St Mary's School

I went to school at St Mary's in Lansdowne Street and the back of the school looked onto Gosford Green. I understand St Mary's no long exists. Our GP Practice was on the corner of Swan Lane and Walsgrave Road and I went to piano lessons opposite the library - happy memories.

I remember the school in Lansdowne St. I sometimes returned home from my school on the No.14a Inner Circle, where I got off at Lansdowne St, to wait for the No.7 bus to Sewall Highway. The building of the Sky Blue Way new road bulldozed so much in that area.

Well the juniors did anyway, the infants weren't so lucky. It also had a secret passageway between the assembly hall and the White Lion where the teachers could sneak out for a few Guinnesses at lunchtime I was reliably informed. That's right, the site has been completely cleared with just the outline of the buildings visible on Google Earth. The last time I saw the school in person it was in a shocking state of repair with crumbling paintwork everywhere. It would have made you weep. The infamous huts at least had been replaced by a car park.

St Mary's was a brand new school when I went there and I went straight into the Juniors. Before that St Mary's shared South Street School and I went to the Infants there (1948). After that I went to St Mary's in Raglan Street for a year before going straight into the second year at Ullathorne Girls School. I don't know why St Mary's shared with South Street - maybe the school was bombed or maybe schools shared buildings in those days. Any ideas? As for the teachers sneaking off for a Guinness I've never heard that one - I can't imagine it happening when Miss Robinson was Headmistress

I thought it might be something like that Yes, there was an explosion in the school population after the war - especially among Catholics - and the older schools simply couldn't cope with the numbers until the new ones were built in the 1950s and 1960s. I remember seeing the female teachers through the windows on the west side of the assembly hall sneaking through the narrow gap to the pub and laughing. One of them was clearly drunk in charge of her class after lunchtime but I won't name her. We used to take advantage of her while she was still in a good mood.

Youv'e got me guessing now dutchman.

It was a bit after your time there I think Tricia? Circa 1962.

Yes dutchman, in 1962 I was enjoying myself and thinking about getting married.

I spent my first year at school at St. Mary's. The only person I remember there was Mrs. Kelly - some sort of aid who really didn't like me for some reason. I'm left handed and she made me eat my food the 'right way', standing over me as I struggled. The result of this is I am a bit ambidextrous so I guess not so bad in the long run. We lived in Radford at the time but my mum worked at the BTH, I think and we came across town on two buses to my grandma's house in Wellington St. in Hillfields opposite some sort of warehouse. All of the neighbourhood kids walked to St. Mary's together, sometimes singing, and then back together in the afternoon when my mum picked me up after her shift. After that first year I moved to Christ the King into the arms of the wonderful Miss Finn who made me love school. I walked to and from Beake Avenue up to Coundon on my own every day.