Gilberd Staff 1967 - Unseen Images!
When I visited the Gilberd School in May to have a look through their archive, one of the items I came across was a leather bound book with no text on the front or the spine.
Part of the thrill of rummaging around in the past is that you never know what you’re going to find. You might open the cover of a book like this to discover a rather ordinary set of school accounts from 1974 or, occasionally, something much more interesting.
It is rare though to discover a ‘time capsule’ - an item that opens a window into the past that perfectly captures a moment or period in time. And yet I was holding one in my hands.
Opening the cover I was greeted by a page of beautiful hand written text telling me this book was presented to Mr Sprason on the occasion of his retirement on the 21st July 1967. It was from the staff of the Gilberd School.
What followed over twenty-one pages was a set of photos featuring every member of staff at the school in 1967 (including all the support staff), together with all their signatures.
The photos depict staff at work in the school and there were some familiar faces, albeit looking younger than when I first met them a decade later in the 1970s. I recognised one or two of the photos as having appeared online over the years but the majority were new to me.
Essentially this book was a companion piece to the film that Mr Sprason was also presented with on his retirement. (You can watch the film and read all about its recovery here.)
A record like this needed to be shared, so the first challenge was to work out the best way to do that. The pages were quite large and would be difficult to scan properly, which meant the only way to get good scans of each photo would be to remove them from the book. As the photos were glued down I couldn’t easily remove them without damaging the album.
It’s such a beautiful book that the thought of damaging it just to share the contents was a complete non-starter. So I decided to take photos of each page and then of each individual image. The problem with doing this is that you will often capture light reflecting off the images you are photographing, so I turned off the lights in the room and closed all the blinds. I’m pleased to say the results are pretty good. For those who would like to browse or download a copy of the book itself you can access a PDF version HERE. If you'd just like to see all the photos, read on...
I recognised a few members of staff but not the majority and many of the signatures were difficult to read. Fortunately I knew a man who would be able to put a name to almost every face (including first names in most cases) and tell me what subjects they all taught!
Eddie Ross and I met up to go through all the photos so we now have a complete record of the entire staff in 1967. Eddie was also able to tell me that the lettering on the first page was done by Roy Butcher and that all the photos were taken by Dick Askew.
I didn’t know Mr Sprason but when I think of the amount of work that went into creating the film for him and producing this beautiful album of specially taken photos, I can make a good guess at the esteem in which he was held by his colleagues.
Eddie fondly remembers Mr Sprason:
When he started in the fifties the school was a technical school. He worked hard to improve it and under his leadership it became 'The Gilberd', a selective school. He was not a high profile headmaster but an extremely effective one. He spoke quietly but with great authority, and knew about every aspect of school life.
One thing which struck me when I arrived was the incredible respect and loyalty he created amongst his staff, young and old, who would have done anything for him. The Gilberd was a happy school and this was due in a very large measure to the character and personality of Mr Sprason.
Alice Twyman (Deputy Head)
Gerry Bateman and Michael Langton were still teachers at The Gilberd School when I started working there (in the office) in 1989. Fond memories of them both.
ReplyDeleteOMG! I have just stumbled upon this whilst googling ‘Alan Horlock’. My Father was Gerry Bateman who sadly died 4th April 2022 after living for several years with prostate cancer. I was born in 1967 and whilst I didn’t attend the Gilberd school, my sister and I have fond memories of sometimes accompanying our Father when he did the examination results. I am familiar with a number of the names. Can anyone tell me please if Alan Horlock was an artist? Dad had a painting, untitled, with Alan’s name on it. I’ve just put the frame back together!
DeleteWhat a wonderful, wonderful find! Thank you so much for sharing these fascinating photos. I did not go to the Gilberd but I knew Bernard Austin quite well in his later years. Ralph Cook used to attend Lexden Church and I am still in touch with his widow, Sheila. Bob Taylor lives near me. His garden is always a picture. Finally, I met Mike Hipkin in 1979 when I went to the Paris Easter School. He was in charge of the trip. Thank you for sharing this unique album. I am sure it will bringback lots of happy memories.
ReplyDeleteMy God! That's a blast from the past with names. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteMy first year when Eddie took us for French. Mr Terry & Miss Brenda Smith were my form teachers - funny that if you had asked me to guess his forename I've have said Alan - I always thought he was Mr A Terry. As to the unidentified genteman was his name Weatherhead, or was he from a later year?
ReplyDeleteSuch nostalgia and strange to realise that the teachers didn't all have the first names of Mr, Mrs or Miss!
ReplyDeleteA great find. Thank you for sharing. I attended the Gilbert between 1973 and 1980 and recognise many of the teachers.
ReplyDeleteWhat a trip down memory lane! I was there from 1967 to 1972. First year with Mrs Stovell
ReplyDeleteSusan I think I was in your class. We’re you in 1S
DeleteI was there from 1962 until 1968, I remember a lot of those teachers, several of them taught me, I loved my time there, it was a happy school.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful collection brings back so many happy memories. Plus a few that were not so good.
ReplyDeleteI have now looked through the list of teachers a number of times and each time a new memory emerges
Lots of great memories here from my time (1963-70) at the Gilberd. John Rowe (aka "Bert" Rowe) and Bernie Crowther were exceptional teachers who were responsible for my subsequent adventures in chemistry, culminating in a PhD in inorganic chemistry. Both nice blokes too.
ReplyDeleteI went to the school in the 60s I had a huge crush on mr Stovell and refused to call miss browning by her married name, understandably she was a bit cross!
ReplyDeleteI was there from 1961-1967 & remember nearly all of them.
ReplyDeleteWhat a trip down memory lane 😀
The best days. Happy, and such good memories. Now I'm nearly a pensioner!! Where does time go
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr Ross, as always, the best thing ever.x
Mike Hipkin, in addition to French, was the first teacher of Russian before he left & was replaced by Mary Wunderley. So many familiar faces who for good or bad framed my teenage years (1969 - 1975).
ReplyDeleteThis is so nice !!! To see my teachers. I was there from 1960 to 1965. It was a good school, excellent education - we had the best back then, although at that time we probably did not realize it.
ReplyDeleteFrances Rout
I was a pupil from 1957 to 1962 and my husband was there from 1955 to 1962. We started going out together in 1961 and have been married for almost 57 years. We both remember many of the teachers shown, but the most interesting thing is their first names. We knew hardly any of them while at school and just knew them as Mr, Miss, Mrs or in some cases by their nicknames.
ReplyDeleteI remember Mr Jones, my English teacher as always being referred to as 'Basher', not 'killer'.
ReplyDelete