Manning Grammar School

[RadFordee 68]

@Ayupmeducks i would guess that your severe weather is much worse than anything we ever get here though, we had 2 very hot days the week before last 39 deg c & 2/3rds of uk schools were closed stating it was dangerous for kids to be out in those temperatures & its the same if we have a mm of snow, they seem to close schools here at the drop of a hat.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

The point I'm making is the kids have to make up that lost time.

And yes it can be so bad companies inform their employees to stay home too when it gets serious. But lots of time when schools close due to bed weather is tied to insurance risks, but better stay on the safe side.

[RadFordee 68]

@Ayupmeduckssorry i missed the main point you were making & kids here do not make up time lost to weather conditions or anything else that causes school closures.

[Cliff Ton 10,458]

This photo has arrived via Jill S and katyjay.

 

I'm only posting it....some one else will be along to explain it.

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Ah, yes. Katyjay sent this to me recently. Naughty Manning girls on the Goose Fair site!

 

It's clearly still under construction because the top of the helter skelter is missing.

 

They would have been risking detention on their return across the road.  Manning girls always had the Friday of Goose Fair as a holiday. This wasn't intended to give them the opportunity to visit the Fair, although many did. It was because, due to gaps in the french doors facing the Goose Fair site, the noise levels of the Fair were deemed to be a distraction. In reality, we could barely hear it but weren't going to argue with a day off!

 

However, if you were caught over there before the Friday, you were in trouble. The concern was that girls might be tempted to consume Goose Fair food and eating in the uniform whilst off the premises was a heinous transgression which was severely punished. Let's face it, having any kind of fun at all whilst wearing the uniform was absolutely verboten!

 

This is dated 1966, three years before my time.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

If they knew what was good for them, those with loose hair would tie it back before re-entering the Manning premises.  Cries of, "Is that a hair on your collar?" would inevitably lead to being dragged off by Mrs Christie!

[Cliff Ton 10,458]

I seem to remember Infants & Junior Schools had Friday (maybe just afternoon) as a holiday to enable kids to go to Goose Fair.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

That's right, CT. They did. Manning was the only secondary school to retain that privilege. Don't know how they squared it with the Education Authority as I don't remember us having to make up the time.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-62671962

 

Wonder if he was originally taught by Barmy Colleen?

[philmayfield 6,115]

'He used a slide rule in 1946'. I used a slide rule back in the 60's before the advent of portable calculators. I became quite a whizz on it. Strangely enough it's sitting before on my desk as I type. It's a 'British Thornton P281 STANDARD'. I'll see if I can remember how to use it!

 

Just divided six by two and it comes out as three so it still works!

[letsavagoo 961]

5 hours ago, Jill Sparrow said:

That's right, CT. They did. Manning was the only secondary school to retain that privilege. Don't know how they squared it with the Education Authority as I don't remember us having to make up the time.

This may have been a reason as the Police used some of the building as a temporary base for the policing of the fair.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

I never knew that! They were welcome to it! Their punishments were almost certainly more lenient than those meted out by the staff!

[Beekay 5,134]

Why do I get the distinct feeling that you weren't very enamoured with Manning school Jill. To be honest, I can't remember my sister in law ever complaing about being there. But then again, she's always been a glutton for punishment.

[RadFordee 68]

When i saw that photo two phrases sprang to mind 

A: very brave girls

or 

B: very foolish girls

Being caught on the goose fair in manning uniform would have probably meant a week standing under the dome and woe betide any girl caught looking over there during lessons. That would have seen one of barmy colleen's SMP books being launched accross the classroom.

[RadFordee 68]

4 minutes ago, Beekay said:

can't remember my sister in law ever complaing about being there. But then again, she's always been a glutton for punishment.

She must have been bk if she didn't complain about the manning, i hated the place.

[RadFordee 68]

@Jill Sparrowhi jill was having a discussion with hey arnold earlier today about schools, he asked me if i knew why the manning had moved to aspley when it did & the gregory boulevard building demolished, as it was not really that old, said i didn't but knew a lady who would more than likely know any info please jill thanks.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Good question! You will remember only too well that the year you started Manning, it also absorbed the Brincliffe Girls. Space was tight. Although Manning lost its grammar status, it remained a single sex school: the only one in the city which wasn't either fee-paying or linked to a particular religious denomination. This made it highly popular with a growing asian population who didn't want their daughters educated in a coed establishment. I think the Aspley move to the former Peveril site was purely to accommodate greatly increased numbers.

 

As you know, the Gregory Boulevard site then became The Forest School and admitted, for the first time, boys! It seemed to become popular to get rid of that architectural design of school. I suppose they were difficult to heat and starting to require expensive repairs. I remember reading in the NEP at the time Manning was demolished that, due to complexities related to the way in which it had been built (on an elevated area of ground) it would not be feasible to construct the new building on the same site. Djanogly Academy was built on the former tennis courts and part of the field. Years went by before the site of the original school was built upon and, even then, only partially.

[RadFordee 68]

@Jill Sparrowthank you for the info jill, i do remember the brincliffe girls joining us as a lot of them still wore their green uniforms for a while, i did say to hey arnold that it may have by then needed a lot of repair & upgrading so more cost effective to demolish it & start again. I did notice from viewing the site on google earth that the djanogly building is much smaller than the origional school was. Thanks again for the info it has answered a few questions for us.

In my days there the boys were at claremont school at the top of stanley road & woe betide if you were caught going anywhere near there.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Anything in possession of a Y chromosome was regarded as subhuman by many Manning staff, despite the fact that a few were teaching there!  I remember noticing cracks in the solid floors around the place. Doubtless due to subsidence. No carpets for us, eh? It was very, very basic.

[RadFordee 68]

Yes it was very basic both the building & the equipment, when friends i had at other schools used to tell me the kind of equipment they had it made manning sound like colditz.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Colditz! Well, it was certainly cold 

[RadFordee 68]

16 hours ago, Jill Sparrow said:

Colditz! Well, it was certainly cold 

Yes it was, a couple of the worst things i remember re how cold the place was are getting changed for games lessons in winter & also that freezing cold footbath when you did dance lessons .

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Manning was the only school I've never heard of with footbaths. Other schools had showers...with hot water! Not us! After gym or dance, we were supposed to go and wash our feet in freezing cold water in a shallow tray lined with cracked tiles. No soap. Many of us didn't bother but you risked trouble under the dome if caught not complying. It was a cracking way to catch verruchae!

[philmayfield 6,115]

We had cracking showers at Mellish. It was a corridor about 20ft. long, lined with shower heads spraying out hot water. We kept going back for more!

[RadFordee 68]

16 hours ago, philmayfield said:

We had cracking showers at Mellish. It was a corridor about 20ft. long, lined with shower heads spraying out hot water. We kept going back for more!

As jill said no such luxury at manning, i dont think even the wash basins in the toilets had "hot"water, the nearest thing to showers at manning was when the wind blew rain in through the gaps in the french doors.