Gower Street Boys and Girls Schools

[Martyn Broom]

A couple more of my classmates have come to mind:

Eaton O'Connor - He was another who went on to Holte Comp. He was always immaculately dressed. A real lady-killer.
And there was a lad called Mosquito who also went on to Holte. Never knew his first name. There were a few other African lads... My brain is working on them. Oh and a few Indians too.

Eaton joined the Army, Winston Mosquito was a good friend of mine,

 

[Martyn Broom]

I have just been looking at the Primary School I attended and noticed the Public Swimming Baths on Victoria Street, Aston.

I remember Mr. Eyton walking us from Guilford Street in an orderly fashion to the baths weekly. Gosh it's amazing recalling things you had forgotten about.

Thinking about it now though; it makes you wonder why we even bothered, It took half the lesson walking there and back. And I also recall spending only twenty minutes in the water.

I remember that walk John

 

[Morturn]

I had a friend who attended Gower Street School in the late 60’s, Paul Rook. He had a brothers Carl and David. Also had a couple of sisters; Wendy was one of them.

 

[Martyn Broom]

Hi everyone

I am a new member and I now live just about as far away from you all that I could possibly be without hopping on the shuttle into outer space. A little country called New Zealand.

I am not as old as some of you lol. When I was at Gower Street School the headmaster, Mr. Philips, had his office in the building on the corner of Guilford Street and Lozells Road. There were two other buildings to the school; one known as the Annex building further down Guilford Street and the third was around the corner near the church on Lozells Rd.

I always found it strange that the school was not actually on Gower Street. The Annex building stood on the corner of Guildford Street and Clifford Walk. It disappeared when the Alma way development got underway. The entrance to Holte Comprehensive carpark was at the junction of Gower Street, Clifford Walk and Alma Way.

I notice there are only photos of the main building; which is, unfortunately, the only one left standing today.

I am guessing that Mr. Eyton was a multi-talented teacher. Some of you have mentioned subjects he taught that I wasn't even aware of. So to be clear; we are talking about the same teacher here... 'Wally' Eyton as we used to call him. I know that may sound derogatory; but it isn't meant to be. Was his name Wallace?

I shall always remember him. Although he was very strict, he had a wicked sense of humour. Up until I had him as my form teacher he had a reputation. We were all scared of him at first. But he was the best Mathematics teacher I ever had. I quickly rose from near bottom of the class to the top. I owe Mr. Eyton a debt of gratitude; for without him my whole future in life would have been totally different.

Does anyone remember Baskerville (red), Boulton (Yellow), Murdoch (Blue) and Watt (Green)?
Mr. Eyton was the only teacher who submitted the winning house with negative points; and he did it week after week.
He would rather penalize what he considered to be bad behaviour rather than reward good students. He did give me 10 house points once; but we still ended up with a negative total.
During my time at Gower Street I cannot remember him ever smiling; after all he had a reputation to keep.
I only saw him only once after leaving school. It was many years later from a bus window. He was standing outside the Birmingham Town Hall; he looked exactly the same.

I was in the fourth form when the school closed in the early 70s. I went into the new school Holte Comprehensive the following year. It was made up of the lads of Gower Street, The lasses from Lozells Girls School and the students of Holte Grammar School. The latter I narrowly missed out on when I got the result of the 11+ exam. I used to attend the Prince Albert Primary School on the corner of Whitehead Road and Albert Street, Aston and many of my classmates ended up at Holte Grammar.

In a way it was a blessing because they appeared to me that they sat on their laurels instead of putting the work in.
I met up with them again at Holte Comprehensive and I was still the best at Mathematics.

After I left school I did a night class in Chemistry, a subject, I ought to have taken, but never studied it at school. I can't remember where I did the night classes now; but when I sat the paper I was gobsmacked to learn that it was to be taken at the old Gower Street School on Guilford Street. Not only that but it was in my fourth form classroom.
As there were not too many of us taking the exam; the papers were laid out, face down of course, to one side of the room. I requested and succeeded in getting a specific desk near the window on the other side, as it was the very seat I spent my last year in when I attended the school. I got an 'A' from the examining board.

One of my class mates in the fourth year was Stephen Turvey. We both liked art and I was a great fan of his style. I know he came from a large Family and I notice that one of the members of this site is TopsyTurvey. Could they be a relative? I think they just might be. I believe he finished his education at Gower Street School; maybe I should say he didn't go to the Comprehensive, that would be more accurate.

So I would be fascinated for some of you more senior (not older sorry) people to tell me how long the second and third Gower Street sites were in existence for. No-one else seems to refer to them at all. The Annex building is where the gym was located. I remember Mr. Foster and his Welsh accent. Sports day was a bus trip to Perry Barr. We used to play football. Mr. Eyton never awarded corner kicks; he used to give the ball to the goalkeeper. He wasn't too popular when that happened.

One of my classmates, Barrington Green, left his trousers on the playing field. To save time we used to change back into our school clothes on the bus. It wasn't until we were half way back to school that he realized his pants had disappeared. Of course Mr. Eyton was in possession of them. Instead of returning them to Barrington, Mr. Eyton got the student, Tony McLaughlin, who sat next to him in class to quickly put on Barrington's trousers upon arrival at school. Tony dashed up the stairs at the Lozells entrance; while the rest of us used the formal entrance further down Guilford Street. Barrington had been quite vocal about losing his trousers all the way back. Tony was already seated at his desk when we entered class.

We were well into the next lesson when suddenly Barrington stood up, pointed at Tony and shouted "Sir! He's wearing my trousers! Everyone was in stitches except Mr. Eyton. I'll never how he ever kept a straight face.



You don’t get a second chance to create a first impression.

Walter Eyton

 

[Martyn Broom]

A couple more of my classmates have come to mind:

Eaton O'Connor - He was another who went on to Holte Comp. He was always immaculately dressed. A real lady-killer.
And there was a lad called Mosquito who also went on to Holte. Never knew his first name. There were a few other African lads... My brain is working on them. Oh and a few Indians too.

Winston Mosquito,

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

Steven Stone, Michael Jay. Do you remember Paul Ashford who had some kind of learning issues Wally,s Class , Was,nt there for long? Im still in touch with Anthony Huggins from Prince Albert And Gower, Hope your well John its been a long time but i still remember our friendship .

Hi Martyn

Wow! Didn't expect you to reply. Great to know you are still alive and kicking.
As soon as I saw the name Paul Ashford I remembered him. Vaguely remember Michael Jay, but Steven Stone doesn't ring a bell. I remember Anthony Huggins very well and Alan Higgins (they were mates at Prince Albert). I don't think Anthony went to Gower though.
I seem to remember you originally came from Australia (I'm in NZ now).
And didn't you live in Farm Street? But the real question is... Do you remember Coral Jamie?

 

[Astoness]

steven stone and michael jay both lived in the same st as me...villa st.. i know michaels sister

lyn

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

Winston Mosquito,

Hi Martyn

I would never have remembered the name Winston if you hadn't told me.

He and I were at Holte Comprehensive together. I don't think he liked me much. Noel Davies and I were part of a music group at the Newton complex and we were listening to a lot of Simon and Garfunkel at the time.
It's tragic what happened to that place. We spent a lot of time at the swimming baths too with Dennis Watkins. Didn't you both have something to do with the national swimming trials?

I digress... Paul Simon came out with "Mother and Child Reunion" and I used to play the record in the sixth form common room. Winston was as happy as Larry when the track started, being a Reggae song. But when Paul Simon started singing Winston throw a wobbly when he realized it wasn't kosher.
He didn't enjoy being led up the garden path too much either.

The funny thing was though; every time I played it he reacted the same way.
There was another lad that followed me to Holte from Gower. He was Indian always smartly dressed; surname Singh but I can't remember his first name, I think it began with the letter R.

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

Steven Stone, Michael Jay. Do you remember Paul Ashford who had some kind of learning issues Wally,s Class , Was,nt there for long? Im still in touch with Anthony Huggins from Prince Albert And Gower, Hope your well John its been a long time but i still remember our friendship .

It's me again...

Very well thanks Martyn. Sorry for spelling your name with an "ï". I like to get things right.
Are you still living in Brum? How are you enjoying retirement?
I believe we can make direct contact and/or have a private conversation on here; but not too sure how to go about doing that.

One for you Lyn (Astoness); would appreciate your help.

 

[Astoness]

hi john i thought you knew how to send a private message as you sent me a few back in march...just in case click on the envelope top of the main page or click on the members name that you want to send a message to and start a conversation

hope this helps
lyn

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

hi john i thought you knew how to send a private message as you sent me a few back in march...just in case click on the envelope top of the main page or click on the members name that you want to send a message to and start a conversation

hope this helps
lyn

Thanks.

I've been to bed since then Lyn.

I tend to remember the things of more importance these days

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

hi john i thought you knew how to send a private message as you sent me a few back in march...just in case click on the envelope top of the main page or click on the members name that you want to send a message to and start a conversation

hope this helps
lyn

Hi Lyn

I'm afraid I do not understand what the two options mean at the bottom.
Am I right in thinking that if I select "Lock"; only the recipient sees my message and only they can reply?

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

Eaton joined the Army, Winston Mosquito was a good friend of mine,

Hi Martyn

When you say Winston was a good friend; does that mean he passed or did you lose contact?
I seem to remember both he and Eaton were at Holte. I guess they must have lived local to you, for you to keep in touch, after you finished at Gower Boys.

I lost touch with everyone when I finished at Holte. As one of the last people to leave on the final day; I went with James Hogg (he stayed on too) to his home. It was just the other side of Birchfield Road. We didn't stay in touch long. The wider world gobbled us up and spat us out in different directions.

 

[Astoness]

I'm afraid I do not understand what the two options mean at the bottom.
Am I right in thinking that if I select "Lock"; only the recipient sees my message and only they can reply?

hi john...no it just means that you do not wish the recipient to reply to you anymore...private conversations can only been seen and replied to by the sender and the recipient..

lyn

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

I'm afraid I do not understand what the two options mean at the bottom.
Am I right in thinking that if I select "Lock"; only the recipient sees my message and only they can reply?

hi john...no it just means that you do not wish the recipient to reply to you anymore...private conversations can only been seen and replied to by the sender and the recipient..

lyn

I guess that makes more sense now. Many thanks.

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

Two more classmates came to mind today.

Keith Griffiths was in the school chess team with me. He managed to persuade me to join the Sparkbrook chess club and I had to take on the pseudonym "Peter Taylor" before being allowed to play for the club. The rule being you had to be a member for at least 12 months before you could play in the Chess League. I remember beating a police detective sergeant.

The other, and I'm not certain about his Christian name... Alan Childs.
We sat together in class in the fourth and final year of the schools existence.

They say things come in threes. Still working on the next one.
There was a Billy Boyle but he was in a different class.

There was an Indian lad who was tall and thin... Gupta? He always had a nervous grin and laugh whenever you talked to him. Otherwise he was very quiet.

 

[Martyn Broom]

Hi Martyn

Wow! Didn't expect you to reply. Great to know you are still alive and kicking.
As soon as I saw the name Paul Ashford I remembered him. Vaguely remember Michael Jay, but Steven Stone doesn't ring a bell. I remember Anthony Huggins very well and Alex Higgins (they were mates at Prince Albert). I don't think Anthony went to Gower though.
I seem to remember you originally came from Australia (I'm in NZ now).
And didn't you live in Farm Street? But the real question is... Do you remember Coral Jamie?

Tony Huggings was in the other building where the gym was, Yes Coral Jamie is still alive, Cora Watkins runs pubs, Karen Painton im still in touch with, Yes i lived in farm st after moving from Albert Rd in 67.

 

[Martyn Broom]

Two more classmates came to mind today.

Keith Griffiths was in the school chess team with me. He managed to persuade me to join the Sparkbrook chess club and I had to take on the pseudonym "Peter Taylor" before being allowed to play for the club. The rule being you had to be a member for at least 12 months before you could play in the Chess League. I remember beating a police detective sergeant.

The other, and I'm not certain about his Christian name... Alan Childs.
We sat together in class in the fourth and final year of the schools existence.

They say things come in threes. Still working on the next one.
There was a Billy Boyle but he was in a different class.

There was an Indian lad who was tall and thin... Gupta? He always had a nervous grin and laugh whenever you talked to him. Otherwise he was very quiet.

I remember them both, Graham byford lives in Kingstanding

 

[Martyn Broom]

Hi Martyn

When you say Winston was a good friend; does that mean he passed or did you lose contact?
I seem to remember both he and Eaton were at Holte. I guess they must have lived local to you, for you to keep in touch, after you finished at Gower Boys.

I lost touch with everyone when I finished at Holte. As one of the last people to leave on the final day; I went with James Hogg (he stayed on too) to his home. It was just the other side of Birchfield Road. We didn't stay in touch long. The wider world gobbled us up and spat us out in different directions.

Lost contact with Winston when i moved in 1975 , i used to go church with his family every Sunday , Im in touch with Peter Hogg James brother, They are both in the civil engineering game They lived in Frankfort st off Summer Lane in the 60,s he was a Hard lad.

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

Tony Huggings was in the other building where the gym was, Yes Coral Jamie is still alive, Cora Watkins runs pubs, Karen Painton im still in touch with, Yes i lived in farm st after moving from Albert Rd in 67.

I remember Cora; she used to sit opposite me in Mr. Terry's class. Right next to Paul Henson and Tony Smith sat next to me.
The name Karen Painton doesn't ring any bells. I had a crush on Barbara Ritchie. Annette Jinx lived on the flat part of Potters Hill and John Teague lived on the steep part.

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

Lost contact with Winston when i moved in 1975 , i used to go church with his family every Sunday , Im in touch with Peter Hogg James brother, They are both in the civil engineering game They lived in Frankfort st off Summer Lane in the 60,s he was a Hard lad.

I vaguely remember Peter going to Gower

 

[John_Gower_Street_pupil]

I remember them both, Graham byford lives in Kingstanding

I had forgotten about Graham but I can see his face clearly now.
Do you remember Alan Childs? Not sure about his forename.

 

[Martyn Broom]

It's me again...

Very well thanks Martyn. Sorry for spelling your name with an "ï". I like to get things right.
Are you still living in Brum? How are you enjoying retirement?
I believe we can make direct contact and/or have a private conversation on here; but not too sure how to go about doing that.

One for you Lyn (Astoness); would appreciate your help.

Hi John, Im living in Suttoncoldfield , Yes i love not having to work anymore just enjoying my Garden and my Hobby Photography... Im Married Have 4 grown up children the oldest is 46 youngest 34 ,

I remember Cora; she used to sit opposite me in Mr. Terry's class. Right next to Paul Henson and Tony Smith sat next to me.
The name Karen Painton doesn't ring any bells. I had a crush on Barbara Ritchie. Annette Jinx lived on the flat part of Potters Hill and John Teague lived on the steep part.

I spoke to Annette Jinks about 6 years ago , I think she was living in Suttoncoldfield. I can,t place Barbara Ritchie.

 

[Martyn Broom]

I had forgotten about Graham but I can see his face clearly now.
Do you remember Alan Childs? Not sure about his forename.

Yes i remember Alan Childs He was living around Berners St Lozells last time i spoke to him, about 1971. Mark Kimberley if you can remember Him, Lived just off Nursery Rd Went into Road resurfacing ( Tarmac ) with his Dad, Used to drink with them at the Lord Byron Constitution hill . Nice Lad. I wonder if Andrew Pavlov owns a Chippy , It would be great to walk in and say Cone of Chips lol

 

[Martyn Broom]

I vaguely remember Peter going to Gower

A year or two younger i think John

 

[Martyn Broom]

Hi Martyn

I would never have remembered the name Winston if you hadn't told me.

He and I were at Holte Comprehensive together. I don't think he liked me much. Noel Davies and I were part of a music group at the Newton complex and we were listening to a lot of Simon and Garfunkel at the time.
It's tragic what happened to that place. We spent a lot of time at the swimming baths too with Dennis Watkins. Didn't you both have something to do with the national swimming trials?

I digress... Paul Simon came out with "Mother and Child Reunion" and I used to play the record in the sixth form common room. Winston was as happy as Larry when the track started, being a Reggae song. But when Paul Simon started singing Winston throw a wobbly when he realized it wasn't kosher.
He didn't enjoy being led up the garden path too much either.

The funny thing was though; every time I played it he reacted the same way.
There was another lad that followed me to Holte from Gower. He was Indian always smartly dressed; surname Singh but I can't remember his first name, I think it began with the letter R.

I remember Noel , Dennis and Me ( I ) were semi pro swimmers, I won 4 Gold medals at the school gala , I then went on to join Aston Swimming Club and played Water Polo each thursday night at Newtown Baths, I was selected for the Commonwealth games and potentially if i had put the training in , the Olympics , However Guess what happened , you got it I got married and that was the end of that lol . I used to swim 7 Days a week twice on Thursdays. I remember a lot of the lads were into Simon and Garfunkel. I used to plat guitar , write music and played a few working mens clubs in about 1973, Aston social, Witton working mens Club and the Barn Social.

 

[Astoness]

Yes i remember Alan Childs He was living around Berners St Lozells last time i spoke to him, about 1971. Mark Kimberley if you can remember Him, Lived just off Nursery Rd Went into Road resurfacing ( Tarmac ) with his Dad, Used to drink with them at the Lord Byron Constitution hill . Nice Lad. I wonder if Andrew Pavlov owns a Chippy , It would be great to walk in and say Cone of Chips lol

hi martyn and welcome to the forum...are you certain there was a lord byron on constitution hill as the the only one i know of was in farm st next to the joseph lucas factory

lyn

 

[Martyn Broom]

hi martyn and welcome to the forum...are you certain there was a lord byron on constitution hill as the the only one i know of was in farm st next to the joseph lucas factory

lyn

I can,t be sure, there were two close together opposite Cannings/ Lucas factories a lot of the road men used to meet up there, it was a very old fashioned pub front, I honestly thought it was the Byron, its been 50 years so my memory is not that sharp as it was. Hope you can shed some light on the names .

 

[Martyn Broom]

Eaton joined the Army, Winston Mosquito was a good friend of mine,

Eaton is living in Westbromwich now

 

[Martyn Broom]

I can,t be sure, there were two close together opposite Cannings/ Lucas factories a lot of the road men used to meet up there, it was a very old fashioned pub front, I honestly thought it was the Byron, its been 50 years so my memory is not that sharp as it was. Hope you can shed some light on the names .

It might have been the Clifton, And there was another a few doors down