Cheadle Hulme School: A History

Cheadle Hulme School A History

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Introduction

When six young boys entered the school of Mr McDougall at Shall Hall in Flixton on a Saturday in November 1855, they would never have dreamt that over 164 years later the School would still be thriving. By 2019 there were more than 1,450 pupils and at least 12,450 people had been educated at the school.

From these small beginnings began Cheadle Hulme School, now one of the largest independent schools in the North West of England.

This is the story of our School.

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Contents The Foundation

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Before Cheadle Hulme

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The War Years

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To the Present Day

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The Heads

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Glossary

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Our School Song

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The Foundation Who? Cheadle Hulme School was originally founded as Manchester Warehousemen and Clerks’ Schools for Orphans and Necessitous Children. It was set up by men who worked in warehouses and offices in Manchester.

By 1854 Manchester was one of the most important cities in Britain due to its significance in the national cotton industry.

It was also an important business centre with huge warehouses which stored the cotton materials as well as the food and other things needed for all the people who lived and worked there. You can still see the warehouses today, many of which have now been converted for other uses such as hotels, restaurants and apartments.

Lots of men worked in the warehouse. Some worked in offices as clerks – keeping records and accounts – others as buyers and salesmen, some were packers and porters of goods in the warehouse.

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Why? CHS was set up as a school and a home for children whose fathers had died and who would have been left “necessitous” – living in poverty.

The pupils were often not what we would call “orphans” (with no parents), their fathers had died but they still had a mother. Later on children whose fathers were too ill to look after them could also go and live at the School. This is why the School’s motto is “In Loco Parentis”.

Although the new Victorian warehouses looked very grand places, Manchester was a very unhealthy place to work and live.

In 1844 a visitor described In Manchester such awful as “a strange place. condiNothing is to be seen but houses tions blackened with smoke and, people died in the external parts of the town, very young. half empty dirty ditches In 1842, the between smoking factories, average age hundreds of chimneys are of death of continually vomiting tradesmen and their families in Manchester forth clouds of was a mere 20 years old. For smoke…” labourers it was 17 years old!

Ref – Davidson and City News, 10 November 1894.

Quoted in Stuart Hylton op, cit.

Ref – Asa Briggs Victorian Cities, 1963

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How? The warehousemen and clerks funded the School through a sort of insurance scheme.

They paid one Guinea per year into the scheme so that if they died, their children could go to live and be educated at the school without paying fees.

They put advertisements in lots of the newspapers in the North West and even on bill boards on the side of buses to persuade other men to join the scheme.

They encouraged their employers, the wealthy owners of warehouses and banks, to donate money as well.

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Before Cheadle Hulme The first six children were chosen in 1855, but as there was no school yet, they were taken to another school run by Mr McDougall based at Shaw Hall, Flixton, then at Chadderton Hall.

Six years later the Committee for the school decided to rent their own independent school. It was two rented terraced houses in Ardwick, which were next door to each other.

Ardwick was a very fashionable place to live.

The first pupils were the children of the Manchester Warehousemen and Clerks who joined the scheme.

When their fathers died, their home lives became very difficult.

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Account from one of the first pupils, an 11 year old boy called James Foster.

The move to Cheadle Hulme The School Committee decided to build a big school away from unhealthy Manchester. They organised lots of fund-raising events and bought some land in Cheadle Hulme.

They built a big new school where children could live and study.

There was a big opening ceremony in 1869. Both Foundationers and Day Pupils went to the School.

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The School Day 6.30am Waking Bell (in cold weather even the toothbrushes froze) 7.00am Lessons (entered Holden Hall by separate girls & boys entrances) 8.00am Breakfast (prayers after breakfast of bread, butter and coffee) 8.30am (boys went to play, girls made their beds and then the boys’ beds)

Some facts...

As the boys left the dining room (after the girls) they had to bow to the Headmaster.

Boys and girls played separately in their playrooms at opposite ends of the Main Building.

9.00am - 12.00pm Lessons in Holden Hall (such as Algebra, Trigonometry, French and Engineering) 12.00pm Activities 1.00pm Lunch (soup, meat, potatoes, veg and pudding) 1.30pm Play

Boys at Drill

2.00pm - 4.00pm Lessons in Holden Hall 4.00pm Activities (swimming, workshop, playing) 5.00pm Tea (bread, butter, jam & pieces of fruit) 5.30pm - 6.45pm Free Time 6.45pm - 8.15pm Prep for older pupils (pupils were let off prep on the Headmaster’s Birthday) 8.30pm Supper (water or milk and more bread and butter) 12

9.00pm Bed Time (baths taken on a rota)

The Weekends Saturday Sport, pocket money (1d), Drills (fire, dentist, exercise), gardening, dances Sunday Church x 2, brothers and sisters walked together and could talk

Some activities differed with gender. The boys trained in the Workshop, while the girls learnt sewing and cookery.

Sewing Class

Joiners’ Shop

Swimming was also taught when a pool was built in 1876. At first only boys swam as it was considered unladylike!

However in 1900 girls also learnt to swim.

In 1903 it was recorded that 80% of the boys and 70% of the girls could swim.

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The pupils took end of term exams twice a year and prize money was given for the best exam marks, as well as for other lessons including woodwork and sewing.

The very best Foundationers had their names engraved on huge display boards, which are still on display in the Music School today, and were given a watch.

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The First 50 years – The Jubilee Celebrations

There were great celebrations at the end of this period as the School celebrated its Jubilee.

In the 50 years 1,327 ‘orphans’ had been looked after, clothed and educated at a cost of £250,000.

Many of the leavers had gone on to higher education or University. The next 50 years were going to be harder with two World Wars to face.

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Pre-War Years There were lots of changes at the school, many making the lives of pupils easier: •

The School got bigger – there were nearly 300 pupils

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There was a separate Junior department with its own classrooms

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A new swimming pool was built, and a well dug to supply its water

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Football was played as a school sport by the boys for the first time

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Electricity, including lights, was installed

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Pupils now wrote in exercise books not on slates

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The pupils were very successful at exams – some children got the best marks in the whole of England

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Lots of land was bought so the pupils had their own playing fields. But boys’ and girls’ fields were separated by a spiked fence!

The War Years

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The outbreak of the First World War had a huge impact both psychologically and practically on the pupils and staff. The School had to take measures to ensure everyone’s safety and there were regular fire drills practising evacuation of the dormitories.

The Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital for Wounded Soldiers Many of the staff and pupils had family and friends serving abroad. They would have been reminded of them when they saw the numerous trains passing the front of the School carrying soldiers about to go on active service, guns and horses as well as wounded soldiers.

The horrors of war were also very obvious to the pupils as part of the School was converted into the Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital for Wounded Soldiers. One of the girls’ dormitories was used for the Hospital. Sometimes the recovering soldiers attended school concerts – watching from the balcony in Holden Hall. By the time the Hospital closed in 1919, 1,402 soldiers and sailors had been treated there.

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Winston Churchill, then in the War Office, wrote to thank the school – the letter can still be seen today in the History Department.

A lot of former pupils served in the First World War (around 300-400), 61 died.

To remember those who died, in September 1920 the memorial sundial, which can still be seen today, was erected by the old pupils association, The Old Waconians.

A Memorial Tablet was also made – today it is in the entrance hall of the Main Building.

Between 1915 – 1927 at least 55 pupils came to the School because their fathers had died in the War. 18

The War Years 1920s, 30s and 40s After the First World War, the school was very short of money and there were attempts to raise money, including advertising films made about the School in 1924 and 1934, the latter was shown in over 50 different local cinemas!

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In 1921 the School became a Grant Earning Secondary School In 1931 it officially became known as Cheadle Hulme School Increasingly more day pupils joined the School and there were fewer Foundationers and Boarders.

An entrance exam for all children except Foundationers was introduced.

The Curriculum was still very broad, including subjects such as German, Latin, Greek, Economics and Agriculture & Rural Science, as well as Laundry Lessons for the girls.

In the Dining Hall, the girls and boys still had to sit at separate tables.

In 1936 the railings separating the boys and girls playing fields came down.

The huge variety of clubs and trips out allowed the boys and girls to mix more and there were boys v girls hockey matches.

The former pupils lacrosse team “The Old Waconians Lacrosse team” won every trophy open to them in 1946 / 7. Some members even played an Exhibition Match against America in the 1948 Olympic Games.

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The Impact of World War II In 1939 the authorities thought Cheadle Hulme would be a safer place than Manchester itself. Therefore the day before war was declared – 2nd September 1939 – most of the girls from Manchester High School for Girls and 40 girls and staff from Fairfield High School, were evacuated to Cheadle Hulme.

The girls who were evacuated went to live with local families, who received 8 shillings a week from the government. The evacuees attended Cheadle Hulme School. This created huge challenges because the school, designed for 400 pupils, now had nearly 1,000 pupils.

Lots of extra classrooms had to be found – classes were held in the Congregational Church school rooms in Cheadle Hulme and even in the upstairs of a shop so pupils had to dash (on foot or by bike) all over Cheadle Hulme for lessons.

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Although Cheadle Hulme was considered safe enough to evacuate children to, living there was still not without risk. Preparations in case of attack had to be made.

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As early as 1938 air raid shelters had been dug out behind Holden Hall.

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Sandbags were bought to protect buildings.

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Blackout blinds for all 503 windows in the Main Buildings were installed so that the German planes wouldn’t be able to see any lights.

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Underground Shelters were put all over the School such as under the floor of the old Swimming Pool and some were dug out on the field.

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All pupils and teachers had to carry their gas masks with them everywhere.

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Posts were put on the fields to stop German planes landing.

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Food and clothing were rationed.

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Some of the older pupils were trained by Cheadle and Gatley Fire Brigade about what to do if there was a fire caused by a bomb. By 1941, 400 children knew what to do if an incendiary bomb landed.

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Old Waconians who served in World War II Many former pupils served in the forces during World War II, approximately 51 Old Girls and 480 Old Boys, as well as current staff.

In total 48 Old Boys lost their lives during the war.

A Roll of Honour Board was commissioned listing their names, which can still be seen today in the Entrance Hall.

Once again the War affected children joining the School – 35 came as Foundationers because their fathers had been killed in the war.

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To The Present Day In 1955, the centenary of the School, a special Thanksgiving service at Manchester Cathedral took place for 1,000 pupils, staff and parents. Speech Day 1956 was followed by two days of exhibitions, attended by 5,000 visitors and ÂŁ2,000 was raised for the Foundation.

By now the School had become a much larger local Day School renowned for its academic success, with a much smaller boarding section

Buildings

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1957 Old Waconians’ Sports Pavilion built as a War memorial 1957 Lockhart Laboratories extended 1961 Arts Block built 1966 New metalwork and woodwork centre opened 1967 New gym opened 1970 New Junior School was built to allow 2 form entry 1980 X Block, now known as Derby Building was built 1987 Staff House built (changed in 2019 to new 6th Form Centre) 1992 Christopher Simon building built

Closure of the Boarding House In 1992 the decision was made by Governors to close the Boarding House by July the following year.

Cheadle Hulme School was then a Day School and new classrooms were created where the dormitories had been.

The Girls’ dormitories became the History Department and Junior School Music, Art and Science Rooms. The Boys’ dormitories became areas for Geography, Psychology and Art. Boarders’ studies on the ground floor became offices and 6th Form Common Rooms.

1985 School admitted one class of seven year

olds for the first time 1998 Infant Department opened 2005 School celebrated the 150th anniversary of

its Foundation and in 2019 the 150th anniversary

of the Main Building was commemorated 2018 Pre-School was opened with a class of 30 three

year olds 25

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The Heads

Mr George Board 1884 – 1906 Mr George Board, the School’s second longest serving Head, was never bored! One of the most fascinating items in the School’s Archives is his “log book”, a sort of diary where he records the minutest details of every day for seven years. From this, we can see what a remarkable man he was. He describes how involved he was with every aspect of the school and the hardships of Victorian life. During his Headship the school buildings doubled in size. By the time he retired in 1906, he had overseen the education and indeed the daily lives in the Boarding House of over 800 Foundationers, as well as those of Boarders and many Day Pupils. He is buried in the graveyard of All Saints Church in Cheadle Hulme.

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Mr. T. T. R. Lockhart 1922 – 1954 Mr. Lockhart was the longest serving Headmaster of the School, and was Headmaster for 32 years. He had served with Distinction during the 1st World War and was awarded the Military Cross. Although a strict disciplinarian, he gained great admiration and respect from both staff and pupils. During his time the School roll went from approximately 300 pupils to approximately 800. In 1922 the ratio was two thirds Foundations/Boarders to one third Day Scholars; in 1954 the ratio was three quarters Day Scholars to one quarter Foundationers / Boarders, so during this period huge changes were made both in the Boarding House and the School buildings to accommodate this increase in numbers. He made great changes and improvements to the curriculum and also encouraged pupils to take part in extra-curricular activities with the formation of clubs such as Chess, Modern Languages, Geography, Model Railway, photography and Gramophone Society to name just a few.

Ms Lucy Pearson 2010 – 2018 Ms Pearson was appointed the first female Head in 2010. A former English cricketer who played 12 Women’s Test matches and 62 Women’s One Day Internationals and named Women’s Player of the Year for the second time in 2003, having taken the inaugural award in 2000. During Ms Pearson’s tenure, she oversaw the redevelopment of the Pavilion, significantly expanded sports and co-curricular provision across the School and was known for her legendary speeches at Annual Celebration Event at the Bridgewater Hall. Ms Pearson stepped down to join the Football Association as Head of Education.

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The Old Waconians’ Association In 1893 an Association of ‘Old Boys’ was formed and its members paid a subscription. In 1897 the girls formed an Association and they also paid a subscription. Both Associations had their own committees and ran their own events.

In 1953 the two Associations amalgamated and became known as ‘The Old Waconians’ Association which had a President and a Committee. All members paid a subscription and as well as being able to attend an Annual Dinner, they also received a magazine each year produced by the committee.

In 2010, the School took over the funding of the Association. From that time all former pupils and members of staff became members of The Old Waconians’ Association, and were known as Old Wacs. The subscription to be a member ceased.

Today the Old Waconian community is spread far and wide. They are excelling in their chosen careers, at home and around the world, setting up their own businesses and charities, or in some cases even returning to CHS to teach the next generation of Waconians.Through our online platform, the CHS Network, former pupils are encouraged to stay in touch with School and each other. Parents are also welcome to become part of the online community, to connect and share their career expertise.

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13,643 Old Waconians

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Old Waconians living in 5 continents around the world

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55% of Old Waconians actively engaged in the School

Glossary Foundationer The children in the foundation scheme of the Manchester Warehouseman and Clerks’ Orphan Schools became known as Foundationers.

Guinea Currency used in Great Britain from 1663 until 1816.

It is worth £1.05.

In Loco Parentis This Latin phrase means “in the place of a parent”, and is the School’s moto.

Incendiary Bomb A bomb designed to cause fire.

Military Cross A military decoration awarded for courageous behaviour in battle.

Necessitous A person in need or lacking the necessities of life.

In poverty.

Shilling Currency used in Great Britain until 1990.

It was worth 12d until 1971, when the decimal system was introduced. (1 shilling = 5p) Old Boys / Old Girls Former students of the school.

Sir Winston Churchill Prime Minister 1940-1945 and 1951-1955.

1d This was the pre-decimal penny, used from 1707 until 1970. (1p = 2.4d) 29

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With thanks to Helen Williamson (née Smith), Class of 1943, whose legacy helped make this book possible.

Many thanks to Carol Leather (née Scott), Class of 1964, Cathy Beavis (née Simpson), Class of 1972, Melanie Richardson (née Jones), Class of 1980, and Martine Webster for their support with this project.

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Our School Song Jerusalem And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England’s mountains green?

And was the holy Lamb of God On England’s pleasant pastures seen?

And did the countenance divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here Among those dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!

Bring me my arrows of desire!

Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!

Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England’s green and pleasant land.

William Blake

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