Singing Together and Abbey Lane Primary School in 1950s

[Miss Babs]

Having just listened to Jarvis Cocker and his programme on Singing Together I was swept back to c 1959/ 1960 singing the Flowers of the Valley in Mr Askham's class which was J4 at Abbey Lane School. I joined the forum as I see there was a little flurry activity a few years ago regarding Abbey Lane in the 50s. I have very happy memories of school then apart from Sports Day and school dinners. I was in South house and you had to wear a yellow band if you were competing. I was always reluctantly recruited for relay and long jump.

Back to music which is where I started, I loved being in Mr Norris 's recorder group.

Is there anyone around of this era? I think the school and Singing Together did a great job of introducing us to music.

Barbara

[Dreb48]

Hi Miss Babs. I've not heard the Jarvis Cocker programme so I'm not sure what Singing Together actually was. However I remember being taken by bus from Totley County School sometime in the 50s to Abbey Lane to a concert in the Assembly Hall which involved performances from various ' artistes '. It also involved a lot of singing from the pupil audience. Is that the same thing?

[carosio]

I believe this idea was introduced onto the syllabus sometime after the war.

 

When I was in Primary in Sheffield, we used to have a weekly class singing session in one of the bigger classrooms, the teacher on the piano and the songs were all English/Irish folk songs such as "Bobby Shafto" and "Run With the Raggle -Taggle Gypsies O". There was no teaching as such, it was just for pure enjoyment of singing in a group.

 

"Another such program was ‘Singing Together’ where the class would gather to sing traditional folk songs and sea shanties such as ‘Oh soldier, soldier, won’t you marry me’, ‘A-Roving’ (see below), ‘Michael Finnegan’, ‘The Raggle-Taggle Gypsies’ and ‘Oh No John’. However, when as an adult you examine the content and meaning of some of these old folk songs, whether they were indeed suitable for the under 11s is another question!"

 

From Historic UK.

[Dreb48]

Yes i do remember a regular communal singing session in the Hall when I was at Totley primary. The songs you've mentioned were definitely part of the programme and accompanied by a teacher on piano.

The trip to Abbey Lane I mentioned previously must have been a special occasion as being bussed anywhere in those days was a rarity and that's why it left an impression on me

[Miss Babs]

The Singing Together Jarvis Cocker programme was on radio 4 last night. Singing Together was a BBC schools radio programme that started during WW2 and apparently lasted until early2000s. Lots of people have fond memories including Eliza McArthy of singing at school. Its worth catching on i player.

[jstarr]

The Singing Together Jarvis Cocker programme was on radio 4 last night. Singing Together was a BBC schools radio programme that started during WW2 and apparently lasted until early2000s. Lots of people have fond memories including Eliza McArthy of singing at school. Its worth catching on i player.

 

I remember "Singing Together" - I used to love it.My favourite song was "Marianina"

I was at Abbey Lane Primary 1956-62 & was also in Mr Askham's J4A class.He used to call all of us by our surnames eg Miss Smith,Mr Jones etc.,rather than use christian names as the other teachers did.We worked in silence (usually!) and he walked up & down between the rows of desks looking at our work.That year was all about getting through the eleven-plus ( we did a practice test every Friday morning) and it worked,as all 49 of us passed.It would be unthinkable to have 49 eleven -year olds in a class today!

I too was in the recorder group and I do remember Mr Norris ,but I'm sure that Mr Rosling was the teacher we had. I liked it so much I continued to play until I left the Girls' High at eighteen !

A few years ago,I was reminiscing about how I enjoyed playing and at Christmas that year,my younger son bought me a tenor recorder(I played tenor almost from day one) and some music.It's amazing how quickly things come back - after a gap of almost forty years,I could still get a tune out of it.Now I often play & really enjoy it, though I have noticed that the dog makes a quick exit when the recorder comes out of its box!

[Miss Babs]

Gosh jstarr. That has set my memory racing re life at primary school. I knew J4 was a big class but never realised we were 49. I wonder has there ever been any Abbey Lane reunion/ I would love to know what happened to fellow class mates--a bit like that rolling programme called "Seven Up " which follows the lives of a cohort of children every 7 years. I left Sheffield over 40 years ago but sometimes during attacks of insomnia I try and recall all the children who were in J4 and I can see them now sitting 2 by 2 in those old wooden desks.

[Enimini]

Hi Miss Babs, I remember only too well "Singing Together" in the 1950s in Mr. Askham's class. The way I came across your posting though is really "spooky". Last night I had a dream about Singing Together in school, I cannot think what prompted this dream because I had nearly forgotten all about this activity. This dream prompted me to Google "Abbey Lane School class of 1959" and came across your posting. When did you attend Abbey Lane School? I notice your posting is quite old so maybe you will not see this.