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Aston Commercial School Holte Grammar

D

dirtyden

Black Country Boy
One of the founder members of the group Terry "Geyser" Butler went to the same school as myself and was in the next year up. The school was Holte Grammar Commercial School in Whitehead Road Aston. I have a website for it at https://members.lycos.co.uk/holte61

good luck with the research, I am still in touch with some of Geyser's old classmates
:D
 
My father went to Aston Commercial... I believe I have his metal badge...but it doesn't look anything like the badge they call the propeller badge. Can anyone help? Georgie
 
Anyone remember this when Miss Chatwin was headmistress and we had Miss Haden for shorthand and typing. I was Smith, mates with D Smith and Jacky, Maureen and Janet. We went camping with Mr. Woodward, stayed in wooden huts and made rafts on the pond. Had a wonderful time. Teacher was Miss Susan Breakwell.
 
My late cousin was there also, Sheila Gray (born 1932)......I have one of those very long school photos (with her in it), where it featured the whole school (over 2')
 
Oooh sorry, I cant remember off the top of my head......I'll hunt it out & let you know. Assuming she went there from the age of 11, she was there from about 1943 onwards til about 1947?
 
David........I've looked out the long school photo & it is of June 1947. I've scanned it in 3 chunks & have tried to stitch it....but it does make a long image to post on here. The girls seem to outnumber the lads, the girls are mostly on the left hand side (altho there are some on the right too), the lads are all on the right.

Some of the girls names from the form that my cousin seemed to be in at the time was 2c are;Greta Goodwin, Maureen Hobin, Maureen Durnelow, Beth Salinger, Joy Bonelle, Betty Chatwind, Thelma C Anderton, Beryl Cadby, Margaret Coles,Greta Goulding, Rita Kinsell, Kathleen Knightingale, etc.....any sound familiar??

My cousin Sheila is in the 3rd row from the front, 6th in from left.
 
I went to Aston Commercial 1951/52, the reason there are more girls than boys is that the intake was 2 forms for girls and one for boys. Dr. Flack was headmaster in my time.
 
My Uncle was telling us about some memories he has from around 1941 to 1943.

He was friends with 3 girls,
Olive who lived at 9 Woodwells Road
Trissie Watts from The Gate at Saltley
Margaret Barber.

He told us as he had a bike and these girls used to go home on the bus he would follow the bus up till the Plaza. They used to try to get the back seat so they could pull funny faces at him while he peddled to keep up. He left them at the Plaza to continue back to his while they stayed on the bus (No 11?).

I wonder if any of these girls - or their relatives - are around now?
 
Dolphie, just realised that I hadn't thanked you for posting those pics. I printed them off and gave them to my Uncle.
Cheers
David
 
HI GUYS
If my memory serves me correctly and i hope i am correct,
or may be some-one can if i am right or wrong that the commercial school later became in the fifty--sixty a class
and of a grammer school as it was later known and my mothers cousin ray jelf went to that school in the
thirties -fortys there whom later became a succesful bussiness man and a gov; officier
whom lives up in oxford following great grand fathers foot steps
best wishes to you all astonion ;;
 
It had a very good reputation Alberta and when Manor Park Girls took their RSA certificates we went to that school to sit them.
 
Ray, I went to Aston Commercial, but left December 1952, so a few years prior to the play - great photo. One of my nephews went to Holte Grammar School as it was later known but that was about 1966.
 
My Aunt went to Aston Commercial School, as well. Thank you for sharing this photo!
 
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I knew two people at Aston Commercial School, Norman Warrilow and Joan Humphries. Is there an old school site where it might be possible to say gudday again? Regards, David.
 
Aston Commercial School. The school buildings are still in Whitehead Road, Aston. A beautiful building now used for other purposes. Aston Commercial School was a late-entry (at 13+ and 14+) specialist school that offered a basic 2 year course in commercial subjects including shorthand, typing, book-keeping and accounts together with commerce, geography, French, German, Russian, chemistry, mathematics, English language and literature etc. Students could stay on after the two-year course to take GCE at Ordinary and Advanced levels. During the period 1956-59 the school changed to 11+ entry and some time after 1959 it became Holte Grammar Commercial, and is now Holte comprehensive School but on a different site.
 
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I have a suspicion that I have posted this one on a different thread in the past.
It is Aston Manor Technical School on Whitehead Road about 1910. It did eventually become the Aston annexe of Handsworth College of Further Education.
 
Hello
I started at Aston Commercial in 1959 and think it had just changed to Aston Grammar Commercial in 1957 which was the first year it took pupils aged 11. Before that they were about 13 before they could go there. Then in about 1960 it became Holte Grammar Commercial and the uniform changed from the brown uniform which included caps for girls, to the grey and black.
 
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Two old photos from 1919, way before anyone's time on here. The first of the staff, the second of the pupils. Viv.

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Aston Higher Grade School. Think the school is described in this extract from the British History online site

"ASTON HIGHER ELEMENTARY COUNCIL SCHOOL FOR BOYS; ASTON HIGHER ELEMENTARY COUNCIL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, Whitehead Road, Aston. Aston Higher Elementary Bd. Schs. opened 1900 by Aston Sch. Bd. Accom. 500. Fees 6d. Originally planned as part of Albert Rd. (Higher Grade) Bd. Sch. and sometimes called Albert Rd. Higher Elementary Sch. No new pupils admitted after 1913 and both schs. closed as higher elementary schs. 1915. Buildings continued to be used by Aston Commercial Sch.,(21)"

Viv.
 

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I have a history book, titled, "Macaulay's History of England", it belonged to the Aston Commercial School, I don't know how old it is (inside says first impression 1909, Impression of 1926), I don't know how I obtained it but it has the "owners" name written inside: George Stubbings, Form 5, Set 2. I wonder if Mr Stubbings, or any relatives are on this site.View attachment 103995
 
This postcard is labelled Aston Commercial School, sorry no date. What an elaborate building - no expense spared when this was built. I notice lots of boys tumbling out through the archway. Viv.

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walsallie said:
Anyone remember this when Miss Chatwin was headmistress and we had Miss Haden for shorthand and typing. I was Smith, mates with D Smith and Jacky, Maureen and Janet. We went camping with Mr. Woodward, stayed in wooden huts and made rafts on the pond. Had a wonderful time. Teacher was Miss Susan Breakwell.
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I remember Miss Chatwin but not as headmistress. I was there from 1956 to 1959 when the head was C Normington Mitchell and Mr Mordecai was deputy (with Miss Chatwin perhaps). The wooden huts where we went camping were at Bell End near Belbroughton.
I have school photos for some of those years.
 
Don't know who I was more scared of Mrs Chatwin or Mr Mordecai. Mr Normington Mitchell was a gentle chap. I was there 1959to 1966. my favourite teacher was Mr George Thompson who taught us A level law.
 
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sandrada said:
Don't know who I was more scared of Mrs Chatwin or Mr Mordecai. Mr Normington Mitchell was a gentle chap. I was there 1958 to 1966. my favourite teacher was Mr George Thompson who taught us A level law.
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I remember Mr Thompson but I can't remember if we did Law with him or not. Probably not because I left in the Upper 5th. I did General Principles of English Law at Birmingham College of Commerce and have found the knowledge to be very useful since.
I didn't stay on for A levels unfortunately. My mom needed me to be a breadwinner.
 
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