The Inspiration of Brian Phythian

Home , Hugh Oldham, Oldham Parish Church

A HISTORY OF SERVICE AT MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL

IAN ORRELL

The Manchester Grammar School is a very special school because not only does it educate boys to a very high standard academically but it also tries to educate the whole person culturally while instilling a deep responsibility towards the community in which they exist.

This was first highlighted and recorded by the establishment of the Hugh Oldham’s Lads’ Club in Livesey Street, Manchester in 1888. The site was on the old Livesey Street police station. This club was for working lads in the centre of Manchester and was named after the Schools founder. It was opened by no less a person than HRH Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. This club was not merely a refuge from the streets but was for lads of 13-18 and provided them with a gymnasium and around this were to be other offerings, a savings’ bank, carpentry classes, classes for drawing, music and even elocution if desired. A billiards room was later added but by 1904 was in a parlous state as one can see by the following account in the “Annual Report” for that year but the penny bank does seem to be thriving.

The Annual Report of the “ Hugh Oldham” Lads’ Club has just been issued. The balance sheet shows a slight surplus on the year’s working but adverse balances in the past leave the club still in debt. Therefore subscriptions are earnestly appealed for, as also is the personal assistance of Old Mancunians in the task of helping and entertaining the lads during the evening. The Club was visited early this year by one who is well-known in Manchester for his efforts to ameliorate the conditions of life among the lower classes. Extracts from the report he sent to the Manchester Guardian will be interesting.

In the “charge office” to the left of the entrance, a penny bank was in full session. The youngsters deposited their coppers with as great a sense of importance as any chief clerk intrusted with the valuable commodities of a city firm. An almost preternatural brightness lighted up their features as they glanced at the foot of the column of figures, for each added penny made their Whitsuntide trip to Penmaenmawr doubly sure. The annual camp at the seaside is one of the most notable features of the Hugh Oldham Lads’ Club. It has been an institution since it was founded in 1888. There the lads enjoy themselves as only the “human boy” can do when in the company and keeping of older boys who have not outgrown the tastes and powers of their youth. Little wonder, therefore, that they prepare for the camp in the quiet time of winter. The interests of the club are not, however confined to the annual camp. After visiting the gymnasium, the refreshment room, and the draughts room, the writer gives a humorous description of the billiard room.

Next to the “gym” however, the chief interest of the place on these dark winter evenings centres in the billiard-rooms. Some of the tables are almost worthy of the pen of E.T. Reed in “Pre-historic Peeps.” They are of wondrous construction. The green cloth has long ago disappeared, and is replaced by that known as American. The cushions of one table are made of the now discarded solid rubber cycle tyres. The balls are generally of wood, and one cue does duty for the players at each table. The pockets are fine and large, and losing hazards can be made easily. Cannons are more difficult, especially when the movement of a ball is interrupted by a gap in the cycle-tyre rubber. There are three of these tables in the juniors’ room, and they each present special features of interest. Even a John Roberts would find it diverting to play with balls each of which differs in size and composition. But the boys seemed not to mind a bit. They played with zest and with not inconsiderable skill. Among all the games which have been introduced into the club that of billiards has held perennial sway and outlived them all.

He sums up his impressions and concludes as follows:—

In looking back upon the visit one is struck with the apparent absence of either rules or the necessity for them. The lads appear to use the place in the spirit in which we use our own private clubs. There was plenty of noise going on, but no disorder. I understand, however, that the Committee could well do with more assistance. Lads require to be directed and inspired or their interest speedily wanes. The harriers’ team is a great success, because it is kept well in hand. There must surely be hundreds of young men in Manchester with nothing to do after business hours in the evenings to whom the pleasures and recreations of a club like that of Livesey Street would appeal strongly. The lads to be there met are the sons of parents chiefly 3 employed in unskilled labour, but what they lack in education they make up in human interest. It is a matter of considerable regret that the club finds itself hampered in its beneficent activities through lack of funds.

In 1907, the following were added a fives court, an entertainment hall and baths for which the lads had to pay a ½d (less than ½p in today’s money but this proved to be far too expensive for many so these eventually became free. The club acted not merely as a refuge from the streets as some youth clubs do today but as an educational and recreational organisation. Initially membership cost 1d per week. If you were to think that these lads had no skills because they came from rough areas then think again. Each year MGS played chess against them and though they won, it was by no means a whitewash. In 1890, the score was MGS 7 HOLC 4½. In 1908, a Mr E. Owen from HOLC represented Britain at the Olympic Games in London.

Every year there was a collection for the club and there were occasional visits, some Membership increased rapidly and by 1919/1920 over 1,100 regular members were registered but the advent of the cinema, the Depression and the re-housing in the 1930’s caused a decline in numbers.

Camping was a tradition at the club and but for the intervention of the 1914-18 war continued unabated until 1954 when there were no applicants. However this tradition is still maintained at MGS with annual camps and treks but Penmaenmawr has given way to camps in the Lake District and Nash Court and Treks in Scotland and abroad. Interestingly, Canon Rev. David Wyatt, The Rector of St. Paul’s Church Salford, of whom you will you will read much later, still took children and families to Wales for many years, eventually preferring Rhoscollyn to these broad stretches of beach at Penmaenmawr.

Without the collections from the school the club found it difficult to survive. However from writings in the school magazine there was starting to become a disconnect between the boys and the club as many had never been down there and did not understand what or whom they were collecting for but when they did go down, they fully understood the need. Canon Wyatt remembers being taken down there with his Scout Group when a pupil at Manchester Grammar School and vividly recalls a boxing ring in the club but does not say whether he took part or not!

The school and Old Mancunians supported them financially until its demise in 1959. What part boys played in the Hugh Oldham’s Lads Club activities is uncertain but in 1959 the club closed and MGS was left without a large scale project to satisfy its social conscience.

Canon Wyatt remembers that in the 1950’s much of the “service work” was being undertaken by the Scouts. At that time MGS had 4 troops and even until the 1970’s had a couple of troops, Keith Booth being heavily involved with one of them, so there was a natural core to draw on to start a Service Group.

After the Second World there had been huge building projects in the big cities with many residents being re- housed to the then suburbs. Many moved out to places like Rusholme, Levenshulme, Longsight and Burnage and the Welfare State which was in its infancy, needed as much voluntary assistance as it could muster to help its poorer tenants with jobs such as tending their gardens or simple decorating as many could not even afford the cost of the paint.

In 1959, a teacher called Brian Phythian arrived at MGS and joined the English Department. In late 1960, Lord James asked Brian to form a new foundation which would involve boys doing voluntary work. In Spring1961 the Service Group came into existence. This was to become the model for many schools to copy although one or two boarding schools had already started doing something. To put this into some sort of national and International context, Alec Dickson who later became a CBE for his work set up VSO in 1958 and CSV (Community Service Volunteers) in 1962. Both are still in operation today.

Following VSO, other bodies set up small schemes and eventually in the4 late 1960’s the following bodies VSO, IVS (international Voluntary Service) UNA (United Nations Association and CIIR (Catholic Institute for 4

International Relations) made up the British Volunteer Programme. The first Youth Camp for Conservation in California was established in 1959. It is clear from the above that MGS was well ahead of others in its thinking.

The Manchester Grammar School’s Service Group aim was according to ULULA to offer practical help to charitable and social organisations in Manchester. Preliminary enquiries amongst these in 1961 showed that much could be done by boys, even young ones to supplement the activities of overloaded full-time workers with limited funds at their disposal and all the organisations welcomed the possibility of this assistance. ULULA records faithfully the following account of the establishment of the Service Group.

The Service Group was formed last term with the aim of offering practical help to charitable and social organisations in Manchester. Preliminary enquiries among some of these had revealed that much could be done by boys, even very young ones, to supplement the activities of overloaded full-time workers with limited funds at their disposal, and all the organisations welcomed the possibility of assistance.

The response from the School was most heartening; over 300 boys immediately enrolled, and the number has since risen to nearly 450. Many more are still needed, however, especially in North Manchester, because even 450 boys tend to be a little thin on the ground when scattered over an area bounded by Rochdale, Eccles, Wilmslow and Hyde, especially when many live so far afield that they can only be employed on secretarial duties within the School. Twenty-two members of staff have also volunteered their help, and these supervise the postal areas into which members are divided; the plan is to employ boys as near their homes as possible.

So far, boys from the School have dug the gardens for several people, including a partially-sighted couple and an elderly lady who has a double amputation of the legs, read book reviews to a blind gentleman and organised the posting of braille literature for another, done clerical work for the North Regional Association for the Deaf and assisted at the annual flag days of the Sale Old People's Welfare Committee and many Manchester branches of the National Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The Stockport Group has adopted a Country Holiday Home at Marple, run for destitute families by the Manchester Diocesan Welfare Committee, and will assist in the maintenance of the house and gardens. The University Settlement hopes to be able to use some boys, and about two dozen other organisations in Manchester have asked for details of how they can use the Service Group. Can we envisage a time when every boy in the School has enrolled? There is an immense amount to do; the Group does not ask very much time, and surely there can be few more worthwhile ways of spending part of one's leisure.

In 1962 we read that the group has reached 650 strong and that the first recorded activities of the Group were providing occasional evening entertainment for an Old people’s Hostel in Altrincham, compiling a register of old people for Swinton and Pendlebury Care of the Elderly association and redecoration of the Cathedral County home in Mellor by a party of 15 boys (who paid 15 shillings for the privilege) and two staff who took up residence during the weekend “in between hours of gargantuan eating.” This task was continued during the summer. Christmas was when MGS assistance was really in demand and Rodney House, a school for special educational needs had their Christmas Fair and it needed advertising. Elderly people in Chorlton needed frozen Christmas dinners – MGS staff and boys helped deliver them.

The formation of a Civic Trust in North-west England provided opportunities for direct action against ugliness; it is clear that around this time the infant group is finding difficulty in providing activities for all as it puts out the following statement. We exist only as an agency, and although we look for work we can only do it if we are invited. They also serve who only stand and wait

The original plan was to involve boys and staff with jobs as close to home as possible. Wilf’s (Wilf Robb -the school porter) notion that the school catchment area was divided into sectors and each boy was put into that sector seems to be pretty accurate. 5

In 1962, jobs such as digging gardens, for people including those of the partially sighted, one for a lady who was a double amputee, and reading books to the blind and organising braille literature for another, doing clerical work for the North Regional Association for the Deaf, assisting with Flag days and working with other local charitable organisations. When a job came in, it was allocated to the specific sector to complete.

In 1962, The Service Group became involved with the North West branch of the Civic Trust making the area greener, getting rid of smog and clearing bomb sites. This work led MGS to become involved for the first time in Salford clearing out some bombed sites there where according to ULULA some 35 boys began work on a two-acre site in Broughton Road. This event attracted quite extraordinary attention and was fully reported in local newspapers and three national ones, while news items were broadcast on the radio and accompanied by film on both television channels. In consequence, work progressed rather slowly at first as boys posed for photographs, allowed themselves to be interviewed, staged unlikely scenes for cameramen and accepted advice from no less a person than the City Engineer on the best way to use a pick-axe. Even the presence of the local policeman and later, of a ‘Z car’ could not prevent the presence of the entire population from being something of an encumbrance, though on the other hand they very kindly gave us tea and a local headmaster who happened to pass put his school at our disposal for shelter and toilet facilities. When the excitement subsided, work moved quickly so that at the end of the second day we had completed the preliminary work of clearing rubble from the site, demolishing a 100 yard wall, replacing it with a safer and more slightly embankment and loading several lorries with the resultant debris.

This was just one of the projects, another was on Chapel Street which was redesigned as a garden by Mr John Bell, (one time Head of Art at MGS) with a plaque stating that it was planned by Manchester Grammar School. Sadly the garden no longer exists as redevelopment has now taken place on Chapel Street but both Mr Orrell and Dr Lock saw the garden whilst doing work in Salford in the 1990’s. We have had a number of emails about this but sadly no reproducible photos as yet. Laurence Copeland remembers helping to construct this with Robert Russell Davies, Ian Mellor, Dave Roberts and Rob Wilson and says they were visited by a TV crew from one of the local channels. The sculpture was by Donald MacRae and was put on a plinth supplied by Mr Maxfield.

The following article appeared in the Guardian on 11th July 1963:

Donald’s “quickie” will brighten city

Council officials are delighted with the design for a huge sculpture which will dominate a new garden on derelict land in Salford. Today it was learned it is the work of a 17 year-old schoolboy who “dashed it off during a dinner break.”

But Manchester Grammar School sixth-former Donald MacRae, who was making his first attempt at abstract sculpture is no long-haired type. He is keen on sailing and is a cross-country and half-mile runner in the school athletics team. His ambition is to be an architect.

SERVICE GROUP

Since his parents recently moved to Sunderland, Donald now lives with relatives in St. James’s Grove, Timperley Cheshire. Senior Art Master Mr. John Bell described the design as “a very good piece of work for a boy of his age”. The sculpture which is free from motive and representation will be created in the school art department next term. It is hoped that the dark cement work on a steel frame will be erected in October against the wall of William Deacon’s Bank at the junction of Chapel Street and Irwell Street, Salford. About 150 boys in the Manchester Grammar School Service Group working in 20 shifts have singly begun clearing the Salford site and laying out a garden to the design of Mr Bell.

CYPRESS TREES

When completed it will have a curved lawn area, an area of gravel, two benches and several cypress trees.. There will also be a retaining wall flanking the pavement. Mr. D,B. Phythian, an English teacher at the school who is in charge of the Salford project, said they hoped to tackle other sites in Salford in a similar way at the rate of one a year. But the “face-lift gang” are not likely to do any work in Manchester. “Manchester Corporation has not been interested” said Mr. Phythian.

In Oldham, a complete census was taken of the elderly people living in the Lees area at the request of the Lees Old Age Pensioners Welfare Organisation. The Cheadle Group whitewashed the cellar of the recuperative centre, Brentwood and an article which appeared in the TES Supplement attracted interest from as far afield as Australia and the Isle of Wight which suggested that other institutions were contemplating establishing their own Service Groups. John Horsfield a one-time teacher at MGS and ex solicitor at Manchester City Council has furnished me with the information that Brian had a meeting with Alastair Macbeth of Aldenham School in 1965 at Manchester Grammar School as Alastair was keen to find out more about the Service Group. The outcome of that meeting was that he was so enthused that he convinced his Head at Aldenham to start a Service Group there. Brian would be pleased to know that this Group at Aldenham is still functioning well today.

In 1962, we find some immense kindness raising its head as a Sixth Former acts as a chauffeur for a crippled lady to enable her to visit her husband in hospital

In the early years of the Service Group, decorating by an Interior Decor Group was very important but in 1963 new ideas were coming to the fore. We find that Dram. Soc. is involved for the first time in reading extracts from short plays to patients at Prestwich Hospital. MGS also helped various organisations complete a census of their area to discover people in need. Also in !963, The Music Department headed by Mr Cawthra, took some musicians including the Memorial Hall Choir to the Dob Lane Club for Handicapped people in Failsworth and put on a musical evening for 60 people. The idea of census taking appeared to be spreading and also the idea of collecting for other outside charitable organisations. Work on Brentwood has now been completed.

In the Summer ULULA of 1963 one reads of “many complaints about being insufficient work for boys to do even though snow clearing had been added to the list of jobs because of the dreadful winter of ‘63. This again coincides with what Wilf remembers because according to him in 1964 the Lord Mayor of Manchester established a Youth Service Scheme and many of the jobs which had been allocated to us then went straight to them.

Later one finds that when you read the ULULA reports the diversity of activities suddenly start to subside dramatically but also some of its driving forces, Mr Bowles in particular, leaves for pasture new. In 1965, we find that Chi-Rho has assumed the visiting of Elderly People in Bradford and the middle school Christian Association has cleared a derelict site in Newton Heath in preparation for House building under the Cathedral Development Scheme. Interior decorating is still in heavy demand. Between 1965 and 1970 there is little to report in Ulula save one article from Bill Barton highlighting that the interior decorating group is still in existence but not in such heavy demand and some gardening requests are being received by some people in real poverty.

Although Brian Phythian was still here, he was now Head of English and had little time for Community work also many of those he had depended on had now had left in particular the effervescent organisation man JM Bowles but also John Gray, David Bryant, Dai Tomley to name but a few and so the Service group started to decline in numbers and in activities. It was time for a new man and a new view and so the Group passed on to Bill Barton.

In 1969, The Service Group is helping to paper over some of the very real cracks that exist in our imperfect Welfare State. It was in 1966 that one of the most serendipitous events took place in the life of the Service Group. David Lawton, a student who had only just left MGS was encouraged to write a report of his time visiting elderly people in the back streets of Bradford, a suburb of Manchester. This article appeared in The Guardian in April 1966. David had chosen this area because he came through it on his way to school from Stalybridge. His father had died at a very young age and so was very grateful to MGS and Cheshire County Council for their support. He knew all about poverty as many of his friends lived in two-up two-down properties some with no bathroom or hot water. He became involved with the Bradford Mission and later with the great Alec Dickson, a name synonymous with Community Service Volunteers. I mentioned the word serendipitous earlier because this article was read by Ian Orrell who at that time was a student at Loughborough University studying Industrial Chemistry. He had previously had nothing to do with MGS, though he lived in Whitefield near Bury and had attended Bury Grammar School being involved with service work there under the Head of RE John Bisson. He was so impressed with the article that he cut it out and kept it little thinking that this article might influence his life in a rather large way later on.

You can read the whole article in full in Appendix 1

In 1970, Brian Phythian left Manchester Grammar School, after becoming Head of English in 1965 to become Headmaster of Langley Park School, Beckenham. But to think of Brian as just a teacher of English or the originator of The Service Group at Manchester Grammar School is to do him a huge injustice because he was so much more than that. Colin Dobson wrote a superb profile of him in ULULA in 1970 and I paraphrase it here. Lord James was very proud of Brian’s efforts in founding the Service Group – he did a brilliant job and it is still going 60 years later.

Brian was an innovator and a leader of versatility and distinction. He loved drama and wrote several booklets on Drama in Lancashire and he took it upon himself to either be involved in or direct at least 2 shows a year to a very high standard. He played many parts in the school plays alongside his friend and colleague, Bert Parnaby who later played parts on TV in Blackadder and Juliet Bravo but who sadly died in 1992. Brian encouraged boys to act playlets for some patients at Prestwich Mental Hospital and he devoted his time and energy into establishing a first rate Service Group. Brian was not afraid to express his opinion and his argument with Kenneth Tynan in the Guardian was witness to this. He was a keen musician and had his own Brass band but he also loved sport though I can find no mention of him playing it. He followed Manchester United with a passion. He organised frequent trips to London and if this was not enough then he also was responsible for administering the Entrance Exam, Open Days, the 450th Anniversary celebrations, school concerts, in addition to being a tutor at Owens Park, He was also involved with the Youth and Community Service, NW Association of the Arts, University Theatre Association, Manchester Youth Theatre, Lancashire County Drama and the Manchester Association of Teachers of English. Quite a busy person I think you will agree but he does seem to have found time to have put Saturday afternoon aside in the winter months to support his beloved Manchester United.

To achieve what Brian Phythian did during his time at MGS was absolutely amazing. He must have had boundless energy and dynamism allied to great organisational ability and good inter-personal skills otherwise the jobs which were tackled simply would never have been contemplated. To initiate The Service Group, for it to become a model for others to follow is one thing but whether a plant flourishes depends upon its root system and the fact that the Service Group (now Community Action) continues to flourish 60 years hence speaks volumes for its founder and creator. The TV episodes with boys involved in Salford and Bradford were memorable and in 1966 he was responsible yet again for ushering a harassed Lord Mayor of Manchester around an East Manchester slum. I am sure he would have done this quite marvellously and with such graciousness.

From 1969 to 1972, Bill Barton took over the running of The Service Group and it is clear from the accounts given in ULULA that numbers have now fallen away though the number of projects are still quite varied.

When writing this document one feature that stands out time and again about the people who run Community Service is their versatility and their contributions to school life in many fields apart from their devotion to Community Service. Bill Barton was no exception and Keith Booth writes of him as follows in his leaving profile.

Bill Barton leaves after eight years' service to the School. Few men have given so much for so little tangible reward. He has devoted his time and energy unstintingly to a wide variety of out of school activities. From the outset he was in charge of a soccer team, and for the last three years has been in overall control of this, the School's major sport. His trumpet, now matured into a sousaphone, was first heard in the Band back in the Phythian era, and when BAP left it was natural that Bill should take over the organisation of the Band, including the two visits to the F.cole Alsacienne. His musicianship has also been in evidence in the Choral Society, where he has been one of the mainstays of the tenor section. Bill has always been a keen outdoor man. In his previous appointment at Wolverhampton he had been a Scouter, and his valuable camping knowledge was put to good use for two years at Nash Court, as well as at Troop Two camp in 1966. Regular October half-term hostelling/hiking trips with his form led to the creation of the Pennine Walk in 1970, and the continuation of the same theme in the Wales Walks of 1971-73. How in the welter of these activities, Bill found time to co-produce three plays, which demands total commitment for the term, is something of a mystery. Indeed it was in the Mystery Plays of summer 1971 that his skill as a producer was perhaps best seen, though Cinderella in 1969 and Blood and Thunder in 1972 reinforce the impression. Yet another time-consuming activity was the running of the Service Group, arguably the most demanding of out of school activities, for two years.

Within the English department, Bill is by far the longest serving member. He has been responsible for the smooth introduction from outside of two new heads of department, and was actually in charge, with Richard Cox, of the department in the Phythian-Lushington interregnum. He was also one of the Phythian whizz-kids of circa 1968 who wrote jointly an English department book, 'Considering Poetry', which has become virtually a standard work on the subject of poetry criticism. Bill has been one of the most congenial and generous of colleagues. A mark of the respect in which he is held by the Common Room is the number of committees on which he has been invited to sit. With his wife Joan he has been lavish in his hospitality to colleagues, boys and old boys, and this despite the difficult period following the serious accident to their elder daughter, Vicki, over three years ago. The courage in face of adversity shown by them both is an example to all. Ironically, it is only a year since the Barton family moved from Sale to Whalley Range, partly for the sake of Vicki's special education at the Lancasterian School, but also to be nearer to the School which has become so much a part of their lives. It is good to know that Bill's appointment to be head of English at Stockport School, which he so richly deserves, will not rob us entirely of him and his family.

When Bill left in 1972 Keith Booth states of Bill in his leaving profile “that the Service Group is arguably the most demanding of out-of-school activities.”

Ian Ross writes of the time when he took over from Bill in 1972:

Some ten years ago, when the Service Group was formed, this school found that it was doing pioneer work, for although the Universities had long been involved in social work this had not happened very frequently through schools. In the initial stages service was understood in a very direct way—an old lady needed visiting, a crippled family needed help with the decorating. This was and still is a vital aspect of the work of the Service Group. Entertainment then developed as a second interest—whether by the band at a mental hospital or by a concert play at an old people's home or by the Christian Music Group at a Children's home. The past decade has seen enormous changes take place in Manchester. There are changes resulting from migration—people moving from the city centre and people moving into the city from distant places. And there are the changes resulting from technology— redevelopment, bringing enormous upheavals to the lives of many, and a growing awareness of pollution. Now we find volunteers involved in teaching immigrants English, in cleaning up old and forgotten canals, in assisting at play centres, in renovating old

9 houses for use by the homeless, in helping regularly in children's homes or old people's homes .. . the range of tasks tackled by volunteers has developed a long way beyond gardening and decorating. It is my hope that through the service Group members of the school may have the chance of volunteering to assist in a range of tasks both more numerous and more varied than before.

Ian Ross

The past year has been a moderately successful one for the Service Group. Policy decisions and administration have been the responsibility of the Service Group Council. This is a body consisting of twelve sixth formers and two staff members, which meets every Monday lunch time. It is the task of this Council to discuss every new kind of job that the school is asked to undertake, and then, if the job is approved, to find volunteers through the notice board and personal approach. Sometimes a school society or a form is asked to accept a job. Three members of the Council represent the school on the Manchester Youth and Community Service where there is a sharing of experience between persons from different schools and planning of jobs to be done by teams made up of students from several schools.

This was The Service Group I knew when I joined MGS in 1973, writes IWO. The philosophy had now changed from doing the large jobs to helping people in the community. Principally because there were so many who needed some form of assistance and the local council was being overwhelmed by requests for assistance whether it was for help with gardening or decorating or help in special schools or local hospitals.

In 1974, we read in ULULA that matters have taken a turn for the worse and that

“Attitudes within the school are a constant hindrance. Whether in the staff's grudging toleration or the boys' complacent scepticism, voluntary work seems to be regarded as a second-class activity against music, sport or the curriculum. As yet, few have the willingness to accept the Service Group as a serious, let alone necessary, feature of school life. Apparently, the school prefers to be an artificial community, rather than serve a real one.”

The work which Ian Ross carried out with the boys was varied but always challenging and some made marvellous efforts to entertain residents in residential homes with puppetry, music, poetry and monologues. Others were involved with decorating and this opportunity was extended to the other independent Girls’ schools in the area. The Birches School was included in our regular Games lessons with the middle school when a form reserve team (left-overs) would play them. This made for a close game.

In truth, Ian was a very hard act to follow, he had demanded a lot from his students and according to Peter Laycock he was aware of the privilege of the independent school and felt it should commit as much as possible to the benefit of everyone’s local community, not just the local neighbourhood. Ian was a marvellous school Chaplain, always ready to listen and very sympathetic no matter what difficulty that person was enduring. He could be turbulent at times but those times were usually when his deep personal convictions were being challenged – not a bad fault. Ian had started to build a very dedicated group of boys who would regularly turn out for various community activities, no matter how challenging. I remember going with Ian to decorate an elderly lady’s house in Ardwick. She had 14 cats. Everywhere you looked there was cat litter. Ian persuaded her that if she allowed the council to take away 12 of her cats then we would decorate her house free of charge. She agreed but cleaning the house was a real challenge but the Sixth Form Boys and Girls were quite marvellous and the job was completed in 3 sessions.

Peter Laycock’s profile of Ian is well worth a read and I attach it from Ulula in full.

During his time in Manchester Ian Ross has been as much a person of the school as of his local community in that he committed himself with equal vigour to both for fifteen years. After gaining a first class degree in Electrical Engineering at Manchester University, National Service at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham and theological training at Westcott House, Cambridge. Ian won a scholarship to the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge Massachusetts. This was extended to allow him to serve initially as a lay curate in the diocese of Eastern Oregon and subsequently to travel widely to visit summer camps for refugees. He returned to England for 3 years’ service as Curate at Oldham Parish Church and thence as Secretary to the Student Christian Movement in London and as a BBC staff member.

It was with this background and with his delightful American wife and a young family that he came to MGS in 1969. Characteristically, he bought a house in Old Trafford and both Jean and Ian threw themselves into the life of the community and into the Guide movement and Ian into a major movement with the local council of churches, Christian Aid and scouting. The troop took much of his time and was very important to him. In addition to the usual meetings, he arranged many outdoor activities - canoeing, potholing, and notably a minor camp in Switzerland.

He did not neglect the School. Camping was pursued in his leadership of Nash Court, and from his very early days, Ian organised Lower School Assembly where his integrity in developing themes of study and a variety of methods of presentation was outstanding. Much of the vigour and style of present Lower School Assembly was inspired by Ian Ross, as indeed was the development of a separate Lower School Founders’ Day Service.

It was on occasions such as these that the school caught a glimpse of Ian as a priest. Many people – especially the non-teaching staff – had a more private contact, for perhaps Ian’s greatest and yet least known contribution was as an unofficial Chaplain to the whole of the School community day by day. He cared passionately for the welfare of all who served the school and his concern, practical advice, conduct of funeral services and willingness to share in the personal vicissitudes of each of us, particularly in times of stress was of immense consolation to many. He made time, as few do, to listen.

Academically, he developed a number of courses at all levels throughout the school especially related to “Man in the Community” For some years he ran a Sixth Form minority Option course “Social Services today.” in which Senior boys were seconded by Old People’s, Children’s and Remand homes in their own time using scheduled periods to report to one another . This was an extension to the Service Group which he led, sustained and developed for a number of years. In this is reflected another of Ian’s major concerns. He knew full well that this is not a community school drawing from and serving an adjacent local area but he felt very strongly that it should contribute as fully as possible to the welfare of those in its immediate neighbourhood. He fought hard for this ideal both in discussion and by his own work and influence. Intellectually and emotionally Ian was aware of the privilege of the independent school set in a city environment wrestling with housing, unemployment and social problems. It created a tension in him and he was intolerant of easy

11 complacency. He always questioned assumptions and thus served as both conscience and a catalyst in the areas in which he was involved. Ian leaves to become Vicar of the Abbey Church in Shrewsbury and we wish Ian, Jean, David, Elizabeth and Peter, God speed. He goes with our sincere thanks and leaves happy memories of fifteen years of contribution in this place. He will be sorely missed.

From the time of Ian Ross’s relinquishment of this position in 1977, the Service group took breath for a couple of years whilst continuing with the excellent work which Ian had started. David Matthews(German) took over for a year before becoming Head of German elsewhere. I always wonder what Ian must have thought of others taking over when he did not leave for a further five years, until 1984.

David Matthews came to MGS in 1971 as a German teacher and also had a fearsome reputation for his proficiency at lacrosse. This unfortunately went unfulfilled for almost as soon as he arrived. Lacrosse started to be wound down as a school sport. Nevertheless David threw himself into other things notably the Service Group which he took charge of once Ian Ross decided that he needed to relinquish the position which he had occupied for many years. David continued with much of what had gone on before, particularly with the Birches and the “patterning” of severely brain-damaged children to help them move their limbs, a step which had been missed out in their early development and any assistance was gratefully received especially when some children were reaching the ages of 10 plus and their joints needed considerable strength to manoeuvre.

Ian Orrell took over in 1979 and continued in this post until his retirement in 2007. CLR James said in, “Beyond a Boundary.” “We know nothing, nothing at all, of the results of what we do to children.” Yet we as teachers at Manchester Grammar School believe passionately that whatever the subject is that we teach whether it be the sciences, the arts, classics, humanities, philosophy, craft or sport we try to impart some degree of love for that subject and put it into context in the modern-day world so that those with a discerning mind can fully value it. Few of us realise what impact our teaching has upon our students’ lives unless we meet them later in life and they confess. We do it, not because we want praise but because we believe we are passing on something of lasting benefit and importance to our students. So my approach to the teaching of Community Service was from a Christian standpoint; “Love thy neighbour as thyself”. Whether I succeeded or not only those who came into contact with those Community Action lessons are able to comment?

I believe passionately that involvement in one’s local community is an important and integral part of growing up. Not only do you learn to understand the problems facing others in daily life in society but you also devise strategies that will alleviate these problems. You became part of the solution.

Mahatma Gandhi said that “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”

There were a number of highlights which gave me great satisfaction. The first was that by the time I left Community Action was now well-supported throughout the school and Common Room.

The second was meeting Canon David Wyatt, what an inspirational figure! I will never forget the morning I turned up with a group of Sixth formers to carry out work in his parish to discover that he had been giving asylum to some villains overnight because the local police said it was not safe to keep them in their cells overnight. That evening the Wyatt’s house had been fired upon and we found the police combing the area for shell-cases. The terrified victims had hidden beneath a table in David’s study and were just too ready to give themselves up. The boys were suitably impressed. The kindness and selflessness displayed by David and Helen Wyatt is legendary and Salford will be the poorer once they decide finally to retire. The highlight of my time at MGS was visiting Canon David Wyatt and his wife and working in their parish. No matter what mood you were in you always came away feeling better for visiting them. They have the capacity to make you feel wanted and indispensable.

The Salford Project all started from a meeting we had one lunchtime in S7. About 3 boys turned up, I coerced another 4 or so and a few more drifted in. The speaker was an OM, Nick Bent who had been working with a vicar in an inner-city parish in Salford. The vicar in question was Canon David Wyatt. The reception Nick received was amazing. You have to assist was the response the Sixth Formers said to me and so started the most amazing relationship we have had which has now been ongoing for 30 years. David is still there as Rector and so is his wife, Helen but at 80 they are not running around as fast as they used to!

In this time, MGS has run many different coffee morning groups, distributed Harvest gifts around the parish as well as Christmas presents, been involved with the Urban Oasis project, planting hedges, fundraising, purchasing curtains, organising dinners for guests as well as decorating and gardening and establishing paired reading schemes in local primary schools and refereeing evening football matches. The Art Department also designed a mural for St Paul’s Primary School.

There is one item which needs a little more description and that is the Blackpool trip. This involved taking children who have never seen the sea before to Blackpool Pleasure beach and on to Fleetwood to experience the sand and sea with Sixth Formers from MGS and other independent schools. Every child was supervised on a 1:1 basis but some of their supervisors would not meet them until they met up with the coach in Blackpool. It was a nightmare to organise but so worthwhile and everyone who was involved loved it except me, the organiser who always feared the worst. John Tuckett, a one-time School Captain described it as the hardest days’ work he ever had to do but he would do it again tomorrow. The children always had a marvellous day out as it involved rides at the Pleasure beach, fish and chip lunch, games in the afternoon and even more food later on. They always came back absolutely full and run off their feet and in some cases so were the supervisors who had to chase them out to the sea at Fleetwood about 400m away and then literally drag them back.

In 1988, the arrival of Ralph Mainard as Head of Philosophy enabled me to take on a new role with The National Working Party on Community Action. Ralph had been Head of Community Action at Leeds GS and was one of the leading lights on the HMC National Working Party on Community Action and they needed new blood. At that time The HMC National Working Party on Community Action was largely dominated by schools in the South of England. Almost as soon as he arrived he ensured that I should become involved with it and as luck would have it the venue for our National Conference on Community Service backed out and Ashbourne Hall, Manchester was selected for our next conference. I became part of the organising team and from that moment on I had a new job – Conference Organiser! I sat on the Working Party from 1990 - 2007 and in 2004, became Chairman of the then ISC National Working Party on Community Action introducing a National Policy for Independent Schools on Health & Safety for those involved with Community Action. I also established a NW branch of Independent Schools and organised 1-day training conferences for them.

Two innovations which really caught on and which pleased me the most were the introduction of school ties for Community Action, these were designed by the students and were awarded to those who had given outstanding service throughout the year at a Special Assembly – rather like a colours ceremony. The other was the introduction of the Millennium Volunteer Scheme into our work. This acknowledged the voluntary work which all boys were doing in their communities especially religious ones. The number of boys joining CA increased enormously and the variety of jobs being undertaken was amazing. Some boys achieved well over 200 hours voluntary work within the year in addition to their homework and still managed grade A’s! Unfortunately the Millennium Volunteers scheme became fragmented and was disbanded in 2008.

Another important development in the 1980’s came in creating links between MGS and Manchester City Council especially when there was a hard left wing aspect to their politics. The first link started with our work with The Birches School when boys used to spend their lunchtimes “patterning” brain-damaged children. One day we were given the task of having to pattern a 14year old boy who was blind, had limited hearing and was incontinent and was unable to walk without support. My heart sank but the boys just said "Well, are we helping him or not?" The response was immediate and one felt very humble. 13

Because of our involvement with the school and as one of the largest employers in the area MGS was then invited to send a representative to sit on their Governing Body. The High Master asked if I would do it and this I did for many years for a time acting and a long and fruitful partnership was established.

In 1985, a Munro Marathon was held, The Staff and pupils raised sufficient money, around £8000 to purchase a Soft Play environment for the Birches children. Eventually the Birches moved from its home on Birchfields Road to Withington to be replaced on Dickenson Road by another special school “The Grange School” This school specialised in children who suffered from autism. Here was a new challenge and one which MGS students readily accepted. We tried to accommodate some of their most able students especially their very bright computer kids. Alas this led to failure as their star pupil crashed the MGS network within seconds. Mr Duffy was not amused. New friendships were formed and the children loved having MGS students coming in and assisting them with their work. Their Deputy Head, Mrs Apps often came to MGS to talk about the challenges of autism. Because of this success it then became easier to enter into other Education Authority controlled schools to assist with Paired reading both at lunchtimes and during Option periods and many fruitful links were developed.. The initial link being in Moss-Side at Holy Name RC P.S. on Denmark Road.

It was in this year 1985 that we decided that the original name “Service Group” needed rebranding as service had that “upstairs/downstairs” ring to it. So Community Action was born and what was interesting was that many other independent schools where Community Service was carried out followed suit as the term “Community Service” had become associated with the legal system and a term of punishment for offenders.

Another feature which really assisted with the development of Community Action at MGS was the reorganisation of the Sixth Form Timetable to accommodate sufficient periods of General Studies time in which Games was a possibility and Community Action became a distinct possibility as well but this needed careful and considerate timetabling and for that I am deeply grateful to both Philip Schofield and Neil Sheldon who made my task so much easier by acquiescing to difficult demands. This meant that now Sixth Form projects could start in the Community rather than at school. It made this particular option different from any other, you were involved with the lives of real people. Paired Reading Schemes were started up in various Primary Schools in the Inner-City, Work in Salford started to be incorporated here Work in Secondary Schools -Ducie HS established here (worked well for 3 years) and during this time we were fortunate to meet HRH Prince Charles at Ducie HS.

We did manage Training days for NW independent schools in between those years for National Conferences and these were well attended even with even some state schools attending. Enthusiasm for regular meetings to discuss a programme of events to be carried out on was limited. All schools did co-operate though with the Blackpool trip when we took Salford children there for a memorable day out and many Sixth Form boys and girls will take home lasting memories of those trips as will the children themselves.

John Willson has written as follows:

Ian’s contribution to the Service Group and Community Action programme at MGS was outstanding and unparalleled. Over 30 years he was the co-ordinator, guiding light and principal architect of the scheme, making it one of the jewels in the crown of MGS. His enthusiasm and commitment continues – and now 12 years into retirement he is the initiator and principal author of this comprehensive review.

Ian arrived in the Chemistry Department in 1973 after a short career in the dyestuffs industry. Very soon his teaching was extended to include religious studies and he threw himself into many extra-curricular activities such as the Practical Scientific Group, football, cricket and trekking.

Curiously, through reading a memorable article in the then Manchester Guardian, Ian was aware of an embryonic Voluntary Service scheme at this school seven years before he arrived at MGS. On his appointment he immediately became involved with the Service Group by arranging visits of boys to Prestwich Mental Hospital and Ardwick Tramps' Centre whilst organising other groups to do gardening for the elderly and disabled or giving concert parties in residential homes. Soon he had built up a close collaboration with the Birches Special School, where he was invited to become a governor, and he played a major role in helping Geoff Chandler raise £8,000 for play equipment through the staff Munro Marathon. It was here that he introduced MGS pupils to ‘Patterning’ to help brain-damaged children. The diversity of pupil involvement continued to grow through paired reading in several local primary schools, student mentoring at Ducie College and providing one-to-one helpers for the annual day trips to Malham or Blackpool with the Manchester Children's Adventure Group. This initiative resulted in MGS winning First Prize as area winner in NatWest’s Project Respond. In the same year he established the Fallowfield Brow Care Group whilst continuing to be involved with Bethesda Garden Fete.

Probably the most significant initiative of the whole panoply of activities was working with Canon David Wyatt at St. Paul's in Salford. Through this partnership, over more than two decades, manyents gained experience of what life is like for the elderly, blind or immobile residents of an inner-city area. As part of the General Studies option scheme they made twice weekly visits to day care centres and to homes in high rise flats whilst others acted as teaching assistants in schools deprived of the facilities that are taken for granted at MGS. At Christmas or the time of Harvest Festival, students criss-crossed Salford with much-appreciated gifts collected within MGS and through all this interaction many potential doctors gained a wealth of caring experience which undoubtedly was of crucial benefit in winning places at medical school.

The success of this massive programme became known to many other independent schools and they contacted Ian for advice about setting up similar arrangements based on the MGS model. Soon there was a national organisation to support Community Action programmes throughout the country and abroad and Ian played a leading role in this initiative. He chaired this group and initiated a series of biannual national Community Action conferences addressed by figures of international repute such as Professor Heinz Wolff talking about Rehabilitation of the Disabled and Reverend David Shepherd, Bishop of Liverpool talking about the problems of Inner-City living.

Later speakers included Sally Trench talking about her work with refugee children in war-torn Bosnia and Terry Waite describing his involvement with the Emmaus Charity. These conferences were attended by representatives from dozens of schools and institutions from throughout the UK – the 2003 event had 180 participants from 75 independent schools.

This was the magnificent legacy that Ian left to MGS after three decades of loyal service and an outstanding commitment to provide care in the community in as many ways as possible. This was exemplified in his first year of retirement when he walked from Land’s End to John O’Groats and raised £6000 for Emmaus Salford – a homeless charity to which he gave a massive amount of time over the next decade.

In July 2009 the Commission issued its judgement that MGS fulfils its charitable aims, providing public benefit not just through the education of boys within the School but also through our work with the wider community. The work which Community Action did was widely referred to as “the jewel in the crown” by senior management.

Perhaps the best way of concluding this review of Ian’s contribution is to reprint part of the 2007 Ulula account of Community Action in the year of Ian’s retirement from MGS. It was written by a colleague Ashley Hern. However, this report cannot finish without acknowledging the enormous contribution made by Ian Orrell over the last 30 years.

Ian's hard work and vision has led to MGS Community Action being recognised as the one the leading programmes of its sort throughout the UK. When Ian arrived, MGS was viewed with antipathy by the local 15 population. Now, we have excellent relations with almost all the neighbouring schools and MGS is highly regarded all over Greater Manchester for more than exam results. Ian cares deeply about those who are marginalised in our society and rather than wring his hands he developed an applied philosophy of putting good intentions into positive use. His commitment to helping the work of Canon David Wyatt at St Paul's Parish meant he has obtained almost saint-like status in Salford. Ian will hate me expressing it that way as he is such a self-effacing man, but he has lain awake at night in the past worrying about the problems people face living in one of the poorest areas in the country. His work has involved him organising boys to move furniture, paint walls, deliver Christmas presents and entertain elderly people who can no longer get out of their front doors without considerable assistance. While Ian was a dynamo in Salford, he also helped develop close links with local primary schools beyond attracting talented pupils to sit the entrance exam. His innovative approach developed assisted reading in primary schools and pupil mentoring in secondary schools. Ian is always concerned with the individual. He once searched hard to find an MGS boy who could speak Farsi, so a young Iranian boy at a local primary school would have someone to talk to. The boy went from a quiet, alienated fellow to a happy, confident and outgoing child within weeks. Ian continued his work at the Birches by developing close links with the Grange School for Children with Autism which moved into the Dickinson Road site in 1999. Now scores of boys gain experience of autism every year from visiting and working at the school.

I shall leave the final words to a former pupil who contacted the school when he heard of Ian's retirement: 'Mr Orrell never pushed pupils into volunteering and yet he was there to support and assist if anyone came forward to help. I remember when he brought round the first Community Action school ties and how happy I was that at last the school was willing to recognise something beyond individual excellence. Being one of the very first to receive one, I remember always wearing it with a certain degree of pride. Always behind the scenes, helping, coordinating and assisting, it's hard to think of MGS Community Action without Mr Orrell. I would like to thank him for the opportunities he gave me to give something back to the greater community.'”

In the summer of 2007, Ashley Hern took over from Ian and change occurred as inevitably it would but not wholesale. The venues such as Salford and The Schools were retained and the Millennium volunteers scheme was as popular as ever with several boys notching up more than 400 hours voluntary service.

This year saw MGS boys continue their work at the Chinese centre as English teachers. There was also a Manchester Youth Ambassador trip to Wuhan, China. And this included many MGS pupils and staff and they have produced a booklet of their visit.

Different schools were also included in our paired work programme in particular Gorton Mount – an area we had not covered previously. Roger Hand finally retired but his driving skills were still appreciated at Christmas as only Roger knows all the streets and short-cuts in Salford!

In 2009, the partnership with the Manchester Chinese Centre continued to thrive with several boys visiting China in the summer to teach English at Tingshuia University through the Youth Ambassador scheme. Two very popular TEFL courses were run during October half-term where 30 boys gained a 20 hour certificate allowing them to teach English as a foreign language abroad, so hopefully this will be put to some profitable use in the very near future. Over 20 boys achieved the Vinvolved 50 hour award, a far more rigorous certification process than the Millennium Volunteers scheme it replaced, making us the largest participant in Manchester.

In 2010, it is good to see that the Sixth Form Committee started in my time was now playing an increasingly more influential part in the running of Community Action and with some very impressive results. The following Year Ashley Hern wrote a brief synopsis of 50 years of Community Service at Manchester Grammar School. Community Action was now an integral part of the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme.

So what has changed in all those years? The type of work has changed to suit the times we live in. In the former years, it is fair to say that MGS assisted HOLC by donating money but really it was not a hands-on type of service. Now since the inception of The Service Group, boys and staff have involved themselves more in direct assistance and the temporary solution of problems. Yes we still do the large jobs but time is precious these days. We tend to dovetail into organisations who are providing the administration and we provide the raw labour. Millennium Volunteers was excellent for MGS boys in this capacity as they could provide all manner of outlets for boys over a city-wide area. Local working changed from gardening and decorating to working in Primary schools where we assisted with Paired work and we do some extra- curricular secondary work in languages. Boys in the Sixth Form were expected to do Community Work especially if they had designs of becoming a doctor or a vet during my time now everyone is via The Pledge. A brilliant idea. The school still values the outstanding work which Staff and boys carry out in the community outside and rightly so.

So what will the future of Service be at Manchester Grammar School? The provision of facilities and funding was Manchester Grammar School’s way of recognising that it had a duty to assist those who were less fortunate than themselves though this was never written down. This benevolent attitude towards its non- teaching staff was obvious from the moment you walked into the school in 1973. The non-teaching staff loved the school, many had been there years, some were highlighted on the front cover of the school magazine in 1973 the year I joined MGS In the teaching of science for example we were so fortunate in having 3 highly qualified technicians who each served the school for over 45 years. Not many members of staff serve that long! What a school, what loyalty.

I am particularly pleased that Community Action has now been recognised on the School website and that MGS boys now sign a pledge to assist others in the community. This certainly was never even mentioned in the 2007 Independent School Yearbook! How times have changed. I am particularly pleased to see the increasingly important roles Sixth Formers are playing in the community at large and in Community Action. Long may it continue.

Martin Stephen always said it well “Let us not be afraid to be carers in an uncaring world.” A good motto for all involved in Community Action.

Let us hope that the next 60 years of Community Action at MGS are as interesting, as exciting and as much fun as the previous 60 years have been.

Ian Orrell 28/3/21

Snippets

Running Community Action is a huge privilege and often is quite a serious business as you are dealing with peoples’ lives their troubles as well as their joys. The following are a few of those occasions which offer an insight into the work of Community Action. Some are humorous, some are not.

The first happened when I was but a raw recruit to The Service Group under the auspices of Rev. Ian Ross. I was responsible for running a group of boys who visited mental patients at Prestwich Hospital on Sunday afternoon. This was in the days before mobile phones.

One boy, John was coming all the way from Oldham and we were to meet up at 2.15 outside the Hospital. He was told to catch either the 95 or 96 bus from Piccadilly gardens. They ran every 10 minutes. At 2.15 we were all assembled except John. The boys went in with my wife and I waited outside for John 2.30 no John 2.45 still no John so I gave up and went in myself as we were leaving at 4.30 who should walk up the drive but John ,“Sorry, I am late Sir, I got the wrong bus” “Which bus did you get? “The 94” “Where on earth does that go to? “Southern Cemetery, Sir” and for those who do not know Manchester that is diametrically in the opposite direction to Prestwich. But what impressed me was that he had taken the trouble still to turn up. Not many would have bothered. He then had to turn around and go all the way back to Oldham!

The first school with which we were involved in a Paired Reading/work scheme was Holy Name PS in Moss Side. On one occasion a Sixth Former mentioned that he was playing cricket that afternoon at Bolton. “Where’s that?” Oh it’s just on the other side of Manchester he replied. Is it far to the other side of Manchester the young boy said?

Yet another occasion when I took a group of 7 new Sixth formers down for the first time. They were introduced to the class of 6yr olds and I was sat next to a young black girl. She then counted them 1234567 no black. I was dumbstruck. The group was a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, Asian and Jewish boys but quite correctly no black. It was my first insight into how some pupils view colour.

The provision of facilities and funding was Manchester Grammar School’s way of recognising that it had a duty to assist those who were less fortunate than themselves though this was never written down. This benevolent attitude towards its non-teaching staff was obvious from the moment you walked in to the school. The non-teaching staff loved the school, many had been there years, some were highlighted on the front cover of the school magazine. When was the last time?

I visited an elderly lady in Salford who was wheel-chair bound as she had only one leg. She was a cheerful soul and loved to have “the boys” go in for a chat. One day she asked if she could see me and she announced that she had some bad news – she had got gangrene in her other leg and she would have to have it amputated. Still, she said, half raising a smile, “there are plenty worse off than me!”

APPENDIX 1

The following is a re-print of an article which appeared in The Guardian on Thursday April 7th 1966, As far as IWO can remember it is the only article by an MGS student to be published in a National Newspaper whilst still a student, not yet at University. It is even more strange that IWO should cut out this article whilst a student at Loughborough University and keep it. He had previously nothing to do with MGS. David Lawton is now Professor David Lawton, an English professor in the States.

The Valley Of Humiliation

By DAVID LAWTON who left Manchester Grammar School last term

The old lady’s crumbling home was infested with lice but she accepted it with broken fatalism “It may be bad, but God has willed us to live here.” She even thanked us for coming: “it makes dying a little easier.” Yet all we could do was to visit her regularly and to chat for half an hour. Words – a strange lifeline, but the only one we had to offer.

That we were there at all was due to a Community Service Volunteer who was first established in East Manchester in 1963. He asked the Manchester Grammar School Service Group to help in visiting old people in the twilight areas of the city. At first only the odd sixth-former was involved, then there were more of us and last year our own project amalgamated with the Lord mayor’s Youth and Community Scheme.

A typical case was Mrs. Watson. She lived in a derelict street facing a railway goods yard, a widow and a cripple. She was in her eighties, helpless without her hearing aid and totally reliant on the weekly visits of her son for food and provisions. Of her neighbours, only two took any interest in her unless she was ill, when people tended to rally round. As a study in the loneliness of the aged there is little extraordinary in Mrs Watson – a fact sad in itself. But the aspect which the three of us who visited her found most horrifying was the failure of the Welfare State. We have only knowledge of a few old ladies but they are all badly served.

Not that Mrs. Watson was a simple character. Born in the early 1880’s she lived in her home community for 40 years. In the 1930’s however her whole family moved to a more prosperous part of Manchester. The area she complained was too noisy, so after the death of her husband she moved into a flat in South Manchester. But this was too quiet, so 1950 saw her voluntary return to the slums where she had been brought up.

Her house was owned by a Manchester estate company, to whom she paid one third of her old-age pension. She dealt with the agent who called for her rent every Monday. The actual landlord seemed to be a mighty and legendary figure. The first time that we visited her she was guarded and told us little but she laid great stress on the fact that “ I haven’t always lived here, do you see?” Apart from this point about her home she struck me as a mild, cheerful little woman, not easily broken by anything or anybody.

On the second visit she told us more. She was an invalid and could not go upstairs but her son told her that her front bedroom was in a dangerous condition. Bad tiling on the roof and the absence of guttering caused the rain to seep in and the plaster to fall off the walls heavily onto the ceiling below. It was far beyond her own means to repair this and the rent collector could only promise to pass on the message. On going upstairs we found that the room was worse than she had described: it was deteriorating with every rainfall. “I don’t want to cause anybody any bother, I just wish somebody would plaster it up” she said.

Hopelessly Waterlogged

Third visit. The room was hopelessly waterlogged and we decided that to ask the Service Group to plaster it up would serve no purpose since the same thing would happen again. The room was a health hazard and to make it safe would have cost at least £50. For years, said Mrs Watson whenever she had spoken to the landlord’s representative he had given her the same ready answer. “You’ll have to wait. These houses are to come down shortly.”

Fourth visit. One of us went upstairs to inspect the room, punched the wall and a brick fell out. The outside wall was sodden and in urgent need of renovation. Mrs Watson had spoken to the rent collector again. Reply as before. Her attitude was changing. “I don’t mind telling you , I’m getting fed up”

Fifth visit. This time I was alone. Mrs. Watson greeted me unenthusiastically, looking tired and ill. She was unsteady on her legs even with her stick. Her eyes were bloodshot and heavy. She sent me upstairs to inspect the bedroom, now in an almost irreparable state, a thick covering of broken plaster over the floor. Afterwards she asked me to sit down and she began to complain about her house. She was finding her two downstairs rooms damp and draughty and she had difficulty in getting outside to the lavatory. She lay awake waiting for the slightest drop of rain, for when it rained she could hear the plaster dropping onto the ceiling above her head “ I know it’s going to come through. It might fall on my bed and if it does there’s nobody.” She had not slept at all for a fortnight. “If it goes on much longer, I shall collapse, I know I will.”

The doctor called occasionally, gave her pills for her legs and some ineffective sleeping pills. A year before we started our visits, she had inquired about going into a home. After four months’ delay she was informed that her name had been placed at the bottom of the waiting list and that it could well be at least two years – or more – before it became her turn. Mrs Watson remember was in her eighties.

Alarmed by her condition. I wrote to her doctor, asking him to go to see her as soon as possible. I persuaded her to give the Service Group power to lodge an official complaint about her property at the Town Hall and this broke her fear of the landlord – too often in these areas a basic and vicious fear, for the rent man is even today no cartoon cliché. Only one person in 20 owns his own home: the shelter of the others depends on a mysterious and unseen potentate.

In the case of Mrs. Watson, the Town Hall sent a health official to inspect the property. He decided it was a health hazard and the landlord was instructed to make repairs. A grotesque wrangle ensued of several months’ duration with the corporation going to the full extent of its powers and threatening compulsory purchase. Eventually the landlord made repairs but not the extensive renovations necessary. The inspector ruled the condition of the property was still unsatisfactory and the landlord made more token repairs. And so it dragged on.

More Sleeping Pills

Meanwhile the doctor had paid a visit to Mrs Watson and prescribed more sleeping pills. Constant worry over the property brought her to the verge of collapse. Nine days later, a neighbour noticed three bottles of milk on her doorstep. She broke in and found her on the floor where she had begun to vomit 36 hours earlier, powerless to summon help. The neighbour at first took her for dead but Mrs. Watson showed signs of slight movement. A doctor was called for and he diagnosed chronic pneumonia. Later that day, when being moved in her bed( there was no room in the local hospital) she suffered a heart attack. It was touch- and-go for 48 hours and for a further three days Mrs. Watson was in a critical condition. She survived and gradually recovered some of her strength but it was obvious that unless she was taken into a home as a matter of priority she was destined to die in a hospital geriatric ward. When Mrs, Watson left for the home, after help from a sympathetic city welfare officer, the corporation and her landlord were still at loggerheads and the landlord immediately rented the property to someone else. 20

A further example was Miss Norris. She was a fine little lady of 70, a diabetic who was gradually going blind and who had no other company but that of a much-battered tom-cat, on which she lavished all she had. She ate scraps and the cat ate tinned chicken. He was never allowed to go out for fear of his meeting a premature end, and he filled the her front room with a peculiarly pungent odour: but to all the shortcomings of only living companion she was entirely impervious.

Incredibly cheerful

She was a real person – warm, hospitable and incredibly cheerful. We visited her just before Christmas and found her in excellent spirits. Her only worry was her fire – it was freezing weather but a brick stuck in her chimney and thick smoke filled her front room when the fire was lit. She had contacted the landlord a week before and he had promised to send somebody. She was trying to decide whether to have the sweep in the meantime or to buy a Christmas chicken for herself and her cat: she could not afford both and eventually decided on the chicken. The landlord had again promised to come tomorrow or the next day so there was no point wasting money on something she had right to free. We parted.

When we visited her house again soon after Christmas, it was empty and closed. The landlord had never been. Miss Norris had sat helplessly, first in dense smoke, then without a fire throughout the worst weather of December. Ten days before Christmas she contacted bronchial pneumonia and two days later she died. (A workman called the next day: “We’re very busy at this time of year”) Miss Norris’s cat was destroyed and two people followed her coffin. When we came a fortnight later it was as if she had never lived.

It leaves you with a strange feeling, this kind of work. We get angry because we know that it is not our responsibility. But whose responsibility is it? The State’s? Who is the State? The physical squalor is often terrible and welfare frighteningly insufficient: yet the degradation of some of these old people goes deeper than welfare. Too many are destitute in every way- remote and hopeless, because we wait until old people are old before we start bothering about their condition. Our problem, in the shape of thousands of old people is not even simply going to die out – whole generations, their children and grandchildren have already grown up in the slums of Manchester. What about them?

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to the following people for their assistance in helping me to compile this document. Alan Pickwick, for providing me with every ULULA that ever existed on disc so that it was easy to access and also Rachel Kneale, the school archivist who helped to dig out articles from newspapers for me and was a constant support throughout.

All MGS old boys and colleagues who sent me snippets or articles from their time doing when the “Service Group” was in operation in particular Professor David Lawton whose article in the Guardian got me interested in Community Action in the first instance.

Many members of Staff gave me particular help during my time in Charge of Community Action and they deserve particular mention: Dr Robert Lock, Dr. Pat Squires, Patrick Thom, Roger Hand, Mark Coffey, Janice Nickson and of course Ashley Hern but there are others who also gave of their time freely and I thank them also.

CLR James “ Beyond a Boundary”

The Blackpool Trip. Sixth Formers, pupils and staff outside St. Paul’s Church

MGS Sixth Formers, St Paul’s PS pupils and their Head Mr. Tim Luckcock

Professor David Bellamy and Mr. Tony Milroy designers of the Urban Oasis Project, Salford

Reverend Canon David Wyatt, Ian Orrell and Mrs Helen Wyatt

Christmas Present Distribution Team at St Paul’s Church Parish Room, Salford This was Ian Orrell’s last occasion. Also in the picture are Roger Hand back row just to the right of Ian, Ashley and Ann Hern and some MGS helpers. Others were out delivering with Mr Thom.

Christmas presents in Salford – the sorting and selection operation

St Paul’s Parish Church Christmas Present distribution – loading the van

The Grange School for Children with Special Needs particularly those with autism

Community Action Tie

Sign Language Alphabet