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Guthlac House School, Castle Bromwich

Stephen Bullas

Stephen Bullas

knowlegable brummie
Hi!
Does anyone know what happened to Guthlac House school? I was there in the early- to mid-fifties, when it was run by a Mrs. Colenut, known to her pupils by what I assume must have been her maiden name, Miss Fletcher. Other teachers at the time were Mrs. Watson and Miss Ryan. It was a mixed junior school and we all had green uniforms.
 
I have also been trying to find what happened to it. Stephen your information is invaluable and confirms where I thought it was located (70 years ago!) I was there either in the late 40's or early 50's I hope someone can recognise people in the attached photo. I am the boy immediately behind the staff member second from the left.CCF_000018.pdf.jpg
 

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I seem to remember that the very young child in the centre of the front row was the daughter of one of the staff members
 
Hi Robert!
Thanks for your reply and for posting the photo. Can you say in which year it was taken? I think you must be a little older than I if you were at the school in the late 40's; I was born in '49, and I think that I started in January '53. I do have my school reports, so I can look that up and post an update.
A little bit more info: I remember that the school uniform was changed from green and yellow/brown to blue and silver - or perhaps it was changed the other way round - whilst I was there. I have an old b&w photo taken in uniform in the back garden of my parents' house, but of course there were no colour photos then, so I can't really tell :-( I do, however, still have the blue and silver striped tie (if my wife hasn't chucked it out!).
Unfortunately, I don'r recognise any of the pupils or staff in your photo, but assume that the lady in the dark suit was 'Miss Fletcher' and that the lady to her left was Miss Ryan and the one on our far left was Mrs. Watson but, as none of them matches my age-old memory of what they looked like, I'm very far from certain :-(
I also don't remember the names of any of the other pupils apart from Stephen Warwick (spellings may be wrong) and a girl called Hilary and another whom we all called "Pepperpot". Not sure whether she liked the nickname or not, so my very belated apologies to her now if she didn't.
Regarding the young girl at the front, it may have been the daughter of one of Miss Fletcher's (Mrs. Colenut's) own children who were name Penny and Tuppence, as far as I recall and who would have been in their early 20's at the time. Again, I'm far from certain of any of this and would be more than happy to stand corrected!
Finally, I can't even say if I myself am on the photo but, if I am, I'm to our left of the boy with the striped shirt in the back row.
Thanks also to everyone who 'liked' my initial post - I hope it rings some bells :)
 
Hi Stephen and others reading this thread. What a great surprise to wake up this morning (I am in Australia) to find Stephen's reply. I can remember very little in detail of my time at Guthlac house. The question of when the photo was taken has sent us searching through what few photos I have of my childhood (Photos were expensive then) to try to work out how old I was when the photo was taken. I seem to remember that I was quite young and travelled to the school on my own by bus from Ward End where I lived. I seem to remember that others on the bus thought I was too young to travel unaccompanied. My wife and I have guessed that I might be about 5 or 6 years of age in the photo which, since I was born in March 1944, make the photo being taken in late 1949 or 1950.
My only significant memory of the school occurred one lunchtime when I was in the backyard of the school eating my lunch which was sitting on the edge of a bench. As my mother constantly reminded me after the event I said "A big fat girl sat on the other end of the bench and my end came up and hit me in the head!" I remember being taken to a nearby house which was a doctor's and having stitches put in my forehead (I still have the scar). I do not know how long I stayed at the school but I have a photo taken a little later when I was at Sladefield Road School in Ward End. Hope this helps jog other people's memories. You never know in this digital age. Robert.
 
It is the electoral roll for Coleshill Road. I posted it to show that the name you mentioned was living at that address in 1957. I can only access certain years on Ancestry. By 1960 it was a different name.
 
Hi Robert, or should that be G'day?
Hi also to Janice - I assume that you are pjmburns??? If so, many thanks for the electoral roll snippet of the Colenutt family. Are you able to see from Ancestry if Mrs. C's maiden name was Fletcher? Also, were you at the school, too?

I have rooted out my school term reports up to when I left at the end of Easter term in '57. I, too, lived in Ward End (Washwood Heath Rd.), where my parents owned a small book shop ("Regency Library") and also a bicycle and pram shop next to each other. The library has since reverted to a private house and the bicycle/pram shop is now part of a much larger second hand cars showroom. I remember many fun hours at Ward End Park, to which my Granny used to take me on a regular basis either after school or at the weekends. Great boating lake!
The earliest report I can find is from the Winter term 1954, although it is clear from the Remarks section that I must have already been there for at least a year prior to that. Either way, far too late to have been on Robert's photo, I fear :-(
As I progressed through the school, the Remarks sections were signed by different teachers as well by the head teacher. I can see that Mrs. Colenutt always signed herself as "J. Fletcher", which would fully accord with her first name being "Jessie" as testified by the electoral roll, as she and her husband did live "above the shop", so to speak. Mrs. Watson signed herself as "L. M. Watson". There was also an "Elocution" teacher who simply signed with her initials, "M.H.C.", but I'm afraid I don't remember her at all :-(
My parents moved to Erdington whilst I was still attending Guthlac House, and I remember my Dad always dropping me off in the mornings, but I had to walk my own way home after school and he would pick me up along the way, as he could never be sure of an exact time. No cell phones in those days! And no thoughts of child harming either.
I was sorry to hear of your accident in the garden. As I'm sure everyone will recall, there were always far more girls there than boys (does anyone know why that might have been?) and, in my time, only girls were allowed (under supervision) into the garden, which was accessed through the French doors at the back of Mrs. Watson's classroom - we boys never got a look in :-(
 
Yes - I am Janice. No - I wasn't at the school. E roll doesn't help with maiden names but will look later on marriage records if you like.
 
Going off thread a bit but...
Frederick Colenutt married Jessie Fletcher in Bimingham in 1938.
So you were correct that Miss Fletcher was the maiden name of Mrs Colenutt.
 
Hi all!
Given that the Colenutts did not marry until 1938, their two daughters would have been at most in their late teens and not their early twenties as I had previously postulated. Extremely unlikely, therefore, that the young girl at the front of the photo could have been one of theirs. My apologies for any confusion.
 
G'Day Janice and Stephen.

Lots of fun when you try to piece together information from various sources that is 70 years old. I guess that is why genealogists get paid so well! I have just joined a Facebook page that links former students of Birmingham Schools together. Maybe that will give us some further links!

After leaving Guthlac House I went to Sladefield Road Primary School in Ward End then we moved to Sutton Coldfield where I attended Boldmere Junior School. My guess is that, about that time, my parents were seriously thinking about moving overseas. Dad, who had mechanical experience, was invited to join a church missionary group in Kenya as a motor mechanic and, as I understand it, just as we were about to leave the Mau Mau uprising occurred and so we didn't go and ended up a year later in Australia where I attended that last 4 moths of Primary schooling - in Australia the school year starts in February.

I have basically been in Education ever since then completing my secondary education then 4 years at University plus two postgraduate degrees part time. I have spent my working life as a University Lecturer in Physics and as a senior administrator in a University - so my start at Guthlac House must have been good!

When we are allowed my wife, Sue, and I hope to return to the UK again as we have many times in the past. It would be great to catch up for a "cuppa" if that was possible.
 
Hi Robert!
Thanks for the background info. You and your parents were indeed fortunate to have missed the Mau Mau uprising.
I did a Masters in Archaeological Computing (don't ask!) at Southampton Uni and became a full-time archaeologist for a while before I realised that there were few jobs and very little money in it - you might say that my career was in ruins :)
I then joined IBM and started to see the world; I have lived most of my life in continental Europe, with a couple of spells in the US. I have also been lucky enough to visit India some 20 or 30 times (as part of the job), but have never been as far as the Antipodes :-(
Nowadays, I'm semi-retired, but I do lecture at half-a-dozen universities (one in the US, one in Ireland and the rest in England) - business studies and archaeological geophysics - but Covid has put a stop to that, at least for the time being.
If you and Sue do get back to the UK anytime soon, it would be great to meet up. I actually live on the south coast and only go up to the Midlands three or four times a year to visit cousins, but I'm sure we could fix something up :cool:
 
Hi Janice, Will certainly keep an eye out for them. We hear of the "freedom" now in England whilst we are in lockdown with 21 covid cases in the whole state of Victoria - almost double the size of England. Different governments -different approach. Still it gives me time to follow up on leads!!!
Stephen, Funny how coincidences occur! In my last few years at work I, too, travelled to India about 25 times!! As Associate Dean of the Faculty I was able to approve, on the spot, the applications of students wishing to come to my University to Study (then probably stay in Australia). I normally did two or three trips a year of about 14 days at a time basically visiting the larger cities across the nation.and taking applications from hundreds of hopeful students. Had a couple of trips to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well. Hard work but very rewarding.
I am now "fully" retired but have become involved in the local University of the Third Age (U3A) teaching into one Science and Technology class and leading another. [Once a teacher always a teacher]
Have already had a couple of "bites" on the Facebook page so something may come of that.
South Coast is no worry for a catch up - sometime in the future. We always visit Dawlish, in Devon, when we come to the UK as we lived there as a family in 1985 whilst I had a sabbatical at the University of Exeter and we have many friends there still.
 
Hi Robert!
I've only ever been to India on business trips - usually with clients. My wife (Dani) and I would love to go on holiday there at some point (she has never been), and the Taj Mahal (which is in an area of India to which I've never been) is on both of our bucket lists, although surprisingly out of the way to get to. I have never been to the other countries which you mentioned, although I have had business dealings with Sri Lanka. Most of my India travels have been to Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, with several "customer outings" to Mysore. I'd love to see more of the country, particularly Jaipur and Rajasthan, Pondicherry and the south east and west coasts (Goa, Kerala, etc.).
Unfortunately, I don't use Facebook as the only social media I trust is LinkedIn (despite its being owned by Microsoft!). If you're an LI member, please do Connect (you, too, Janice!). I have tried to see if you are on it, but there are so many Robert Taylor entries for Australia, it would take forever to look at them all!

Hi Janice!
Robert and I have 'bled our lives' out, and I'd love to hear more about you if you feel you wish to let us have some more info!

BTW, I've remembered the names of another couple of girls at the school although, in one case, only her first name: Moira. As it's an unusual one, perhaps someone out there may remember her, too. The other girl was Sandra Hughes. As far as I remember, Moira had short, dark hair and Sandra had long, fair hair.
 
Hello Janice and Robert!
Well, Christmas is almost upon us, so I'd like to take this opportunity of wishing you both a very happy one!
As you will have (not) seen, there doesn't seem to have been any further movement on Guthlac House since our various posts in the summer. If anyone else is reading this, I do urge you to say "Hello", especially if you attended the school at some point - or know of someone who did.
BTW, does anyone happen to know why the school was called "Guthlac House". I have Googled the name and see that Guthlac was on of the early Anglo Saxon saints in Mercia, in the north of England. I have also tried Googling the names of Jessie / Fletcher / Colenutt, but couldn't find anything of interest; most of the 'hits' seem to be of "Murder She Wrote" (Jessica Fletcher) :-(
 
Hi Janice and Stephen,

I did the same type of search on the unusual name "Guthlac" and came to the same conclusion. The only Guthlac I could find was the same saint as Stephen found. What connection that would have with a school in Castle Bromwich is decidedly unclear!!!!

Have a great Christmas time and may 2022 bring you all you need and, maybe, a little of what you want. Stay safe.

Robert
 
Hi everyone, and Happy New Year!

Well, for those of you who may be interested in who St. Guthlac was, I have some great news :) . . .

Last night (Jan. 4th) on BBC1, there was the first episode of Series 9 of Alice Roberts's "Digging for Britain". For those of you who may not know her, she was initially a medical doctor but is now a Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology and has become something of a TV personality over the last decade.

You can access last night's programme on BBC iPlayer at the following link:

www.bbc.co.uk

Digging for Britain - Series 9: Episode 1

An extraordinary Roman mosaic is unearthed in a farmer’s field in Rutland.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

The piece on St. Guthlac starts about 22:06 minutes into the programme.

You will need to be a registered iPlayer user (it's free-of-charge), but you will only be granted access if the IP Address of your device (Smart TV, Smart Phone, computer, tablet) is in the UK.

If you live abroad, there is a totally legal way of circumventing this by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). You can Google it up if you want to see how to do it. However, there is usually a subscription fee for VPN's. One of the better ones is "ExpressVPN" (again, Google it up and you'll see the cost, but it's pretty cheap (a few USD per month) and it also has the advantage of being readily available in Australia, Robert!). There are many others, some of which are free, but you may be swamped with ads or your data sold to marketing companies if you opt for a free alternative, so beware!

Do take a look but remember, we don't know why the school was name "Guthlac House" and it's possible that it had nothing to do with the saint . . .

Stephen
 
Hi Everyone, A Happy New Year from me also. Thanks Stephen for the information. Clever BBC recognises that I am using a VPN from overseas and won't let me in. I will not give up trying however and will consult colleagues who have overcome similar challenges.

Take care of yourselves in these challenging times.

Robert
 
Robert T said:
Hi Everyone, A Happy New Year from me also. Thanks Stephen for the information. Clever BBC recognises that I am using a VPN from overseas and won't let me in. I will not give up trying however and will consult colleagues who have overcome similar challenges.

Take care of yourselves in these challenging times.

Robert
Click to expand...
Hi Robert!

Try using a UK-based VPN or elect to use the UK as the 'base station' if your existing VPN has that option; you can always revert back if you want to!

Good luck and best wishes,

Stephen
 
Hi Stephen,

My VPN said it was using a server in the UK - but who knows what it really was doing. Will try another VPN and see what happens.

Best wishes

Robert
 
Hi Robert / Janice / everyone!

It's been some months since anyone last posted, so I trust that you are all well and Covid-free?

I mentioned in one of my posts last summer that I had a photo of me in my Guthlac House uniform but, being black and white, I couldn't tell whether it was the green one or the (later?) blue one. I've now shown it to a retired professional photographer friend who thinks it is more likely to be green, depending on the shading of the cloth and sunlight conditions at the time.

Whichever it turn out to be, the school badge on the blazer and cap are reasonably clear, so I'm attaching it to this post. As it's a scan of a b&w print, it won't be as clear as the original which I'm now looking at, but I nevertheless hope that you will find it informative and/or that it may ring some bells. It was taken in the back garden at home (Erdington) but I'm not sure when (year / season) it was taken. My best guess is between '55 and '57, although it could be earlier. That would make me around 6 years old (give or take a year) at the time.

If interested, you can zoom into it to make it clearer . . .

Guthlac House Uniform 001.jpg

BTW, did you manage to get a working VPN, Robert?

Best wishes to all,

Stephen
 
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Stephen Bullas said:
Hi Robert / Janice / everyone!

It's been some months since anyone last posted, so I trust that you are all well and Covid-free?

I mentioned in one of my posts last summer that I had a photo of me in my Guthlac House uniform but, being black and white, I couldn't tell whether it was the green one or the (later?) blue one. I've now shown it to a retired professional photographer friend who thinks it is more likely to be green, depending on the shading of the cloth and sunlight conditions at the time.

Whichever it turn out to be, the school badge on the blazer and cap are reasonably clear, so I'm attaching it to this post. As it's a scan of a b&w print, it won't be as clear as the original which I'm now looking at, but I nevertheless hope that you will find it informative and/or that it may ring some bells. It was taken in the back garden at home (Erdington) but I'm not sure when (year / season) it was taken. My best guess is between '55 and '57, although it could be earlier. That would make me around 6 years old (give or take a year) at the time.

If interested, you can zoom into it to make it clearer . . .

View attachment 167615

BTW, did you manage to get a working VPN, Robert?

Best wishes to all,

Stephen
Click to expand...
Hi Stephen, I have taken the libity of croping your image to make it a better fit.
 
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