Wigan Album
Hindley & Abram Grammar School, Hindley
3 Comments
Photo: Keith Bowen
Item #: 13921
The top part of the Grove was in Wigan Borough while the bottom half, which ended at the Leeds Liverpool canal, was in Higher Ince.
Although she attended St Catharine's School, Scholefield Lane, after passing the 11+ she had to attend Hindley and Abram Grammar since she lived in the Higher Ince section, whereas most of her friends who passed went to the Girls' High School. You could tell where the division in the Grove was because the Higher Ince section road was not made up whereas the Wigan section was. The other feature which you would not notice because it was culverted underground (this was done after the WW1 Zeppelin raid of 1918) was the natural boundary i.e. the Clarington Brook.
I don't know who the other girl on the right of the photo might be and I've no idea who took it but I would have thought it quite unusual for a casual photo to be taken at school in the early 1930's, unlike today.
Mam passed away in 2001 aged 81 having two weeks earlier celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary.
This is a lovely photo of girls in a more innocent age. Notice the third girl in the background with the panama hat.....We still had that style in the 60s when I attended the school,navy felt in Winter and panama in Summer, but most of just wore the felt all year round; I only recall one girl with a panama hat.
To Irene Roberts nee Griffiths. My sister in law was also Irene Griffiths before she married, she was also at Hindley and Abram in the 1960's, I think she left in 1970.
Hello! Yes, she was in my class. It was unusual to have two girls with that name- you would have beem less surprised by two Ann Smiths or Jean Browns for example, but two Irene Griffiths was surprising! I remember she was called "Irenee", as I was, by the staff, but the girls used her middle name Denise to avoid confusion, although I seem to recall they pronounced it "Dennis" as a nickname. I hope Irene is well.