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Gower Street Boys and Girls Schools

great photo banjo...so if we look at the photo on post 161 and compere it to your photo i dont think it mr eyton on post 161


lyn
It is Mr. Eyton on post 161 Lyn. When he taught us his hair was snow white. I saw him many years after leaving school and he hadn't changed at all. There are twelve years between the two photos and a lot can happen in that time.
 
Going further back in the history of the school, a 1930s Pageant of the Empire display. Viv.

D7E1C87D-4572-490F-A73C-F57F91D11D4C.jpeg

Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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I’m adding a school description here from British History Online as I can see there are girls included in the Pageant (and the thread title originally included only the Boys’ school, so have edited the title). The school premises have had a fairly complicated history :

GOWER STREET COUNCIL SCHOOL, Lozells. Gower St. Sch. (apparently undenominational) established 1862 in temporary building. New building opened in same year. Received annual grant from 1870, when it had one teacher. Fees 3d. –6d. A.a. 1871: 123. By 1876 apparently included I, in separate room. Transferred to Aston Sch. Bd. 1876 as Gower St. Bd. Sch. Fees 1d.–3d. Then apparently very efficient. Overcrowded 1877–8. Enlarged for 3 depts. 1878. New B block opened 1879. Total accom. 1880: 1,128. Site enlarged and new JM block opened 1886, accom. 256. G dept. enlarged 1889. Accom. 1889: 1,355. Bd. of Ed. demanded substantial improvements in premises 1912. Reorganized 1931 for SB, JM, I. I dept. closed 1938. JM block destroyed by enemy action 1940 and dept. housed in former Alma St. Sch. until 1945. It then closed and children transferred to Cowper St. Council Sch. SB dept. became a separate sch. 1945 (see next sch.). JM buildings repaired 1948, 1954 and used by Gower St. Cty. Modern Sch.

GOWER STREET BOYS' COUNTY MODERN SCHOOL, Lozells. Became a separate sch. 1945 (see preceding sch.). Accom. in part of former JM block provided 1948, and more in 1954. N.o.b. 1961: 460.


Here’s a link to Cowper Street School https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/william-cowper-street-school.31250/page-5

Here’s a link to Alma Street School https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/alma-street-junior-infants.25189/page-3
 
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Two other threads have now been merged into this one thread so there may be previously unseen posts. Viv.
 
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.
Seeing the name Cora Watkins running pubs makes me think that she might be the Watkins family I lived with at 136 Victoria Road in 1958. She was German and her husband was Bill Watkins. They had two sons but I can't remember their names. A few years later I heard that she was running a pub in Villa Road.
 
hi banjo the name cora is ringing bells with me...im sure i knew her from a pub but do you think i can remember which one...i will ask my sister and brother

lyn
 
Seeing the name Cora Watkins running pubs makes me think that she might be the Watkins family I lived with at 136 Victoria Road in 1958. She was German and her husband was Bill Watkins. They had two sons but I can't remember their names. A few years later I heard that she was running a pub in Villa Road.
It is the same family Banjo.
 
Seeing the name Cora Watkins running pubs makes me think that she might be the Watkins family I lived with at 136 Victoria Road in 1958. She was German and her husband was Bill Watkins. They had two sons but I can't remember their names. A few years later I heard that she was running a pub in Villa Road.
does anyone remember the pub or pubs that cora ran and when...having no luck tracking any down

lyn
 
In recent years I've often wondered why my school was called Gower St School when only a small part of it was actually in Gower St. The block we used for woodwork,metalwork & pottery was on Lozells Rd between the Police station & St Pauls church. The block (which still stands today) that had the Headmaster's office, the Admin office & even the cookhouse was on the corner of Lozells Rd & Guilford St. The science block stood on the corner of Guilford St & Gower St. Seems to me it would have made more sense to call it Guilford St School.
Anyway, I've been trying to find out some history of the school but, there is little information to be had. Vivienne's post #203 gives all the info that is currently available but without knowing which building came 1st, 2nd or 3rd it's hard to understand which depts were housed in which building.
By 1889 it looks like all three buildings were built as the map shows.
The three blocks of Gower St School 1884-1891.jpg
1-2-3 Schools 1920.jpg
This seems to have remained so until 1931 when they re-organised the depts into Senior Boys, Junior Mixed & Infants. I assume the Junior Mixed was housed in building 1 as it was destroyed by enemy action in 1940 and rebuilt in 1948.
1-2-3   Schools 1950.jpg
As there was further rebuilding in 1954, I assume it was on building 2 as the apex roofs have now gone as shown in this low res photo.
1-2 Schools  1960s.jpg
I'm still looking for a good ground level photo of building 2 which I'm hoping to find somewhere in the Birmingham Library.
 
In recent years I've often wondered why my school was called Gower St School when only a small part of it was actually in Gower St. The block we used for woodwork,metalwork & pottery was on Lozells Rd between the Police station & St Pauls church. The block (which still stands today) that had the Headmaster's office, the Admin office & even the cookhouse was on the corner of Lozells Rd & Guilford St. The science block stood on the corner of Guilford St & Gower St. Seems to me it would have made more sense to call it Guilford St School.
Anyway, I've been trying to find out some history of the school but, there is little information to be had. Vivienne's post #203 gives all the info that is currently available but without knowing which building came 1st, 2nd or 3rd it's hard to understand which depts were housed in which building.
By 1889 it looks like all three buildings were built as the map shows.
View attachment 160065
View attachment 160066
This seems to have remained so until 1931 when they re-organised the depts into Senior Boys, Junior Mixed & Infants. I assume the Junior Mixed was housed in building 1 as it was destroyed by enemy action in 1940 and rebuilt in 1948.
View attachment 160067
As there was further rebuilding in 1954, I assume it was on building 2 as the apex roofs have now gone as shown in this low res photo.
View attachment 160068
I'm still looking for a good ground level photo of building 2 which I'm hoping to find somewhere in the Birmingham Library.
hi banjo it could be possible that the land that the original part of gower st school was built on could have been named after a landowner called mr gower the street being named first...i have found that this happens a lot with street names...will see if his name is on any of the older maps i have

lyn
 
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hi banjo further to my post 210 have just looked in my book of streets of brum and it seems i was correct...gower st was named after a landowner but no further info about him is written...would be interesting though to find out a bit more about mr gower

lyn
 
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Have had a quick look, but there does not seem to be any obvious . there are a number of Gower Streets in the UK, and most are named after Lord Gower, but he does not seem to have much of a relationship with Birmingham, As a passing mention, the first mention in the newspaper archives of Gower St (in Brum) is in 1839 (below)

Gower st. Aris. Birm Gazette. 18.6.1838.jpg
 
hi banjo further to my post 210 have just looked in my book of streets of brum and it seems i was correct...gower st was named after a landowner but no further info about him is written...would be interesting though to find out a bit more about mr gower
Hi Lyn, thanks for that information. That does suggest that the building on Gower St probably was the first building built. Because it was situated next to the church, I always thought that the building on Lozells Road was built first.
 
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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.
Hi John great to hear from you and hope you are well, thanks for the compliments (Eaton)
 
Hi I was at gower st from 54 to 58 the two extensions I remember housed the science class Mr Cross /PE and over lozells rd at the side of the church for woodwork/metalwork,
 
I moved from Lozells Juniors at I suppose 11 ish so that would be 1954/5 and stayed there until school days ended. Photo from banjo is good, thanks. As yet the names rings bells, but my memory might take some time to put names to them. My last teacher was aged perhaps confirmed by him saying due to my mental maths I taught your dad. The block was the one without the railings on the roof where I believe the science lab was. Happier days were using my hands in the buildings by the church.
 
Well...

There are maps and there are maps. They appear to be only as good as the cartographer.
I found a 2015 map that has Gower Street going all the way from Berners Street to William Street. It may have been copied from a much earlier map. And an older Google map has Clifford Walk on it.

I went to Gower Boys in the early 70s and Clifford Walk was there.
Below is a snip of the 1888 map that Lyn kindly directed me to showing all three school buildings.
The workshop building is to the right of the Church on Lozells Road confirming Banjo's graphic.
View attachment 155266
As I mentioned to Janice, the street names are more often than not, equidistant from each end of the road on maps.
So I concede that the Annex building was on the corner of Guildford and Gower streets as shown above.
Now I am interested in finding out when the last section of Gower Street changed it's name to Clifford Walk.
I suspect the change happened well before the 70s Janice because there was nothing new about Clifford Walk when I went to school there.

View attachment 155267

It appears that Gower Street is being eaten from both ends. I am not so interested in Old Postway as that doesn't have anything to do with the school.
The school building on the corner of Guildford Street and Gower Street housed infants and juniors until the late 1930s
when buildings housing mixed senior boys and girls were demolished. The boys then went to Gower Street Senior boys, the building which still stands with a roof top playground and the senior girls went to Lozells Girls School. My mother and her siblings lived in Wilton Street Lozells and they all went to Gower Street. My Aunty’s claim to fame was she sat next to Dennis Howell as they were seated alphabetically.
 
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