Manchester Xaverian in the Sixties
Life in a Manchester Catholic grammar school
Bob Cummings As can be seen from this report in 1962, I was performing quite well being fifth in class out of thirty five. I was nearly fourteen and my academic progress seemed inevitable. Shortly afterwards, however, I discovered girls, blues music and ‘beat clubs’ in Manchester. Adolescence proved to be less than smooth for me and I … Read more
I remember at the Prep School Brother Cyril set us a maths homework and told us that he was going to allow us to mark our own efforts. In retrospect we should have seen the trap that was being set – I am sure he did it to every new intake. After we had marked … Read more
I have genuine confusion regarding my thoughts on Brother Cyril Birtles who died in April 2014 aged 88. I will try and recollect my feelings from fifty odd years ago as accurately as I can. On the one hand, I remember a man with a good sense of humour who was capable of acts of kindness. On … Read more
My brother, Bernard Cummings, attended Xaverian College from 1956-62 approx. He attended the sixth form and left with ‘A’ levels and took a degree in geography at Manchester University. That meant in effect that he was on the same bus route, just had to get off a few stops earlier. He told me the following … Read more
The school was located on Wilbraham Road at the Wilmslow Road end. It was a large Victorian villa in its own grounds with playing fields to the right. It was between Wellington Road and Chervil Street, both of which are residential streets. Today there is little sign that there was ever a building there, … Read more
I arrived at Ward Hall in 1960. Another large converted house, it doubled as the refectory at lunch time for the whole college. My teachers included Bro Finbar (French), Mr Crotty (Geography) and Mr Dewhurst (English). Those of us who had migrated from the Prep School found the new intake of 11 plus boys to … Read more
St Anne’s Prep was on Wilbraham Road, Fallowfield. A large grey house behind tall wrought iron gates set in a privet hedge and surrounded on three sides by tarmac which was the playground. The back of the school was adjacent to playing fields which consisted of football pitches and artificial cricket strips made out of a … Read more
From the age of five I attended St Clare’s Catholic Primary School in Blackley. At that time the church was little better than a Nissen hut but the American born parish priest Father George had great plans for a new church which eventually came to pass. However, in the fifties the primary school suffered … Read more