Leeds Lost Schools

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Tue 26 Aug, 2008 9:53 pm

johnnyboy wrote: Back to brownhill,i cant think of many stories from dai pugh about his exploits,but i remember one teacher but not his name always in a brown jacket, if you asked him a question he would go on all afternoon about all the countries he had been to and what he got up to,but no lessons that afternoon,buy the way i lived in clifton mount the next street to the school. i remember when we used to go for dinner in the chapel and when they got rid of the dinner ladies two lads from each table had to serve up the meals,does any one remember the m.g. sportscar that crashed on kirkstall road went under a coal wagon the two drivers were killed outright, they brought the car to the old hillcrest garage (not the drivers). I Lived 1 street away from the school, Clifton Terrace. The chapel was at the end of our street . I don't think our paths would have crossed because I started at Brownhill several years after you, in 1953. I don't remember the MG crash but i do remember the garage and scrapyard near the Hillcrest. I saw my first car accident on Harehills Lane right outside the school, at lunchtime. A woman driving a Morris Minor downthe hill swerved to avoid a dog, went off the road, and hit the kerb and chain link fence on the opposite side of the road. The car bounced along the fence ( to our school annexe) for some distance and came to rest jammed between the fence and a concrete lampost. I think the woman driver got out a bit the worse for wear but in one piece. That would have been about 1958/9.

olli77 · Post by **olli77** » Wed 27 Aug, 2008 2:40 pm

i was wondering if anyone has any info and/or pics of my two old lost schools, John Blenkinsop middle school and Middleton Park high, leodis dosnt seem to have any pic of either perhaps not suprisingly in Miggy park highs case (it was open for all of five minutes) but john Blenkinsop was an old leeds school, it was open for awhile, many generations of miggiers went there, it closed and was demolished a few years after i left (late 90's i think) to be replaced with a tacky housing development, (they left the Junior school/primary school intact at the other side of the playing fields, which is an exact mirror image of John Blenkinsop) it was a beautiful old building on the outside, but falling to pieces on the inside, i remember when i was there being aware of what a s%$t hole (pardon my french) it was, i think it had just been uncared for, for so long it got to the point where it wasnt realistic to fix it up (however i know the junior school on the other side was still in pristine condition, a reason why its still there and in use perhaps?) and that brings me to my other request, does anyone know exactly why both these schools were closed, what the reasoning behind the decision were, in miggy park highs case it was obviously because of the state of the school, a few years before it closed while i was still going there the Yorkshire evening post ran a headline on its front page calling the school "An Outpost on the edge of humanity" catchy eh? i still have a copy of the paper as a memento, the article documented all the violent and scandalous goings on there and me and my friends noted that they had barely scratched the surface, so much was unreported (despite nostagia on my part it was a horrendous school, a very nice modern building, in the shape of a cross, which always interested me, it had the layout of a cathederal, was this on purpose or accident?) the year i left me and many others got good results in our gcse's and went to good colleges, but the a year or two later was the first year the school league tables were printed and miggy park high was bottom in yorkshire and something like 3rd worst nation wide (it took a real nose dive after i left apparently) anyway...any photos or info would be apreciated i always thought it was a great shame that miggy no longer has its own high school like it has had for generations, also does anyone know what miggy parks highs replacement closed down for a couple of years ago, Merlyn reece high in bell isle, i know towrds the end of its life at home time police officers in their black marias, patrolled the entrance to prevent problems, does anyone know why their prescnce was needed or what they intend to do with the site now, the school has been demolished, except for one building they seem to be leaving on purpose.

skippy · Post by **skippy** » Thu 28 Aug, 2008 1:31 pm

hi to everyone, i am looking for a picture of low road cp school, i used to live opposite that school in the 1950's and started there when i was 4 yrs old, and left in 1958. i would be very gratefull if anyone has a pic.thanks

Browny · Post by **Browny** » Fri 29 Aug, 2008 5:10 pm

gbdlufc wrote: stodge. wrote: Hey up, just remembered about the old building college i used to go to on east street, it looked like it was a school at one point but i don't know the name of it, it got flattened when they redirected the road.it was bang opposite the tyre garage. Hey up Stodge, I too went to that building college around 81 ish it must have been Cross Green Primary or something at a guess, but there will be someone on here that will know exactly its name.... funny I remember the Fish Hut opposite more than the Tyre fitters! STODGE. I have been doing some investigating. I went to the building colledge in 68/69. My report says Darley Street. Been in contact with Leeds Council & they say Darley Street School was the College. Look at Leodis Darley Street ,see what you think! The big room was the canteen & the 2 windows on the right of the arches were the bricklaying section. Cheers MICK.

Terrym · Post by **Terrym** » Sun 21 Sep, 2008 8:19 pm

Hi all,I attended Ingram Road school in the early sixties and well remember the dreaded Head Teacher.A fearsome woman called Miss Empsall who not only frightened the kids to death but the parents as well. At that time the school still had the outside toilets, air raid shelter, and a small white prefab building which housed just one classroom.Many years later I lived in Rydall Place and witnessed the demolition of the old Ingram Road school.After leaving Inrgram Road I moved down Brown Lane to Matthew Murray and spent 4 years there until 1967 when I left school to earn my living in the big wide world.A few of the staff I remember at M.M are Mr Gomersal (Head), Mr Cooper ( Sadistic Gym Teacher) and Mr Kilmurray (Careers Teacher) who was one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.I think I have read somewhere that Matthew Murray has now been demolished, could someone confirm this please.

Eric the Red · Post by **Eric the Red** » Mon 22 Sep, 2008 2:14 am

Anyone remember/went to Beecroft St? It's proper title was, rather grandly, 'Kirkstall County Primary School'. Surprise surprise, it's now an apartment block. I was there '63-'69 when the headmaster was Mr Dickinson and boys had to wear short trousers. The teachers I can remember were: Mr Hall; Mr Beauchamp; Miss Cooper; Miss Bennett, sorry but my memory fails me as to the others.I can remember Mr Lister, the caretaker, on his first day in the job- 30yrs later, as a grown man with my own family, I read in the YEP about his retirement- he got a special award for not having taken a single sick day in all that time! (spent entirely at Beecroft St).Has anyone out there got any pics of the school- when it was one?

dragonheat · Post by **dragonheat** » Tue 23 Sep, 2008 8:33 pm

rikj wrote: Another one. This has now been developed into flats I think.Cliff House, was also known as Newcliffe House when it was a school. My other half taught there when it was a "special" school teaching EBD kids. Teaching is a bit of a misnomer. I went there when it was known as newcliffe when and my teacher was mr whitney. Yeah sometimes it was a "bit" dodgy but in three years I witnessed zero fights. I was there when the fire in the staffroom when the headmaster was in wales with some of the pupils.

Bert · Post by **Bert** » Fri 19 Dec, 2008 7:32 pm

Patexpat wrote: Well I know that City Of leeds school was mentioned at the bginning of this thread, but that was really a 'johnny come latley'! Who remembers the original schools on that site - Central High School (ruled in my day by headmaster E Rockcliffe, very much of the 'old school' type and swishing down the corridors in his cap and gown! (And no, thats NOT nightcap and dressing gown, tho that may heave been appropriate at times!). Next door was Thoresby High School for Girls - seperated from us boys by two fences and a 10' drop! The two came together to form City Of Leeds sometime in the early seventies if I remember correctly!? Hi Patexpat. I only just saw this. I went to Leeds Central High from 1955 to 1962. Headmaster initially then was Dr J W Whitehead, replaced in 1959 by Dr L Connell. Other teachers whose names spring to mind are Mr Ludlam (English), Mr Wilde (Maths), Mr Billington, Mr Walshaw, John Wilkinson (Maths), Mr Burks (Commerce), Mr Stewart (Maths and Assistant Head), Mr Cannon (History), Mr Sterne (History), Mr Woodman. There was another teacher whose nickname was Ezra Binyon but I can't remember his real name - maybe Turner?. You probably know that the building is still there but is now a Council benefits office, so instead of kids in the playground you see old greybeards carrying bottles of booze wrapped in brown paper bags. There's a blue heritage plaque on the wall next to the Great George Street gate but it doesn't mention Leeds Central High, just Leeds City School - some politically correct w****r in the Council probably thought it was inappropriate to acknowledge that the 11 Plus and high schools ever existed. Above is a pic I took of the building in 2007, looking exactly as it did when it was Central High, except that Great George Street in the foreground was narrower and 2-way in the old days - they must have knocked some buildings down opposite the school to widen it into this one-way system.

Bert · Post by **Bert** » Fri 19 Dec, 2008 7:42 pm

Back in 2007 somebody left the following message on the old 'Have Your Say' section but never appears to have got a reply:IMOR - 23/05/2007 13:15:00Just passing through but will be back. Has anyone memories of the school at Colton near Temple Newsham, from around the early to mid fifties? Also of a plumbing and electrical contractor who was based in Pack Horse Yard about the same time. I can't help on Pack Horse Yard IMOR, but I can on Templenewsam Colton County Primary School, to give it its full name back in 1949 to 1955 when I went there. The Headmistress then was a Miss Crofts and the other three teachers were two Miss Wrights - the elder and the younger - and a Mr Broster, who always seemed to be wearing a pair of trousers with a huge red ink stain on them.They were all great. We played touch and pass in winter in the field behind the cricket ground on School Lane, and cricket in the summer on the ground itself. Mr Broster trained me up to keep wicket for the team in matches against Osmondthorpe, which we always lost. I lived just down the road in one of The Cottages, Meynell Road, near Joe Carroll's farm. It was more or less a slum then but is now a pricey and desirable residence in the Colton Village Conservation Area.The old school buildings have been destroyed to make way for some so-called 'Executive Homes'. Above is a photo I took in 1991 before they were demolished. The new school is a few yards further up School Lane, just beyond the terrace of old cottages you can just see on the left of this pic.

Bert · Post by **Bert** » Sat 20 Dec, 2008 1:11 am

And here's a picture of the 'Executive Homes'. The only remnants of the old school remaining are the base of the old playground wall - they cut off the iron railings and used the old brickwork beneath them as the foundation for the new wall; and the splendid Horse Chestnut tree, the trunk of which we used to use as a wicket for scratch games of cricket in the playground; and the conkers of which we used to play thousands of games of conkers without benefit of goggles and without any teacher batting an eyelid, all of us living to tell the tale without so much as a black eye.