Rock Ferry High School
Ravenswood Avenue
Rock Ferry
Merseyside
CH42 4NY

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Was this your School ?

yep, well from yr9 onwards it was

Hmm i didnt see this one, nevermind. I went ther of the year 1998-2003

rock on man, my school has it's own thread.

been left 10 years now, god i'm old. '92 -'97

we have even got our own group on face book.

My year rocked

pomp u were in the same yr as my mayte linzi bull....

wow daz didnt think u were so young

upset the man y dont u dear!..... pram pushers reunion on the cards ?

cheeky beggar.... hes skittin that i went to prenton!!!!

No wonder i thought i seen turbo stu before when he turned up for the meet when i seen him for the first time. What year did you go rocky stu?


mmmm dont reconise that name but if i seen her i probably might remember.

what you mean so young, 26 going on 87

26... ya lil spring chicken im 31 this year,....WOW when'd that happen

omg, 26 ! cant remember that far back ! i'm 34 this year ! and chiccy is ..............

make yourself sound older saying i will be 34 this year, say i've just turned 33 and you sound much younger.

but i aint just turned, was in july....

but your smack bang in the middle then 6 months either way so you can still get away with just turned whereas i have to say almost 27 cos my birthday is in june

point taken but i'm still older than u.....

i know i'll never be as old as you

loooooooooooon!

did anyone go to rfhs?

or beb high?

ON TUESDAY IM 23+VAT I LOVE RFHS

i went to beb high from 2003-2005

Running Topic Click Me

See Schools Forum

In rocky from 82-87 stayed on 6th form ,anyone Remember wogga williams,Buffer, chickenhead , Mr Fielding, getting caught smoking in the woods , then getting headlocked from buffer when you were sent under the clock , oh the memories .

And Joe Soap with his ruler edge expertise in Latin lessons. Robbo taking Maths, Ollie Allen taking chemistry - these were in the seventies.

Joe Soap and Wogga Williams (and Jennings) seemed to on all the school photies back to biblical times.

I was very sad when Mr E.E.Williams died - really good Physics teacher - old school but fair and honest.

oi oi i went there too

never... did ya x

lol ye and i push a pram

LOL what a school not it was MUDDY school yer i went

ay me 2 an its pink-matches me eyees ROFL,,,, maybe there rite ;p xx

wow i left 11 years ago 1996 woooooooooooooooooow

did you go mark?

left in 1983 i think,seems so long ago

1979-1984ish, I remember all those old school teachers names-they'd be locked up now-more's the pity.
"Son, I am going to have to beat you, and it will hurt you more than it will hurt me, and when I have finished you must say thank you"
Buffer 1979

remember mrs bolger?

Now I feel really old,I left RFHS in 1978.
I've a daughter who left 2003(I think) and my lad left nearly 3 years ago

Chris

two of my lads there now,one just started and the other 3 months from leaving...he hates it!
i remember mr feilding (feel me ding) making me do p.e in my underpants because i forgot my kit,i am sure he enjoyed it.i was overweight and he used to used me for demonstration purposes and one day he decided to teach us basic karate. what he didnt know was that i had been learning this at the oval,he tried to show the others one day how to throw but i threw him instead and he never picked on me again,very funny for the whole class.

lol mr feilding (feel me ding) lol remember him lol

i heard he had died

i was expelled for too much bunkin off!mr lynch was my form tutor ms reilly was my head of year.that school was great!!!

lol mine to ms reilly was my head of year

who was ur form tutor robbo?

Miss proudlove

was she the one with red hair an looked like a mannequin?

lol yer lmao a mannequin?

remember she saw us smokin down down by fanny hill,she was up by the mobiles an she called us over to shout at us,but as we walked over(still smokin)she walked off.we asked some girls why an a bird had shit on her!!!

lol sort of yerr

Mr R N Williams, Mr Carter, Mr Butterworth and Mr Taylor were my form teachers.

Mr Lynch rings a bell, what did he teach?

Here is a 1960s picture of the staff (well before it became comprehensive).

I recognise Mr R N Williams, Mr Jenkins, Mr Topp, Mr Reynolds, Mr E E Williams, Mr Davies and Mr Taylor

wow now thats old

pe i think

RN wogga williams played rugby for Wales If I recall correctly, remember Miss Bolger, she was alright.
Had Miss Hannah for history, remember fielding and Ewing-he could be an evil sod at times too.
Meehan for Spanish, then Garlic, That hippy-Limb I think for physics and also Wanless for metalwork-another "hard" man.

bernie you must of been there same time as me,you havnt got any school photos or anything like that have you because i cannot put faces to the names of the teachers anymore,the only one i can remember properly was fields who did history.he was british and always spoke in a fake german accent for some reason.vaguely remember mr potterton because he had to teach our class about sex education for a whole half hour and he just couldnt cope with it,he was very old at the time.i cant even remmber who my form tutor was!!!possibly mr hayden or hyden.

I remember most of those names as well,Mr Limb(Very long neck,which gave rise to the quip"Argh giraffe to Sir")went off on sick leave I think around about '75/'76,so supply teachers were brought in to cover of course,I'm almost certain that Fred Talbot the weatherman was one of them,he took some terrible stick and never lasted there long,seems he went onto bigger and better things though.I once asked Mr Ewing to find out for me at one of my kids parents evenings,never heard nowt back though.
I still see Mr Lowry from time to time,he's retired now and looks exactly the same as he did all those years ago,he is still a true gent as well.
Sadly Mr Williams did pass away a few years ago.

Chris

mr ewing rings a bell,what did he teach,dont know why but i dont seem to remeber much from school,it was a pretty shit time for me until in the last year when i kicked the provebial out of four of my four year tormentors,one of the best days of my life.the episode was witnessed by one of my teachers who turned his back,when i had finished he asked why i had not done it earlier lol.then he stuck up for me when the lads complained and had to visit mr elmer.

Ewing was Biology and PE

I don't have old photo's at all, sorry.
I was in 2K probably 1978 or 79 with Mr. Bailey(chemistry) as form tutor.
Which MR Williams died RN I assume, he went nearly blind a bit ago I think, I saw him walking around Bebington with a white stick a couple of years ago.

must of been biology i had with him,wish someone had some pics.
who was the dude who taught chemistry with a funny accent around 82/82


that really is the worlds website scoops lol.lad i used to work with is really good mates with them mixies boys,asked me to see them a few times but never fancied it.looking at that i am glad i never ever went lol.i found out once that he was on mixies shoulders naked for an hour and that was enough to put me off for ever.

This was my old school! - Left in 96.

Chemistry was Ollie Allen, Chris Maddox, Mr Bailey and Mr Potterton in 1976.

E E Williams died around 1974/5.

R N Williams used to live on Kings Road just Birkenhead side of Broadway .

On the left heading up to Broadway IIRC

Hmm Dead Teachers

Wheres scooby doo when you need him

whens rocky high getting knocked down or closing any 1 know ??

We all know why you are asking Robbo and it's not because you wanted to send your kids there

I didnt know they was knocken it down

I did some digging and found...



...Nothing

Clicky

who was your form tutor?you would of been in my year i think.

Mr Howe and Mrs Reilly was head of year

this was my old school, never went much. mr conliffe?

yer man i went to this school, carnt remember the years though im 38 now so its a distant memory i was in 1g,2g,3g,4g,5c
wish i would have spent more time there now and got better grades

wow remember mr feel a me ding, went to a mates many years back and he was in his daughters house next door he nearly shat him self when he spotted me

jesus buffer got me with that famous line as well and mr fielding with his bloody big slipper in the sports hall bugger took a good run up as well!!

My other half went there,left 1969 ish. My 2 youngest went as well, one left 2005 and one left 2009. Fantastic school cant fault it. Staff were great

My brother in law went there and took some severe beatings and not from his fellow pupils.

my other half went there in 75 to 78. one of the teachers he had for history lived in our street. he died a few years ago. his house was stacked with books from floor to ceiling.

are we going to get any names or nicknames posted might know eachother

Hello my young friends,I left in 1970 and have mixed memories of the school,overall mostly positive.I remember Wogga Williams and Arthur Beadles taking us to Davos in Switzerland once,I'm afraid we ran them a little ragged.Both now sadly departed.

I've read this thread with real interest. I am a bit older than most of the contributors as I left in 1961. Absolutely amazed to read that Wogga was was around for so long and I actually remember when Arthur Beadles started. R.E.P. Wright was a P.E. teacher then as well. Loved the staff photo. My old form master Frank Hatfield (2H) and Syd Kerry (2K) and Elwyn Jenkins (3M & 4M) brought back some memories. Mr Reynolds (the Gaff) was headmaster and if, after 4-00pm you were 'under the clock' when he came out of his study you would be stricken with fear.

i find this really interesting, i left in 94, and remember some of the teachers wow feel me ding must have been there 4 some years and mr limb who looked like jesus, not that i ve ever met jesus lol

I too am a bit long in the tooth!!! but does anyone remember or have news of Gerry Gore who attended the school, lived in Rock Ferry - guess age now late sixties

Just come across this thread. I was there from 77 to 81 and Peter Limb was my form tutor (2k,3k,4k,5k). He dead after I left of cancer I believe. See Frank Lowery now and again, used to go fishing with him and a cracking teacher. Remember Mr Taylor for Latin and the end of his fly fishing rod he used as a cane and the two halves of a desk he used to throw at you when you joined the "Thick as two short planks" club. Mr Winters ( chicken head ) and his megga phone during fire drill, Buffer Williams for Spanish ( I will make you suffer cos my names Buffer), Windy Miller used to hit you with a hockey stick and fire am air pistol at the posters of animals behind your head in biology, Mr Allen for chemistry with his stories and photos of how he went to school with Paul McCartney. Cross country around the rugby fields and hiding in the bushes and taking short cuts to dodge cross country through Storton woods. All scary stuff and some scary teachers but they taught you respect and discipline which is sadly lacking in todays schools.

This High School has now closed down.
Its crawling with police dogs and securty!
Dont know what the plans are for this land or nice building!

For the Duffy album, see Rockferry.
Coordinates: 53°22′23″N 3°00′29″W / 53.373°N 3.008°W / 53.373; -3.008
Rock Ferry

Rock Ferry
Rock Ferry shown within Merseyside
Population 13,676 (2001 Census)[1]
OS grid reference SJ330868
Metropolitan borough Wirral
Metropolitan county Merseyside
Region North West
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BIRKENHEAD
Postcode district CH41,CH42
Dialling code 0151
Police Merseyside
Fire Merseyside
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK Parliament Birkenhead
List of places: UK • England • Merseyside

Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the 2001 Census, the population of Rock Ferry was 13,676 (6,444 males, 7,232 females).[1]

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Architecture and famous residents
3 Ferry service and shipping
4 Transport
5 Education
6 Cultural references
7 References
8 External links


[edit] HistoryIn the 17th century Derby House, an occasional seat of the Minshull family, covered most of the grounds covered by present day Rock Ferry. Thomas Oakshott, Mayor of Liverpool, lived there in the 19th century. The house, located on Rock Lane West close to the New Chester Road, was demolished in the early 20th century.

Residential building did not really happen until the early part of the 19th century, the rise of the ferry and the railway, and the establishment of the Royal Rock Hotel and bath house in 1836. Between then and 1870, the area received an influx of luxurious housing, the villas of Rock Park and many other large houses around the Old Chester Road making Rock Ferry one of the most desirable addresses in the North West.[citation needed] In the later part of the 19th century, Rock Ferry expanded due to the need to house the increasing population of workers, especially at Birkenhead's Cammell Laird shipyard. By 1901, the population stood at 2,971.[2]

In 1910, the Olympian Gardens were opened adjacent to the Royal Rock Hotel. These pleasure gardens were considered a great attraction and customers travelled from the whole of Wirral and, using the nearby ferry terminal, from Liverpool. The gardens hosted classical piano concerts and also slapstick comedy shows, with performers including Arthur Askey and Tommy Handley. At times the gardens held a prestige similar to the more famous Vauxhall Gardens in London. Shows were held in a large tent set amongst the trees and shrubs of land owned by Charles Boult. The gardens closed in the late 1920s after Mr Boult's death.[3]

The decline of local industries in the 1950s took its toll, and by the 1980s the area had a bad reputation for crime. Many of the spendid buildings were dilapidated and unrestored, while the building of a large council estate towards Tranmere did little to help matters. This decline was reflected in the loss of the Royal Rock Hotel, as well as many of the shops in the Old Chester Road and Bedford Road; whereas before Bedford Road had supported a wine merchant, a jeweller, two tailors, three banks, and two bookshops, most shops stood vacant. Large-scale regeneration work in the 1990s, which involved the demolition or restoration of many such derelict properties, and the building of new housing, means that the area has improved considerably, although many buildings of considerable character have been lost.

[edit] Architecture and famous residentsThe best-known part of Rock Ferry is Rock Park, on the banks of the River Mersey, an area of large Victorian villas of sandstone from Storeton quarry. In what was one of the first residential park developments in Britain, the houses were built between 1837 and 1850, and were the first early Victorian properties to be designated listed buildings. The lodge and nine other houses were demolished in the 1970s to make way for the New Ferry By-Pass (A41), including Hawthorne House, number 26, the former house of Nathaniel Hawthorne when he was consul to Liverpool in the 1850s. The property was subsequently owned by astronomer Isaac Roberts, who installed a seven-inch refracter in a revolving dome on the top floor. Immediately after the building of the bypass, the remainder of Rock Park was quickly designated a conservation area in 1979.

Other areas of architectural significance include Egerton Park, an oasis of late nineteenth-century villas in a leafy setting, and the Byrne Avenue Baths, a 1930s swimming pool with plenty of Art Deco features, which closed in February 2009.[4] The row of semi-detached houses on Rockville Street, built in 1837, is one of the earliest rows of private houses in Britain to use Gothic detailing on their exteriors, while St Anne's Catholic Church on Highfield Road was designed by E. W. Pugin. The writer May Sinclair was a Rock Park resident. F. E. Smith, later Earl of Birkenhead, also briefly lived in a house on Green Lawn. Former Australian Premier Sir Charles Gavan Duffy lived at Rose Cottage, which still stands on Rockville Street, where his son, Irish politician George Gavan Duffy, was born in 1882.


HMS Conway at Rock Ferry
SS Great Eastern beached to be broken up.[edit] Ferry service and shippingThere are records of a ferry service from Rock Ferry pier to Liverpool from 1709 onwards,[5] until being discontinued on 30 June 1939. Although the ferry landing stage was removed in 1957 and the terminal building demolished, the pier now forms part of Tranmere Oil Terminal, although much modified. A stone slipway originally used by the ferry service also remains.[6]

The Royal Mersey Yacht Club was founded at Rock Ferry in 1844. Rock Ferry was home to the Enterprise Small Craft Company, which built a number of notable boats in the 1920s and 1930's. Among these were 11 Seabird Half Rater one design sailing yachts in 1924 and Robinetta in 1937.

The Naval training school vessels HMS Conway and HMS Indefatigable were moored at the Sloyne, in the River Mersey near the pier. These were ships converted for the purpose of training boys for a life at sea. During the nineteenth century, the reformatory ships HMS Akbar and HMS Clarence were also moored there.[7] In the early years of the Second World War, both the Conway and Indefatigable were moved from the Mersey to avoid damage.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Eastern was beached at Rock Ferry for breaking up in 1889, which took eighteen months to complete.

[edit] Transport

Rock Ferry opened in the 1920s and was a boy's school until girls started to join in the 1980s. It has been a boy's and girls school since. Some students from that school went to World War II and there's a plaque of the names in the foyer. On 13th april 2011 over 100 pupils aging 12-16 from RFHS began to protest over teachers redundancies and the park high takeover it ended with police having to step in but there were no serious incidents apart from a few arguments.

[edit] Campus

Might be worth asking one of the Mod's to merge this TR with the older thread, or renaming it as just Rock Ferry History. Interesting info though.

https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/615214/1.html

Thanks Geekus x

great stuff tr tho!

Tony "froggie" Carter, head of languages 1953 - 1986 has died recently.

I'm sure many remember his passion, stories and the laughs we had with him. He had an amazing amount of energy as he paced/ran round the room. One of the good guys.

RIP

What a shame, nice bloke. I didn't do French as I was in Peter Limbs form and we had to do Spanish and Latin but he took a couple of classes for us.

hi all,

just come across this subject, i was at RFHS from sept 76-june 80. during my time the wonderful sports hall was mostly a demolition site. sad to see the school closure though.

Hi,
I am looking for some-one that I think was in this year Robert Parry

i was at rocky high 1959-60 would like to hear from anyone who remembers me.my name is paul hill,i lived on marion street birkenhead

Hiya cathcart. Are you on this photo ?

http://www.oldrockferrians.com/1960.jpg

Was fixing a fridge freezer in Greasby the other day and said to the customer I seemed to know his face from somewhere. It turned out it was Mr Bailey, Chemistry teacher, who left around 1978. He said he was still in touch with Ollie Allen who tought me Chemistry between 77 and 81.

hi nic leg just found the photo from 1960 rocky high.iwent there from 1958-60 i wonder is there a photo from 1959 like the 60 one.

Hiya Cathcart, If my memory serves me well (and it doesn't, these days) I think that these 'whole school' photos were taken only every few years, so I doubt if there is one for '59.

hi Bud,i was at RFHS 82/86 can i ask what your name is,cheers....

A very late reply - post-war the whole school photographs were every two years on the even years. There is a staff photograph for 1959 as well as class photographs.

Proper demolition has started, the "new" Stoneleigh building has been demolished. Sorry about quality of photo.

Sad news is that nearly all the school has been demolished.will post some pics up soon.

Demolition of the main building has started at the northern end.

Rock Ferry High School main building is now flattened - what a total waste!