Newham Grange Intermediates 1953-54. Photograph courtesy of Len Nicholson 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Newham Grange Intermediates 1953-54. Photograph courtesy of Len Nicholson
This team was a top team along with Richard Hind & St Bedes that season, we played Thornaby St Patricks in the Salter Cup on the Victoria Ground.
Its good to see so many ex-pupils from this era at the school that contribute to Picture Stockton. Allen Ruddy played for this team till his family moved to run an hotel in Durham. Some of the others are Julie Smith, Sandra Middleton, Derek Overton, Roy Buchanan, Len Nicholson, Frank Burn, David Hutchcraft & Harry Groom.
Sadly Harry Groom is no longer with us.
Malcolm Heath in the photo also played for Stockton Boys & and for Durham F.A. Youth Team then packed in, whereas his brother Donny became a professional footballer.
Dennis Hind, the captain of the team, played for the Stockton Boys Team. He later became a referee. Alan Stephenson was a cousin of Dennis Thwaites.
Five of this team were able to play the following year,as photo ref:-t7904 shows,they were Alan Tupling(full back),David Clarke & Malcolm Heath(wing halves),Stan Hind(inside forward),Len Nicholson(centre forward). The centre half Brian Taylor is missing from this photo because he was at the dentist.
I was picked to do “Goal Keeper” but after playing in one trial, one of you lot shoulder charged me whilst I was retrieveing the ball, ended up in plaster never to play in that postion again – apart from in the “Rec”. Eddie Peacock is my cousin and I saw him briefly recently so I”m trying to contact him.
David Mills have you any photos of your time playing for St Bedes or Stockton Boys?
hello david mills, i,ve often wondered where you have got yourself to. Great memories of times together on durham road rec.playing football every night monday to friday.Do you remember our fellow players? geoff gray,ray swales,dave corcoran,curly webster,mick morgan,barry whitfield,alan woods and tommy murphy.Some handy players amongst them i think you will agree.I can remember you being a pretty good goalie with st.bedes and stockton boys. I hope you are fit and well best wishes eric harris.
Thanks Len.I only worked in the Teesdale patternshop for about a year when Stockton Steel closed down due to a shortage of foundry work.Jimmy by that time had left to become a teacher of woodwork.I knew Jim from school and I was his best man at his wedding (50years this year).I did”nt know Tommy but I had heard of him from his mates in the patternshop.I myself was chased back to Stockton Steel as soon as it opened up again mainly because myself and a couple of pals from the Cliffe foundry made a good money killing from making segment patterns on piecework prices which did”nt go down well with the so called top men in the Teesdale patternshop who moaned on to the pattershop foreman who got rid of me and the other offending patternmakers.Those were the days Len.
Hi Ken.The Mike Parrish in the photo is definitely the one who worked in the Heads pattern shop, Thornaby along with Jimmy Buckle & Tommy Tibbert as pattern makers,Eddie Peacock will confirm this next time you see him.
Hi Len.I did notice Eddie and saw the name Mike Parrish but it not connect it to the Mike I worked with at Heads pattern shop and looking at the photo again I”m afraid I still dont see the Mike Parish I knew at Heads but I suppose thats called old age.You cant fail to recognise Eddie he has”nt changed a bit over the years and I still see him every couple of months shopping in the local supermarket and he never alter”s.
Ken Rhodes have you noticed a couple of your old work colleagues in this photo,Eddie Peacock & Michael Parrish.
Hi Peter Chisolm – I remember you too at St. Bede”s! I think we were at St. Mary”s together too until I moved to Hardwick!
Hi Bob Morgan and Bob McIntosh. I certainly remember you both! When Mr Kavanagh arrived it co-incided with the departure of the Brothers De La Salle and was a major shock to the school system. I remember going to the pub up the road during the school dance with Paul Sibley and his brother. As we walked out having downed a couple of pints Mr Kavanagh walked in and caught us. I think the issue he was concerned about was that Paul and I were 15 and Paul”s brother was 12 or 13. Can”t understand why!
It was great to read all the posts about St. Bedes. I remember most of the teachers very well, though it was good to be reminded of some of the names. Another name is Mr Kavanagh, headmaster I think, after Brother Leander. I remember well being caned by him for fighting (with Ricey) behind the gym! On another occasion I remember detonators “borrowed” from a local railway being set off in the same place eliciting a very speedy response from the teachers. I remember very clearly metalwork with Mick Lawler – great fun – though my welding was not to hot. Great days!
Mike Maxwell sadly died earlier this year 2007. He started teaching at the Bedes in 1963 with myself and Steve Donnellan. John English taught woodwork there, Mrs Short taught music. I still see Bill McLean and in fact teach with his daughter Trish who also teaches music. She also has a great sense of humour like her dad. She teaches at a school where the deputy head is an old boy of the bedes Billy Edwards who I caned when he was there. I didn”t cane Dave Mills cause he was the school goalie and wicketkeeper and we had to protect his hands. Bedes took their sport seriously! I wonder if Dave remembers being beaten in the final of the cricket by Fairfield when Des West their teacher and umpire gave 8 lbw against us.
In the late 50″s at the Bedes our head was Brother Alpheous before him it was Antinuos. Our first year PE teacher was Mr Boil. Mick Maxwell and Tony Nugent were in my year
Joe Tomkinson”s Mam and Dad were both at St Mary”s Juniors. I was in Mrs Tomkinson”s class for one year in the early 60s. I remember in the Junior part of the school Mr Tomkinson (as Headmaster) walking down the corridor whacking his cane against the classroom walls when we were at lessons. The walls were only paper thin partions and this was terifying for the kids (and teachers)!
Another teacher I remember from that era was Mick Dunston. Not sure if he was a student at that time or a full member of staff. Joe Tomkinson”s dad was headmaster at St Mary”s junior school on Norton Rd. for donkeys years. Bill Bury used to run a sea scout group from a boathouse on Redcar Rd. Marske, he was also well qualified with a degree from King”s College, Cambridge if I recall correctly. We sure had some good teachers back then at the Bedes and I for one will be forever thankful for the educational start they gave me in life which got me through university and a subsequent top level career in business which has taken me all over the world.
Frank Nevin and Leo Murphy, my science and biology teachers. I guess it was those guys who helped me get my O and A levels after the Bede”s leading to graduation in natural sciences at one of Britains finest universities where I majored in materials science. Billy McClean ensured that I could read, write and spell (well sort of) even though he threw me out of his music classes on numerous occassions!!!!
Here are a few more teachers names that may ring a bell for you that were at St Bedes in my time(I left in 1969/70. Brother Nick – PE Teacher later replaced by Mr Clark, Mick Fay, Mr Brown(nick named footsie)because of his large feet, Brother Levinus. Now here are the names of some former pupils these may also jog a few memories. Les Strump, Norman Walker, Arthur Teasdale, Don Hardy, Kev Haswell, Paul Allinson, Paul Davey, Norman Kitchen. Thats all for now but I would like to hear from anyone that can remember anymore and maybe remember me.
Another few teacher names from St Bede”s were: Mick Lawler (metalwork and maths, and also looked after the football teams), Morris Edwards (technical drawing), Joe Tomkinson (crafts and science). Mick will be reading this at some point no doubt and might be able to fill in a few more names.
The teacher with the motor bike (AJS 250?) at St. Bede”s was Terry Thompson, tech drawing, who eventually retired C1997. He joined the staff with another teacher, Leo Murphy, who later became a headteacher in Middlesbrough. Mike Maxwell, elder brother of Tony, was at St. Bede”s as a student teacher in C1959 with another student teacher Terry? Nugent and then later as a teacher at the school. He left in 1967 to teach in Uganda for a spell. Brother Brendan taught history and Brother Francis geography. Frank (Francis) Corr – English – left in 1962, a very eccentric man, who perhaps stayed beyond his time, but intellectually brilliant, with an impressive academic record. Remember Bill Bury arriving at 09.00 one day,with a Durham Constabulary police car in hot pursuit! Bill liked to “push on” when driving and I believe a court appearance was the result.
A Blast from the Past Some more names from the past history of St Bedes Roman Catholic school Stockton on Tees prior to its move to Bishopton Road West Brother Baptist (headmaster)(liked to pull pupils ears and say come hear sonny and remember to say thank you after receiving the cane.) Brother Pius, Brother Brendan,,Brother Lovinous ( religous education), Brother Francis (history), Brother Leander (headmaster), Mr Frank Nevin (science) Mr George Philips woodwork)(keep your back to the wall when he was on playground duty as he often carried a piece of wood from his classroom. Mr Frank Corr (english?)he did like sweets, Mr Maxwell (parked his motor cycle between the hut classrooms in the building) Miss Prior who drove a Ford Anglia taught a class for a short time and passed away only a couple of years ago in Nazareth House aged over 103 years this was mentioned in the catholic voice of the Middlesbrough Diocese. And of course not forgetting Mr William Mclean (or as we would call him (billy)our music teacher, he was also the choir master at St Cuthberts on Yarm Road Stockton for many years.I was in that choir for some time a great guy I have been in that church several times over the last few years but have not seen him. The science teacher before Mr Frank Nevin was a Mr.Farrell, I rememberthat he was a heavy smoker and sadly died not long after his retirement. His funeral service was at St.Bedes church with the school singing.The service was also partly sung in latin a very moving service. Ther was also of course Mr.William Bury (bill)who was PE teacher etc. he would arrive at school in a Rover 90 or was it a 105 motor car, or in his yellow Commer caravanette he then studied for the priesthood(did we drive him to that) in his later years and was ordained. He sadly died on 10th April 1977 in North Ormesby hospital. There was also another teacher who joined St Bede”s school around the same time as Tony Maxwell but I can”t recall his name although I can picture him,(if you are reading this article then please accept an apology) If I have missed anyone else out then I am sorry, but looking back all in all they were a decent set of staff and we had happy times. Doesn”t time fly
Brother Pius was at St.Bede”s from C1948 to 1966 when the De La Salle”s left. He was sad to leave Stockton after so many years. He died, I think, in the early 1990s. Loved his Player”s Navy Cut, but you could always tell when he”d been home on holiday to Ireland as he would be smoking Sweet Afton, an Irish brand. Good maths teacher, slightly terrifying, but fair. Brother Baptist was Head from C1957 to 1962 and died relatively young around 1970. He was followed by Brother Leander.
The music teacher was Billy McClean, he also taught us English. Billy is still alive I am told and now in his eighties. He played the organ at St Bedes Catholic church up until the mid nineties. In my day Brother Pious was the math teacher. The headmaster was Brother Baptist followed by Brother Leander who was still there when I left in 1964.
Re. the comment about Brother Pious, although I never met him I was named after him, he taught my Father Denis who was also a pupil at Bedes.
RIGHT AGAIN LEN, IT WAS RONNIE THAT WORKED THERE, HE ALSO WAS THE ONE WHO WORKED AT CREASERS PAPER SHOP ON DURHAM ROAD.
Hi John nice to hear from you, as you will have seen Jan & George Outhwaite are also contributing to this site. The lad who worked in Chapman”s Garage was Ronnie Laverick the Stockton footballer, Maurice was his older brother.
HI DAVID,WENT TO StBEDES MYSELF AND LEFT IN THE LATE 1950s, I REMEMBER SOME OF THE TEACHERS NAMES. BROTHER PIOUS (HEADMASTER) BROTHER FRANCIS, MR NEVEN, MR PHILLIPS, MR CORY, MR FARREL THE SCIENCE TEACHER, I USED TO GO FOR HIS CIGARETES TO THE CORNER SHOP THEN HE WOULDN”T TAKE YOUR SWEETS OFF YOU. I CAN`T REMEMBER THE ART TEACHER OR MUSIC TEACHER – MAC SOME-BODY? GREAT DAYS DEREK
HI LEN BEEN READING YOUR COMMENTS FOR THE LAST MONTH OR SO. YOUR NAME RANG A BELL .JUST CLOCKED ONE OF YOUR PHOTOS. WE WENT TO KIORA HALL AND THE MAISON TOGETHER WITH GEORGE(PODGY)OATHWAITE AND A FEW MORE OF THE OLD CREW. HAPPY DAYS. ONLY BEEN ONLINE A COUPLE OF MONTHS .IT”S A GREAT SITE
hello peter, thanks so much for taking the time to comment… im not sure if he went on that trip but thanks anyway… i miss him a lot.. any pics from anyone will be gratefully recieved.. take care . christine
Hi Christine, I left St Bede”s in 1964, so didn”t know your brother Eddie. Guess he was taught by the same people as me though.
Hello Christime Foster. Yes I remember your brother Eddie. He was in one year down from me. He would have left in 1970. His year had some pretty good footballers. I am pretty sure that he was on a school trip with a number of us in 1968 when we went on a ship cruise to the Baltic on the SS Navasa. Sorry to hear that Eddie has passed on. He was a nice guy. Regards, Peter
Hello David Mills. My late brother, Eddie Reeves, played football at St Bedes and later for different teams in the area. He would have been 53 now so maybe he was a bit younger than you. Do you, or anyone else, remember him?
I played for St Bedes, intermediates and seniors from 1960-64 and Stockton Boys. Remember Brother Francis well. He used to take us on runs all over the place following behind on his bike, we sure were fit. I heard recently that he left the De La Salle order many years ago, married and had a family. The hardest teams to play in those days were Newham Grange,Richard Hind and Roseworth.
The sportsmaster Mr Winton was an excellent sports teacher,firm but fair he commanded the respect of the pupils & there was a few handy ones.Our fierce rivals St.Bedes also had a very good sportsmaster at the time Brother Frances, needless to say both schools excelled at sport.
Happy days Len, Stockton & district is quite tame compared with the 50″s-60″s. I was talking to Eddie Peacock and Val about the old times we used to have during school, youth and senior football. Seems like only yesterday Len. Mally remembers the good times aswell. Nice to talk to you again. I”ll look out for any comments from you on this site. Take care mate.
Keith nice to hear from you after such a long time,we had a good time growing up with Mally & the lads.Former Newham Grange School pupils who”ve done well playing football were Dennis Clark,West Bromwich Albion & Mally”s brother Donny Heath, Middlesbrough,Norwich City & Swindon Town,he was in the Swindon team that beat Arsenal in the Football League Cup-Final(now the Carling Cup)at Wembley.He also played in a good Stockton Boys team which got knocked out by East London Boys about 1959 in the later rounds of the English Schools Trophy.Four members of this team became full-time professional footballers.
Len, you haven”t changed a bit. Even Mal Heath looks the same minus the hair now!!
This team played in the Salter Cup Semi Final against Thornaby St. Patricks on the Victoria Ground. Back Row : Mr. Winton Barry Price, Alan Tupling, Ralf Hill, Kenny Amos, Malcolm Heath, Jimmy Henry, Stan Hinds, Kenny Bone, Harry Teasdale. Front Row : David Clark, Alan Stephenson, Eddie Peacock, Dennis Hinds, Derek Overton, Michael Parrish, Len Nicholson.