Moseley Hall Grammar School

Newspaper Clippings

The following advert appeared in The (Stockport) Advertiser on 4 June 1948

The (Stockport) Advertiser - 25 June 1948

Parents Aid School � Garden party raises over �50

On the library shelves of the Moseley Hall County Grammar School are 300 books. It is considered to be a totally inadequate number for a school of 210 boy and girl scholars (there will be 300 next autumn), and ten times that number of books are needed. Where are those 3,000 more books to come from?

Councillor Mrs. M. F. Newell, a member of the board of governors, suggested while opening a garden party at the school on Saturday that the Parents� Association, who organised the garden party, should hand part of the proceeds from their various activities to the headmaster, Mr. W. B. Simms, for the purchase of suitable additions to the library.

And the books problem is not the only difficulty the school has had to face during the two years since it was founded. Mrs. Newell, herself one of the foundation governors, spoke of �almost insuperable difficulties� which had been overcome to allow the school to grow and progress in many directions.

THE WAY AHEAD

A few days ago the school was visited by His Majesty�s inspectors. Their reports, said Mrs. Newell, showed that it �had a long way to go to reach the standard of a grammar school in premises and equipment,� but it would be done, though gradually.

She thanked the association for the work they had done to enable 70 of the scholars to enjoy a Whitsun camp in North Wales, and Mr. E. S. Clayton, chairman of the association, told the �Advertiser� that they had presented two silver trophies, valued at 50 guineas, for award to the champion girl and boy in sports events.

The garden party, which was marred by heavy rain, raised more than �50. The sideshow and stalls had to be transferred to the confines of the school itself, although the weather relented sufficiently for the opening, which was held on the school playing field, and later for a display of gymnastics by boys from Mobberley school.

Manchester Evening News - 18 July 1966

The (Stockport) Advertiser - 13 April 1967

Moseley Hall Grammar School, Cheadle, celebrated its 21st anniversary, on Saturday, with a re-union dinner and dance.

There was a large attendance of former scholars, members of the board of governors, parents who had taken a particular interest in the work of the school, and the school�s first headmaster, Mr. W. B. Simms, now living in Penistone.

The dinner was presided over by the chairman of the governors, County Councillor J. G. Purdy, who was supported by the Chairman of Cheadle and Gatley Council, Councillor William Bushell, and the present headmaster, Mr. C. F. Armishaw.

There were no formal toasts, but several speeches were made, in which were recalled some of the past successes of the school and some of the difficulties it had had to overcome.

Dancing in the school hall also gave an opportunity for individuals to get together to recall those days 21 years ago.

1967 Story about MHGS 1st XV Rugby team

1969 School Prizegiving

Courtesy of Richard Simmons

Stockport Express - 24 September 1970

Moseley Hall as site for new college?

Cheadle and Wilmslow Divisional Education Committee on Thursday night last week refused to accept the site of Moseley Hall Grammar School as a suitable place to build a new College of Further Education.

The committee decided to defer their decision on this until they receive the opinions of Cheadle and Gatley U.D.C.

There were mixed feelings at the meeting after members received a report of the Director of Education for Cheshire setting out plans for using part of the present buildings and the site at Moseley Hall to build the new college in the Cheadle, Wilmslow area.

Col. Pearson told members: �I think it is essential that we have a further college in this area. It is absolutely barmy to expect young people to go to Sale and Macclesfield,� he said.

WAIT

He added: �I think it would be better, however, to wait until we have heard what Cheadle and Gatley have to say about this.� The new college put forward by the County architect will be a tall building, and Cheadle and Gatley are to discuss the advisability of having high rise buildings on this site.�

Stockport Express - October 1970

Success can bring mixed blessings, whatever the level of performance, but it�s something you have to live with, as the boys of Moseley Hall G.S. are finding out at the moment. They are having their most successful cross-country season ever at senior levels, while the junior team are also doing well.

Their success has made them into what amounts to a household name in North Western school sports circles, brought them local and regional publicity and perhaps above all, has made them the team everyone wants to beat.

It means inevitably that they are always running under pressure, but their collective response in a sport best known for the loneliness of the individual has been a superb team effort. It has already given the Under-17 and senior teams their respective titles in the North, East Cheshire Schools� league with one match to go, and one of their junior teams a very good chance of taking its title.

The two masters in charge of cross-country, Mr. S.C. Forbes, of the P.E. staff, and Mr. J.M. Newcombe, attribute the success firstly to the element of luck, which, in the senior teams, ahs brought some fine runners together at the same time.

But there are other factors. The boys themselves are keen to train in their own time, two or three lunchtimes a

week. The introduction of the North East Cheshire League has inevitably meant that standards have risen because of good class competition, a boon that also has its disadvantages.

UNCONSCIOUS

�There has been a tendency for rivalry to become over concentrated and too bitter,� explained Mr. Newcombe, �as every school meets on five occasions during the season.�

On the other hand, the coaching of both masters must have meant a lot. Today, Mr. Newcombe is responsible for the senior teams, so as he puts it, he gets the benefit of Mr. Forbes� work in the lower forms.

Strong junior teams, however, don�t necessarily mean that success will come at a senior level. Mr. Newcombe pointed out that they had very strong juniors seven years ago, but only one of that team is running at senior level. Other sports take over, and also a boy can lose his talent for running as he grows up.

But success breeds success. Under the first class captaincy of Neil Kingston during the past two years, the school teams have gone from strength to strength, and unconsciously a tradition is gradually being built at Moseley. It should ensure that cross-country remains one of its strong points in sport for some time to come.

Lunchtime training sessions two or three times a week are the order of the day for these members of the Moseley Hall under-15 and under-13 cross-country teams. Here, they take the wet way over the Micker brook, one of the major obstacles on their home course at Belmont.

With the seniors doing so well, the juniors obviously have something to emulate, and the under-14 team in particular is having a fairly successful season, leading the North, East Cheshire League in their age group with one match still to go.

Unfortunately, according to Mr. Newcombe, one of the two masters responsible for the cross-country team, success at this age is not a guarantee of success later on.

�Rugby has precedence. They can play soccer in the fifth and sixth forms and a boy may lose his talent to run as he grows up, � he explains.

Still, judging by the keenness of these youngsters, the school should have little to fear about its growing cross-country tradition in the next few years.

Members of the Mosley hall senior teams take the dry and certainly warmer way over the Micker Brook. Both teams have had their most successful year in the school�s history, and as well as a successful tour last term, they made certain of their age group titles in the North East Cheshire Schools� league last week, with one more match to take place.

In front - something that he is becoming used to - is David Allen, probably the school's outstanding runner, followed by Roger Bateman, the most consistent performer in the senior team, John Beatty, Roger Grave, Jamie Ferguson, Roger Gillett, Dave McCormick and Colin Halsey.

Stockport Express - 6 May 1971

We cannot afford comprehensive schools, says head

Britain cannot afford the �gigantic task� of bringing in comprehensive schooling, a Cheadle Hulme grammar school head-master said last week. Mr. C. F. Armishaw, head of Cheadle Moseley Grammar School, was speaking at the school�s annual speech day on Friday.

�Whatever our varying views on reorganisation may be, this country cannot afford to continue with such a gigantic task either in terms of bricks and mortar or in terms of skilled and scholarly human resources�, he said.

�If, despite these unpalatable facts, it persists, the final result will be chaotic, with schools competing for slender resources, with schools either so large that they cease to be families, or so small that they are unable to offer the variety of courses we succeed in offering under the present system.�

PATTERN

Mr. Armishaw called for a period of �rigorous and vigorous experiment� to establish the pattern for tomorrow�s school.

"We look at the future with some misgivings, and precisely because it appears to be so uncertain,� he said. �Changes have taken place and continue to take place piecemeal throughout the country.�

The evidence that these changes were designed to create better schools and provide a better standard of education was slender.

�Let us husband our precious resources � schools that over a very long period have been universally acknowledged to be excellent,� said Mr. Armishaw. �For hundreds of years, Oxford and Cambridge set the standards of university scholarship. There are now nearly 50 universities in the British Isles, and they are all good � for reasons, which must be too obvious to state. But they have certainly not become so through the dismantling of Oxford and Cambridge.

�The debate about educational systems will continue,� he said. �But if you scatter the existing scholarly teams of men and women at random over a host of reorganised schools, you will destroy every good school and retain only its shadow.�

Stockport Express - 20 May 1971

Old school may be demolished

Tudor-style school hall in Cheadle may be demolished if no use can be found for it.

Moseley Hall, site of the old grammar school, has been virtually disused since pupils moved to the new �370,000 Cheadle Moseley school last year. Now a Cheshire County sub-committee have asked the County Education Committee to seek the views of the local Divisional Executive on its possible demolition.

The black and white timbered building was taken over by the education authority in 1946. Before that it was privately owned though its early history is obscure.

The County Finance and General Purposes Sub-Committee made the recommendation together with their approval for the use of temporary buildings on the school site as housing for overflow from the grammar school and a nearby secondary modern.

It is possible that a Cheadle college of further education could be built on the site in the future.

A spokesman for Cheshire County Council said this week: �Nothing definite has been decided. If you demolish a building, it takes time and money to build a new one. However, it is likely that the site will retain its educational use.�

Stockport Advertiser - 13 May 1971

All-in schools could mean chaos

If the government were to persist with the reorganisation of secondary education there would be chaos, a Cheadle Hulme headmaster said at the recent speech day of Cheadle Moseley Grammar School.

The headmaster, Mr. C. F. Armishaw, said that the country could not afford the gigantic task of bringing in comprehensive schooling.

�Whatever our varying views on the desirability of reorganisation,� he said, �this country cannot afford to continue with a gigantic task, either in terms of bricks and mortar or in terms of skilled and scholarly human resources.

�If, despite these unpalatable facts, it persists, the final result will be chaotic, with schools competing for slender resources and with schools either so large that they cease to be families, or so small that number and variety of courses we succeed in offering under the present system.�

EXPERIMENT

�The debate about educational systems will continue,� he went on, �but if you scatter the existing scholarly teams of men and women at random over a host of re-organised schools you will destroy every good school and retain only its shadow.�

The pattern for tomorrow's school should be allowed to emerge only after a period of rigorous experiment.

�We look at the future with some misgivings and precisely because it appears to be so uncertain. Changes have taken place and continue to take place piecemeal throughout the country. Are they designed to create better schools?� he asked. �Are they providing a better education for more pupils? The evidence so far is very slender.�

Mr. Armishaw said it was perhaps unfair to judge, particularly where, as in so many places, buildings were ill-adapted to change of any kind. It would, however, be wise to face the facts and acknowledge that new kinds of schools would not be successful unless they were purpose-built and properly staffed.

�Let us husband our precious resources � schools that over a very long period have been universally acknowledged to be excellent. For hundred of years Oxford and Cambridge set the standards of university scholarship. There are now nearly 50 universities in the British Isles. They are all good � and for good reasons, which must be too obvious to state � but they have certainly not become so through the dismantling of Oxford and Cambridge.

�The future of our country is vested in its schools. We hope and pray that here tomorrow�s youngsters will discover not only knowledge but understanding � and they will do it they are in good schools of all kinds.�

Mr. Tom Normanton, M.P. for the Cheadle Division, presented the prizes.

The Observer - Magazine - early 1970s

Stockport Express - 27 March 1975

500 parents of the school girls in crushing "No" to merger with boys

Five hundred parents of girls at Cheadle Grammar School packed the school hall on Wednesday last week and gave an overwhelming �NO� to merging with the school next door, Moseley Boys� Grammar. They voted unanimously to keep the school separate with its own headmistress, when it goes comprehensive in September next year.

By a small majority the parents agreed to recommend that there should be co-operation between the two grammar schools at sixth-form level.

The meeting also decided to set up a working party �with as wide a brief as possible� to look into the future of the school.

NOT CONSULTED

A further resolution welcoming the decision of Stockport Council on Tuesday last week to refer back to the Education Committee the question of the merger of the schools was also supported without a single vote against.

The special meeting had been called by the school�s Parents� Association because they had not been consulted by Stockport Council about Education Committee proposals to merge the schools into one with between 1,600 and 1,900 unselected pupils.

Stockport�s director of Education, Mr. B. L. Harmon, was invited to the meeting, but he wrote saying that he and his staff had prior commitments.

In a letter to the Association he said that no clear decision had been reached on the future of the grammar schools and of the two secondary modern schools in the area � Cheadle Broadway Boys� and Kingsway Girls�.

When a decision had been arrived at he would bring out a document for all head teachers, which would then be explained to the parents.

In the letter Mr. Harmon went on to outline the procedure for the proposed changes, pointing out that children already at the school would �continue as far as possible on previous organisational lines�.

VERY SAD

The first parents to be consulted, the letter stated, would be those of primary school children, but he would meet grammar school parents if they wished.

Opening the meeting, the chairman, Mrs. Judith Waddington, vice chairman of the Association and a parent-governor of the school, declared that the meeting was not to discuss whether parents wanted comprehensive education or not.

�It is appalling and very sad that the education of our children has to be based on politics, but unfortunately it is a fact of life and we must face it and act accordingly,� she declared.

PING-PONG

What the Parents� Association committee wanted, she said, was for the two schools to remain separate.

Mr. Ted Radcliffe, in explaining the steps taken by the committee to obtain consultation before the merger was agreed upon, described secondary education since 1965 as �a game of political ping-pong�.

He went on �The side that is serving makes the rules up and so the rules have changed. Children are the ball being belted from one end to the other� we are in quite a state of confusion."

Stockport Express - 12 February 1976

Schools can stay single sex � Minister

A group of Cheadle parents have won their year long fight to keep their local schools separate.

Stockport learned this week that Education Minister, Mr. Fred Mulley is allowing Moseley Boys� Grammar and Cheadle Girls� Grammar to remain single sex schools.

Now that Stockport has been told the Minister�s decision, the local education authority can go ahead with its transfer plans for all Stockport�s 5,000 children due to leave junior schools for secondary schools in September.

�We were concerned about the delay,� explained Stockport�s Director of Education, Mr. B. L. Harmon. �We asked to be notified not later than the end of December, because we could not do them for the whole borough because some children out of the area might want to go to Cheadle schools.�

SCHEDULED

Early last year Stockport proposed that Cheadle�s two grammar schools should merge when the area was scheduled for comprehensive education in September this year.

At once parents of both schools set up action committees to fight the move.

After several months Stockport reversed its plans for one large school and recommended to the Department of education and Science that the schools should remain single sex.

Stockport�s proposals and objections to the scheme were submitted to Mr. Mulley at the end of September last year.

�We are delighted that commonsense has won the day,� said the chairman of the girls� grammar school parent Association, Mrs. Judith Waddington.

Stockport Express - 23 September 1976

Full steam ahead for school railway club, by Janette Lee

Rust had begun to eat into the fabric of three locomotives, long disused, when Colin Saxton, unearthed them in Lincolnshire brickworks.

Today they stand as bright and shining as they were in their prime, part of a collection of industrial locos, wagon and lengths of track at Moseley Boys� School, North Down Road, Cheadle.

�The manager allowed us to dismantle a locomotive and some track. We carried it over the Pennines in convoy, by mini-bus, Land Rover and small lorry.�

It's hard work but it's great fun - Stan Lawson and Ian Alsop, like their colleagues, spend a great deal of their spare time working on the display.

SPARE TIME

�That locomotive is still in pieces because it would cost about �500 to do it up properly and we haven�t got the money. But we got a second locomotive from Crowle, which is now in working order.�

From dilapidated pieces of metal, he and members of the School Railway Society, whose members are aged between 11 and 17, have created the now operational Cheadle Moseley Industrial Narrow Gauge Tramway, using their lunch hours and spare time.

They have spent about �400 on the collection, which is now valued at around �6,000 and was the subject of a feature in the �Narrow Gauge� magazine last year.

Railway enthusiasts from as far away as Kent, Scouts, Guides and other children have visited the collection since it was opened to the public two years ago.

They have reconstructed locomotives; built, upholstered and painted carriages; constructed two wooden storage sheds; and laid 600 yards of 20-inch gauge railway track, weighing 15 tons. Members of the society also learned to drive the locomotives, under supervision, when they are aged 14 to 15. Now they welcome visitors to look at their work on the second Sunday of each month, between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

When Mr. Saxton joined staff at the former Cheadle, Moseley Hall Grammar School in 1968, it had already been decided to resite the school.

So, because of this site uncertainty, and also lack of money, the School railway Society decided to experiment with horse traction and laid a single, most 24-inch gauge track pinned down to scrap timbers by bent four-inch nails, on an 8,000 sq.ft. site.

They converted a wagon chassis into a single-deck open horse tram, with ex-chapel reversible benches for seating and simple chain and wood block brakes.

MORE SPACE

The tram proved very popular at the school's Parents' Association summer fair, when a hired horse called Tim ferried eager passengers to and fro all afternoon, proving that the project was worthwhile.

In 1970 the tram was converted to a double-decker, but was dismantled a few months later, when the school was resited in North Down Road. Greater space for track laying, plus Mr. Saxton's locomotive and track discoveries in Lincolnshire in the summer of 1970, enabled the Society to start an industrial locomotive collection.

Although enthusiasm plays a great part in the running and maintenance of the collection - which now comprises 10 locomotives both diesel and petrol, carriages, a "calfdozer" for hauling track sections into place, wagons and quarry tubs - money plays an equal, if not greater, one.

�Many companies, and the school�s Parents� Association, have been very generous to us,� said Mr. Saxton. �But we find that transporting equipment is our biggest expense. I.C.L. provided us with �100 worth, but it cost us �40 to get it to the museum."

"A grant of �50 from the council a year ago bought just two piston rings and bearings for a locomotive."

"And one gallon of diesel fuel costs 70p and lasts for just one hour."

"I feel that unless we make some more money, there is a danger that we will have to close, because costs have risen tenfold since we began our collection".

Although the Society depends on donations for much of its revenue, it also raises cash by selling scrap metal, by each member putting 50p in the kitty each year, and by selling books at railway exhibitions.

The Society also receives an annual grant of �50 from the Parents' Association.

Vandalism has been another problem the Society has had to face. "Children have pulled up lengths of track and thrown them in the nearby stream for instance", said Mr. Saxton.

"Some broke chains holding a wagon to the track, and pushed it out of the school gate. We found it on the nearby housing-estate."

Society members are continually on the lookout for potential additions to their collection. At the moment they are looking for a disused British rail track bed.

"If we get one we can lay another length of track and use that to provide pleasure rides, and the present track for testing locomotives and garden parties", said Mr. Saxton.

The Society does not confine its interest to its own collection. The boys have visited railway museums, quarries and industrial sites throughout the North West.

HARD WORK

For the past two years they have been helping to lay track at Corris Railway, near Dolgellau. They stayed there for a week during the recent summer holidays.

What is the value of the project to the boys involved it?

The headmaster of Moseley boys' School, Mr. H.R. Curry, explained: "Industrial archaeology is an exciting, attractive hobby, and a very valuable extra-mural activity."

"It gives the boys both fun and considerable expertise, and develops a valuable sense of teamwork and co-operation. They have worked very hard."

"I think it is a great credit to Mr. Saxton that he has built up the collection in such an enthusiastic way, and shared his enjoyment with the school."xxxx

Death of Mr C F Armishaw, headmaster of Moseley Hall Grammar School - 1983

Manchester Evening News - 7 March 1985

Plans to turn the site of a former school into a massive entertainment complex and hotel have infuriated residents and councillors.

But developers say their fears are groundless.

The application, submitted by Thornham Development Company, has caused some apprehension; even tough it received outline planning permission.

A report on the company�s detailed plans for the site of Moseley Hall School, off Cheadle Road, was made to Cheadle area committee and brought even stiffer opposition.

Coun. Len Singer said: �We were led to believe in the first instance that this would be primarily a hotel with some entertainment features."

�But we fear it could become primarily an entertainment complex and disco with some hotel beds.�

Coun. John Needham chairman of the development services committee, said: �It is clear that there is a great deal of local opposition to the plan."

�People fear all the noise and nuisance which can come from a disco and I agree with them in opposing the scheme.�

The matter now goes to the full meeting of the committee later this month, when the detailed planning application will be discussed.

Mr. John Burrows, from Thornham Developments, said: �We were surprised that the councillors were expressing such opposition as the council had already accepted our outline plans.�

�The council-owned site was put out to tender and we were chosen. So I am mystified by the charge that our plans were misleading."

�We operate a similar club in the Prestwich area and never have any complaints."

�I believe south Manchester could do with a development like ours and think it is a shame that a vociferous minority have killed it at the area committee."

�We hope for a better response from the planning committee."

Stockport Times - 15 March 1985

New Hotel on site at Cheadle?

A hotel with 75 bedrooms may be built on one of Cheadle�s most attractive sites at the bottom of Schools Hill.

Stockport Council has decided to sell off the former Cheadle Adult Centre and Valley Schools together with three-and �a-half acres of land for the project.

It is also likely that a restaurant and leisure complex will be included which would be complementary to the adjoining Cheadle Leisure Centre and swimming pool.

The director of development, Mr. Richard Hargreaves, commented: �We have got to dispose of the site and a development of this kind would do a lot for the area. We would of course keep the trees and the present kind of environment.�

The application will be discussed by Cheadle Area Committee on March 25 and by Stockport development control sub-committee on April 2.

The adult centre has already moved to the Manor Site at Cheadle Hulme and the Valley School will have new premises in Moss Hey Junior School at Bramhall at Easter.

District Advertiser - 1 December 1995 (written by Cheadle Historians Pat and Derek Seddon)

Healthy lifestyle takes over hall

Following our article about Moseley Old Hall, several people expressed an interest in reading about the �other� Moseley Hall which used to stand near the bottom of Schools Hill and will be remembered by many as the Boys� Grammar School.

Today the lively Village Hotel and Leisure Centre stands in its place, catering for varied social functions and providing a whole range of activities for health enthusiasts.

The scene at the end of the 18th century was considerably quieter; Cheadle was a peaceful rural village when Joseph Fowden of Alderley took a fancy to living near his brother Reginald, who lived at Brookside, a picturesque black and white farmhouse, approached across the brook, which ran alongside Wilmslow Road.

Joseph bought the Schools Hill estate across the road. It consisted of an old farm and several acres of land, along with six tenanted cottages and a pew at the parish church.

The Fowden family had been settled in the Cheadle area for several generations, their occupations changing from yeoman farmers and tanners to traders and shipping merchants, with a rise in their fortunes.

Both Reginald and Joseph had strong links with Liverpool and the sugar/slave trade. There are memorial plaques to them on the inside wall of the church tower. There is also one to their grandfather, William Fowden, who as Constable of Manchester during the 1745 rebellion, was tried for treason for attempting to procure food and lodging for the rebels. He was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Around 1800 either Joseph Fowden, who died in 1808, or his son Reginald, built a large house on the Schools Hill estate, which was named Schools Hill.

In 1857 Reginald sold the house, farm and cottages to James Henry Deakin, a Manchester wine and spirit merchant who took an active interest in local affairs, particularly the volunteer rifle corps, who drilled on his land. The lych-gate in the churchyard bears the legend �erected to the memory of Col. J.H. Deakin�.

It was to fulfil a promise that John Henry Davies bought the estate for his wife in 1904. He was a wealthy property dealer and brewer who had started working life in a more lowly situation.

When he aspired to marrying Amy Catterall, niece and ward of the sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate, he was not welcomed. Amy decided to marry him despite her guardian�s disapproval, and John Henry vowed to provide her with her accustomed lifestyle, including a house as big as the one she was leaving. He later owned Bramhall Hall.

As a keen antiquarian and lover of old buildings, it was probably Davies who added the half-timbered cladding to Moseley Hall and was responsible for it�s re-naming.

During his time there he injected money into the Newton Heath Football Club known, as the �Heathens� in return for a St Bernard Dog owned by captain, Harry Stafford.

The club went on to become Manchester United and John Davies became its president. In 1927 he died and his wife lived at Bramhall Hall for some years until she had the opportunity to re-purchase Moseley Hall.

During the Second World War it was used by the Fire Service, and in 1946 acquired by Cheshire County Council and became Cheadle�s first Grammar School until larger premises were purpose built, and the old hall was eventually demolished. The Village Hotel was built in 1988.�

Manchester Evening News (we think!) - 28 October 1974

Tracking Down Those Old Rails

Amazing what you can find in rose arbours - not to mention sewage works, clay quarries and mushroom farms.

"You can find railway track" says 29 year old schoolmaster Colin Saxton, whose brother-in-law recently bought a house in Doncaster and found the rambling roses in the garden were climbing over arches fashioned from steel railway lines.

Now the rails are laid in the sports field at Cheadle Moseley Grammar School where the boys run three renovated locomotives and two carriages they have build themselves.

Project Diesel, a sort of purposeful hobby, was launched at the school five years ago when the boys build a horse-tram under the direction of craft teacher Mr. Saxton.

The project graduated to railway society with the purchase from a Licolnshire clay quarry of two locomotives in scrap condition, and another from a local brickworks.

The trains are run one Sunday in each month, on track donated by a Buxton mushroom farm and that Doncaster garden. The school is now negotiating for more track from Stockport Sewage Works.

The trains are also run by appointment for outside amateur railway enthusiasts - special occasions when the boys don their railwaymen's gear.

Says Mr. Saxton, "My father is a retired locomotive driver. Luckily for us he kept all his uniforms - we've got them now."

Manchester Evening News - 19 April 2002

A reunion quest goes worldwide