Loxton Street School

[Peter Walker]

It's always very touching to read people's reminiscences about the school — not that I attended there, but my dad taught music, art and whatever, and sometimes gets a kind mention even today.
I think he moved to Queensbridge Road School in the mid- to late-1950s, about the time that my mother died, and he re-married rather quickly, which didn't work out too well. But at least my stepmother was healthy, whereas my mum had been poorly on and off for nearly 20 years, spending a lot of time in hospital.
He stayed at Queensbridge until early 1972, when he fell sick with what at first was diagnosed as bronchitis, but was actually lung cancer (not really surprising, seeing how many ciggies he got through), and he died in November 1972.
My dad was very creative and I have been very surprised at how much he produced, in music, drawings and paintings. Above all, I remember his improvisation on the piano or organ.
Attached is the write-up that appeared in the Birmingham Mail in November 1972.
Peter Walker

 

[GER22VAN]

Peter. Thank you so very much for your posting and comments,
To me " Mr Walker " will always be remembered.

 

[Astoness]

peter..thanks for posting about your dad..how talented he was and you have followed in his footsteps.......

cheers..


lyn

 

[Kermia]

Hi Peter,
Thank you for your posting with the information about your Dad giving some back ground I was not aware of.
I attended Loco school from 1946-53 and recall a number of my teachers as mentioned in my posting #78.
I remember your Dad very well, a respected and dedicated teacher who showed great patience guiding us through the finer points of drawing and art.
His musical talents kept the school alive, playing practise duets with Harold Martin at times in the school hall and of course at the end of assemblies each morning. Great Memories.
I even escaped a few maths lessons by fetching him sheet music from "Messrs. Pass" a music shop in the centre of Brum.
Can I say it was a privilege to have been one of his many pupils, a teacher never to be forgotten from my school days.
Best Wishes
Kermia (Chas)

 

[dereklcg]

Very commendable Peter,i started in 1953 i,m sorry i don,t remember him,but thanks for posting a fitting tribute.regards Derek.

 

[dereklcg]

The teacher on the left is Mr White and i think the other teacher was Mr Davies
i was in both there classes, unfortunately i don't remember any of the boys i did,nt start till 1953.. regards dereklcg

 

[Graham S]

hi my sisters Mary Sandra,Doreen leech was in one half of lox ton st for the under 11 s

That would be the Mary I misspelt as "Leach" in my list of remembered names, I guess? I remember now that there were 3 Marys who all came into our class in the infants at the same time; there would be your sister, Mary Hollis and another Mary whose surname escapes me for the moment........

Graham

 

[Graham S]

Hello BAZ M.
the Head was a Mr Hawkins, teachers I recall,Mr Davies,Miss Hewitt, Miss Robins and Miss Smith.

Don't remember a Miss Robins, but all the others were there when I started Loxton in 1951. Miss Smith (a common enough name, but I imagine it's the same Miss Smith) looked as if she'd been there since the school was built; a real Victorian schoolmistress with her white hair in a tight bun and black buttoned boots. You didn't want to get on her wrong side.......

Graham

 

[Graham S]

The teacher on the left is Mr White and i think the other teacher was Mr Davies
i was in both there classes, unfortunately i don't remember any of the boys i did,nt start till 1953.. regards dereklcg

Yes, that's Mr Herbert Davies on the right. I was still in Reception Class when the photo was taken, so I can't put any names to faces, I'm afraid.

Graham

 

[sircharles60]

This one's from Christmas 1955; I can't remember the name of the girl playing Mary, but Joseph is John Playdon, whose mother was the crossing warden in Gt Francis St; the 3 kings are, L to R, Alan Rushby, me (I seem to have spent a lot of my junior school days wearing a turban!) and Brian Tomlinson. I remember the faces of the three girls bottom right, but can't drag up any names; Sylvia Coombs is second from left on the front row, Maureen Wrench in the middle just behind me, and Margaret Byfield last but one on the right on the same row. Peter Matthews is peering over from the back, and I think that may be Yvonne Ingram just in front of him. I'm sure more names will come back to me the longer I look at the faces.....

I do believe that the lad on the front row bottom left wearing the glasses is actually me. I do remember that we had that photo and I also remember that I had a crush on the girl in the tartan skirt and the pigtails. In fact I do remember the faces of many but names, well they are never my speciality.

 

[dereklcg]

Hi Graham S & sir charles60.. do either of you remember a Miss or Mrs Benbow?when i was in her class it was i,m almost sure in the wooden huts??
regards dereklcg..

 

[sircharles60]

Hi Graham S & sir charles60.. do either of you remember a Miss or Mrs Benbow?when i was in her class it was i,m almost sure in the wooden huts??
regards dereklcg..

Hello Derek,

I do recall the name and I also seem to think it is related to the wooden huts in the playground, but I seem to think that this was not her usual classroom??
Why I think that I have no idea just a very vague memory :^)

 

[Graham S]

Yes, I remember Miss Benbow as well, and I think you're right - she was in one room in the huts and Miss Venables was in the other. Could be wrong - teachers did move rooms sometimes. I taught for a 3 years in a junior school and had 3 different classrooms - one of them half a double hut EXACTLY the same as the old Loxton one. The smell when you walked in took you straight back..........
Graham

 

[Graham S]

OK, these are the names I'm fairly confident of putting to faces in one or more of the photos I've posted; I'm about 99% sure - it is, after all, over 50 years since we were all together. As they say in Strictly Come Dancing, in no particular order:

Gary Watson
Brian Tomlinson
David Randall
Peter Matthews
Robert Haynes
John Playdon
Derek Holliday
David Gough
John Smith (there had to be one, didn't there?)
Alan Rushby
Vivienne Froggatt
Maureen Wrench
Sandra & Valerie Williams (the twins)
Peter Warren
George Warrilow
John Carrick
Mary Leach
Jennifer Hudson
Margaret Byfield
Brenda Waldron
Yvonne Ingram
Betty Trump
Sylvia Coombs
Janice Webb
Ronnie Porter

Oh, and me, of course!

The girl in the gymslip on the front row of the 1953 photo was called Charlotte, but I can't remember her surname.
I remember clearly the girl standing behind Mr Cummings but I can't for the life of me remember her name; I keep thinking "Veronica", but maybe not...
There are also a good half-dozen faces I remember as clear as day but can't put a name to.

Other names I remember but can't positively identify, whether because they aren't on the photos or because I just don't recognise them after all this time include:

Pat Sheasby
John Mills
Sheila Grocott
Susan Simpson
Peter Lewis
David James
Pat Sheard
Brenda Broome
Mary Hollis

Any of those people reading this, I wonder?
Graham

I'm pleased to say I recently met Yvonne Ingram for the first time in 52 years, and we spent a pleasant half hour reminiscing. She reminded me that it was Barbara Grocott, not Sheila as I had wrongly remembered. Also during the conversation the names McGuire and McQuaker came up - can't put any faces to them at the moment, but the names ring a definite bell.

Graham

 

[Graham S]

This is the last of the "official" Loxton photos I have; after this it's a case of sorting through the boxes of assorted pics left by my mother, and that will be some job! I reckon this is 1956; it's a play called "Prince Florizel - Detective" which we did, as I recall, for the Schools Drama Festival that used to be held at Upper Thomas Street School. It had a 3-night run at Loxton as well! It told the story of how Prince Florizel (me, on the right-hand end in the picture) solved the mystery of the Queen of Hearts's missing tarts. We had proper costumes & props, hired from Astley's in Broad St; I can't remember now how we did at the festival, but I do remember the girl who played the princess, next to me in the photo - Lorna Grassick, who was a year older than me, I think, and who - though she never knew it - I absolutely adored; and I got to kiss her on the cheek at every rehearsal and every performance........

The name of the lad playing the King of Hearts has just come back to me - Peter Rock. Surprising what a bottle of good Cypriot wine on a balmy Mediterranean summer evening will do for the memory........

Graham

 

[dereklcg]

Hi Graham can you remember Mr Davies used to eat something out of a jar while in class, don,t know what it was but did,nt smell very nice.
Mr white used to chain smoke when we were in the annex up towards vauxall.
happy days or not regards dereklcg..

 

[Graham S]

The girl in the gymslip on the front row of the 1953 photo was called Charlotte, but I can't remember her surname.

Suddenly came to me - Charlotte Taylor. I also omitted Margaret Riley from my original list. Funny thing, memory.....

Graham

 

[thebickerman]

My first post here. Hello everyone!

Hopefully sircharles may remember my father as he remembers you from Loxton Street! He was (and is!) Vincent Oldham and I'm typing this on his behalf. His friends at school were Patrick (Paddy) Sullivan, Maurice Duffield and big Reginald Baldwin. He left in 1958 and used to live in Great Brook Street. Later on he worked at Marsh & Baxters, where he eventually met my mom (then Maureen Moore).

He mentioned a couple of teachers from Loxton days. Mr Jones (headmaster?), Charlie Meer (maybe a maths teacher), Mr Martin (once rudely treated by dad & his mates who put his violin through a lathe!), and Cornishman Mr Bond (aka the Bible Bandit!). Coincidentally Cornwall is where we all live now, having moved from Caldwell Rd, Bordesley Green in 1974.

Incidentally he just told me to mention that he remembers school trips to Woodcock Street swimming baths!

 

[BazzM]

Bickerman. Glad you and your Father decided to join us. There are a few of us here that are old Loxtonions, from all age groups. If you type in Loxton St. in the search box near the top right hand corner of the page, you will gain entry to other links to do with the school. Its great that your Father remembers one of our members already, hopefully he will find a few more in your search. Good luck. And welcome. From another old Loxton lad. Barry.

 

[thebickerman]

Hello Bazz and thanks for the welcome!

Another couple of names (and memories) that dad has just retrieved from the mists of time. Two more of his old schoolmates were Eric Hopton (sadly now deceased) and Alan Kavanagh. He also recalls dancing classes with the girls from Bloomsbury Street school.

Will check out the Loxton Street search. I was 7 when we left Birmingham so other than vague memories of certain places (Hawtin's record shop, Ward End park, Alston Road school) my recollections are extremely bleak!

 

[sircharles60]

Welcome to you both. Whilst I remember some names others seem to elude me, but I do remember a Vincent and the trips to Woodcock Street swimming baths.
I remember us pushing and shoving to buy Oxo from a machine on the wall. I personally was a bit of a wimp in those days and always tended to have to wait my turn.

I do have very fond memories of that school though and the kids that went there. So you now live in Cornwall, I live in Wiltshire, not far from Bath. You can always email me [email protected] or there is a link on my contact page at https://www.sircharlesingram.com

As I tend to drift on and off this site, anyone who remembers me can email me I would be happy to communicate with you all. I would also like to know what some of the girls are doing now.....nosey aren't I. :^)

 

[thebickerman]

Hello Charles and best wishes to you from sunny Cornwall.

Was your nickname at school 'Little Billy Ingram' or was this someone else? Dad also recalls a scrap metal merchants in Loxton Street called The Toroni's (or similar spelling).

Dad remembers once beating a champion swimmer called Bull (not sure of first name) at a gala race at Woodcock Street. He was in the yellow school house, and also recalls school checkups at Sheep Street clinic for nits! He seems to have been a bit of a rascal as he also let down Mr Jones's tyres in the car park. Other names he recalls are Ernie Embrey and Aisha Ali.

After leaving school, dad worked at Marsh & Baxters pork factory and then Aston University as an electrician. We moved to Newquay in 1974 and have remained ever since. Dad worked as a postman for over 20 years and is now retired. We often talk about the old days in Birmingham and occasionally he visits, due to having brothers & friends there.

 

[sircharles60]

Hi.

I did get called little Billy Ingram at times due to my Dad who was Bill(William) Ingram, He was the caretaker at Loxton Street. I remember two other names Mary Docherty and Michael Leach, Michael Leach's dad ran the Swan Pub on the corner of Loxton Street, I also seem to remember a Malcolm Hassel but I may have spelt that wrong.

Best wishes to you and your dad.

 

[thebickerman]

Dad remembers the Junction pub (opposite the school?) and taking part in Sports Day at Burney Lane, Stechford.

He was also a brief member of the ABC Minors because it allowed free admittance at the Gaiety Cinema (the tightarse!). He doesn't recall Michael Leach or Malcolm Hassel. His best buddies at school were Paddy Sullivan (a bit of a rogue apparently) & Maurice Duffield. Sullivan had a brother called Jimmy and his father was a chimney sweep. He lived in Heneage Street (?). Sadly he died from cancer in his early 30's.

Dad has just dug another schoolname from his slowly-reanimating memory vault. One Kenny Narborough, who had a sister (Sylvia) at Bloomsbury St school.

 

[TCWARDPLUMBERS]

hi the bickerman,
i was just reading your thread and the names you mentioned, i cant rember your dad but the names you mentioned i remeber very well, ernie emery,paddy sullivan reg baldwin, kenny narbrough,asha ali & all her family, i lived in lawrence st the side of woodcock st baths,went to the gaiety pics, & spent a lot of the time in nechells & ashted i was at school at charles artur st till 1958. i miss them all terry

 

[thebickerman]

Hello Terry!

Thanks for the reply. What is your surname? I'll ask dad if he remembers you.

Sullivan was his best buddy and a bit of a fighter. Reggie Baldwin apparently was a huge tattooed kid who once threatened to throw a teacher (Charlie Mears?) out of a window. Ernie Embrey/Emery carried a flick knife which he once lobbed at a prefect and was later expelled. Eric Hopton was a friend of Aisha Ali (dad prounces the surname as 'Aloy' so my spelling may be incorrect).

My schooling here in Newquay was astonishingly dull in comparison!

 

[TCWARDPLUMBERS]

hi again, my name is terry ward,i used to have a pint with eric hopton & his dad in the railway club in vauxhall sadly eric passed on a few years ago,i see reggie balwin seems to be every few years just enough to keep in touch,i am sorry i did not ask your dads name, terry

 

[thebickerman]

My dad is called Vincent (Vince) Oldham. Next time you see Reg Baldwin be sure to mention his name! It's been over 50 years since they last saw each other but I'm sure Reg will remember him! Another of dad's friends was Maurice Duffield, who he also first met at Windsor Street school before going to Loxton St.

Eric Hopton's sister (Elaine?) was a very close friend of my dad's foster sister Sheila Bolter (now Sheila Pulling) who also lives in Newquay now.

 

[TCWARDPLUMBERS]

hi again , other names i can recall your dad might rember are tony ali, trevor james, denise azes wagga watkins, billy goodby they are all around your dads age, i usad to whatch the pigs/sheep being unloaded at marsh & baxters in dale end, in the side st, i used to mate a fitter & help service the lard lift at castle bromwich site on chester rd , we used to get a brown letter from the sheep st clinic, if you had nits ,and we would throw them in the bin as soon as we could, then deny having them, terry

 

[thebickerman]

Another couple of names that dad (Vincent Oldham) has pulled from the memory hat. Johnny Clark and Billy Beech. Both in his schoolyear.