I attended Mill Lane Primary School from 1986 onwards, I cherish the beautiful memories of my childhood at this school. My children attend the school at the moment and there’s so much government initiatives available for them, where as when I attended back then,there was so little happening but tons and tons of happiness!
Can remember Miss Barrett, Mr Butterfield and his piano playing? Oh I miss it soooo…much, the beautiful Miss Ripley, Mr Collins munching on his apple at play times and the bible stories, which were really interesting.
Oh, I remember ‘midsummer night’s dream’ boy we worked hard with that performance!…I was the ballerina with the sticks with the ribbon attached to it, Miss Ripley worked hard with the organising. I might be getting mixed up with the Dick Whittington concert!…still remember the elegant cat wow what a performance.
My three boys go to this school and is nice and friendly. The teachers are very nice and they make you feel welcome, if you have any complaints or need reassurance they are happy to help parents and pupils.
I attended Mill Lane from 1983 till 1990, used live in St Bernards road which has recently been pulled down. I remember Mrs Marshall and Mrs Reeve in the nursery having small bottles of milk, Mrs Marshall used to make me eat my dinner – I hated liver. My favourite teacher was Mr Collins, very nice man. Also Mr Butterfield I remember him bringing his cats into the school, very happy memories.
Wow!!! I also attended this school back in the 80s. I remember all these teachers and more. Mr Davies was the headmaster back then. I wonder how many of these legends are still alive?
Margaret Boyd – I remember you as Miss Atkinson I think. I worked there as school clerk – working in Mr Robertson’s office but leaving discretely when boys had to be caned. I think this upset Mr Robertson as much as it hurt the boys as he was such a kind gentleman.
Hi Linda, Miss Atkinson was Miss Lydia Atkinson who married the Headmaster Mr Luke (Chalkie) White. The headmaster before him, was Pop Bailey, a giant of a man. Luke White hated corporal punishment and wouldn’t use the cane. Tom Wilkie had a good stick and he called it Long Tom. Bill Coad, was one to be feared of, and Bert Nellist had his moments. Left school, in 1957. Some of the best years of my early life.
Mill Lane Boys’ School was my first teaching post after I left college. It was an all-age boys school with pupils from Junior age to age 15 or 16. I was in the junior end and I think I taught Paul Till. The acting Head was Mr Robertson who was wonderfully kind to me, as I was very green. We had a very happy staff, though I do remember the boys were frightened of Mr (Bill) Coad. He was actually good fun when in the staff room. I was very fond of Bob Powells and Cliff Longstaff ( I went to night class to be taught woodwork by him ). I was there from 1963-66.
We used to live on the other side of the tunnel from Mill Lane School in Oxbridge. The only time I can remember going into Mill Lane School was as a ten or eleven year old in the mid sixties to attend evening classes held by the RSPCA and after six weeks we all got a certificate and a little metal badge which I still have to this day. I notice you went there Alex Mucha, I guess you are the same Alex Much who rode with us in Stockton Wheelers back in the seventies?
I attended Mill Lane Infants from about 1962, then the junior school. In the junior school I remember Mr Powell who was very laid back – if you were talking in class he could throw a piece of chalk while sitting back at his desk and hit your notebook – he was pretty accurate. I too remember Mr Code – grey tweed jackets and very strict, but he gave us responsibility too – I remember he would pin the answers to questions on the wall and we could mark ourselves – but he caned my best friend (Kenneth Moss) for mistakenly marking one of his wrong answers as right! Mrs Egerton was a Canadian lady teacher I remember, she was very nice.
Year 1 Mr Powell
Year 2 Mrs ?? (Old lady, taught us joined up writing!)
Year 3 Mr Code
year 4 Mrs Egerton
I also remember a Mrs WIn/Winn – Headmistress in the infants school?
I went to Mill Lane from 1976 (nursery) to 1983 (the new Mill Lane School on Wellington Street). In the old school (Dovecot Street) I remember Mrs Hewson, Mrs Church, I think a Mrs Marshall. In Juniors I remember Mr Powells, my favourite teacher, Mr Collins, Mr Coad, or was it Mr Code? He instilled fear with his renowned cane. In the new school, I remember Mr Butterworth. And I will never forget “Dickie Davis” as we used to call him, the head teacher who used to wrap the long hair on one side over his bald head to the other side. It was fun to watch when it was windy out in the playground.
I worked at Mill Lane for a year as a student nursery nurse 1974/5. I remember Val Marshall and was very sorry to hear she had passed away. What was the name of the Nursery class teacher, can anyone remember? She was a lovely lady and made jewellery. She made me a silver ring with a pink stone for my 18th birthday. Also, working there was a Scottish lady with a wonderful gentle accent who came originally from Oban. I spent a very happy year there before going to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton to do my nursing training. Happy times.
my children attended Mill lane from 1990-2006 so know the school more as it is, I remember Mrs Reeves, she was a lovely lady with a big character and taught my eldest, Shelly, in Nursery with the sadly passed Val Marshall etc Mr Davis was head but left shortly after we began and it went through a further two heads before we got the wnnderful Carol Obrien who has turned the school back into the wonderful one it once was
Alison, I remember your father very well. He was a lovely man. I left the year before he retired. I taught at Mill Lane in the late 1980s with Mrs Gavin, Mrs Chapman, Mrs Reeve etc. Sadly Mrs Reeve died about four years ago but Mrs Gavin and Mrs Chapman are both well.
Does anyone remember Miss Geary eating her Black Magic chocolates from her desk drawer? I also remember winding up the gramaphone in the middle of a country dance
Are there any memories from Mill Lane later years? Or am I in the wrong place???I attended the infant school in early 70s.Fond memories of Mrs Church and Mrs Gavin in particular. I have two elder brothers,Peter and Malcolm.They attended the junior school In later years my Dad.”Mr Briggs” became caretaker of the new Mill Lane until his retirement in 1990
In reply to Janice Swannell (Carruthers). It was Mrs Cowen who taught the times tables by stamping out the rhymes on the floor. Every Friday afternoon before 3 o”clock she would hand out a Mars bar to the child who could recite their 12 x table. Needless to say it cost her a small fortune. This must have been around 1968-69, happy times.
Thank you for remembering me, its nice to hear from old friends from mill lane. It would be nice to see any photos from mill lane as my first husband got rid of all mine. I was also in midsummer nights dream, has any one got any photos of this? I dont remember any class photos. I also remember singing at hebron hall for the school. Do you remember going on strike in the playground sitting down on the ground in the hot sun? Oh happy days, I also rememder knitting a dish cloth
Thought I would join the Mill Lane memory board. I was there from 53 to 59 when four of us went to Richard Hind. I liked being at Mill Lane, I think there was only one teacher we didn”t like, fortunately I have forgotten her name. Miss West and Mrs Major I certainly do remember and fancy I had actually forgotten Miss Geary, she was the last form teacher we had before we went to Richard Hind. Did she have a sister or is my memory playing tricks. I haven”t recognised any names yet except for Margaret Cope who was the same age as my sister. I showed her your input Margaret!!
This is a long shot really – as you were there from 53 to 59 I wondered if you remember a lady called Gladys Aleward (Inn of the sixth happiness) visiting your school or if you remember a plaque that was a reminder of her visit – Thank you.
I remember Gladys Aylward, a tiny woman in stature, coming to Mill Lane and handing prizes to winners at school speech day. I don’t think many would have known of her amazing missionary work in China at the time she was our guest. I believe that she was a friend of the then Head Teacher Luke White and agreed to hand out prizes before giving a very modest account of her harrowing experiences in China. It was only many years later that I read her biography and realised how great a humanitarian she was.
Thank you so much for your reply – I just had it at the back of my mind that she had visited our school – it fostered a knowledge in me to find out more about this lady during my life time. I am now trying to find photographic evidence of this visit.
Your memories of some of the teachers like Mrs. Major have brought back even more meories. I suspect that you were in the junior classes when I was teaching the older girls, but I may have taught you knitting. Do you remember those orange cotton dishcloths? I remember having to teach about 40 7 year olds to knit! Each evening I took the knitting home to disentangle the wool and remove the holes. What a relief when we finally produced a 9 inch square! When I was there we produced a school play – one year it was “Androcles and the Lion” and the next it was “Lady Precious Stream”. And Scottish dancing to the wind-up gramophone! Halfway through the Dashing White Sergeant, someone had to madly wind it up again!
I went to Mill Lane School. I left in 1967 when the senior school disbanded and most pupils were moved to Hardwick Secondary Modern. The teachers mostly went to William Newton Girls school which is where I went. I remember a Marilyn Pattison in my class at school she lived straight opposite school. Miss West died a while ago – mum used to see her when she did visits in the hospital. She had polio as a child and that is why she had to wear the calliper on her leg. I remember Mrs Major, Mrs Cowan Miss and I forget her name but she was only young and married and became Mrs Ball. I used to play in the percussion and there were 2 choirs, a junior and senior, and we used to do “concerts” for old people in retirement homes. I have a few photographs of these we often had our photo in the evening gazette. I forgot Miss Geary and then there was the head Miss Gibson who always wore wool knitted suits – skirts and cardigans or jumpers. Those big wood gates which seperated the boys and girls playgrounds the only time they were opened was when the coal wagon delivered coal. I remember Miss Gibson the head caught me swinging on the big main gates which were on Dovecote Street and I had to stand outside her office for what seemed like a life time but was probably only an hour but the ribbing I got from other pupils was enough punishment and did I get it from my parents when I got home. I could fill a book with tales of school. I probably could quote all the class I went through Mill Lane with.
I went to Mill Lane from1945 – 1955, I remember Miss West very well. In 1954 we had a Christmas Party at school and we all had to have fancy hats. I remember winning and I got a small china dish that Miss West painted and I have still got that dish which always takes pride of place on my dressing table. Is Miss West still about? Can anybody else remember me or does anybody know of the whereabouts of Ann Dawson that was my best friend at school. Would love to hear from you.
Was it Mrs Cowen or Mrs Davies, I remember Miss West how I was most grateful of as she showed me how to draw. I met her many years later in hospital visiting her mother, so she never married. She would wear plastic gloves as the chalk would make her hands crack. I lived in St Bernard Road.
Just to stir a few memories – when I went to Mill Lane Girls to teach in 1960 there were at least three teachers who had been there since Adam was a boy: Miss Geary, Miss West (who had an iron on one leg) and another teacher whose name I can”t remember but who had spectacles tied on with string and who taught the times tables by stamping out the rhythms on the floor.
Lorraine Holmes – I attended Mill Lane School, and I do believe your mother was in the same class as myself. If I remember rightly she lived next door to the school. I myself lived in Dean Street, just off Ewbank Street. I would also love to see some photographs of the old school.
My mam, Jean Pattiason used to go to Mill Lane school many moons ago, has anybody got any old pictures of the school or Wren Street ,it would make her day.
When I was about 6 years old I recall that both myself and my sister used to go to Mill Lane School for dinner. I remember it well in Dovecot street close to the tunnel that led out on to the Moor. I can”t for the life of me remember why I had to go to Mill Lane School for lunch. Was it some therapeutic thing or what. I have often wondered why I had to go. Can anybody out there throw some light on it for me. After all I was attending Oxbridge school at the time…did any body else have to go..or was it only me. Did it have something to do with the war.
The original Mill Lane Board School was opened on 26th Feb 1872 as an all age mixed school with 99 pupils on the roll.On 18 Oct 1873 the girls dept was made seperate from the boys and the Board abolished all fees on 1st Sept 1891. It was the first Stockton school to be built as a result of the Forster Education Act 1870. The school was located in Mill Lane where an old flour Mill once stood. Some years later the location (Mill Lane)was re-named Dovecote street.
I taught at Mill Lane Girls from 1960 – 63. I seem to remember that there was a date above the door 1872. It struck a chord with the Education Act that made education free for primary children. Happy days! Shakespeare in the cloakroom, netball in a yard not big enough and scottish dancing in the hall with a wind-up gramophone! And wonderful girls!
Does anyone know when the original Mill Lane School Stockton was built? I”m still doing research on Newtown and have discovered a pupil who moved from (I think Mill Lane – the family lived in Leeds Street) to Newtown School for some reason when they were 9.??
I attended Mill Lane Primary School from 1986 onwards, I cherish the beautiful memories of my childhood at this school. My children attend the school at the moment and there’s so much government initiatives available for them, where as when I attended back then,there was so little happening but tons and tons of happiness!
Can remember Miss Barrett, Mr Butterfield and his piano playing? Oh I miss it soooo…much, the beautiful Miss Ripley, Mr Collins munching on his apple at play times and the bible stories, which were really interesting.
Oh, I remember ‘midsummer night’s dream’ boy we worked hard with that performance!…I was the ballerina with the sticks with the ribbon attached to it, Miss Ripley worked hard with the organising. I might be getting mixed up with the Dick Whittington concert!…still remember the elegant cat wow what a performance.
❤️… I went to Mill Lane too and remember same teachers. Love those years. When I watch The Goldbergs on e4 the mum reminds me of Miss Ripley 😊
My three boys go to this school and is nice and friendly. The teachers are very nice and they make you feel welcome, if you have any complaints or need reassurance they are happy to help parents and pupils.
I attended Mill Lane from 1983 till 1990, used live in St Bernards road which has recently been pulled down. I remember Mrs Marshall and Mrs Reeve in the nursery having small bottles of milk, Mrs Marshall used to make me eat my dinner – I hated liver. My favourite teacher was Mr Collins, very nice man. Also Mr Butterfield I remember him bringing his cats into the school, very happy memories.
Wow!!! I also attended this school back in the 80s. I remember all these teachers and more. Mr Davies was the headmaster back then. I wonder how many of these legends are still alive?
Aye Codfish Codey… used to throw the big wooden blackboard eraser at you if you got the wrong answer on his times table clock, hahaha happy memories.
Margaret Boyd – I remember you as Miss Atkinson I think. I worked there as school clerk – working in Mr Robertson’s office but leaving discretely when boys had to be caned. I think this upset Mr Robertson as much as it hurt the boys as he was such a kind gentleman.
Hi Linda, Miss Atkinson was Miss Lydia Atkinson who married the Headmaster Mr Luke (Chalkie) White. The headmaster before him, was Pop Bailey, a giant of a man. Luke White hated corporal punishment and wouldn’t use the cane. Tom Wilkie had a good stick and he called it Long Tom. Bill Coad, was one to be feared of, and Bert Nellist had his moments. Left school, in 1957. Some of the best years of my early life.
I was there till 1966. I remember the Dreaded Mr Coad and his assortment of Canes.
I always liked Mr Powell and Longstaff.
Mill Lane Boys’ School was my first teaching post after I left college. It was an all-age boys school with pupils from Junior age to age 15 or 16. I was in the junior end and I think I taught Paul Till. The acting Head was Mr Robertson who was wonderfully kind to me, as I was very green. We had a very happy staff, though I do remember the boys were frightened of Mr (Bill) Coad. He was actually good fun when in the staff room. I was very fond of Bob Powells and Cliff Longstaff ( I went to night class to be taught woodwork by him ). I was there from 1963-66.
We used to live on the other side of the tunnel from Mill Lane School in Oxbridge. The only time I can remember going into Mill Lane School was as a ten or eleven year old in the mid sixties to attend evening classes held by the RSPCA and after six weeks we all got a certificate and a little metal badge which I still have to this day. I notice you went there Alex Mucha, I guess you are the same Alex Much who rode with us in Stockton Wheelers back in the seventies?
Yes I remember going training with you over clay bank and the back of Carlton Bank in those days – how are you?
I attended Mill Lane Infants from about 1962, then the junior school. In the junior school I remember Mr Powell who was very laid back – if you were talking in class he could throw a piece of chalk while sitting back at his desk and hit your notebook – he was pretty accurate. I too remember Mr Code – grey tweed jackets and very strict, but he gave us responsibility too – I remember he would pin the answers to questions on the wall and we could mark ourselves – but he caned my best friend (Kenneth Moss) for mistakenly marking one of his wrong answers as right! Mrs Egerton was a Canadian lady teacher I remember, she was very nice.
Year 1 Mr Powell
Year 2 Mrs ?? (Old lady, taught us joined up writing!)
Year 3 Mr Code
year 4 Mrs Egerton
I also remember a Mrs WIn/Winn – Headmistress in the infants school?
I was in your class, did you live on Dixon St .
Yes I did!
I attended mill lane infants and junior school from 1960 to 1964,form teacher Mr Powell,looking back I have many happy memories.
I went to Mill Lane from 1976 (nursery) to 1983 (the new Mill Lane School on Wellington Street). In the old school (Dovecot Street) I remember Mrs Hewson, Mrs Church, I think a Mrs Marshall. In Juniors I remember Mr Powells, my favourite teacher, Mr Collins, Mr Coad, or was it Mr Code? He instilled fear with his renowned cane. In the new school, I remember Mr Butterworth. And I will never forget “Dickie Davis” as we used to call him, the head teacher who used to wrap the long hair on one side over his bald head to the other side. It was fun to watch when it was windy out in the playground.
I worked at Mill Lane for a year as a student nursery nurse 1974/5. I remember Val Marshall and was very sorry to hear she had passed away. What was the name of the Nursery class teacher, can anyone remember? She was a lovely lady and made jewellery. She made me a silver ring with a pink stone for my 18th birthday. Also, working there was a Scottish lady with a wonderful gentle accent who came originally from Oban. I spent a very happy year there before going to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton to do my nursing training. Happy times.
my children attended Mill lane from 1990-2006 so know the school more as it is, I remember Mrs Reeves, she was a lovely lady with a big character and taught my eldest, Shelly, in Nursery with the sadly passed Val Marshall etc Mr Davis was head but left shortly after we began and it went through a further two heads before we got the wnnderful Carol Obrien who has turned the school back into the wonderful one it once was
Alison, I remember your father very well. He was a lovely man. I left the year before he retired. I taught at Mill Lane in the late 1980s with Mrs Gavin, Mrs Chapman, Mrs Reeve etc. Sadly Mrs Reeve died about four years ago but Mrs Gavin and Mrs Chapman are both well.
Does anyone remember Miss Geary eating her Black Magic chocolates from her desk drawer? I also remember winding up the gramaphone in the middle of a country dance
Are there any memories from Mill Lane later years? Or am I in the wrong place???I attended the infant school in early 70s.Fond memories of Mrs Church and Mrs Gavin in particular. I have two elder brothers,Peter and Malcolm.They attended the junior school In later years my Dad.”Mr Briggs” became caretaker of the new Mill Lane until his retirement in 1990
In reply to Janice Swannell (Carruthers). It was Mrs Cowen who taught the times tables by stamping out the rhymes on the floor. Every Friday afternoon before 3 o”clock she would hand out a Mars bar to the child who could recite their 12 x table. Needless to say it cost her a small fortune. This must have been around 1968-69, happy times.
Thank you for remembering me, its nice to hear from old friends from mill lane. It would be nice to see any photos from mill lane as my first husband got rid of all mine. I was also in midsummer nights dream, has any one got any photos of this? I dont remember any class photos. I also remember singing at hebron hall for the school. Do you remember going on strike in the playground sitting down on the ground in the hot sun? Oh happy days, I also rememder knitting a dish cloth
Thought I would join the Mill Lane memory board. I was there from 53 to 59 when four of us went to Richard Hind. I liked being at Mill Lane, I think there was only one teacher we didn”t like, fortunately I have forgotten her name. Miss West and Mrs Major I certainly do remember and fancy I had actually forgotten Miss Geary, she was the last form teacher we had before we went to Richard Hind. Did she have a sister or is my memory playing tricks. I haven”t recognised any names yet except for Margaret Cope who was the same age as my sister. I showed her your input Margaret!!
This is a long shot really – as you were there from 53 to 59 I wondered if you remember a lady called Gladys Aleward (Inn of the sixth happiness) visiting your school or if you remember a plaque that was a reminder of her visit – Thank you.
I remember Gladys Aylward, a tiny woman in stature, coming to Mill Lane and handing prizes to winners at school speech day. I don’t think many would have known of her amazing missionary work in China at the time she was our guest. I believe that she was a friend of the then Head Teacher Luke White and agreed to hand out prizes before giving a very modest account of her harrowing experiences in China. It was only many years later that I read her biography and realised how great a humanitarian she was.
Thank you so much for your reply – I just had it at the back of my mind that she had visited our school – it fostered a knowledge in me to find out more about this lady during my life time. I am now trying to find photographic evidence of this visit.
Your memories of some of the teachers like Mrs. Major have brought back even more meories. I suspect that you were in the junior classes when I was teaching the older girls, but I may have taught you knitting. Do you remember those orange cotton dishcloths? I remember having to teach about 40 7 year olds to knit! Each evening I took the knitting home to disentangle the wool and remove the holes. What a relief when we finally produced a 9 inch square! When I was there we produced a school play – one year it was “Androcles and the Lion” and the next it was “Lady Precious Stream”. And Scottish dancing to the wind-up gramophone! Halfway through the Dashing White Sergeant, someone had to madly wind it up again!
I went to Mill Lane School. I left in 1967 when the senior school disbanded and most pupils were moved to Hardwick Secondary Modern. The teachers mostly went to William Newton Girls school which is where I went. I remember a Marilyn Pattison in my class at school she lived straight opposite school. Miss West died a while ago – mum used to see her when she did visits in the hospital. She had polio as a child and that is why she had to wear the calliper on her leg. I remember Mrs Major, Mrs Cowan Miss and I forget her name but she was only young and married and became Mrs Ball. I used to play in the percussion and there were 2 choirs, a junior and senior, and we used to do “concerts” for old people in retirement homes. I have a few photographs of these we often had our photo in the evening gazette. I forgot Miss Geary and then there was the head Miss Gibson who always wore wool knitted suits – skirts and cardigans or jumpers. Those big wood gates which seperated the boys and girls playgrounds the only time they were opened was when the coal wagon delivered coal. I remember Miss Gibson the head caught me swinging on the big main gates which were on Dovecote Street and I had to stand outside her office for what seemed like a life time but was probably only an hour but the ribbing I got from other pupils was enough punishment and did I get it from my parents when I got home. I could fill a book with tales of school. I probably could quote all the class I went through Mill Lane with.
I went to Mill Lane from1945 – 1955, I remember Miss West very well. In 1954 we had a Christmas Party at school and we all had to have fancy hats. I remember winning and I got a small china dish that Miss West painted and I have still got that dish which always takes pride of place on my dressing table. Is Miss West still about? Can anybody else remember me or does anybody know of the whereabouts of Ann Dawson that was my best friend at school. Would love to hear from you.
Was it Mrs Cowen or Mrs Davies, I remember Miss West how I was most grateful of as she showed me how to draw. I met her many years later in hospital visiting her mother, so she never married. She would wear plastic gloves as the chalk would make her hands crack. I lived in St Bernard Road.
Just to stir a few memories – when I went to Mill Lane Girls to teach in 1960 there were at least three teachers who had been there since Adam was a boy: Miss Geary, Miss West (who had an iron on one leg) and another teacher whose name I can”t remember but who had spectacles tied on with string and who taught the times tables by stamping out the rhythms on the floor.
Lorraine Holmes – I attended Mill Lane School, and I do believe your mother was in the same class as myself. If I remember rightly she lived next door to the school. I myself lived in Dean Street, just off Ewbank Street. I would also love to see some photographs of the old school.
My mam, Jean Pattiason used to go to Mill Lane school many moons ago, has anybody got any old pictures of the school or Wren Street ,it would make her day.
When I was about 6 years old I recall that both myself and my sister used to go to Mill Lane School for dinner. I remember it well in Dovecot street close to the tunnel that led out on to the Moor. I can”t for the life of me remember why I had to go to Mill Lane School for lunch. Was it some therapeutic thing or what. I have often wondered why I had to go. Can anybody out there throw some light on it for me. After all I was attending Oxbridge school at the time…did any body else have to go..or was it only me. Did it have something to do with the war.
The original Mill Lane Board School was opened on 26th Feb 1872 as an all age mixed school with 99 pupils on the roll.On 18 Oct 1873 the girls dept was made seperate from the boys and the Board abolished all fees on 1st Sept 1891. It was the first Stockton school to be built as a result of the Forster Education Act 1870. The school was located in Mill Lane where an old flour Mill once stood. Some years later the location (Mill Lane)was re-named Dovecote street.
I taught at Mill Lane Girls from 1960 – 63. I seem to remember that there was a date above the door 1872. It struck a chord with the Education Act that made education free for primary children. Happy days! Shakespeare in the cloakroom, netball in a yard not big enough and scottish dancing in the hall with a wind-up gramophone! And wonderful girls!
Does anyone know when the original Mill Lane School Stockton was built? I”m still doing research on Newtown and have discovered a pupil who moved from (I think Mill Lane – the family lived in Leeds Street) to Newtown School for some reason when they were 9.??