Mr. Yates (Metalwork, Woodwork, Technical Drawing)

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 help of fellow pupil Gary Corsbie who helped me and showed quite a lot of patience. Funnily enough in Woodwork Gary, helped me finish my bottle opener as well. In the third year we had to make a metal poker, I think though I never completed it. I do remember in our first Metalwork lesson  in the second year that Mr. Yates did a Health and Safety exercise of a trapped apron in a Buffing machine. I must say without a pupil in the apron. What a racket it made but I think the message got through to us rookie 12-year-olds. 

There was a story which in the Tulketh Folklore of Mr. Yates being hanged by the collar on his brown overall on one of the pegs in the boys toilets by a couple of angry leavers in the late 1960's.  Of course these stories along with many others were ever substantiated.

Apart from his teaching duties he was the Health and Safety manager at the school, also the stage manager at the annual Forshaw Follies which was a Christmas talent come gang show which usually happened on the last morning of term.

Christmas 1976 I was booked to appear in the second half of the Forshaw Follies show (Tulketh's answer to Britain's Got Talent), answering 20 questions on Football asked by our Physical Education teacher, Mr. Wilson.

The first half of the show was entertaining with the Stan Yates band playing various covers of Rock tunes including a couple of covers from the Rock icons The Who, until the plugs were pulled by Mr. Yates for being too loud and over-running their 10, minute slot, there was a ballet dancer, a pupil telling gags which had been highly censored, a piano recycles by a prefect from the 5th year followed by Mr. Forshaw with a clever monologue before the break.

I opened the second half with the questions and answers on football with Mr. Wilson before we went on Mr. Yates was in our faces about the strict ten minutes we had in the schedule and that he was a big rugby fan and didn’t care much for football with its over-paid players with no respect for officials. This did nothing to help with my nerves. The curtains opened with close on 900 pupils with teachers watching after a nice introduction by the encouraging concert chairman Mr. Forshaw, I made my entrance. After a nice round of applause and a healthy 18 out of 20 questions right. I headed backstage with Mr. Wilson, were Mr. Yates congratulated us for keeping within the ten minutes allotted to us and for being very entertaining as well as informative on football. Help yourself to some tea and cakes which were specially made by my good lady wife Mrs. Yates and her friends from the Women’s institute he said with his usual gusto.
Mr. Yates, retired from Tulketh in 1984.

Mr. Yates at his retirement.





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