Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Was it really better ?

One word Chris, Television. I could try and write a five thousand page essay on why I think that but consider most on here are intelligent enough to work it out for themselves.

One other small point about the fifties. Teddy boys!

Television, I believe has had a huge impact on life in general. It has shown how to discard respect and human values. I consider Phil Redmond's 'Grange Hill' to have been a big contributer. My children were not allowed to watch it and it ran for an iconic thrity years! If the children had understood there was a message in it and watched every episode maybe it would hae been slightly more tollerable but kids watch bits of things and pick up the wrong messages. Even the BBC told him to tone it down a bit at one point. I have no time for the man or any of his programmes. He likes to portray us all as clones.

Agree entirely with your comments about Phil. Redmond, granny. He single-handedly created anarchy in schools and made teacher's jobs untenable. As an example, I can cite my own experience as a pupil of Rock Ferry High School in the sixties (when it was a proper school). There was a famous teacher called Roy "Wogger" Williams who taught maths. sports and PE. I broke my wrist playing rugby. When the plaster came off, Wogger got me in the gym and told me to do a handstand. (I was a good gymnast-later winning medals). Thinking my wrist would break again (I was 11) I refused. Wogger asked me again. To cut a long story short, after the third ask he produced a wall bar (Thick wooden rung from the gym wall ladders) and said to me "Boy-if you don't do a handstand this minute, I'm going to hit you with this!" Faced with these two options, I did my handstand. To my amazement, my arm didn't collapse! Wogger smiled at me and said "Alright, boy. Get back to the others." What I was too young to appreciate at the time was that Wogger was playing mind games with me. He knew that my arm would be ok-as long as I got over the first psychological hurdle of testing it. Nowadays, he'd've been in jail for abusing me and I might not have become a gymnastic champion. Poor Wogger has passed away now, God rest his soul-but if he was alive and walked into a room I was in, I'd stand up and call him "Sir!"

I had him as my form teacher for 2 years in the late 60's. He was a tough but very fair teacher.

Hi Fireman,I had the "pleasure"of having Wogga as my teacher in the sixties.I remember being in the bar of the Little theatre in Birkenhead in abour 1980 with my current girlfriend and I was having a cigarette,feeling very sophisticated ,when in walked Wogga and I hid the cigarette behind my back,pathetic or what?

That figures, Lud!! I could tell other stories about Wogger. He had a huge influence on me as a youth. Also Arthur Beadles. I didn't always appreciate their toughness at the time-but the world is a worse place without them both, for sure!! :-)

My current apprentice asserts that he was taught by an Arthur Beadles at Wallasey school,if this is so why would Arthur leave Rocky High?

As far as I am aware the Rock Ferry High Arthur Beadles passed away some years ago. I fortunately only had to suffer his sports lessons.

Bob.

Yes, Bob. I am wondering if he had a son called Arthur who taught. I am thinking this because, Lud's apprentice can't be that old. (No wonder I'm good at Cluedo!!) :-)

Other notable teachers during my time there were:-
"Froggy" Carter-French
"Spud" Murphy-Spanish
Elwyn Jenkins-Biology
Bob Knapman-English and PE
Dai Parry-Latin ("Go-2L!!")
Harry Dowd-Convict. Caught up to no good in one of Derek's old loos (!)
Joe Egg-Music
Sam Jones-Geography
And a geography teacher who took over from Sam and was very mild-mannered and whose name escapes me. (I suppose you only remember the stern ones, don't you!! :-) (I think his first name may've been Cecil).

Cecil Mann - He was my first year form teacher 1964 / 1965
Also Iggy Topp was a Geography teacher at the same time.

Bob.

Do any of you ladies remember Carmen Wigs. Very upmarket late 1960's They could be brushed, cut styled etc.
At the time my hair was long and almost black but we are never pleased with what we have, so I saved up and bought a short blonde streaked wig. Absolutely loved it and wore it most of the time.
One evening I went on a blind date to make a foursome up. Great evening, had a couple of drinks as you do.At the end of the night we all got a taxi to take us two girls home. Very gentlemanly in those days. Anyway to cut a long story short, I knocked my head on the door lintel of the taxi as I was getting in. That was the end of the wig! The poor chap didn't utter another word he was speechless and I never heard from him again! He wasn't much anyway!

Is it true that in world war 2 that the women used to draw a line up the back of there legs so it looked like they were wearing stockings!

yes using eyeliner

did you do it then