Symptoms

HPW - I'm so happy to read that tale of Danny Douglas being invited for a drink by some of his former pupils; I would love to have met him in later life. I, and many others here, have often posted warm tales about him. He also taught Maths during my time and in addition did five-a-side football for the School's Youth Club on Monday and Wednesday evenings in the sports hall. The footy finished at 9pm when us lads would go down to the Market Place Club and 'blag' our way in past the door gadgie, pay our tanner transfer to get into the weekly gigs in the upstairs hall.

Danny also did a careers advice class when we were in the 4th Year. We were asked to fill in a form and declare our ambitions; I wrote I wanted to be a film star, needless to say once he read through the forms and when came to mine he must have thought I was taking the piss (I wasn't ... I really did want to be a film star). Classic Danny followed: "You boy, stand on the red square so the blood won't show" and the whacking followed. I've posted previously a description of his method of using 'The Whacker' - a section of butter barrel with a chalked cross on the business end ... loads of lads later seen wandering the premises with imprinted white Xs on their grey trousered arses. Ah, happy days and a top man ... IMO the greatest teacher, EVER!

Tales of the 'Great Travelling Shop Robbery' to follow ...

The only people who oppress women are men, they always have and they probably always will. The oppression of women, as we all know, takes many forms: from brutal subjugation that we're all witnessing on the news each night all the way through to that, so called, 'harmless office banter'. Many men don't like women to have independant opinions - shame on them!

M195 wrote: "Vote for Malcolm Robinson MP for Bedlington"

Well, let's hear from the Man himself. Of course, background checks will have to be made to see if he's suitable.

That photo of the rubbish in the street in The Mail was a flipped (reversed) stock photo from Getty Images; its tag shows it was taken in the US in 2006. Newspapers, magazines and other media use Stock Photo agencies all the time to obtain pics to illustrate stories.

Geordie Hemmings leather strap was an old barbers' strop; he'd removed the brass teather buckle from the end (the end that hit you) but retained the handle. I was VERY, VERY familiar with this strap. Puplic whacking on stage for really serious stuff and other whacking in the medical room (next to the Main Entrance).

Probably my most serious misdeed was letting a banger off during the Lord's Prayer in assembly for which I eventually got 'six of the best' and my Dad was called in ... I 'got the belt' when I got home. The action was a hoot, banger lit, chucked under the chairs to about 5 rows towards the front, bang - I swear the whole assembly lifted off their chairs with fright. Obviously, Geordie stopped proceedings, marched to where the incident had happened, held back all those behind the scene (maybe 8 rows) and dismissed the rest of the assembly. Danny Douglas and Mr Hogg then removed those to the side and sent them on their way which left about a dozen of us. We were subjected to a closer process of elimination until Danny stood before me. "You boy, empty your pockets", he growled ... spare bangers, a lighter and a packet of snouts were found. Whacking followed ... ah, happy days.

More tales may follow ....

What about Caa' Hawkie (pronounced Kare Hacky)? I recall the class being taught many of the local folk songs ... top class at West End Juniors (Ridge Terrace) in 61 and I still remember the words to many of them to this day. I can't remember the name of the teacher but she served-up a wide range of topics, ranging from Greek Mythology (I'm still hooked on this) through to the ubiquitous Nature Table. The table was loaded with fossils obviously recovered from Costains. Ah, happy days.

Do check-out this site which has all the songs listed and you can listen to them

http://www.northumbriaanthology.com/

Thanks Micky - I'd already clocked Keith in the 1st pic ... the second one was a shuffled pack of lads - mainly the same guys and snapped on the same day; ditto John Harmeson. Keith was a canny lad and would have been 60 this year ... I remember he had a hair-lip.

Micky is that your brother Jimmy in the earlier photo of Ford Castle that I posted in this thread (Westridge5)?

HPW's recollections of the House system and House points reminds me (I had truely forgotton this) of the 'Great House Points Racket'. In my time the HPs were small yellow tickets with an image of the School's badge printed on the front and I discovered where they were stored ... an unlocked stock cupboard next to the Art Room. Anyway, a sizable bundle of these things were removed by me and ended-up on the 'blackmarket' - I was kept in snouts & sweeties for ages until caught. Whacked by Geordie Hemming for my troubles.

Spot on with the location of the Display Case.

What's this about the School Hall being demolished?

Excellent news GGG and it's good to have the structure of the place explained. However, there must be cost implications in running the site, domain fee, hosting fees, and so on; how are these managed and from wha income? Of course, the term 'commercial confidentiality' would be understood.

I think there may have been a bit more than UKIP membership impinging on that couple's suitability to foster - of course, some of that stuff may not have appeared in that hateful rag The Mail. Perhaps that 'bit more' might have ruined the story/agenda.

"Wrong about what? Wrong about letting anyone who wants to live off our state entry into our country (thus packing out the formerly dwindling ranks of something-for-nothing socialism, as per the Blair/Brown/Balls hidden agenda)? Wrong about not funding the tired old men of Europe and their gravy-train politics? Wrong about getting back to trading freely with the rest of the world and not participating in the biggest cartel in history? Wrong about the need for a party that provides a true alternative to the three woolly social democratic parties we now have? Wrong about actually having the long-overdue referendum on the EU (not The Common Market), and not simply "cast iron" promising one, then having total amnesia on the matter the moment they get into power? Wrong about not giving away eight billion pounds a year on an entry ticket to a club that we don't need to be a member of, when that money could be recirculating in our own economy producing jobs and services for British people?"

Like I said ... xenophobia.

"Look up the meaning of the word xenophobic, because it doesn't mean what the extreme left want it to mean, and has a second meaning too!"

Come on GGG, you know that language isn't a static beast, it gets tuned for the moment. Current usage of the word is understood to mean an intense fear or dislike of foreign people, their customs and culture, or foreign things. I could of applied an extended code and used phrases like, intolerant, racist, chauvinistic, fascist, and so on, but chose the least offensive.

Farage is "a brilliant politician and an extraordinary public speaker" - it doesn't matter what the message is, he's just a great 'snake oil' salesman. I agree with you GGG about the awful twisted morality of just about every politico irrespective of where their feet are planted.

I'm not at all upset by the line spouted by the hate-mongers, I defend their right to say what they like but in return expect the right to confront them; surely you're not suggesting/demanding my silence - that really would be repressive (another one from the extended code above).

I'm on a roll here folks ...

Photos of the School Karting Club, snapped in 66 at the back of the 'new' sportshall. Taffy Williams was the Metalwork teacher and organiser of the club.

In the second snap I can't remember the names of the little guy with specs in the centre or the little guy on the right.

Note to GGG - is it possible to upload video here? I've got quite a bit of us Westridge lads racing the karts up at Boulmer as part of the Northumberland School Karting Association. My Dad, one of a number of volunteer dads who had cars to take us up to Boulmer in convoy, had a 8mm film camera. When my Mum died I got reels and reels of his stuff transferred to DVD ... what a suprise I had when I discovered the karting footage.

And a couple more. These two are rehearsals for prize-giving evening, again 1966/7. The second photo shows the Headmaster George (Geordie) Hemmings.

As to other names ... fill-in the blanks folks.

Here's another one to keep us going. Fifth Year group from 1966/7 - notice the Prefect lapel badges.

Again, help with missing names please.

Ok, here's a question for GGGG & GGG or the owners of the domain. Have you made arrangements in your wills regarding the future of this site?

Those of us who've been here for years, especially those of us who contributed to the 'old' bedders site, might be concerned about the fate of this place should GGGG/GGG croak. When the last site 'went dark' for a couple of years (I'm sure it was that long) I, and maybe others, felt a sense of loss or disconnection from our shared experience of being from Bedders. I'm sure that was strongly felt by us exiles.

High Pit - just a point of clarification: Westridge wasn't a Comprehensive School, it was a Secondary Modern.

The Tripartite system under the 1944 Eductaion act created, Grammar Schools, Technical Schools, and Secondary Modern Schools; entry to the first two was a pass at the 11+ test. I'm not sure if Northumberland CC implemented the Technical School part. The widespread changes towards Comprehensives started in the early 70s although in some parts of the country it happened much earlier, eg. Inner London had some Comprehensives in the 50s. I think that there are just a handful of areas that resisted and still cling onto the 11+ system to this day!

Westridge is very dear to my heart as I had a wonderful time there and tons of great memories. I was very upset when I heard that the County scrapped the place - it felt a bit like them erasing my past (bastards!). Nevertheless, it was a cog in the pernicious system which I'm sure must have harmed countless 1000s of kids over the years and I'm glad the whole revolting 11+ selection system was binned in most of the country.

Maggs, you're right about the decent education offered there. I did the Northern Counties in the Fourth Year, stayed on into the Fifth Year* to do O levels, then went down the Sixth Form at the Grammar School for A levels ... then down to London to become a hardworking student

High Pit - are you sure Mr Abrahart left during your time there? I'm sure there was a Mr Abrahart there during my time (62 - 67). The metalwork teacher during my time was Edgar (Taffy) Williams; Miss Short was the Deputy Head during my time.

*I have some photos of the Fifth Year class which I'll be posting soon on the Westridge Photo thread when I finished naming names.

Oh, and I heard that Bill (Danny) Douglas died not that long ago.

NOTE TO THE MODS:

Why not consider putting all the Westridge stuff together in one thread?

The rise of UKIP just demonstrates how many vile xenophobes there are lurking under rocks. Whilst Mr Toadface Farage is a brilliant politician and an extraordinary public speaker it's just a shame the message he's pedalling is just wrong.

When I was a student in London at the end of the 60s beginning of the 70s clay pipes were still available in proper tabacconist shops (remember them? - not newsagents that happen to sell baccy). I used what was called a 'beadle' clay pipe for smoking dope - the thing was about 12" long with a red tip and 'cooled' the smoke down a bit when toking - my preferred mix was Ogdens Rough Shag* with Moroccan Black mixed in (even the Ogdens was enough to make your head spin just on its own!). When I think back the pipe must have looked terribly pretentious.

*I still have a number of those Ogden tins in my garage ... storing nails & screws.

I recently spotted a note on the Northumberland County Council's archive site that all the Westridge records were transferred to High School (I think ... but will check). Maybe they have a vault full of the old school snaps or perhaps the NCC archive might have them ... I might contact them next week to see what they have and what they may give out.

Are there any Members here who have good contacts with the archive bods?

Further to my earlier post about the rarity of old snaps and Maggie's point about the 'old gits'. I'm not sure that many/most folks in their 60s or 70s are 'online' to see these posts and be tempted to dig-out and share snaps ... maybe I'm wrong. How about all the younger Members here going to nag their parents/grannies to look in the photo 'shoebox' to see what's there?

Get the oldies to talk and share their tales before they croak. I did this with my most of my elders and it proved to be invaluable when I researched the family tree; about 10 years ago I also got my Mum to annotate the back of all the photos in her shoebox and this has proved to be so useful.

What seems to be driving this thread are the few photos that are being published ... they are quite rare. We think that there were tons of cameras owned by folks back then - even as late as the 60s - but they weren't that commonly used ... cost of buying them and cost of film/processing was maybe beyond most working family budgets. What we tend to see are photos from schools or works (or photo booths or beach snappers) that were done on contract and then made available to the punters. But again budgets must have been tight even for those school photos, including group shots and individual snaps. Thankfully my parents were just able to scrape the few shillings needed so I do have a few. However, the most important one I remember must have been lost in a house move 'cos when I went to clear my Mum's house after she died I couldn't find it.

Thanks for those contributions - if, and when I get some more I'll add them to the photos and upload new ones.

Orloff, are you sure about Helen Hurst/ Mary Tyler? I'm sure it's Mary ... I had a real crush on her but never had the nerve to ask her out; she was friends with Pauline Brown who I also liked.

Here's a couple more Westridge Photos taken at Ford Castle. Westridge 4 taken 1966 or 7 & Westridge 5 taken 1964 or 5 ... can't remember exactly. I've racked by brain to come-up with names (quite confident about accuracy) but clearly there's gaps - perhaps Members could help name the question marks. Micky is that your brother Jimmy in WR5?

I'm busy putting names on some other photos I have and will post them soon.

Keep up Adam

BE CERTAIN MY FLOCK THAT I SHALL HAVE TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS.