Login   |   Register   |   
Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Wigan Album

UpHolland County Secondary School

11 Comments

A, er, treasured keepsake c1964 ('4th Year').
A, er, treasured keepsake c1964 ('4th Year').
Photo: Philip Gormley.
Views: 2,683
Item #: 30509
I would loved to have included the maroon 'dainty' fountain pen that my mother bought for me during my 1st Year at school, but unfortunately, and like so many other items worthy of keeping, has sunk without trace.

Lines and whines for schoolboy crimes
And pleas 'for better', dead
Lad comb your hair, ... and fix that tie
Then stride to yonder Head.

Comment by: Veronica on 12th May 2018 at 14:16

Ink wells, pen nibs, blotting paper and ink stained fingers and inky blobs in exercise books and the smell of the ink it's all coming back to me! I even managed to get ink on my face!

Comment by: AP on 12th May 2018 at 17:27

I still write with ink and fountain pen. I find it less fatiguing if there is a lot to write, and the result looks better than using ball pen. I think people observed my attachment to fountain pens back circa 1980, and I have quite a few which were presents, including a few with my name engraved upon.

I have reasonable stock of ink, both bottles and cartridges, though when last needed, I found no difficulty sourcing them.

As for blotting paper, had to buy on line. Not seen in shops for quite some time. I also used to use Sloan's Ink Eradicator to correct any mistakes, but this seems now to be sold as a collectors' item! I think other ink eradicators are still available.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 13th May 2018 at 02:27

You continue to write, using your fountain pen, AP, ... then good for you, sir! And isn't the fountain pen capable of a mark more appealing than that provided intermittently by the cheap ballpoint pen.
Also, in my possession, is the marbled blue Burnham fountain pen that I bought in Oban for my dad, during the 1960s, which now has a replacement rubber sac - a lovely pen.
I'm a bit surprised by the difficulty you have when searching for your blotting paper, as I imagine it being available in any half-decent stationer's shop. But perhaps the real hard-to-come-by paper could be the pink heavyweight paper, which I used at junior school all those years ago - it would be great for drying-off the stamps that I remove from envelopes soaked previously in warm water.
You've done well to have your name inscribed on part of your collection. Thanks.

Comment by: Johnny on 13th May 2018 at 10:13

Great memento of school days, Phil! Fountain pens were better and cleaner than the old dip pens we were expected to use. I can recall one of my duties was to fill the ink wells daily. Sometimes, these were put to use by dipping blt paper in them and projecting them onto the classroom ceiling via wooden rulers! Thats why the rulers were stained with ink!

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 13th May 2018 at 11:30

Then you'd been reaching for the 'spars', John - looks like you made it.

Comment by: DTease on 13th May 2018 at 12:41

Philip, I research my Family Tree on Ancestry and the 1911 Census returns are all hand written by the head of the household. Many of them are very badly written but every now and then you come across a return that is written in the most beautiful Copperplate. It never ceases to amaze me that they are sometimes written by Miners who at that time would have had a very short and rudimentary education but who must have been very proud of their writing ability.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 13th May 2018 at 18:23

You've just triggered another memory there DTease. Back in the late 60's, early 70's when Preston docks were still operational and the Geest boats brought bananas in from the Windward Islands, we would load them back to the processing and distribution facility close to Sutton Manor colliery. One of our drivers, an elderly chap, ( I have no idea how old he actually was, but when you're 21, everyone seems old ), used to fill his logbook in using copperplate handwriting. I accidentally caught a glimpse of it one day while we were both sat in his cab waiting to load and I was absolutely amazed. It would have been generous to have described my logbook entries as being ' legible ', whereas every page of his looked like an extract from the ' Book of Kells '. Every single page would have warranted being framed....Talk about being impressed....The poor lad will be long gone now of course, but just for the record, his name was Jack Mounsey, ( I think I've spelled that right ), and he came from Golborne, close by where Asda now stands. Trouble is, when we get to our age, there's no one around who remembers these people. Still, at least his name has been recorded for posterity.

Regards. Ozy

Comment by: Veronica on 13th May 2018 at 18:28

I know what you mean Dtease when you see an ancestor's signature instead of an x it's thrilling. I found a grt grt Grandmother from Salop with the most beautiful handwriting on her wedding cert in1860 and yet her Irish husband had to make a cross! Perhaps her father being a joiner paid for her lessons as education wasn't compulsory when she was a child. When it came to grandparents it was a different matter- but it was still marvellous to see actual handwriting.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 13th May 2018 at 21:55

DTease.
Thanks for your post, and my best wishes to you as you progress in the search for your family tree - you could be in for a few surprises.
Blessed are they who are aware of their forte, and stifled are they who aren't. But it might not be too difficult to discover which of life's situations sometimes prevents both types from future success: War, Famine, Family upheaval, ... . And should the deep-thinker wish to consider those situations further then he, or she, would discover that the belief laid-down for every family, - Keep a roof over our heads -, would figure prominently; probably requiring little, or no further scrutiny. Your post also reminds me of the Lascaux cave artists, whom were more than 'quick cartoonists'; their paintings had been done with confidence - and colour.
My aunty compiled her family tree a few years' ago, and when turning the pages of the copy that she had given to my older brother, we were surprised to see the previously unknown colour photo of our dad, in Boxing pose - he had fought as a junior and received some instruction from Peter Kane. We were equally surprised when finding our dad's name amongst the list of competitors for a Juniors' boxing tournament, in 1939 (Item 5926).
And by the way shipmate, have you seen Queequeg giving his signature, which confirmed his passage onboard the Pequod? Catch him early on, walking along the quayside with Ishmael, and then > their meeting with Elijah > harpoon thrust into a barrel > signature - a great scene!

Comment by: irene roberts on 15th May 2018 at 09:20

Love this pic, Philip; anything to do with stationery, especially OLD stationery, is just up my street.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 15th May 2018 at 16:23

Thanks Irene. And isn't hand-written correspondence also meaningful; I still have the hand-written letters and postcards that had been sent to me over fifty years' ago.
I've also been practising 'my wave', but after a few trial runs of the silly double-handed 'Nodding Pug' version, I decided that a simple one-handed salutation would greet the oncoming Dorothy, with crew, most admirably. Take care.

Leave a comment?

* Enter the 5 digit code to the right of the input box. Don't worry if you make a mistake, you will get another chance. Your comments won't be lost.