Manning Grammar School

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

That's right. Washroom was next to the cloakroom. No hot water and hardly ever any soap. The odd sliver of carbolic at infrequent interludes. Strangely, they always managed to find some for girls who were silly enough to turn up wearing make up. They'd be dragged off to the washroom to have their faces scrubbed!

 

Then came the disgusting loos. Pitch dark or dimly lit at best. Stinking of gas from the leaking incinerator. I hated using the loos but since I could no longer go home at lunchtimes, there was no choice. We were quite deprived and such conditions today would be unthinkable!

[philmayfield 6,107]

The odd thing was that Mellish, in those days, was a Notts County Council grammar school in the city. It only became a city school when it became comprehensive and then went right down the pan as a ‘sport’s college’. I attended the closing down ceremony a few years ago. What a dump it had become.

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

I was in the Junior British Red Cross, Manning detachment, during my time there. Once a year, there was the Red Cross Rally which was always held on a Saturday at Henry Mellish.  There were all sorts of activities, including The Public Speaking competition which I won several times. The head of Manning had no choice but to present me with the trophy on stage during assembly, for which one or two of the Commandants turned up, in dress uniform, from Red Cross HQ and sat in state in the stage.

I was summoned, at one point, to the head's office and informed that the Junior British Red Cross had contacted the school and enquired whether it would feasible for me to do a tour of Nottinghamshire schools to speak to the pupils about the Junior Red Cross and the sort of opportunities it offered. A sort of recruitment drive, as it were.

 

The miserable old bat had informed them that such a thing was out of the question as it would interfere with my school work! No one, I add, asked me whether I would like to do that!  I was livid and said so!  In revenge, I refused to enter the school speech and drama competition in my final year and my house lost the trophy for the first time in ages. That'll larn em!

[RadFordee 68]

@Jill Sparrowwe used to joke that we were kindly given those tiny bits of soap after they were no longer usable by the staff in their facitities. Dont think i ever saw a whole bar of soap in the five years i was there.

 

[Hey Arnold 88]

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

It took me five long years!

[Hey Arnold 88]

I know.....I'm told the length of sentence regularly 

[katyjay 5,090]

William Crane senior girls had no showers. The changing room for games was a sectioned off bit of the quadrangle. It was behind the hall, a door each end so anyone could march through while you were changing  No incinerator and no hot water in the sinks. Dark outdoor loos too. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

Crikey, katyjay, you were even more deprived than us! Crane, I believe, was a similar architectural design and era to Manning, was it not? Built in air conditioning and refrigeration facilities!

[katyjay 5,090]

Yes, didn't they call it Open Air schools, meaning I think, open all the doors and the classroom was completely open. Built 1931. We didn't have the cold footbaths, but Noel St Baths did, we had to wade through them to go into the pool. I'm guessing disinfecting our feet. I am pretty sure we had to run through a cold shower there too, maybe after freezing your butt off, the unheated pool felt warm?

[RadFordee 68]

@katyjaynothing much changed at noel st baths even in the mid 70's when we had our swimming lessons from manning there,same cold footbaths,cold showers and changing rooms and the pool was always very cold too. I used to dread swimming lessons.

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

It was pretty grim in winter, walking in crocodile back to the Austen Avenue entrance of Manning with your hair wet through and icicles on your split ends! "Get your hair tied back, girl!" The usual bark of Mrs Christie who had just emerged from the nice warm staff room (one of the  few places on site to boast a radiator) where she'd imbibed a hot drink. Life was surely tough!

[philmayfield 6,107]

You really did have it tough at Manning. Mellish was like a 5 star hotel in comparison. The school dinners were not awarded a Michelin star and there were a couple of sadists on the staff but overall we had a pretty comfortable time!

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

You must have inherited the couple of sadists Manning had no room for! 

[RadFordee 68]

As for school dinners i never had them glad to say, i dont know what they served up but the really revolting smell that wafted from that area was enough to make even the strongest stomach churn. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

Me, too. Pudding bowl amnesty at the end of every term. They were all in the biology lab, growing cultures. Who got the job of washing those out I dread to think!

[katyjay 5,090]

I remember the changing cubicles at Noel St were alongside the pool. Half doors I think. 

[Beekay 5,133]

Not quite Manning, but Radford baths were half doors too. Can remember going upstairs changing booths up at the deep end. When the attendant wasn't looking used to dive off the railing.

[philmayfield 6,107]

That was a similar setup at Arnold Baths and Northern Baths at Basford. (with a curtain for modesty of course.) Mellish used Noel St. for their annual swimming gala as Northern Baths, which was just within walking distance from the school was very small. Walking there and back within a period of 45mins. gave very little time for swimming. To qualify to cox the school rowing crew I had to swim the full 25 yards of Northern Baths fully clothed!

[Hey Arnold 88]

6 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

That was a similar setup at Arnold Baths

Sorry @philmayfieldare you talking about the baths just behind the library? To the best of my memory there were cubicles and a communal changing room but the cubicles didn't run alongside the pool?

[RadFordee 68]

You naughty boy bk, saw a few lads do that when i used to go swimming there as a kid and saw a few thrown out by the attendant for doing it too. It was quite a height to jump or dive  from as well as i remember.

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

Manning utilised Noel Street Baths for swimming but always had the swimming gala at Victoria Baths in Nottingham. I don't know why. We all had to go but it never involved me as I never did learn to swim. I was the only girl in the school who, after five years, was still in the shallow end with every float in sight under her arms and still refused to take her feet off the bottom of the pool! " It's just not my thing," I told an exasperated Miss Ramsden. "I'd rather read a book!" Nowt's changed in 48 years.

[Beekay 5,133]

Thing is R., it were only about 7ft deep. They took off the top two diving boards and we thought that the two left were a bit wimpish. 

I was about 12/13 at the time.

[philmayfield 6,107]

12 minutes ago, Hey Arnold said:

Sorry @philmayfieldare you talking about the baths just behind the library? To the best of my memory there were cubicles and a communal changing room but the cubicles didn't run alongside the pool?

Yes, behind the library. There were certainly cubicles on either side of the pool when I went there with Arno Vale school back in the 50's

[RadFordee 68]

@BeekayYes i was thinking when i read your post that even the deep end was only around six/six & a half feet deep, and they must have got rid of the diving boards at some point as there were none there when i used to go in the early 70's.