After all the debate on photo id=127 we are indebted to Mr Kevin McCullough from California for putting the record straight. He has supplied us with this photograph of the real St. Cuthberts School. Thanks Kevin…
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Wow. Isn’t the internet a wonderful thing!. I went to the “old school” for my first few years then moved to the “new” school. There is a picture on here of the teachers from my era too, the Head Master was a Mr Burns who died whilst I was at the school. Us kids sang at his funeral. I am sure I recall my mam telling me he had been captured in Japan during the war and tortured. I do remember he used to signal the end of playtime by walking into the yard and clapping his hands loudly.
I did six years at the old school and one at the new one.
I heard Mr Burns worked on the Burma Railway during the war, having been captured. As in Bridge on the River Kwai, the David Lean film that was always on the TV in the 60s and 70s.
I lived on St Cuthberts Road in the Late 1950’s & early ’60’s. Across the road from where we lived was St Cuthberts School. I have some pictures of myself and my Brother and Sister taken outside our house with the school in the background. The main (and only as far as I remember) entrance was definitely on St Cuthberts Road, not Arlington St.
Well I remember the school just as it looks in the photo. It also, later in life, had porta cabins in the playground to provide extra class rooms, Oh happy days!
Yes the portakabin-style classrooms were where the junior classes were in the 60s/early 70s. There were also the concrete air raid shelters in the playgrounds as well.
I remember during the war watching the penny giggles film shows, and also air raid shelter drills. The main school hall could be divided by glass and wood folding particians. I saw a performance by the comedian Jimmy James on the stage just behind the circular window in the photo. Teachers played badminton in the hall.
It was a very good multi purpose building.
Happy days 1937-1946.
I must have spent hundreds of hours playing footie in that schoolyard. Teams varied in size during a game between 2-a-side up to about 15 and we had scores like 44-43! As Ken Rhodes says, matches were sometimes ended prematurely (i.e. after only half a day) by the local bobby. I was beginning to think I must have played against Ken, but then spotted he was watching film shows before I was born! I also remember Bird’s shop on the corner. I went to school (Richard Hinds) with Peter Bird who lived opposite St Cuthberts – was he any relation?
Was there an explosion that killed some pupils at this school years ago? There is a memorial stone in the “new” St Cuthberts school in Parkfield and my dad always said it was because of this explosion ?
They were good old days at St. Cuthbert”s. I remember Mr. Higgins, the caretaker, who was a very kindly man always smiling. I remember him bringing the milk crates in during the winter and the milk inside the bottles was frozen.
Interesting we all went to St. Cuthberts Yvonne Denis Jean . My dad was the caretaker and I ended up working there
Jean, your brother Dennis was in my class at the Cuthbert’s many years ago, along with Kevin McCullough, up to the 11 plus when we moved on to grammar schools. Your dad was caretaker when we were there. I think I remember that Dennis emigrated to Australia.
Oh at last, good old St Cuthberts the real thing! The previous photo of the boys in the sports day photograph are I think sat in front of the old wall where the boiler was in the cellar and where in the winter generations of kids warmed their hands on the shiny wall. Anyone remember that!
Yes there was a small wooden door at ground level were the cinders were delivered for the boiler. Remember warming hands on the wall.
Yes this St Cuthberts, my dad had the shop across the road from 1953 to 1972. I left in 1957 after many happy years there. We have get togethers now and again with some of the girls who still live local. Our teacher Mrs bulmer comes often, we always have a good night.
I used to live at 33, must have been in your Dads shop hundreds of times. 😀
This is the school where my friends and I played footy in the school yard till the local bobby came and chased us for trespassing.The school always looked old and scruffy but I always enjoyed the penny film shows put on during the war.
After all the discussions about St. Cuthberts and teachers and people, I decided it was time for the real picture of the old school as opposed to the “fake” one of Bailey St. that is on the site