Spondon House School
Dated: 1956
Ms Allen writes:
Front row centre: Mr Albert Walton. He directed two prize-winning choirs: Alfreton Male Voice Choir and Spondon Choral Union.
Front row third from left: Mrs Alison
Front row seventh from left: Mrs Billing, who appeared in the 1921 photograph as Miss Hulland
Second row fifth from left: Mr Davis, second master
Second row sixth from left: Miss Phyllis Davis (no relation)
Third row third from left wearing glasses: Maurice White
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Mrs Threadkell, middle row, L
Mrs Threadkell, middle row, L to R, #8. Mrs Billing, front row, L to R, #7 (next to the headmaster). Both these ladies subsequently taught at Spondon Park Grammar school in the sixties, where as a pupil, I encountered them.
Front row second from right
Front row second from right Jean Andison
Phyllis Davis was the…
Phyllis Davis was the principal English teacher and also looked after girls' hockey. She was short, stocky and dare I say, not very pretty but she was an inspirational teacher who made a great impression on me. The swarthy man, no. 9 on the second row, was A P Hogan who knew a lot about South American Gauchos and probably little else. I was taught art by Wilf Ball, but I can't positively identify him in this photo.
Mr Ball is extreme right…
Mr Ball is extreme right centre row)
I agree wholeheartedly with…
I agree wholeheartedly with your description of Phyllis Davis as an "inspirational" teacher. She helped fan the flames of my latent literary talents and inspired me to pursue my dream of becoming a newspaper reporter by coaching me for GCE 'O" levels in English Language and Literature. I sat them as an external candidate at Bemrose School and can remember as if it were yesterday how nervous and out of place I felt among all those posh kids in their smart maroon blazers. Bemrose bucket bangers, we used to call them, but they beat us at basketball when I was captain of the Spondon House team, so fair dues! I passed the exams, by the way, and went on to get a job (with Miss Davis's help) as a junior reporter on the Derby Evening Telegraph and eventually ended up spending 35 years in Fleet Street. To my shame I never got around to properly thanking my unforgettabler mentor for saving me from becoming factory fodder. However, ten years ago, I wrote a tribute to her which was published in the Guardian (see link below, pseudonym Elbowgrease). I am currently in the process of giving her another belated honourable mention in article for another publication, about "influencers". They don't make them like that any more!
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jul/16/most-inspiring-lesson-a-teacher-ever-taught-lancashire-letter-viral#comment-38283398
PS: If anybody out there has an anecdote about Miss Davis, please let me know via this website and perhaps I can include it in the new piece I am writing.
A few names I remember 5 and…
A few names I remember 5 and 6 back row are mr Waldron ( woodwork) Mr Reason, next row Mr Dixon PE and Mr Bentley rural science (gardening), also mr Hogan 3rd from right middle row and Mr Ball extreme right middle row. Takes you back...
Mrs. Mabel Smith, my aunt,…
Mrs. Mabel Smith, my aunt, is pictured on the front row, 4th from left. According to her copy of the photograph it was taken in July 1956