Baines Grammar School

Nowadays known as Baines' School I have it on good authority that it took an Act of Parliament to change the name of Baines' Grammar School to Baines' School. It ceased to be a Grammar School in Autumn 1977 at which point girls were admitted for the first time, so I was amongst the last of the old guard. The school always had a reputation for both academic and sporting excellence, a happy state of affairs that continued throughout my time there. Looking back, facilities were a bit basic in some areas but we were all proud to be Baines' boys. I'm sure most of us view those days in a positive manner, no boy admits to liking school at the time, but we all knew we were at one of the best.

This photo was taken on the 13th October 1975 when a Navy helicopter paid us a visit and took some fabulous aerial photos. I'm down there somewhere in that group of spectators on the Gym Pitch, as I seem to remember it being called.

Another photo from the same source can be found on my Poulton picture page.

The Lower School years (1st and 2nd) were based in the Old School, so called because despite being wooden temporary (!) classrooms built in 1901, they were literally the oldest part of the school. After that you moved up to the New School, built in 1931 and looking more like a school ought to.

Academia
As I saw it school fell into three distinct stages, Years 1 and 2 were really about establishing yourself on the academic ladder and coming to terms with the teaching methods and new areas of study. The three forms that made up each year were roughly on a par, with a mix of abilities and talents presumably based on your final report from the primary school. Year 3 saw streaming into A, B and C sets for Maths, French, English and Science, thus beginning the academic path that culminated in O Levels three years down the line. Then if your O Levels were up to the mark you could progress to the 6th Form and A Levels, now that was an entirely different ball game, as I was to find out in the most painful manner.

Sporting Excellence and Healthy Competition
Everybody was allocated to one of four Houses, I became part of the proud tradition that is Founders House, the others were Hodgson, Hibbert and Whittington. As far as I am aware the selection process is random unless your father, brother or any other relative has passed through before you. The Houses were the basis of competition in all walks of school life, mainly sporting of course but not exclusively. A House vest, white with appropriately coloured band, was a compulsory purchase for PE and games, light blue Founders, dark blue Whittington, red Hodgson, and a sort of orangey amber for Hibbert. In recent years there have been changes, there are now only three Houses. Founders (thank heavens, once a Founders man always a Founders man!) and Whittington are still present, but Hibbert and Hodgson have been replaced by Stafford, in honour of the former Headmaster.

Over the school year there were Championships by Lower, Middle and Upper schools for football, swimming, gymnastics, cross country, basketball, cricket and athletics. Whichever House performed best overall would be Cock House, the culmination of the school sporting year. Basketball was a relative newcomer and was not part of the Championships when I first joined Baines'. Football and swimming were in the Autumn Term, Cross Country and Gymnastics in the Spring Term, and Cricket and Athletics in the Summer. It always seemed to be pelting down with rain on the day of the cross country championship, and always brilliant sunshine for Sports Day.

The Swimming Gala took place at the Derby Baths in Blackpool, attendance was compulsory. Once a venue for National Championships this fine, if rather traditional swimming pool was sadly demolished a few years back. I remember early swimming lessons there, it was salt water and always a bit cold. [Photo courtesy of Chas Howard]

Ray Wilson, physics master in my day and now Head of Science, informs me that the Swimming Gala now takes place at Fleetwood Swimming Pool. He assures me that it does not have the same atmosphere as the old place.

Above all though Baines' was a football school, a tradition that thankfully showed no sign of waning during my years. In the Junior School the dominant figure was Mr. Tomlinson (aka 'Toss'), for more years than anyone could remember he had been involved in playing, coaching and refereeing football at "the only local Grammar School that still played with a sphere." This comment was typical of the man and a sly dig at the likes of Blackpool Grammar, Arnold and St Joseph's who had become predominantly rugby playing schools. Baines' though remained a bastion of the beautiful game, cups were won on a regular basis, usually against Montgomery in a Bloomfield Road final. In those now far off days even the Blackpool FC stadium was a theatre of dreams.

Having said all that, when I finally got round to joining the Old Boys (now School Association) in 2001 I was in for a shock. On reading the modern day School Magazine, alas no longer The Poultonian, I discovered that the school now plays Rugby!!! What would Ellis Tomlinson have made of it, I can almost hear him saying "Listen boy, a ball is a sphere not an egg!" or words to that effect.

		The School Magazine Published at the end of the Autumn and Summer Terms the Baines' School Magazine was formerly known as the Poultonian, I always found it a good read. Edited in my time by English Master Mr. Thompson, more popularly known as 'Jim Wizz' (some sort of reference to his preferred mode of transport, the bicycle), it acted as a record of achievement in all walks of school life. Exam successes, highlights from the House Championships, progress reports on all football teams, field trips, theatre visits, society reports and a miscellany of poems and prose. The final section was always the Old Boys where achievements of former pupils were celebrated along with other items of news regarding sporting fixtures and reunion dinners, actually in those days it was pretty boring stuff as it meant very little until one had actually left school. The Old Boys section was for many years written by H. Ellis Tomlinson, 'Toss' to generations of Baines' boys, Mr. Tomlinson was a larger than life character who left a considerable void when he retired in 1974.

Speech Day
A somewhat grander version of what we used to call Prize Day at Baines' Endowed. This long established event took place annually at the Winter Gardens Pavilion, Blackpool, a well known venue familiar through many years of political party conferences. Attendance was compulsory. Academic excellence and achievement throughout the school were celebrated, Form and Merit Prizes were awarded, as well as more specialist prizes bequested by, or in memory of, an Old Boy.

The Headmaster's report would be followed by a distinguished guest speaker, usually a prominent member of the Clergy, the Military or the Board of Governors, certainly nobody anyone at school had heard of. Unfortunately these earnest gentlemen rarely made much of an impact on the assembled throng of fidgeting schoolboys. There would then be a musical interlude of erratic quality. From time to time outstanding talent was on show, but more often than not it tended towards the mediocre despite the valiant efforts of Mr. West and later Miss Dewhurst, who perhaps had a little more flair than her predecessor.

The climax of the whole thing was a rendition of the school song which for new boys was approached with an air of excited anticipation. This state of mind was the result of a couple of rehearsals in morning assembly when the hall roof was almost lifted by the sheer volume generated by around 600 pre and post adolescent voices. I clearly remember the feeling of anti climax at my first Speech Day as the choir completed the first verse and the school joined in on the chorus, you could hardly tell the difference. Precisely why the roar became a whisper on the day itself was always a mystery to me.

Founders Day
This annual celebration of our school's history and its illustrious founders took place towards the end of the Spring Term at St Chad's Church in Poulton. Unfortunately most of us found it a rather dull affair and were more concerned about avoiding the huge queues for the buses that developed in the Square afterwards. Stuff like school tradition and history seemed to take on much more meaning later in life, when you look back on those times through well worn rose coloured spectacles and find yourself telling your children that schooldays are the best days of their lives.

Headmasters
Mr. WH Martin was headmaster when I joined in 1969, of the three Headmasters during my time at Baines' he was probably the one with whom I had least contact. He always seemed a decent sort of chap though, firm but fair. On his retirement in 1972 he was succeeded by Mr. DNR Lester with whom I had more contact for reasons of academic underachievement rather than anything more positive. I had a couple of uncomfortable sessions in the Mr. Lester's study attempting to explain a series of poor exam results, he even telephoned my parents about this which didn't go down too well on the home front. He always seemed a bit less approachable than Mr. Martin but succeeded in moving the school on to a broader base for study with a wider range of activities. He left under something of a cloud in 1975 amidst rumours about his private life.

Mr. NM Andrews (left) took over for my final year, he was probably the strictest disciplinarian we had in my time, but that was no bad thing if carried out in the correct areas, which it usually was. As one of only two pupils doing a third year in the Sixth Form I was fairly well known to him, which meant I did get singled out occasionally. On the whole though I would say he was good for the school, nobody took any liberties and he wasn't afraid to get stuck in and nip things in the bud. I recall a spate of bullying was soon brought under control, and the privilege of smoking in the Old School Prefects' Room didn't survive very long. I also remember a very robust challenge in the Masters v Prefects football match when I was playing up front for the Prefects and Mr. Andrews was in goal for the Masters, I think we called it a draw.

Prefects
Amongst the literature received before the first term started was a copy of the school rules. Reference to a number of senior boys being given responsibility to assist the staff maintain routine levels of discipline, particularly in the Lower School, was our introduction to that elite group known as the Prefects. This band of 20 or so members of the Upper 6th were supposedly selected for such attributes as responsibility, maturity and intelligence, in reality you could soon spot the ones who were patently unsuitable and inevitably abused the position.

For a certain type of person it was a marvellous opportunity to be the 'big man' for a while, this sort of behaviour usually manifested itself down at the Old School where the Juniors were subjected to the full power of the mighty Prefect. Any misdemeanour would be punished by the issue of 50 or 100 lines depending on the offence, I remember my first transgression cost me 'I must not be a nuisance' 50 times. The lines were usually completed on the bus coming to school the next day, the favoured technique being to write them in columns.

Interestingly the 2001 Sixth Form Prospectus reveals that Prefects still exist. However, the selection procedure is now rather different. Those who wish to become a prefect apply in writing, then the students nominate those who they believe would best represent the Sixth Form and the school. These nominees are then interviewed by senior staff and a short list drawn up for election by the students. The Prospectus goes on to say that the prefects' badge is the highest honour bestowed on Baines' Students. They are expected to adopt the highest standards in dress and behaviour, and become directly involved with Lower School pupils (no change there!) as well as organising charity events and social activities such as the Christmas Party and the Annual Leavers' Ball.

Uniform
Strictly speaking the only compulsory piece of uniform was the school tie, yellow and brown stripes of equal width. Legal variants were the Prefects' tie, which had two thinner yellow stripes, and the School Colours, the design of which was like the Prefects' tie, only with a green stripe between the two thin yellow ones. Thanks to Mick Jackson (1966-73) Founders man and First XI Captain for confirming this latter piece of information.

Outside of the tie some sort of jacket was required, conservative in design and sober in colour, anything remotely outlandish would soon be weeded out. I remember one lad turned up in tartan trousers, he really should have known better, they lasted about five minutes and he spent the rest of the day in his gym shorts. The school blazer tended to be popular in the first and second years, by the third it was worn out and replaced by a more conventional style of jacket. You rarely saw a blazer in the Middle or Upper School, for some reason it just wasn't the done thing.

Sometimes the line between acceptable and unacceptable was a little blurred, one rainy day I innocently wore a plastic baseball style cap which was spotted by the eagle eyed Arthur Field from the staff room, he bawled me out in assembly and confiscated my 'horrible' cap for a week.

Societies
From the earliest times we were encouraged to join or at least sample the ever expanding and eclectic mix of societies. These clubs operated outside normal academic hours, after school or lunchtime, and were run by the boys themselves with the supervision of a sympathetic master. It was a good way of diversifying interests and could give an early insight into organisational and management skills.

There was a broad range of options, some bordering on the eccentric others straying into 'trainspotter' territory. Have a quick skim through your old Poultonians and read about the French Circle, the Locomotive Society, the Model Car Club, the Modern Music Society, the Golf Society, the Film Society, the Eco Action Group, the Junior Bridge Club, Baines' Angling Club, the Junior Debating Society.

In terms of sheer numbers the Film Society was one of the most popular, although from an artistic point of view some of the films left a little to be desired, horror films of the vampire variety were early crowd pullers. From a personal point of view I enjoyed my occasional sessions at the Modern Music Society, a good opportunity to hear a wide range of rock and pop music.

The Sixth Form Dance
The Fylde Sixth Form Association (FSFA) came of age during the seventies, successfully creating links between the various schools in the area and organising extra curricular activities, one of the most popular being the almost legendary Sixth Form Dance.

Held twice a year in the famous Highland Room at Blackpool's Mecca Ballroom it was a major social event. Most of us were unfamiliar with night clubs, live rock bands and girls, if you were lucky the Sixth Form Dance provided a marvellous opportunity to experience all three.

This was all pretty grown up stuff, a long way from youth clubs in church halls, crappy record players and hanging around the streets leering at the 'talent'. The bands were usually pretty good, either the top local acts (Isis, Street, Complex) or more established acts used to the college circuit, Supercharge were always popular with students, their brand of rock, funk and humour went down well. We also had Sad Cafe before they had their 15 minutes of fame. All in all it was usually a good night out, although inevitably amongst 17 and 18 year olds there were some who could not hold their drink, it was usually some time before they were allowed to forget it.

The nascent FSFA were organising large(ish) social events as far back as the late 60s. Jerry Park formerly of St Joseph's in Blackpool recalls those early days.

I was in the Upper VI at St Joseph's in 1968/69 when the FSFA was founded. Martin Hart, Head Boy at Baines, was chairman. I organised the second bash, at the Pleasure Beach Casino, which I think included a band and a disco. The event involved me in some last minute diplomacy with the Headmistress at Queen Mary School, who heard there'd be (gasp) a bar!

The Sixth Form Dance really took off under the auspices of Brian Olsen and Paul Higham (a couple of years ahead of the Class of 69), Treasurer and President of the FSFA 1972-4. Brian takes up the story.

At the time the FSFA was a very low key affair with practically no funds. activities as I recall were limited to running inter-school chess competitions and arranging the occasional trip to Preston to see people like Led Zeppelin or Wishbone Ash. I can't speak for Paul, but I know my own interest in the thing, at least at first, almost entirely hinged on the presence at meetings of 17 year old females, a species virtually unknown to most Baines' sixth formers at that time.

Perhaps with a view to exploring this territory more fully, or maybe because we had loads of pals in bands who wanted somewhere to play, we came up with the idea of holding a disco, hiring a proper venue, and charging the kids something to get in. The pilot event was held in some scruffy Blackpool pub with a little stage and dance area. We sold tickets around the schools and it was only open to Sixth Formers. We got about 150 people in I think, covered our costs and had a lot of fun into the bargain. Feedback was enthusiastic and we realised we were onto a winner.

The following year we moved into the big time. I negotiated with the Mecca to let us have the hall for free, they (quite shrewdly) settled for the bar takings. We hired two or three bands, top of the bill as I think was Requiem, a very capable Boz Scaggs influenced R 'n B outfit of Baines' lads led by the remarkable multi-instrumental talents of Fraser (Fraz) Hardman and the swinging French master Steve Hoddy on double bass. We even managed to get John Peel as DJ! We had posters printed and a couple of us handed out flyers around the Pleasure Beach to make sure we filled the place. We needn't have worried. The Mecca was only insured to hold 400 people and the bouncers were counting them in from a queue that stretched round the block!

Rock 'n Roll
In the average seventies grammar school, especially an all male establishment, rock was usually the music of choice. The previously mentioned Modern Music Society was an outlet for all ages, but things moved up a notch in the 6th Form when we had access to a record player. Although generally of the Dansette variety, mono of course, it was a much loved and well used piece of hardware and a vital aspect of a proper musical education. Many a happy lunchtime was spent in its company and some of us still have those (scratched?) records.

Naturally enough there were those who wanted to take it a step further and learn to play guitar and form their own band. But can you remember who they were? With a little help from my old friends I have compiled the Baines' Grammar School Class of 69-70 Rock Family Tree (with apologies to Pete Frame).

Masters v Prefects Football Match
This annual feast (?) of football was a curious ritual, it meant an afternoon off lessons for most of the school and an ordeal for the masters who probably had most to lose. Only the prefects could approach it in a totally relaxed frame of mind, they wouldn't normally be expected to win, and it was a unique opportunity to exact retribution on members of staff, justified or not. This unusual balance of power did make for an exciting spectacle, particularly for those in the Lower School, they were generally the most enthusiastic and vociferous spectators. The gentleman's agreement was that the Prefects XI wouldn't include a galaxy of superstars from the school First XI, they would usually be restricted to cameo roles as late substitutes or mascots. This made an even contest more likely and more often than not preserved the honour of the staff.

Cultural Exchange?
Anybody remember the name Cathy Cribaillet? Certainly those who were studying French in 73/74 should do. Cathy was the first French 'assistante' at Baines' and I am sure she is fondly remembered by many. An attractive young French woman thrust into the testosterone charged environment of an English boys' grammar school was always going to make an impact, and so it was. It also seems we made quite an impact on her. Quite out of the blue I received a communication from the lady nowadays known as Cathy Feltz-Cribaillet. It seems she stumbled upon these very pages and was immediately overcome by the warm glow of nostalgia! She mentioned many names, most of them a couple of years senior to the Class of 69, but if 'Podge', Bobby Delafield, Paul Woodroffe, 'Ekky', Glenn Mayoh, Ken France or Dave Irwin are out there drop me a line and I can probably put you in touch.

I'll quote a few lines from the lady herself.

"I remember very well all the teachers and their humour, they were very friendly to me. I never felt left apart, even being a girl in this school obviously made for boys (at the time there were only three ladies, two secretaries and me). There was a song about the teachers, I must have the words somewhere, and I've kept my note book, if you took French I'll find you!! Give my regards to Arthur Field if you can, he won't ever recognise I defeated him at darts, but I did, in fact we used to practise a lot in the evenings, at the Barn in Poulton."

Stratford
Stratters, as some of us liked to called it, was a welcome diversion from day to day school, particularly to scientists such as myself. It was part of the 6th Form Arts curriculum for those doing English A Level and was three day/two night trip to Stratford upon Avon taking in three performances at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Although primarily aimed at the Arts students, any spare places were offered to the Science faculty, which was how I came to be involved. I had always enjoyed Shakespeare, up to O Level I'd read Henry IV Part 1, Henry V, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, so I jumped at the chance to see these plays performed by some of the best in the business.

It was always a very busy schedule fitting in three plays, two evening performances and a matinee, but a fair amount of socialising always went on in between, usually centred around the more popular town centre pubs. The other main attraction was the river where boats of various type were available for hire, punts were generally the more hazardous option and these tended to attract the more extrovert members of the party. Somebody would always fall in and you could usually predict who.

The plays themselves were on the whole marvellous productions often featuring well known actors and actresses, the whole experience adding life and colour to the words on the page, which of course is how it should be.

I have compiled a list of all boys who started at Baines' in September 1969, plus a few who joined us along the way, follow this link for the names and the photo gallery. Where are they now? Are they rich and famous?