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Loxton School and Bloomsbury St

K

Kandor

Guest
I started there in its last year, because it was the final year that pupils were going to be taught there, the School budget didn't stretch as far as repairs,nor cleaning, not much anything really.
Loxton St was literally falling apart, damp classrooms, leaking roofs (Dont go all misty eyed on me Rod, I'm talking about my old School, not the roof of your old house)
It was also a Boys School ....So I'm definately writing this one as Kandor and not Gaylord Codpiece.
It was the start of Friendships that were to last over 40 years, it was the end of some I'd known for most of my childhood life.
Loxton St was grim, it was cold in temperature and warm in relationships.
My class was in the School Annexe,just sheds really... I was in Class 1/1 and I came 4th in exams that year.
I found school easy, the first reason being was that I found the work simple..I found it simple because whereas some kids only learn at School, I learned throughout life, if you looked for me, most of the time I was in a book..I still do that, at least 2 books a week, one for entertainment and one to teach me something.
I used to love the smell of Bloomsbury St Library in the late 50's,
The smell of musty books is still with me even today.
I used to love that big long oak handrail that ran from the door up to the book counter,
There was no upstairs in those days..there were just books and different worlds, different times and different ages,
Different thoughts...
On different pages..
Tell me, when I die...what happens to my light?
 
:D I also loved the smell of that old library too and the one down by Aston Cross also :) . Me, my sister and brother would pop into the one on Aston Rd after having school dinners in the holidays at Upper Tomas St School :( . It was just over half way home and on cold winter days it was a godsend for three little kids to warm up a bit before making the final leg to Gt Lister St 8) . Bloomsbury library was also a place to warm up on the way home from school as it was much warmer in there 8) than in our Bloomsbury Girls classrooms :( and that folks is how I came to be a book lover, these libraries not only warmed my body but also my soul. :)
 
Bloomsbury St., Library - does anyone remember the old chap in the brown coat, think he also wore a peaked cap? he was like a "security guard" he made sure us kids stayed in the childrens section and made the adult books and the newspaper reading room (remeber that) well out of bounds. As kids you had a different coloured ticket.
 
Loxton St School

I went to Loxton st School back about 1938 when I was 8yrs old and living in Vauxhall. We left there when I was 11yrs old and went to live in a new house in Kingstanding. I remember I had to walk up Duddeston Mill Rd over the railway bridge down to, I think it was Gt Lister St, I know there were trams running along there and I had to cross over it to get to Loxton St.
Kandor, you say it was a boys school, but I saw a message on VirtualBrum I think it was. It was from a lady named Terry and she went there in 1957. I replied to her message and she said she was glad to hear from someone who even remembered the place. Yes indeed I do and have fond memories of school friends, and the Gas Works where we would go to get Coke for the fire in the winter months, and the continual smell of Gas in the air..

Happy Days. Wally.
 
:D It must have changed to an all boys school in the late 50's as both my brother and brother in law went there in 1957 - 1958 until 1961/2 and it was an all boys secondary modern school then (brother born 1944/ brother in law born 1946). :)
 
Just had a thought regarding Loxton St. School, and Bloomsbury St. but if I remember right, I,m sure I recall that when we at Locco, were sent dancing, that they took us to Bloomsbury to dance with the girls. Does anyone else recall this ? Or have I just woken from a funny dream that has been recurring over the past 40 years ?
 
Come dancing

:D BazzM you are not dreaming as you can see from the post below that I put on to another forum thread :lol: :lol:

Do you x Bloomers and Locco kids remember the Wednesday afternoon dancing classes? If you were in your last term at school you were given the pleasure, if attending Bloomsbury Girls of having all your toes broken by the feet of the boys of Loxton St who were also in their last term at school. Miss Pigavance Dep' head of Bloomers and the Dep'head of Locco ?(Name) tried hard to give us some class and culture by tyring to teach us The Walz, The Foxtrot, and The Quickstep . Sad to say in my year of leaving we were more interested in Rock-n-Roll, The Loccomotion and The Twist , you can imagine the fooling around that went on. The boys had to come and ask the girls for each dance, (no two dances with the same partner in a row) and the Girls were not allowed to say no to anyone who asked her. One Wednesday one of the tallest boys of that year (almost 6ft at 15yrs) came and asked for my hand for the next dance (me all of 4ft nothing). Yes it was a jackup , when asked if we all had a partner and were we ready Dugie my partner said out loud "No I have only got half of one, can I have the other half, or better still can I have two." Well both teachers went mad and we had to sit at the far end of the hall for the rest of the afternoon.
 
Thanks Pomgolian, I thought I was right, but I wasn,t 100% sure. I can tell the wife to cancel the van with the men in white coats for a wee while longer. Sorry I missed the forum thread regarding this item, but you reminded me also about having to ask the girls for a dance each time. You are right, it was a scream. We used to look upon these classes as a great excuse for a skive away from Locco for an hour or so. But it must have been enjoyable, or why else would I remember it. Great times at a great time of my life.
 
:D No prob's BazzM, Glad you enjoyed those afternoons, we girls hated them most of the time, unless there was a boy we really liked and then we could at least get one dance in during the afternoon. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Loxton Street School

I never went to the school as a pupil. but I knew it quite well because my dad was a teacher there from about 1934 until 1956, with a break in the RAF from 1942 to 1946. All that time it was a boys secondary or senior school. The head at first was a Mr Les (?) Griffiths, and at that time the chief assistant was George Grove. Mr Griffiths must have retired, and was replaced in about 1943 by Samuel T Hartshorn, who lived in Sutton Coldfield by the main entrance to the park. For a couple of years while my dad was away, my mum worked there as school secretary, the first they ever had.
I particularly remember a pantomime done my the boys and staff, probably December 1940, when I was only 8 years old.
It was a marvellous building, the main hall was a long, high vaulted space, which led into most of the ground floor classrooms. Staircases at either end led up to a gallery which was cantilevered out all round the hall to give access to the upstairs classrooms. You could go up higher still to the staff room at one end (which stank of coffee and cigarette smoke) or to the headmasters room at the other end (which stank of coffee pipe smoke).
After the war I went on a few school outings with them, to Rhayader in 1946, London in 1947, Whipsnade in 1949, when I saw the first postwar AEC bus 1635 being delivered from Park Royal, and London again in 1952.
 
Loxton Street School Evacuation, September 1939

Although I wasn't a pupil I went some of the school to Church Gresley, not far from Ashby-de-la-Zouche, because my dad was volunteered to go, and could take his wife and me, "the kid".
I think it was Friday morning, 1 September on the island platform of Saltley Station with our gas masks and identity badges, and I think the special train took us through to Church Gresley. We were billetedwith a quaint couple - he was a local bank manager and elder of the chapel, while she devoted herself to good works and fitness. Jogging hadn't been invented, but she believed in walking slowly up a hill backwards with her hands on her head. We ate vegetarian (after saying grace), and were given nettle tea, which was in season.
Some of the other boys had a harder time. They were pushed on to poor mining families in really squalid cottages, and were not at all well fed. How they must have mist the homely stench of Saltley Gasworks.
After a few days the boys disappeared one by one. Some were collected by their parents, and others found their own way back so that after two weeks there were hardly any left.
After about three weeks it was officially decided that more staff were needed back at Loxton Street, and we were driven by my dad's colleague Jimmy Rome back home.
 
Peter l hope you dont mind me saying but l love to read those stories ( some a little before my time ) but l do remember your father Mr Walker. Thank you so much for sharing your memories.
 
It's been great reading all of your memories about Loxton Street and Bloomsbury Street Schools but did any of you Ex-Pupils know that there is a Reunion in April with over 200 of your old friend's attending?

We will be doing a slide show with pictures of the Schools/pupils/Teachers/dance's/pantomine etc

For more information contact me ASAP:

Eric Hill:

[email protected]
 
l did post this somewhere else but thought it may help someone who visits this posting.

Birmingham Central Library. Local History. 6 th Floor.

LOXTON STREET SCHOOL in Birmingham Newspapers.

Sunday Mercury July 19 th 1964 " Goodby To Loco "
Evening Mail Saturday July 15 th 1995 Photo of whole school.
 
Sunday Mercury  July 19 th 1964  " Goodby To Loco " pages 16 + 17, there are 7 photographs by Leslie Stonehouse and
a good history by Vivian Bird.
 
loxton st boys

I remember a mr.walker he was an art teacher.taught me !
mr.martin music teacher also woodwork.
names I remember matthew matthews,albert fisher,kenny taylor,peter pugh,
 
Hallo Proper Brummie and welcome to the site. Yes, my dad taught at Loxton Street from 1934 until about 1955 when he moved to Queensbridge Road - except for anspell in the RAF from 1941 to 1946. He trained at Saltley College at the same time as Harold Martin, whose was known as 'Birdie' when he was a student and the name stuck. To me he was Uncle Birdie.
You would probably remember Sam Hartshorne, the headmaster from 1945 for ten years or more. Or if you're really old you would remember George Grove who was thede before the war.
Gives me a lump in the the throat to think about these things sometimes, after all those years.
Peter
 
loxton st boys ,bloomsbury st.school.

Isn't it a small world? here I am in Tamworth,typing,using one finger to the son of my old art master,from Loxton St. great!
I've spoken to my sister, who attended Bloomsbury Street Girls School, she remembers these teachers a Mrs Pratt Miss Hastings, Miss Pickavan and a Mrs Cage,does anyone else remember these teachers?
Thanks from proper brummie.
 
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