• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Lordswood Boys' Technical School

I believe I scraped through the 11-plus solely because my birthday was in April and I got extra points due to my relatively young age. I suspect I travelled further to school than anyone else in its history having to take the No. 11 Outer Circle bus all the way round from Kings Heath! Despite that, I had to walk home at least a couple of times while at school when the dreaded pea soup fogs hit and stopped all the buses from running!
 
I've just dug out the annual speech day programme for LBTS which I have dating from 1964 to1970. Interestingly, when I joined in 1963, the 1st year classes were numbered 1B, 1F, 1S & 1T but the 2nd year classes were numbered 2N, 2F, 2J & 2S - they gave out form prizes for the first 2 years and so gave the class numbers in the programme. Unfortunately, I don't have the 1965 programme but I'm pretty sure we went into 2B, 2F, 2S & 2T in the second year (my bit of pottery backs that up) and probably 3B, 3F, 3S & 3T in the 3rd year but, by 1966, the N, F, J & S system seemed to have been adopted for both years. I guess, it's possible the Headmaster was trying a new House based numbering scheme in the year I joined but abandoned it the following year for the new intake!
One method used and this might apply all those years ago is that one of the years will have a split month, i.e first half of February for form J, second half of February for form F. I've seen this used in some modern Comprehensives, although like Lordswood in those days, Comprehensives actually 'stream' going into year 10 (fourth year in those days) and unlike Lordswood even some GCSE's are 'streamed' by ability these days with three levels of exam paper. Hardly the Comprehensive 'ideal' from the 1970s. I often wonder how I managed to be put into 3Alpha. All I ever did was read motorcycle magazines! I thought mathematical tables were furniture. (one-liner from the 70s). I never made head boy either nor was I invited to open the 'new' Lordswood the other year. I cannot understand it!!
 
I can't really remember but I thought we were streamed at LBTS when we got into the fourth year when we started to study for our O-levels, or am I a year out and we were streamed starting in the 3rd year? For reasons I could never work out, I was put into 4A and then 5A (and, perhaps, 3A). Ironically, I also spent most of my time thinking about motorcycles (still my main passion in life). Despite showing absolutely no academic potential at the time, I can still remember phoning the Headmaster Mr Harkness after getting my diabolical O-level results (I even failed English) and being amazed when he said there would be no problem me doing Physics, Pure Maths, Applied Maths and Engineering Drawing at A-Level! I didn't really believe him at the time but it turned out he was right!
 
I was in form 3A in 1963 which suggests that streaming started in the third year. Then I went into 4A and 5A before going into L6Sci and then U6Sci. I don't recall Engineering Drawing being an option at A-Level but I did it for O-Level. At A-Level, I did Maths, Physics and Chemistry, then went on to uni to study Chemistry.
 
I'm sure you are right about streaming in the 3rd year and assume I also went into L6Sci and U6Sci. I vaguely remember there being at least 3 separate forms in each 6th form year but can't remember what they were called? I also vaguely remember that we had to do 3 main A-level subjects plus an extra one of our choice which, in my case, was Engineering Drawing. That was because Technical Drawing, as it was called at O-level, was probably the only subject I studied that I was good at which is why I did it at A-level.

Despite an early lack of academic potential, I was quite good at Art & Pottery and in my 1st year I won the Prize for Art that came as a big surprise. When you won a prize at that time, you were able to choose a book up to a certain value and I vaguely remember ordering a very good text book on Technical Drawing. On the night of prize giving, they called out your name and you had to walk on stage past all the teachers to be handed your prize. Instead of the lovely book I was expecting, I was handed instead a small red copy of the 'The Thirty-nine Steps' by John Buchan which they had substituted as the other book was apparently out of stock! Talk about being disappointed!
 
That's a shame about your school prize. They could have given you a certificate and presented you with the book at a later date when it was back in stock. I won a few prizes while I was there, but I was fortunate to choose books that were available! The last prize I won was when I was in the Upper Sixth, and Speech Day didn't take place until December, by which time I'd left and was at university, but I went back to collect the prize. That was the last time I went into the school.

Now you mention it, yes, it was Technical Drawing that I did at O-Level. I enjoyed that and I think the teacher was a Mr Harrington.

Another suffix used in the 6th Form was "M" (L6M and U6M) which presumably stood for Maths and was for those in the double Maths class, such as you. I think the third suffix was "A" for Arts and Humanities.

Apart from General Studies, I didn't do any subjects other than Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A-Level. Actually, I don't recall attending any lessons for General Studies and I missed the exam as I was ill that day and off school.
 
Thank you to BillBrum, Geoff Broughton and others for kindly posting the staff photo and suggesting names and subjects. If it might help, a couple of us who were at Lordswood from 1970-77 have annotated the photo and updated the list. We would agree mid-seventies perhaps a little earlier ’73-75. Best efforts, may be mistakes.
Standing left to right:
1 man 2 Ken Woods - Physics 3 John Koppel - Science 4 Margaret Crossland – English 5 John Enefer - English & Library 6 Steve Austin - History 7 Clive White - Technical Drawing 8 man 9 Griffiths – Metalwork, Technical Drawing 10 man 11 Mytton 12 George Foley - PE 13 Sid Hart - Woodwork 14 Ron Walker 15 Mike Rhodes - Science 16 woman 17 Brenda Havercraft - Biology 18 Long - German 19 man 20 Derek Hepton - Chemistry 21 Harrington - Technical Drawing 22 Peter Pooley - RE 23 John(?) Reid - English and Deputy Head 24 John Beale - Biology 25 Frank Kirby - Maths, Accounts, Business Studies 26 Gilbert Jones – PE and Deputy Head
Sitting left to right:
27 woman 28 man 29 Terry Midworth - Maths 30 Dai George - Metalwork 31 Hans Rheinstein 32 Tim Evans - English 33 Ralph Husson - History 34 Geoff Sharrat - Geography / Geology 35 Dodgson - German 36 Betts - Metalwork 37 Chris Lee - Music 38 woman 39 man - Music 40 Helen Minovi - German? French 41 Irwen Hobbs - Art 42 Janet Morgan - Lab Technician 43 Richard Williams - Physics 44 Heath - Caretaker 45 woman - Secretary 46 woman - Secretary

View attachment 181373
Could No27 be Jean Hall, No38 Miss Tracey or Vigart.
 
Thank you to BillBrum, Geoff Broughton and others for kindly posting the staff photo and suggesting names and subjects. If it might help, a couple of us who were at Lordswood from 1970-77 have annotated the photo and updated the list. We would agree mid-seventies perhaps a little earlier ’73-75. Best efforts, may be mistakes.
Standing left to right:
1 man 2 Ken Woods - Physics 3 John Koppel - Science 4 Margaret Crossland – English 5 John Enefer - English & Library 6 Steve Austin - History 7 Clive White - Technical Drawing 8 man 9 Griffiths – Metalwork, Technical Drawing 10 man 11 Mytton 12 George Foley - PE 13 Sid Hart - Woodwork 14 Ron Walker 15 Mike Rhodes - Science 16 woman 17 Brenda Havercraft - Biology 18 Long - German 19 man 20 Derek Hepton - Chemistry 21 Harrington - Technical Drawing 22 Peter Pooley - RE 23 John(?) Reid - English and Deputy Head 24 John Beale - Biology 25 Frank Kirby - Maths, Accounts, Business Studies 26 Gilbert Jones – PE and Deputy Head
Sitting left to right:
27 woman 28 man 29 Terry Midworth - Maths 30 Dai George - Metalwork 31 Hans Rheinstein 32 Tim Evans - English 33 Ralph Husson - History 34 Geoff Sharrat - Geography / Geology 35 Dodgson - German 36 Betts - Metalwork 37 Chris Lee - Music 38 woman 39 man - Music 40 Helen Minovi - German? French 41 Irwen Hobbs - Art 42 Janet Morgan - Lab Technician 43 Richard Williams - Physics 44 Heath - Caretaker 45 woman - Secretary 46 woman - Secretary

View attachment 181373

Hi Geoff, Thank you for your inspiration, we have managed to take your super memory a bit further and annotate the picture, please see post 304.
Could 27 be Jean Hall and 38 Miss Tracey or Vigart
 
You mentioned some names in an earlier post, most likely the swimming team 3 of whom were in my class or year. It was MICHEAL Maunder, ROGER Sansom and ROD Stanley. They were all in the team the year the Gala was held in the now demolished Kent Street Baths.
Rod Stanleys father owned the ironmongers in Bearwood High Street. Ron Vercesi left very early and went to work in Hepworth in Birmingham and then joined the Navy, he now lives in Cornwall.

Its a very great sadness to me that virtually none of the guys I was in the D/T stream with, 59 onwards, seem to be on here now, although Taylor did acknowledge one of my posts. It doesn’t seem that long ago that 50% of my class were on Friends Reunited! My parents always told me that school would be the happiest days of my life, sadly at the time I didn’t believe them!

looking for John Dean, Vic Turner, Philip Stanier, Dave Lipett. Cotterill ( C stream). Kilminster, Roger Keyes. Rod Thompson
Sorry for your loss of your Dad at School. It brought back a memory I had of a lad whose father passed away on Boxing Day, I may recall it being mentioned in the Lab Tech's room. Let me know if it was yourself.
 
Hi Ian, I remember Miss Vigart teaching German, but what subject did Steve Austin and yourself teach? Is Helen Minovi, Jean Hall, Margaret Crossland still with us.
HI
I taught Biology with JD Beale and Steve Austin taught History. Helen still lives in Mosely the rest i do not know.
 
Back
Top