Wigan Album
St Stephen's, Whelley
16 CommentsPhoto: Philip Harrison
Item #: 16785
i remember Mr Swift very well
Is he going to chop lads fingers off??
can anyone name the other teachers?
Hi dave b, do I know you? I can name the following in order from a long time ago - Miss McAvoy, Miss Maybury, Miss Brunton, Mrs Wilding, Mr Boardman and the Standard 4 teacher I can't remember at the moment.
sorry phillip but your name does not ring a bell
Dave - I have now remembered (it's an age thing), the other teacher, the name is Miss Ramsdale. Please say wether you knew these teachers please.
yes i know the teachers as soon as you named them age thing as you say looking at the whelley school photo i think you where a couple of years above me
Good to see my Dad has not been forgotten. He was Headmaster of St Stephen's School from 1941-1962
Mr Swift was my grandfather who I never had the opportunity to meet. Any stories you can share about him would be great to read!!
as with Margaret, I have few memories of Popa Swift. I'm very happy to read that people remember him well
my memory of popa Swift we did not call him that to his face is of him taking assembly evey morning i do not remember him not taking it he was never of ill great man and a great teacher
I attended St Stephens Whelley in the early 1940's
I remember Mr Swift as a very stern looking man and on the odd occasions that I went into his room you couldn't help noticing the cane hung on the wall It looked well used !
He always seemed to have a bad cough-and I later heard that he had been in a gas attack in France in the 1914-18 war
The first class that I went in was Miss Browns. In the second year Miss Brunton.I remember her as someone who seemed to be in a world of her own much of the time and she occasionaly talked to herself,but she didn't stand any nonesence.She would creep up - grab a wrist and give it rap over the knuckles with a long pencil. I went into Mrs Ramsdale's class in the last year. Rev.Wiffen was the vicar at that time and occasionally took morning assembly.
John Ramsdale was the caretaker. The photo certainly brought back some happy memories of nearly 70 years ago.
Good to know that so many remember my Dad. He was in the Welsh Fusiliers in WW1 after training as a teacher at St Marks and St Johns in London and Chester College when St Marks was requisitioned. He served at Kinmel Barracks as an instructer ( firearms) and as far as I know was not gassed. During WW2 he was a Special Constable ( sergeant) in Wigan town centre The schools he taught at were ?St Thomas, St Catherines, All Saints Senior Boys under Mr Rigby and St Stephens. Does anyone remember Mr Rigby?
re haigh hall, hi i think it was you who was asking about thew stone circle at haigh hall. it was the ice house before electric came to the hall. it then became the kennels for the lords dogs when electric arrived.my great grandad was gamekeeper at the hall.
I still have the farthing that Mr. Swift gave to us all as that coin was being phased out of circulation. He said that one day we could show it to our grandchildren and indeed I have.
I remember Mr Swift telling us in assembly that mount Everest had been conquered and it was the highest mountain and that the next thing would be that they would try to get men on the moon and all the pupils laughed as it seemed ridiculous to us at the time I also remember him announcing that the king (George) was dead and that we would now have a Queen