From Les Simpson
elay.simmy@speed-mail.co.uk
I
came across this the other day, it is part of the standard letter sent to
parents of new boys starting BGS. It was dated July 1950 and signed by HH
Pitchford the Headmaster.Some
of the things you might find interesting are :-
The School and Hospital subscription of 2/6d (12.5p) and the School Dinner
payment of £1 for the half term! I reckon that works out around 4p a day for a 2
course meal.
The School Dress Code was very important and paragraph 2 of the school uniform
section answers the question you posed regarding the boys wearing suits in the
1952 2A photo I sent.
Parents obtained a permit from the School for either Tarver's, which was in
Station St opposite what was then Elkes the Bakers, or Ellis's on the corner of
the Market Place opposite the now entrance to the Shopping Mall, this permit
enabled them to purchase School cap, tie and badge from the denoted vendor, and
usually the remainder of the list of clothes also. Most of the clothes from both
shops were pretty much the same except for the caps, the Ellis cap seemed much
flatter than the Tarver one and fitted much more easily on the back and to the
side of the head, which was where most boys (excluding 1st formers) preferred to
wear it. Sometimes boys who lost an Ellis cap weren't always able to reclaim
them from the 'pound'. I wonder had things changed when you went to BGS .
Editor Replies
Again thank you the material will
go up within the next few days. It is that wonderful sort of twilight material
which social historians (and I) love - that
insight into the way in which we were governed.
As for changes, certainly price
inflation had hit hard and dinners were 5/- a week paid at registration on
Monday morning. Free milk was still available.
Of course, with the uniform, the objective was how far you could stretch the
rules before trouble arose. This focused on ties pulling strands of colour out
of them so that additional black stripes appeared in the blue and yellow or
working on house ties. Nelson with the black and white, I always thought rather
trendy and so mostly wore it rather than the school tie. shirts, mostly by
finding striped shirts with the thickest, brightest stripe possible I
think in the end stripe shirts were totally banned. Caps had to be worn until
the VI Form but here, as you said, the objective was to have it as far back on
ones head as possible, consistent with it remaining put.
Purchase of cloths was the same but my father seemed to know someone in
Ellis, so we always went there.
