories Of Walkley

[mistyraven 10]

I lived in Walkley left in 1970 I went to Walkey school but can not remember anyone from there

[iamwoody 19]

You were at King Teds at the same time as me then and I remember the incident of someone jumping out of the window. I was born in Crookes and went to Westways but have lived in Walkley for nearly 20 years now.

 

Our paths may have crossed then because i moved from walkley to crookes and now live at rivelin

[Rivelin6 11]

Our paths may have crossed then because i moved from walkley to crookes and now live at rivelin

I lived down at Malin Bridge for a while too, do you remember any of the people you were there with or teachers?

[andycott 10]

i have lived in walkley all my life 58 years anybody out there who was born in walkley moved away or still here

 

My parents moved to Storrs hall rd, off Walkley bank in 1964 when I was 8 and I went to St Josephs/De La Salle. My friends went to Morley St/Myers Grove. I have many happy memories of 'dens' in the Donkey woods and messing about down Rivelin! Great days.

[stevie1957 10]

My parents moved to Storrs hall rd, off Walkley bank in 1964 when I was 8 and I went to St Josephs/De La Salle. My friends went to Morley St/Myers Grove. I have many happy memories of 'dens' in the Donkey woods and messing about down Rivelin! Great days.

Do you remember the Tarzan swing there? I wonder if the kids of today still call it donkey woods.

[Rivelin6 11]

Do you remember the Tarzan swing there? I wonder if the kids of today still call it donkey woods.

I think they do as my daughter went to Rivelin(Morley Street) school and they called it that.

[stevie1957 10]

I think they do as my daughter went to Rivelin(Morley Street) school and they called it that.

I've always wondered how it got its name.

[Watson 10]

What happened? Someone jump or pushed? How badly were they injured?

 

The flour incident occurred when the annual prize giving was brought into the school hall due to refurbishment at the usual city hall. Bag of flour held in place by a string and a candle burning through it - all in the roof void two storeys above the stage. With anxious eyes looking upward during the speeches, part way through the "bomb" went off and a neat pyramid of flour piled up on deputy head's bald head! We missed out on our customary days holiday for that speech day, but, arguably it was worth it.

 

The head asked for names of culprits to be placed in the traditional "headmasters box" - but that curiously disappeared!

 

I was present at this prize giving (I think I was in the 4th form) and had been given a tip off by a classmate whose brother was in the 7th form. Before we went into the hall for the prize giving ceremony he said to me, "Watch Sharrock's (the headmaster) face."

 

When the string burned through and the bucket of flour tipped over there was uproar. Gasps of astonishment as well as cheering. The deputy head "Fink" Jackson got the worst of it but there was flour everywhere, including all over the prizes (books). Everyone present was confined to the hall while the teachers went through the form registers to determine who was and who wasn't present. At that time they hadn't worked out how the "bomb" had been triggered and assumed that the culprit was up in the roof. I believe the people responsible (7th formers) were eventually found and suspended from school. Not sure what happened to them after that. The head later pointed out that they could have set fire to the school and it would have gone up like a torch because several areas, including the hall, were wood panelled.

 

In all my time at King Ted's, that was the most exciting thing that happened. Life at school was pretty boring after that.

[andycott 10]

Do you remember the Tarzan swing there? I wonder if the kids of today still call it donkey woods.

 

I do remember a Tarzan swing, 'cos I was a very adventurous little kid! Before Walkley, we lived at Stradbroke and in the woods at the bottom of the road, I was pushed off a rope swing aged 7, when 2 big boys went on at the same time as me. I fell about 15ft and broke my arm! I can say this now, 'cos my mother is sadly no longer alive.

Down Rivelin, I once scrambled/walked along the rivers edge (literally on the stones etc) from the bottom of Donkey woods right up to Rivelin Post Office.Why? you might ask. It took several days, then I had to walk back each time on the paths. A friend and me got nearly to Rivelin Dams that way. I'm still the same.

[stevie1957 10]

I do remember a Tarzan swing, 'cos I was a very adventurous little kid! Before Walkley, we lived at Stradbroke and in the woods at the bottom of the road, I was pushed off a rope swing aged 7, when 2 big boys went on at the same time as me. I fell about 15ft and broke my arm! I can say this now, 'cos my mother is sadly no longer alive.

Down Rivelin, I once scrambled/walked along the rivers edge (literally on the stones etc) from the bottom of Donkey woods right up to Rivelin Post Office.Why? you might ask. It took several days, then I had to walk back each time on the paths. A friend and me got nearly to Rivelin Dams that way. I'm still the same.

 

The crazy things you do as kids. We once sat in the grave yard (just below donkey woods) at midnight, to see if any ghosts would appear. We were so disappointed when nothing happened.

[stevie1957 10]

I was present at this prize giving (I think I was in the 4th form) and had been given a tip off by a classmate whose brother was in the 7th form. Before we went into the hall for the prize giving ceremony he said to me, "Watch Sharrock's (the headmaster) face."

 

When the string burned through and the bucket of flour tipped over there was uproar. Gasps of astonishment as well as cheering. The deputy head "Fink" Jackson got the worst of it but there was flour everywhere, including all over the prizes (books). Everyone present was confined to the hall while the teachers went through the form registers to determine who was and who wasn't present. At that time they hadn't worked out how the "bomb" had been triggered and assumed that the culprit was up in the roof. I believe the people responsible (7th formers) were eventually found and suspended from school. Not sure what happened to them after that. The head later pointed out that they could have set fire to the school and it would have gone up like a torch because several areas, including the hall, were wood panelled.

 

In all my time at King Ted's, that was the most exciting thing that happened. Life at school was pretty boring after that.

I left school just before that happened (Thursday 4th April 1974). I believe it happened on the Friday. Wish I had have seen it, just to see Jackson’s face. I bet he was boiling inside. He was a bully and he would have taken it out of some poor soul.

 

We once barricaded the prefects in their room by pushing the lockers up against the door.

[TWhits 11]

I left school just before that happened (Thursday 4th April 1974). I believe it happened on the Friday. Wish I had have seen it, just to see Jackson’s face. I bet he was boiling inside. He was a bully and he would have taken it out of some poor soul.

 

We once barricaded the prefects in their room by pushing the lockers up against the door.

 

I was there as well and, allegedly, it was a boy called Philip Beet who was the main perpetrator and, unfortunately, he died in a road accident something like a year or so later. It has also been claimed that the first student to receive a prize after proceedings resumed was .... "Whitehead". I can't recall this personally, but it does add to the story. It is such a shame that we didn't have the means to take easy photographs or videos back then to capture the moment.