Marlcliffe School

[phil.mortimer@t]

I was at Marlcliffe from 1959 until 1963 when I transferred to High Storrs for A and S levels.

 

 My first form teacher was Mrs Thompson who I believe headed up the new Chaucer school in the mid 1960s . Mr Crookes taught us maths in a very small class room in the main building. English Literature was Mr Barnaby's fiefdom. it killed my interest in English literature and Shakespeare for decades. He was deadly with a flying board rubber or piece of chalk tipped with red ink.  Art was undertaken in the bunker next to the main hall and dining room with Mrs Bramhill. The all pervading reek of boiled cabbage was ever present. Mr  Williams took geography  and sparked my interest resulting in a life of international travel and work . 

 

PE was originally endured in the main hall with amazing descending beams and other life threatening kit. Captain Outram was the PE master. All of that changed with the building of a new gym on what had been the girl's playground. I think Captain Outram also did some RE. Woodwork and technical drawing were all undertaken at a separate location. I cannot recall the name of the teacher sadly Ditto the nice lady PE teacher who took us for essay writing.

 

Other teachers included the redoubtable Miss Coatsworth (history), Mr Anderson (Geography) and Mr Outram who taught French. He was a very good imitator of the strong local Sheffield accent and could write out the phrases on his black board. This I'm sure stimulated my interest in accents ever since. Fez Parker took maths up to the fourth year and he was also involved in music appreciation. I thank him eternally for that. Mr Littlewood frightened me to death and I'm sure he killed off my interest in maths until a lot later in life. Physics was Mr Parkin's domain. He was very soft spoken but tangled us all up in obscure formulae. I think he acted as Head once Miss Nuttall retired. Mr Walton took chemistry in the evil smelling lab under the school.  Pop Reynolds took general science.  

 

The daily milk break in the mornings was  a routine ritual. Classes were assigned to position the crates on a weekly basis. We all got nailed by Miss Nuttall for tramping up the stair well in sync following one of these jobs.

 

The annual prize giving event was to be missed. Mr Parkin lashed a choir into some sort of shape every year. Ditto being forced into singing the school song at the sports day on the site of Myers Grove School. 

 

Three of us transferred to High Storrs and after that it was off to University.  

 

 

[stuartneedham]

I attended Marlcliffe secondary school from 1956 to 1961.

I lived at Heeley so had to travel on 2 buses or tram and bus

Headmistress was Miss Nuttall (Nellie)

Teachers changed over the years but I remember

Miss Chellingworth (Chell)  taught English Literature. Real name Freda

Mrs. Whitby (Flossie). Scripture. Real name Florence

Miss Saunders (Pam), who married and became Mrs. Crossland. History and some Scripture

Mrs. Bramhill. Art

Mrs. Scowcroft. Geography

Miss Coatsworth (Sal). History. Real name Martha

Mrs. Knott. English

Mrs. Thompson. English

Mr. Walton (Chan). Chemistry

Mr. Parkin (Sid).Music and Physics

Mr. Anderson (Jug). Geography

Mr, Crookes (Punch). I remember doing  poetry with him. In the early days he also took us to Hillsbro' baths

Mr. Outram (Sam). French

Captain Outram (Skip), Sam's brother. Scripture but mainly Sports

Miss Whitehead. Took the girls for Sports

Mr. Littlewood (Ben). Maths

Mr. Parker (Fess). Maths

Mrs. Brown. Maths

Mr Barnby. English Literature

Mr. Reynolds (Pop). Science in the early days

Miss Simpson. French in the early days

Miss Kitchen. French in the early days

Miss Mattocks. Taught the girls in the early days

Mrs. Cooper. Taught the girls

Mr. Harrington or Harrison? Woodwork

 

I remember community singing in the assembly hall Friday morning after assembly.

We used to sing "There's a hole in my bucket dear Nellie. Well mend it dear Sidney etc."

Miss Nuttall and Mr Parkin would smile.

Happy days. 

 

[Canuk]

Welcome to Sheffield Forum Stuart.

I guess your first year at Marlcliffe coincided with my third year.   Some of the teacher's names you have tossed into the ring are familiar to me but many are not.  Mr. Littlewood was very kind to me during my first year, when my father died just before my 13th birthday which was almost a month after starting at Marlcliffe.

Mrs. Knott was Miss Underwood when I first started but was married to Mr. Knott before I left. 

I remember all the pushing and shoving at the bus stop when the school day was over and the familiar expression 'lemme gerron'  however, if a teacher was in the crowd, it was a different story.

I lived on Broomspring Lane and there was a family across the road named Needham,  I wonder if you were related to them..?  My Primary School was Springfield School located at the junction of Broomspring Lane and Cavendish Street.

Sweet memories.  Cheers, Wendy in Guelph

[stuartneedham]

Thanks for your remarks Wendy. I have only just discovered the Forum. I don't think the family you mention were related. I don't remember them. 

I believe Miss Simpson was only there for a year. She taught us French in my first year.

Miss Kitchen taught us French in my second year, and possibly third. Mr. Outram taught us French in the fourth and fifth year.

Mr Littlewood was good to me too. He twice took me home in his car when I was feeling ill in class. Of course, he didn't know that my school-pal and I had been smoking Capstan Full Strength cigarettes during the lunch break!

    Miss Nuttall was very kind when she found out that my father had terminal cancer and could no longer work, and as a result my mother was struggling to make ends meet. She arranged for me to have free school meals, which was something virtually unheard of in those days. She also continued to be very nice to me afterwards.

    Have you seen the paperback book "Memories of Marlcliffe" by Mary Bramhill, the Art teacher? I picked it up at Waterstones about 20 years or so ago, and still have it somewhere. It has photos of many of the teachers. I wonder if any of the other contributors to the Forum have seen it.

[Canuk]

Hi Stuart,

I will have to place the book you mentioned (memories of marlcliffe) on my Christmas list.  Thanks.