Frederick Bird School

another class mate nice to hear from you john who are you in contact with?I also see Ron johnson from time to time.I wonder if their are any grinners out there, John patel I remember well Mr Turner used to say"did you grin boy" or call somebody "an insolent boundah" I used to laugh and sometimes was crying with laughter,that's mostly what I got the cane for in his class.I was put down to 4b in last year so i get mixed up somtimes who was in what but I was in 1a,2a.3a,4b

cabbie, i am in contact with john forrester and i had a drink with graham chambers a while ago. is there any old girls out there?

I remember john forrester and graham chambers as for girls I don't remember any from school.I wonder if anyone as a school photo for our year?I know I hav'nt as I was never their I had lot's of time off, Harry Davies and I used to wag it, we got caught and got the cane off mr Harris across the backside, the marks were their for weeks after.

Hi cabbie. I remember all those lads You name of course like Graham Chambers & Harry Davies. My Brother bumped into Graham Chambers recently in a wheelchair. (No pun intended) He had suffered an accident apparently, so temporarily disabled. Would love to see Andrew Williams again. If anyone knows his whereabouts or his local watering hole let me know. Last I heard he was in Coundon. Remember Don Beaumont? I believe no longer with us. Saw him a few years back when I had a motorbike. He had come off his & was on crutches at the time. Used to work with a girl who turned out to be John Duttons sister. Remember him. Another one no longer with us. He used to bend my arm behind my back sometimes for a laugh. Happy days eh? Most of them anyway. I hated school but generally enjoyed my childhood days.I enjoyed it more when I left school & started to date & work with girls.I was too shy of them at school. Anyone remember Pauline Monarch? Brenda Thompson? Hazel Davies? Used to fancy a girl from Lyng Hall School called Lynne Maclin whose mum used to own a grocers opposite The Chantries. Turned out she was in the same class as my wife. Now there's a coincidence eh? Anyway if anyone wants to get in touch or organise a piss up for old schoolmates still with us let me know. My e-mail address is as follows; Dougandchummy@hotmail.co.uk By the way, talking about Mail, I met a Colin Harris when I worked at Royal Mail, Coventry (Was there for 31 years till recently when I took redundancy.) Remember Colin? He is in touch with Bruce Weston apparently who I believe is in Australia or is it Canada? Well, must stop gabbing although have loads more memories. Always did say too much. Keep in touch anyone who knows me. Work at Tesco Dorchester Way on part time basis now. Thinking of doing my HGV2 course soon. All the best Cabbie. Glad you remember me.

hi all, i thought i would try to recall a few memories of freddies. I remember the first day in the hall it smelt of polish and carbolic soap.i was put in shannons class 1a, and after 10mins.i wanted to give notice to leave,it was nothing like the juniors. does any of you remember playing football on a saturday morning for the school. they supplied the kit, well you could call it kit i have used better rags for cleaning windows. remember cross country running up swan lane and around the moggie common. remember shannon looked cross eyed you never knew if he was talking to you. then onto turners class 2a a different teacher altogether, a methodist lay preacher but you would never know that the way he used to lay into some of the kids. he used to sit you on his knee with his arm around you and say whats all this about sonnah. went to belgium {blankeberg} and got drunk on blue label, it was great because they did not ask your age in the bars. how we got back i dont know.In this year i met terrible dougie i dont know anybody who liked him, i think he just had an hatred for kids.remember daddy ireland {biology} a very funny man. any way enough for no, hope to talk soon.

hi doug,I go into tesco's in dorchester way at night my cousin works there his name is Ken also Les,I met Colin when Bruce was here last it's nice to see and hear from everyone again after all these years.I see Andy coming out of carey's at the weekends. John I also went to Blankenburg that year, got the slipper off Douglas,Mr Turner once told a class "I was the bravest boy he knew" after having the cane off mr harris(the headmaster) daddy Ireland great teacher,Shannon was ok as I remember,that year (1st year) Harry and I got the cane across the backside off mr harris for wagging it,we had those marks for weeks.Oh the memories.

Hi cabbie, or should I say Aubrey? You talking about Mr. Shannon reminded me of when me & Ben Cox got into trouble for pinching various items from Woolies in S. On. Avon when Shannon took us & other kids like Barry Alldrick into Stratford for a day out. I got caught nickin an Easter egg because someone dared me to. Ben & I had to go down the police station with our Dads. I thought mine would kill me but of course he didn't. We both got a stern warning & was let off. The other thing about Shannon was how he liked to smack boys bare bums as they ran out of the shower after games or footie. I was hopeless at footie, but liked playing when I was older. Anyway, it's great to recall these memories & how the teachers were. You say you used to live in Lower Ford st.Do you remember a "Pete King?" He used to live by the Alexandra Cinema, in Wheatley st. I think. I used to knock around with him. I remember he had an Alsatian dog & you had to be careful not to tread in any dog poo in his back yard. You also say you see Andy coming out of Careys. I am going to go there one night & see if I can spot him. If you see him tell him to get in touch. If you want to contact me Aubrey or fancy a drink sometime, my e-mail address is ; Dougandchummy@hotmail.co.uk All the best, Doug.

Hi I've just joined the forum today, it was great to see a letter about Freddy Birds, and all the old teachers' names came flooding back, Mr Clennett Mr Jones, Mr Webb, the famous Mr Douglas, I used to brick it when it was tec drawing lesson or maths he always seemed to single me out!! I left in 1961 my school chums were Pete Beddows. Billy Wilcox, John Sadler, Mick Craythorne, Ken Hill. If anyone remembers me, Paul Bates, I would love to hear from you.

Hi Paul. I went to Freddies but left in 1958, I don't remember your name but you may have known my brothers Ted and Geoff West, they are a couple of years younger than me. I remember Mr Douglas, what a scary looking chap and wasn't the head of the boys Mr Harris? Teachers in the Junior School I recall are Mr Lewis, the Head, Mr Williams, Mrs Bullock and Mr Hartwell, who smelt of mothballs. He used to keep me late at lunch time because I could never grasp decimals and fractions, hated him. He used to make the boys touch their toes and hit them with the blackboard rubber. Remember the bike sheds and the toilets that separated the Senior Girls and Boys School? We grew up in Coronation Road opposite Primrose Hill Park and The Slipper Baths. Whereabouts did you live? Can't say I was sorry to leave Freddies, never wished myself back there like my dad said I would!

Hi in the photo is the boy second row from the front, third in from the right Ronald Thompson? If so he lived a few doors down from me in Coronation Road!

Hi Mayjan, I think you are right that it is Ronald Thompson.

See if anybody knows any of these faces? Also you can see the end of the woodwork shop, the rear of the changing rooms and the wall that seperated us from the girls school.

Hi scrutiny, I thought it was Ron Thompson, I think they emigrated to Australia but ended up coming back to Coventry. I well remember the wall separating the Senior Girls and Boys Schools, us girls used to hang around there by the girls toilets at playtime. I can remember having to do PE in the hall we shared with the boys. As we had to do it in our bottle green knickers it was very embarrassing when the boys walked through sniggering. I remember the huts, we used to have Science with Miss Bonnel in one of them and myself and my 3 friends used to sneak out one by one when she had her back to us. We used to go to the boiler room and smoke. Loved letting Miss Poole's tyres down on the last day!

Hi Mayjan, thought I was the only "baddy", I was allowed out on my own to do cross country runs, up to the Morris common, twice round and back again. Used to stop at the back of the toilet block for my ciggie half way round. I can chase the granddaughter for 20yds then out of puff now, lol, what a difference. Which year did you leave?