The school prefects for the year 1937-38 at Stockton Secondary School. Back row: C. Kendall, G.D.Wing, C.B.Urwin, G.C.Watson, P. Twiddy, R. Archer, F.W.Harvey Front row: H. Rutledge, C. Hill, R. Ireland (Captain of School), D.Smith, E.Tingle. Photograph and information courtesy of Cliff Thornton 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Picture Stockton Archive 
Looking at the photograph of the S.S.S. Prefects of 1938, I am surprised at how mature these young men appear. Did I, in 1946, look half as mature as they do? Elizabeth Hill, I started at the Secondary School in 1941, and our home was indeed in an old house at Norton.It was called Ragworth Hall, a somewhat run down mansion close to the duck pond. Normal lessons such as English, Maths, Geography were held in this building whilst the Laboratory work for Chemistry and Physics involved taking the “0” bus from Norton Green into Stockton and then race around to Nelson Terrace. This state of affairs lasted until the Air Raid shelters were built in “42 and we were moved into our permanent school in Nelson Terrace. A comprehensive history of the Old Stocktonians was written by the late Tom Sowler. “The Old Stocktonians” Association” could be obtained from the Tourist Information Centre – now located in the Central Library building. I was interested in the Long Jump accounts as my jump of 18″6″ in “46 won that event so that I became Victor Ludorum and took home the Scholes Cup for that year. As you may be aware,there is still an active Old Stocktonians Association who will doubtless have a few old records of the school. (Just type in Old Stocktonians Association on your P.C.) Ah! Lunch Time. Must away, but hope to see further postings from you.
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Thank you very much Cliff Thornton for your speedy reply. It is very interesting and helpful information. Do you know if the Cleveland Archives or Stockton library have copies of the Stocktonian Year Books, and is there any other information relating to Stockton Secondary School that would be of interest, such as registers or school logs?
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Elizabeth Hill – According to the Stocktonian Year Book for 1937-8, your father won the Junior School Long Jump competition with a leap of 13ft.9 1/2 inches, breaking the old record by 5 inches. The Year Book for 1938-9 records that he came third in the Middle School long jump, but he did win the High Jump. That year he was also a member of the Junior Relay Team that won its race in the Inter-School Sports held at Darlington, and thereby helped the school to win the Cup. Unfortunately publication of the Year Book ceased during the war years.
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My late father Albert Hindmarsh attended S.S.S. between 1936-41. He often mentioned “Kit” Irwin. Albert set a school long jump record in 1937 which was not broken until 1967 & was victor le dorum 2/3 yrs running never having really competed in athletics coming from Haffron St…not a lot of long jump pits there. Does any one know if any records/evidence/photos of this period survive, what happened to the honours board from the old building? He also said that during the war years some classes were held in the large old house in Norton that used to stand next to St Josephs (Father Thornton used to use for homeless families in the 60″s) though when possible he would bunk off to play snooker at Sloans Billiard Hall.
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