Were you at Berridge?


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Through this door...and it's the original, although painted black in my day...I walked with my mum one cold morning early in 1962. I was just 4 years old. The door led to Miss Smith's office and my mu

How many Berridge children have secreted themselves inside this niche situated in the playground which fronts the old infant building, hoping to be left behind when the bell rang at playtime's close?

Sitting on this exact spot, facing the stationery cupboard in Mr Parr's classroom, in spring 1969, I sat my 11+ exam.

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Of interest to @mercurydancer may be the obituary I recently discovered for Gerry Machin who passed on 27 August 2015, aged 79. I think he lived in the Underwood/Eastwood area. The funeral was at Mansfield Crematorium.

 

He was, apparently, in the Royal Navy prior to joining Nottingham Police.

 

I was at Berridge with his eldest daughter, Kim and I know mercurydancer was friends with his younger daughter, Gaye. Gaye had left a tribute to her father, so we have the right person.

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Jill was he the Machin who was the partner of Machin and Hartwell of Eastwood i think they owned a hardware store his girlfriend who became his wife was a Miss Buxton who was our class teacher at Alfreton High School and she became Miss Machin i know what her first name was.

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No, Ian. It wouldn't be the same chap.  I remember Machin & Hartwell from years ago when Eastwood had some decent shops.  It looks more like a shanty town every time I drive through it these days.

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On 5/18/2020 at 2:19 PM, Jill Sparrow said:

Of interest to @mercurydancer may be the obituary I recently discovered for Gerry Machin who passed on 27 August 2015, aged 79. I think he lived in the Underwood/Eastwood area. The funeral was at Mansfield Crematorium.

 

He was, apparently, in the Royal Navy prior to joining Nottingham Police.

 

I was at Berridge with his eldest daughter, Kim and I know mercurydancer was friends with his younger daughter, Gaye. Gaye had left a tribute to her father, so we have the right person.

It is definitely Gerry Machin. I am very sad to hear of his passing. He lived two doors down from me, and was a dog handler. 84 and 82 Bobbers Mill Road were police houses so they lived there for nothing. Perk of the time. I do recall the dog, Major, a beast of a thing. I recall Major with an egg. Gerry would give me a raw egg to put in Major's mouth. major would then go through some exercises, like jumping over the walls and he would at the command of give, would put the egg in my hand. Unbroken. 

 

I last saw Gerry at Epperstone Manor at a police do. I can recall his gap-toothed smile even now. He did not know I had joined the police. We talked, as you do, and I asked about Gaye. It was somewhat embarrassing that he recalled me and Gaye playing with her dolls. The other officers fell about laughing. Policemen being policemen (think Gene Hunt style) I got ribbed for weeks. My nickname was then Dolly, not just because of that, but for other reasons which I will leave to another time. It even was used on the radio... instead of PC252 it was Dolly, where are you? 

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Major, off duty, was as daft as a brush. A gentle giant who lived in his own quarters in the garden.  He was very good at pinning people between his two front paws when they were sitting on the sofa and giving their face a good lick!

 

Major, on duty, was totally different.  A lovely dog. Hope they're together again.

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I do remember Major's kennel. Used to see it every day from my bedroom window. I recall one thing about major. Jill, do you recall the entries between the houses in Bobbers Mill road? I used to play with Major with balls. I would throw them down the entry and he would bring them back. If I did not throw them but held them in my hand he would push his nose under my arm to persuade me to throw the ball. 

 

Major, on duty, got to be something of a legend having  burnt paws after chasing a  burglar over a bakery roof. 

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Yes, Major was very playful. I can recall, round about 1968, Kim and I playing with him in the garden of Kim's house when her mum, who was peeling potatoes in the kitchen, brought us a raw, peeled potato each. Apparently, Kim loved raw potatoes!

 

I remember Kim putting her arms around Major's huge neck and hugging him!

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This is the photo Jill is referring to. Said to be 1971 give or take. Mr Baugh the head to the left and the teacher I believe is Mr King. I should acknowledge that I found this on Peveril School Facebook group.

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Information provided by Jill Sparrow regarding this photo.....

 

This is believed to have been taken around 1971/2.

Mr John William Baugh, Heateacher, on the left. Identity of teacher on the right is uncertain. There are 48 pupils on this photo which is too many for one class at Berridge at this time as rolls were falling sharply. Possibly two classes together. Mr Baugh had never, to my knowledge, appeared on a class photo previously and he wasn't a teaching head. Could he have been filling in for the other class teacher that day?

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More photos and details provided by Jill Sparrow.

 

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1962/3 what would now be called Year One. Teacher is Miss Bowen. She taught me the following year and left to get married at the end of summer term 1964. A lovely lady.
Some known faces on here: Susan Wilkie, Denise Roper, Jane Flint, Elaine Johnson, Jean Edis Jill Maddern and Shirley Wilkinson. Letsavagoo may fill in a few of the boys.

 

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Filched from the now defunct Friends Reunited website and a poor copy. 1961/2 reception class. Teacher's name not known but she looks familiar to me. Possible face on here, Jennifer Dench.

 

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1961/2 Reception class. Teacher unknown. Faces on here include: Jean Edis, who supplied the photo, Steven Holbrook, Denise Roper, Susan Wilkie and Phyllis Lawlor. Letsavagoo may add a few more.

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These 3 recent bw photos are 2 years behind my time there.  My wife is pictured on the 62/3 photo. The colour photo is several years after my time. I started work in 1970. I’ll go through them with Jane and fill in who we can. 

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Teacher with the dark dress and necklace looks familiar to me but I can't name her. The photo was taken before I started at Berridge but probably not long before and she would still have been there.  The reception classroom was accessed through the door adjacent to the gate visible in some of these photos. It was the one classroom that could not be accessed from the school hall. It contained a sand and water tray, role play post office, toys and clay/painting equipment. The adjacent classroom, into which it opened and which is directly behind all the groups on the photographs, was where we went to do work instead of play-related activities.  I connect that teacher with the second room which is where we read Janet and John and played games with flashcards unless you could already read, like me, in which case you were basically told to b*gger off and amuse yourself.  I gave up Listen With Mother and afternoons out for that?!!

 

Today, both rooms comprise the kitchens and have long since ceased to be teaching areas.

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I am not in those photos, but there are some faces I possibly recognise. Sid Carruthers for one. The other one is the Indian girl in the middle row. I cannot recall her name but possibly Ameria. I remember her because she made chappatis at one class where we did basic cookery. I recall the first taste of a chappati. I adored it then and I adore  it now. I think her family had something to do with a shop on Radford Road. 

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Would Sid Carruthers be the sibling of Rennival Carruthers? He was in my year.  Do you see Gaye Machin on the photo?  Any ideas as to the teacher?

 

The boy at the far right of the back row is the image of Geoffrey Wiley. Could it be his brother?

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Yes Jill, Sidney was his brother and lived in Bobbers Mill Road a little further up towards the church. We were friends. I particularly remember his father, a rather taciturn man, who, on occasion would give me and Sid a bowl of Caribbean style ricenpeas (correct spelling) with hot sauce, (encona!) which I adore to this day.  Me and Sid adored cricket, and I can remember my dad taking us to Trent Bridge for a West Indies V England match. My dad was an umpire for cricket, and mainly got us in for free. 

 

Possibly Gaye would be on that photo but I cannot recognise her. 

 

The teacher could possibly have been Mr King. 

 

Do you recall a teacher, a very pretty woman with long dark hair who spoke Russian fluently? 

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I'm told that Rennie still lives in that area.

 

The girl in the pink dress (seated) with a locket round her neck, I thought could be Gaye. She was heftier than Kim, who was slender and quite willowy, but the facial shape is very similar.

 

I don't remember a Mr King.  Staff when I left were Messrs Williams and Parr, top juniors, Messrs Chandler and Parnham, the year below. Female staff were Miss Stockill, Mrs Massey, Miss Bartlett, Miss MacDonald (married Mr Parr). Anderson, whom we've mentioned previously, was a floater but after my departure was given his own class.  Gerald Chandler left at the end of the 1969/70 academic year, I believe. He returned in later years and was still at the school on its centenary in 1984. Along with Trevor Williams, one of my favourite teachers.

 

The only female among them with dark hair of any length was Massey, formerly Miss Barks. She and I didn't get on!  If she spoke Russian, I never heard her. 

 

As an aside, one of Rennie's best friends was John Heawood, also in my year and went to Mundella.  He had a younger sister, Elaine, whom you may have known. Lived in Kirkstead Street.

 

Other names who were in my year and may have had siblings in yours, are: Huddlestone,  Brennan, Jewers, Green and, of course, Tunnicliffe. Steven is your cousin but he had a younger sister who may be around your age.

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That is her, Miss Massey, she spoke fluent Russian. 

 

Steve has a sister Sharon, and we are still close. I am still close to Steve and Christine, his wife for that matter. 

 

I recall Miss Stockhill with affection, she was the teacher on my first day there. 

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