Wigan Album

Goodness me,,know so many of these faces,,I was in class above these all through St Catherines,,but cant ever remember our class having aclass photo,,,Can recognise Kevein Aspinall,Brian Derbyshire,Brian Balderson,John McCarthy and so many more faces,,,

Not sure if Eddie Rudd was headmaster at that time think it was Frank Shenton,,but both were true gentlemen,,,Eddie Rudd being an all round sportsman,who played football for Horwich RMI in The Lancs Combination and was leading cricketer with St Catherines ...

Have left an comments on "My First School" some time last year,,and hope these pics do go into the schools catagory,,If any pupils from class above these which i was in,along with the two alan Finches ,sherrington twins ,eric Foster geoff parkinson,olga bamber,margarie McCarthy,Gwen Davies,am sure you know who you are,,well if you have a class photo would be more than interested to have a copy

Other teachers at my time in St Catherines,,,Mrs Watson,,Mrs Boyer,Mrs Fletcher.Miss ??????,Mrs Atherton,(bit Of A Dragon)Mr Shenton,Mr Rudd and Miss Willcocks who taught the head class,,,again a truly bunch of wonderful professional teachers,,,,

I couldn't agree more with your comments about Eddie Rudd and Mr Shenton. Eddie was my class teacher when I was in Standard 3, it must have been his first teaching post since he was 21 years old at the time in 1951/2, I know because my class mate Vincent Kearns was brave enough to ask for Eddie's autograph and Eddie added his age to his autograph. What a tragedy that he passed away so young. Eddie's father lived in nearby Leader street and was school caretaker as well as an usher at St Catherine's Church. Mr Shelton always took Friday assembly/school talk, he was a lay preacher, and I can see him now walking up and down as we sat there, with his cane held behind his back, mind you I never saw him use it and a kinder man it would be difficult to meet and i speak as a teacher with 40 years experience.
On a different point entirely I can still see the large plaque positioned high up the outside wall the with the school's name and the year it was built. Can anyone confirm the date, since I think it said 1832, a very early Church school in Wigan I would have thought.

hi keith,,,,have left you a comment on your "crispin page",, know vince through sister doris who used to mate with his sister vera,,,,we used to live across from crispin in Darlington st east at the last house,,at the busstop,,,,

cant confirm the plaque date but do recall it now you mention it,,have asked on several pages if any one has any foto,s of the old school,,,,can see it in my minds eye all class rooms ,,winding ,wooden stairs with wooden,that creaked,, hand rails with big raised wooden grips to prevent any one sliding down it,,,though enough boys tried,,including myself,,partioned rooms down stairs,,,

yes rudds where family friends of my parents as indeed was frank shenton,,,in fact St catherines played a great part of my early life with the "rec" with it,s bowling club..tennis club...cricket and football teams and the mens institute with its two snooker tables,,had many a night in there as teenager,,,memories,,,

Thank you for that Jim. I too have strong family links with St Catherines, All my mother's family attended and were regulars at the church. My mother (Phyllis Brown of Clarington Grove) was married there (to a Welshman who played Rugby League for Wigan, my father, Jack Bowen) as were her parents and quite a few other relatives. I also have fond memories of the 'Rec', Vincent and I were in the school team that Eddie "managed" and we were both picked for the town team, looking back, I'm sure due to Eddie's influence. My sister Anne Bowen was in a class below me, if I find her class photo I'll upload it here. There used to be an Honours Board in the old school, my mother never tired of telling us her name was on it (she had passed the equivalent of the 11+ in the early 1930's with distinction). I did write to the present school asking if they'd kept it as part of the school's tradition but I haven't had a reply and so I'm assuming it no longer exists.

does anyone remember james wareing? he went there but not sure when or for how long as he soon progressed to approved school then borstal,what about ANY wareing? as mi dad was 4th of 6 kids,they all lived in ince at time (jimmy was born in 1945 by the way)

Anthony,,,,,yes I remember james wareing ,if I,m not mistaken he was in a year above me,he also had a brother sammy who was a couple of years younger,,,at the time they used to live in one off the street off Scofield lane down towards St Pats,,,,Jimmy probabley went to Whelley School after leaving St Catherines