KIRKHOLT Secondary School’s WATERLOO Rochdale has been in the spotlight for over seven years, thanks to the award winning BBC drama series, based around Kirkholt Secondary School, now known to millions as Waterloo Road.
The series has certainly created a real buzz in the town, with filming locations all over Rochdale and numerous famous faces appearing in the drama. Sadly, filming in Rochdale has now come to an end, following the BBC drama department’s decision to move production to Scotland. A few years ago, I was cast as union official Bill Winslow in episode two, series two, which meant I had to go back to school at Kirkholt Secondary Modern. I have played many roles on TV, but to film in my old school after forty years was a bizarre one. Although Shed Productions altered the interior of the building, the school building itself remained very much the same as when it was built in the 1950's. One of my old classrooms had been transformed into Waterloo Road’s wardrobe
up sitting in the canteen writing 500 lines for Mr Widdup - ‘I must not forget my kit’. The school hall was very much as I remember it, where I recited all 22 verses of "The Battle of Hastings" monologue by Marriot Edgar, coached by Mr Starkey. I also
department, overlooking the playing fields
remember being in the team of budding
where I had shivered in my shorts and t-shirt
journalists who started the school newspaper
playing rugby in the pouring rain. I was never
in 1965, under the guidance of the Headmaster,
keen on sport as a 12 year old and often ended
Mr Dagnall. You never forget those formative years and the teachers who make a lasting impression on you for the rest of your life; Mr Jackson, my English teacher who gave me my first role in a school play ‘The King’s English’ and Mr Shortland who made mathematics far more interesting with his endless humour. Secondary school can be a tough time in your life, but I have fond memories of my time growing up in Kirkholt which helped me develop my love of performing, eventually guiding me into the right career choice. The BBC1 series not only saved the school from demolition, but gave it a brand new, exciting lease of life. Unfortunately, the cameras have now stopped rolling, with the school due to be demolished this summer. It’s a shame the school could not become a tourist attraction for all Waterloo Road devotees. Colin Meredith
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