This prize (Poems of Tennyson) was awarded to my Dad in Form iii A when he was 13 years of age. He was born in 1913. I don’t live in Stockton so I have no idea where the school was. Can anybody help?
Image and details courtesy Chris Shields.
Stockton-on-Tees Secondary School for Boys, 1925-26
The secondary school for boys was in Nelson Terrace. It was also a secondary school for girls and in fact the title girls and boys could be seen clearly on the separate staircases. (My late aunt went there.) It later became part of the Stockton and Billingham Technical College. In all cases entrance was afforded to those passing their entrance exams. When I was there for two years, finishing in 1958 I had sat my GCE O levels, set by the Joint Matriculation Board and Oxford University. (I still have the question papers!)
The head was Mr Smith, my friends were Michael Watts, John Goldsmith and John Ellis. The idea was that pupils would end up in engineering which I did.
I believe this was the school that my dad Trevor attended from c 1927 to 1934. He was hoping to go to university afterwards, but the Great Depression meant that he had to go to London instead to get work and support the family back in Stockton.
It happened so much in those days: men couldn’t fulfil their potential because of social circumstances. My Dad sat the entrance exam for Oxford when he was 14, but his parents couldn’t afford to let him him go (fees, gowns, accommodation – his teacher offered to buy his his books) – so sad. He got an apprenticeship instead; his Dad (my Grandad, had lost his legs in WW1 – so couldn’t go back to his job as an engineer, so money was very tight). So sad for so many.
Hi Martin. My dad’s situation was similar. Hoped to go to university but my grandfather had a stroke and could no longer support the family so dad had to go to work.
So, consensus says it was on Nelson Terrace, it that went through many uses & names:
https://picturestocktonarchive.com/2013/07/22/higher-grade-school-nelson-terrace/
https://picturestocktonarchive.com/2013/11/26/interior-of-nelson-higher-grade-school-in-stockton/
https://goo.gl/maps/Xj4tK9MMtH6vixpZ7
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.0&lat=54.56491&lon=-1.31419&layers=168&b=1&marker=54.564935,-1.314785
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW013852 (centre of image)
I believe that this school was on Nelson Terrace opposite where ARC – Stockton Arts Centre is now. The building became a college and Adult education centre. I think the school and personnel moved o the new site and became Grangefield Grammar school.
When we moved to Carlton the family 2 doors down were called Shields. I didn’t think it was a common name in Stockton.
Hi Bill, I left Stockton-on-Tees in 1952. We lived in Cheltenham Avenue, I think. Not sure where Carlton is. Regards Chris.
Located behind High Street, in Nelson Terrace, later to become Grangefield Grammar, at new location in Grangefield, following its demolition. GGS also now demolished!
Hi Chris, wonder if you are a relative of mine. My dad was Raymond Shields (born 1924), he had brothers George and Eddy. I was brought up in Stockton and left for South Africa in 1982.
Hi Brian. I don’t recognise your dad’s name. Our family came from Chester le street area in the late 18oos. Lots of Richard’s in the family.
I think the school was in Nelson Terrace. The site of the school is now part of the Wellington Square shopping centre. The shops and business buildings that would have been opposite the school are still there (well, some of them), and it’s still known as Nelson Terrace. The school was the forerunner of Grangefield Grammar School and was very prestigious in its day. My A Level teacher (for French) was a pupil there, and then taught there when he first qualified, and he used to talk about the school with fondness. I didn’t really take much notice back in the 70s, but I must have been listening! I remember the old school building well – such heritage gone forever.