The Other Side Of Hyde Road

A Memory of Gorton.

We had long warm summers with some rain and all the children could play together without too much bickering, our little group lived in a small area from Wren Street to Ashmore Street. Not all the kids went to St Marks School they went to The Monastry, Stanley Grove or Thomas Street but we all had a deep pride in the area where we lived. I lived in Ashmore Street No 34, like all the terraced houses in West Gorton they were 2 up and 2 down with an air raid shelter and an outside toilet, the back yard was very small but we had flower boxes and a small kitchen garden (this was a throw back from the war).

The pupils from St Marks who lived in Ashmore Street were the Frost family, Eric, Elsie and Ken, the Eaton Family, Alan and Jeanette, Jean Forbes and Norma Robinson. We were all within a year or so of age and travelled every day over Hyde Road and up Robert Street to St Marks, several other kids lived in streets close by - Brian Murphy and Graham Robinson lived in Wren Street others lived in Forbes Street or Stowell Street.

My early recollections had Mr Housley as the Headmaster and we had Miss Daniels Mr Clark and the legendry Mr Platt. Lesson were made interesting and we all had to pay attention, remember in those days we had corporal punishment but not all the teachers had to use it. In fact very few used it apart from those who could not control the class or took great pleasure in using the slipper (or Cane).

In the juniors we had lots of play time and once a year a Rose Queen Pageant, some child selected for their beauty or dad's boundless pockets were chosen to be the school Queen, she had several page boys and maidens all dressed up very smart and had a procession, usually on Whit Sunday

On reaching junior school we moved up and then onto the senior side, over this period we had a wide range of curriculum where we moved to other schools for lessons. Monday morning a walk to Gorton Baths, on other days we walked up to Thomas Street School for wood work the girls did cookery usually on a Wednesday morning then in the afternoon we would walk up to Bennet Street to play football.

From the age of eleven I played fotball in a Saturday league with a man who lived in Savoy Street (John Turner) we were then taken over by a man called Robin. It would cost sixpence a week for subs and we played at Melland Field Fog Lane Burnage and all over Manchester.

One particular friend Johnnie KIng lived near the warders houses in Forbes Street he had a trial for Manchester Boys and asked if I could go with him. He had a sister with long black hair who I think I was in love with, but she was too old for me and didnt know I existed. Another friend, Jimmy Henniker, lived in Savoy Street and would play football with us, we had a good team and won many cups and medals.

For hobbies apart from football, I used to go to Belle Vue Speedway with my cousin Billy Powell - he lived in Forbes Street. Every Wednesday evening they had a practice session and if picked, you would race on Saturday night. We had permission off Johnny Hoskins who was the team manager to go in on Wednesday to watch and help out. Our riders were novices and they would race each other for fun - one of my first favourites was Derek (Tink) Maynard, he died racing at Norwich. The others were Graham Beattie, Peter Williams, Split Waterman to name but a few. I would take the riding jacket and trousers of Tink and Peter home after practice, clean them and use dubbin to soften them up and clean the leather. On Staurday I would take them to Speedway at 6 pm through the carpark entrance on Redgate Lane and into the pits where Billy and I would stay to watch the racing.

Looking back we had a good childhood and unlike today we very seldom got into trouble. It is difficult to keep in contact with my school friends as I now live in Spain but I have heard that some of the friends still survive in West Gorton - to these I say Good Luck, hope all is well.