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Handsworth Technical School

A nice photo Rob, showing teenagers in the 1950's and those hairstyles. The comment in #267 about the distance to public transport, reminds me of my daily walk from Goldshill Rd to Villa Cross to catch a No 29 bus.
 
Hi oldMohalk, That was our walk too, but we went on up to Hamstead rd and caught the 29 outside Mists garage along with a number of girls from Rosehill road Grammer School, That was a riot of a ride home.
 
Hi. I've just registred in the forum, I left around 1958, it was the final term at Goldshill road before the move to Craythorne Avenue. Among my class were Kilby, Jarman, Aston, Troth, Moseley,Richardson, Caldicott and Coggins. I received the cane a lot from the French master, Martin, a dark,tall, dark haired sallow faced man, a sadist if I ever knew one. I never liked school but I remember HTS with affection because of the camradeship. For our final term we had Jones the art master for our form master at Boulton road, what a great bloke!
 
hi

yes there's a beast from the past. Martin the French teacher at Boulton Road. Clearly all this canning
didnt work left virtually illiterate as far as the French Language was concerned. I was OK as far as the
Dubois Family were but once the French Grammer kicked in I was dead in the Water.
Auf Weidersehen opps

Mike Jenks
 
My husband went to HTS when they moved from Boulton Road, and Mr Martin was still the French teacher at Craythorne Avenue. My husband is quite good at languages so escaped the cane from him and actually got O Level French. He has fond memories of the comradeship too.
 
I certainly remember Mr Martin at Boulton Road, I cannot remember getting caned but other lads did. We only had the French subject for the 1st year but it gave you something else to cram into an already cluttered brain. I remember learning the verb "to be" I won't even try spelling the french words now, anyone fancy giving it a go ?
 
Hi

Im sure our second year at Craythorne Ave we had a Mr Lavender for French. I don't remember Martin there.
Like his name he was a proper Gent. Still didn't make much improvement but I tried.
Yes his initials were BL

scan0054.jpg

One can see my slide into oblivion

Mike Jenks
 
I like your Report Mike, Yes you can pick up your teachers initials from that. I have one of mine about, I will sort it out and compare them. The French teacher at Boulton Rd (Mr Martin), I need one of my 1st year reports to confirm that, we used to nickname him "Sam" for some reason.
Good stuff.
 
Well my husband does not recognise the name Lavender at all. He said Martin rang a bell, but is not completely sure of who taught him.
 
I notice that Mr. Bryant was still Headmaster in 1958 as he was in 1943 when I went to H.T.S. I remember him as a very pleasant man.
Regards Reg
 
Hi

Yes 7th out of 28 and still had to walk the plank. Never mind my Technical drawing
skills and Metal work skills gave me a great start in the Technical world I entered.
It still cant take away the despondency of rejection Dad was furious but there was no
appeal I was gone and that was that. A number went to an Annex on the Soho Road
near Lucas Great Hampton St. I didnt want to go backwards so 5 years on the dotted
line at Kynochs ICI metals was my new calling.

Mike Jenks
 
Thats the way I went too, Technical drawing and metalwork top subjects, but not to Kynochs for me, it was Turner Brothers in cliveland street, another great thread. But after all, thats what Handsworth Technical School was all about.
 
I remember walking with schoolmates homeward up Boulton road and seeing Mr Martin trying in vain to kick start his three wheeled Bond Minicar (motorbike engine), after a few mickey taking remarks we continued home. Next morning, three strokes on each hand, ouch! Mr. Jones the art master was known to us as "the Sarge" as he was just out of the Army, he had a novel punishment, loading you up on your head with several drawing boards and making you march round the yard several times, you may remember that the yard was sloped, tough going !
I believe Mr. Bryant retired at terms end before craythorne.
 
hi

Yes the Bond Mini Car. Yes Bryant retired at Craythorne he must have been there Dec 58. I think Mends took over
from Jan 59. It was a Period of Mends Chaos that last term. Left in a mess nobody had done our leaving reports
or Certificates so we hastily bundled into an Office where a Secretary was literately typing has Mends read out
our Details. To make things worse we were all late out I remember trudging out at around 4-30pm.
I did go back some years later around 1965. By then the whole site was complete not the Builders Yard we
had. It looked a Fantastic School with its all weather Sports area and Playing Fields. I walked with Ann my girlfriend
at the time from Great Barr where I was living at the time. It was a memorable walk through the Woods not like
those days when we cross country running. I enjoyed cross country could run and walk for Miles.
Happy Days

Mike Jenks
 
dave thompson,i left in 1956, good times ,teachers were taffy hughes history willy wetton english jackie london maths hickman chemistry jet jones physics hunt for metalwork,i took the route to turner bros also.
 
hi

Dave Yep that Metal and Woodworking at HTS was second to none.
Helped me enormously with my apprentice ship at ICI Witton

Mike Jenks
 
Greetings old comrades. New to both the Forum and the thread so just a few of my own memorys of HTS. I was there from September 57 to December 59. Started at Golds Hill Road - Boulton Road - Union Row, then onto Craythorne Avenue. Jackie London was my first form Master ( U,R ) then Mr Storr at Craythorne, and I am sure he also took us for Physics and it was Sheldrake we had for Chemistry, a lesson that consisted of copying from the Blackboard and nothing else. Stokes and Ball for Games, Martin for French, Cook for English, and I think Whetton for History but sadly my memorys of the teachers are not that good. I remember the Dinners at Golds Hill where you had to write your name on the back of your dinner ticket. Some great Movie Stars/Football players/Singers, were at School with me ( if you believed the tickets).

A few of the names I can recall from my form are Alcott,Barker,Brain,Breeze,Clarke, Cupples, Craythorne,Davies,Edwards,Ellis, Farrow,Fortnum,Grant,Grey,Innocent,Stamper,Vyse,Wanstall and Waring, who always came top in French.

Bernie, your post #27 with regards to Gregory. Graham Gregory worked on the buses at the Garage in Selly Oak until it closed, not sure if he transfered to Yardley Wood along with most of the other workers. A fellow pupil of his was a lad named Trevor Pugh who, last I heard was working for OXO in London.

Now the brain is out of the box and warming up, I will try and recall other (fond) memorys.

Jimbo
 
Earlier this week, whilst helping out at Pembroke Castle, I chanced to meet a "veteran" of Handsworth Technical School. As I, he was full of his time spent at this illustrious

school and we spent much time reminiscing about our time spent there. I explained the use of the Forum which I hope he has accessed , via his wife's computer skills, to read and hopefully add to.


So, if Mr. A who attended during 1957 and became Depuy Head Boy, I hope you feel enlightened enough to consider making some contribution that we might find of interest.

I am, Mr. A, as I told you during our conversation, known on the Forum as "anvil man"
 
Thank you for the recommendation, we will all make Mr A very welcome is chooses to join us.
 
STA70184.jpg I have taken another photograph of most of the metal work items I made whilst at HTS 1951/1953. I do not have the centre punch and my garden gate latch is in use. I believe a similar photograph was hacked away some months ago so I hope this will remain. I originally made my post on page 13 #191. I have also included my two school badges, one in red for general attenders with the one in white for a prefect.
 
Oh Lord is that where I got my Box from - I had clean forgotten that I made it. I still have the anvil but not the wooden Former and the Tap Holder I made was rubbish but may still be around.
 
Hi

Yep I was Lucky in away I made most of mine at Craythorne Avenue I can still see the Anvil
being poured.
We made a vast amount later on during my adventures at Goldshill during my Day release
during my Apprenticeship at ICI.

Mike Jenks
 
Great stuff, anvil man. I made all of those items myself, a few I are still amongst my tools in the garage. The anvil. I still have mine, complete with its Aluminium Casting, I did post a picture of these way back but they were lost when the forum had some problem, I must sort those pics out and post them again. The only items in your picture I cannot recall making were the Box & the Hammer. Great seeing them again, Thanks.

Goffy
 
Yeah, I made most of those but sadly have none now. That looks like a nice height gauge with cast iron base, where one learned the meaning of 'pale yellow' when tempering the scriber. Mine was a good one too and I was very proud of it, people thought it was store bought...the anvil of course...die and tap holders and clamps. Can't remember a box though. This would have been 53/55 in the shed at Goldshill.
I had a carreer in engineering and mechanical design and rather think that the technical drawing training was more important to me. In my private life I think that woodwork skills training has been much more important to me...enabling projects that would otherwise not have been able to be attempted. But most of the woodwork skills were learned in secondary modern school, prior to HTS. I found working in the metal work class a bit scary at first, until one learned the ways of working with the media.
 
I was at HTS '51 to '54, 1B to 6B then a third year. I still have and use most of the tools we made in metalwork. Classmate names I remember are Cliff Whitehouse, Brian See, Jan Reynhard. Ossie seems to get a lot of mention in the postings. Apart from myself in the third year there was a Knights so Ossie called us Knight singular and Knight plural ha ha!
 
I had thought that we were the first third year and we finished in 55. Anyway you must have been just ahead. The closest to my class so far and in the B stream also. Welcome to the forum.
 
Thanks Rupert. Now that I have found the site I'll keep an eye on it. There does seem to be a lot of HTS interest.
 
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