Tulketh High Memories

  Mrs. Roberts taught English at Tulketh and was tall lady with steely grey hair and dressed very formally like you would expect of a middle-aged person to do back in the 1970’s. In my first term at Tulketh, she was one of the two teachers who took form 1N, for English Language, the other being, Mr. Kevil. The difference in teaching style was staggering, Mrs. Roberts, had a compassionate and caring style, whilst Mr. Kevil, was strict, almost militaristic style of teaching probably because of his Army background maybe? On my first English lesson with Mrs. Roberts, we were tasked in writing a short essay on our favourite book, comic, or magazine for our homework.   I remember at the time my best friend Paul Sapsford writing about the Famous Five novels by celebrated author Enid Blyton, which he had collected everyone one of, and I remember fellow pupil Paul Walsh, writing about the Sci Fi series, Star trek.     I decided to write about the Shoot football magazine w...

Mr. Yates was mainly a Metalwork/Woodwork teacher who would also teach Technical Drawing. He was Head of the department of craft subjects and had been at Tulketh since its inception in 1964. A very smart man with slick back grey hair, thick rimmed glasses, and you could generally heard him before you saw him. He was the bad cop to Mr. Lewis, (Woodwork) who was the good cop. He had a couple of nicknames from the pupils which were, penguin and yakum In the second year the boys studied Metalwork with Mr. Yates one week and Woodwork with Mr. Lewis the next week., while the girls did Domestic Science. The Metalwork and Woodwork rooms where situated next to canteen. They were both full of workbenches, machinery and various tools. They give the impression of workshops you would come across in industry.  Our task as Second year novices were  to make a key ring. Mr. Yates had his hands full teaching around 20 lads with different practical abilities. I manage to finish mine with the h...

  Mr. Wilson looks similar to Ed Straker from TV series UFO Mr. Wilson taught Physical Education when I arrived at Tulketh and was virtually the Head of the department due to the previous Head of department Mr. Holding, leaving earlier in the year. I think the school were waiting to make the right appointment at the time. I seem to recall we had a nice trainee teacher from Australia whose name escapes me now to help until the new appointment of Mr. Smith of Head of department in early 1976. Mr. Wilson in my opinion came across as approachable, very modern teacher who was not like the stereo typical P.E teachers you saw in the films like Kes, and To Sir with Love. He did not have that brash military style of a P.T instructor like other generations of schoolkids had known down the years. Always very smart, fresh faced with a striking blond hair with a tuft slightly lighter at the front of his forehead He wore a track suit with the words of the college he studied at which was Ca...

  Mr Wilson taught Geography at Tulketh he arrived in 1976 along with another Geography teacher called Mr. Murray.   He was quite a stocky built man with longish mousey brown hair with what I would call a hound dog expression on his face. Like all the teachers at the time wore greenish and brown coloured clothes with the unmistakable kipper ties which were quite popular at the time. I first come across Mr. Wilson in the 2 nd year when he taught me Geography which due to the overcrowded conditions of the school was taught in the dining room for most of the academic year. This wasn’t ideal for good learning but, in a school, built for 450 pupils and now housed 900 needs must, I suppose. I thought he was a good teacher and would sometimes to break up monotony talk about his self and his background which appeared to be from the Manchester area . In the 4 th year he began dating an attractive Biology teacher called Miss. Hardman. They would eventually marry before I left Tulk...

  After the relatively disappointing turn out to the school disco for years 1 to 3 back in 1978. It was decided to give it one more chance the following year just before the half-term break in February. This time only years 4 and 5 were granted a disco in the dining room which to be fair had decent acoustics for the ex-Top Rank, DJ Jason Dee, to ply his trade. Tickets for the bash were selling well with the 5 th year taking most of them. The night was to be marshalled by the following teachers. Mr. Wilson (Geography), Miss Hardman (Biology) who were a couple if the school gossips were to be believed true. Mr. Birkett (Music) along with Miss Langer on refreshments from the music room like the year before. As in the previous year I along with Dennis Winder made the Friday night journey in Dennis’s mum Ford escort car to the school in our best gear. I found a green chord jacket which had been given to my mum by the secretary at my old primary school some years before, at the ba...

School half term disco February 1978, Similar. Back in February 1978, just before half term. Years one to three were granted a school disco to be held on the Friday before the half term holiday. The announcement of this was made in the assembly the week before by the Head Mr. Jones, with a further Disco to be held for years four and five before the Easter break. Tickets for the event were 50 pence with light refreshments, disco with Jason Dee and a live band from our school called The Blank Students. start time 7.30pm finish 9.30pm in the dining room. There was not much anticipation from some of us in the third year was an understatement. Most people wanted just to get away on holiday for the week. My best mate at the time as well as being my next-door neighbour was Dennis Winder who was very keen to go because he liked a girl in our year I also had a bit of a thing for a girl in the first year. I didn't think felt the same way but there you go. Dennis and I at the time would cat...

   Mr Taylor was a Physical Education and Geography teacher at Tulketh between 1977 and 1980.   Typically, square jawed and very athletic looking he was probably like most young P.E teachers at the time.  It was I believe his first job after teacher training college, so he was eager to prove himself. In the final two years at Tulketh you had a full afternoon of Physical Education in the Fourth year this was usually on a Tuesday afternoon, in the Fifth year it was usually Friday afternoon. Usually, the afternoons would have consisted of various activities like Football, Swimming, Netball, Basketball, Trampolining, Gymnastics, Cross Country, and you broke up into separate groups. The group I was in played football and Mr. Taylor who looked after us. There was about 24 of us in the group so we were split into 2 teams with the rather unenviable task of two captains to pick their teams. This was not unlike the scene from the famous film and book called Kes, starring B...

Mrs. Sawyer- Looks like, Carol Decker, T Pau Mrs. Sawyer arrived at Tulketh in September 1977 to teach Spanish. A red-haired Liverpudlian lady in her late twenties, who dressed in a formal way generally but sometimes was a little bohemian in style. For two years she was my registration teacher before I went into the final year. She had replaced Mr. Watt, who had been the previous Spanish teacher for about five years and had gone on to teach at a Technical college in the Midlands I believe. Spanish as subject was only taught from the third year onwards and to the top 4 forms and in the final two years was only available at O level. Surprisingly I liked Spanish as a language subject. I didn't do to bad in the exam as I recall. In the third year we also did a odd subject called European studies with Mrs. Harwood which in all seriousness didn't help any of us. and usually descended into chaos. Remember this was the 1970's and there were some lateral thinkers in education who ...

  Mr. Smith, otherwise known as (Geography) Smith, this came about from teaching Geography in the early days after the school had opened in 1964. Originally Mr. Smith had taught at Roebuck Street County Primary School and started at Tulketh on day one with fellow teachers from Roebuck, Mr Griffiths and Miss Smalley plus the new starters, and kids who between 12 and 14/15 years old who were to make up the 2 nd ,3 rd , and 4 th years in the new school. They opened the school on a Tuesday with the year one pupils, with the rest of the pupils starting on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Mr. Smith was a very well-built, smart looking man who wore horn rimmed glasses and was a regular in the Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Union side. He would sometimes have a selection of bruises from the previous Saturday’s match much to the bewilderment of the class of pupils he was teaching. He was the coach of the 2nd year School Football team which had reached the Preston Schools Football Fina...

  Mr. Smith, otherwise known as PE. Smith due to there being two Mr. Smiths, at Tulketh. The other one taught Geography and the form 2M. His motto was, "We are here to educate your body as well as your minds." Mr. Smith came to Tulketh at the beginning of 1976. His appointment was slightly overdue according to the Head Mr. Jones at the time. He was Head of the Physical Education department which comprised of another male teacher and two female teachers. I would have said he was early middle aged with a distinctive short hairstyle and quite stocky. He soon required the nickname of, (Bulldog Smith) or (Jockstrap Smith) from the kids. I don’t know where or why these nicknames were given to him, but he didn’t get off to a good start as I recall, he had a brusque, bull in a china shop manner about him and with an accent which appeared to be from the London area which didn’t endear him to the kids or staff a-like. I remember one Friday afternoon in the hallway entrance he had an ...

  Mr. Sherrington taught History at Tulketh in my first two years there between 1975-1977.   Our paths crossed for the first time in early 1976 when I had been dropped from 1N to 1O, after the Christmas exams in the first year. A small man as I recall with ginger hair with a small moustache and glasses who was quietly spoken and dressed quite formally but knew how to get his point across if he needed too.   When we used to line up outside room 28, for History which faced the yard and was at the end of the corridor where the staffroom was situated on. The History lessons were almost always in my experience in the mornings after break in the first year. Mr. Sherrington would literally glide up the corridor from the staffroom to the classroom without you noticing until he was at the door to the classroom and un-locking it. He would utter the famous words of most teachers at that time, “can we have some quiet”, please! We would normally be chattering amongst ourselves ab...

Miss Smalley,similar to Joan Rutherford, Miss Marple  Miss Smalley was Head of English during my time at Tulketh. She had been at the school since its inception in 1964. Originally, she had taught at Roebuck Street County Primary and joined fellow teachers from the school Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Smith when Tulketh opened.  She always reminded me of Agatha Christie’s, Miss. Marple character played in the films by Joan Rutherford. Legend has it Miss Smalley met Elton John on a cruise to the USA. Miss Smalley taught me English in the Second year in the form 2O. I found her okay.  One of favourite subjects to talk about was the Beatles and the meaning of their lyrics. This sometimes broke up the monotony of a Jane Eyre book we might be studying. I got the feeling that sometimes Miss Smalley maybe was counting down the days to retirement in 1980 which sometimes she would mention. In the second year we had to do a sponsored walk around the perimeter of the school and its fields f...

Mr. Sawer- Similar to Jason King, television icon. Mr. Sawer taught Geography and was my year one registration tutor he also did the same job in my final year. He was quite a character with dark hair, bushy moustache, and wore the usual green or brown suits of the day. He used to roll his lips round his moustache, sometimes he would pick his ears with a pencil. We used to think he looked like Jason King who was a television icon the late sixties early seventies played by Peter Wyngarde because of his accent and his charisma. Or a possible Leo McKern ( Rumpole of The Bailey), written by John Mortimer.    In the fourth year we had Mr. Sawer for Geography CSE. Geography can be a dry subject and Mr. Sawer would inject a bit of humour into our lessons. There was a girl called Susan Strange, whenever he walked by her desk, or she would ask a question he would burst into Frank Sinatra, Stranger’s in the Night, this puzzled Susan who wasn’t aware of old blue eyes signature tune. There...

  Mr. Rees was the Head of Music at Tulketh. He was also the band leader and played piano in the assemblies. He was quite a formidable man. He originated from South Wales I believe. He was in the later stages of the teaching profession and for the most of the 1950’s and 1960’s had taught at my old primary school Roebuck. He had also taught my Father at Roebuck.     Mr. Rees, had a classroom in the draughty prefab block at the side of the main school building near the Maths block. To say Mr. Reese was demob happy was an understatement. He knew that none his classes would be taking Music at CSE or O-Level in the final two years.  He would always play the piano in  school assemblies and was the conductor of the school band which was very successful. I believe he was involved in the  Tulketh Folk group with another teacher in the Preston Guild year.. .  In the third year we were taught Music by Mr. Rees after the previous two years we had been taught the s...

Mrs. Pearson- Similar to Jill Gascoine, Seventies star actress.   Mrs. Pearson taught English and Drama. She was quite an attractive looking lady with a bubble perm, doll like features and always dressed stylish clothes for the day and lived close to the school in Wood Plumpton road. She had only been at the school a couple of years when I started in 1975. In the First Year one she took a group of us to Preston Charter Theatre to a Friday matinee performance of Shakespeare’s, As You Like It. Sadly the Bard, was lost on us rookie First years. As we shuffled about in our seats, crunching snacks, waiting eagerly for the end of nearly two hours of culture so we could go home early. A couple of years later I was in Set 4 for English and it was a lively class with quite a few characters. We used to have English just after morning break on a Monday. As I made my way into class, unusually the class door was open. Normally you had to wait until the teacher taking your class turn up to unloc...

  ’ Mr. Norris taught Mathematics and sometimes Technical Drawing. He was a smart man, with a small beard, his suits were either brown or green striped. You could always hear him coming down the corridors because of them metal segs on the bottom of his brown leather shoes. He had come from an engineering background and taught Mathematics to mainly middle or upper sets and had been at Tulketh since the late 1960s. In my second year I was in the middle set for Mathematics and was in Mr. Norris class in the Maths block which is situated to the right of the main building and faced Tag Lane which meant in summer it was always very hot and uncomfortable unless you were situated on the other side were Mr. Norris class was then you were shielded by a prefab block. It was a relatively new building compared to the rest of the school which dated back to 1964. Mr. Norris decided to sit us at the desks in a girl with a boy rather than you sat next to your mates which was the normal way we wer...

Mr. Murray came to Tulketh in September 1976 with Mr. Wilson as new Geography teachers. Mr. Murray occupied the room 23, which was next door to Head of Geography Mr. Sawer, who was in room 22.  Mr. Sawer, had a great rapport with both Mr. Murray and Mr. Wilson who he looked upon like a couple of favourable nephews I always thought. Mr. Murray was a stylish looking man. I would guess he was about 23, and probably his first teaching job. He was quite a snappy dresser with a beard and was quite popular with fellow teachers and pupils alike.  I was never taught Geography by Mr. Murray; however, was assigned to our House group Fylde. So, our paths crossed sometimes for registration classes. In the second year at Tulketh I was part of a large football squad which played matches against other schools in the area. Mr. Murray coached the second-year football squad, and we would meet up every Thursday after the school day had ended. In the winter months the training sessions were a bit ...

Mr. Middlehurst taught Art and Technical drawing in my time at Tulketh. He was a tall character with a beard to match and wore the usual dour looking clothes that most of his fellow teachers wore at the time. He had a Hippy kind of look about him.  In the 3 rd year options I had not been deemed good enough to take other practical subjects like, Metalwork, Woodwork, Domestic Science, Needlework (mainly for girls at this time), GCSE Art, and Latin which was way out of my league anyway. So, our House Tutor, Mr. Forshaw, chose CSE, Art for me to do.  Being honest I  certainly was no Michael Angelo.  The practical option lesson in the 4 th and 5 th year comprised of a full afternoon which basically was 2 hours of work in your chosen subject. In the 4 th year we were billeted in room 11, which had exceptionally low desks and had previously been the Technical drawing room which now had moved to room 41 which was a room in the prefab block outside opposite the Engl...

Mr. Mason - Mike Rutherford- Genesis  Mr. Mason came to Tulketh in the same year I started which was 1975. He taught Art and Technical Drawing and seemed to me to look like a lot of young teachers at the time with longish hair and a beard. He reminded me of Genesis the Prog - Rock bands guitarist Mike Rutherford. In the first week that the new first years took residence in the school it was a new experience especially when the other years arrived on the second day. After having the school all to ourselves on day one suddenly another 700 kids invade our space, and the school became a little scary at times. I decided at breaktime to put my brand-new duffle coat and Liverpool Football club sports bag in the boy’s cloakroom opposite the room 31, which is situated next to the staffroom. Reason for this because it was particularly hot day.   After the break I went to the peg in the cloakroom to find the duffle coat and sports bag missing to my horror. My heart sank!! I had images in...