The girls played in a separate playground to the boys. We played lots of games usually in seasons - Marbles, there was a good hole where the dustbins are now. Skipping - if you could bring your moth&s washing line to play “We all join in together” you were very popular! Whip and Top was another favourite, you needed coloured chalks to make a pattern on the top for this. Then there were the ball games - One ball bouncing it under and over the knee turning and saying all kinds of rhymes. Two balls against the wall again saying rhymes and Three balls against the wall. “The Big Ship Sails Through The Alley Alley 0” was another game where nearly everyone in the playground joined in.

There was a big heap of coke in the corner of the playground which was out of bounds - you were in trouble if you went near it and got dirty.

There were no school dinners at first, everyone went home. Then when they were started they were at the Carver Theatre and the children had to walk down the road. My mother would not let me stay and I always wanted to.

Everyone walked to school and Brickbridge Road was just like a farm track with grass verges on either side.

I can remember the school Doctor coming and my mother coming to school to take me to him and I refused to take off my clothes for the examination and no-one could persuade me.

We had singing in the hall. We all liked this, we sang all sorts of songs. Some of the songs that I can remember: The Ash Grove, Linden Lee, The Raggle Taggle Gypsies, Sea Shanties, Danny Boy and hymns. We did Country Dancing and if you were good you were chosen to dance at the Vicarage Garden Party.

We had a visit from the Bishop each tear to test our Religious Knowledge, if he thought we were good enough we would get an extra day’s holiday, I seem to think this was Empire Day.

We went on our first day trip out of school when I was in the Top Class. This was really a special occasion. We went to Chester for the day and visited the Cathedral and walked round the walls.

I left All Saints’ in 1948 to go to Hyde Grammar School, 6 boys went to Manchester Grammar, and about 14 went to Hyde, the rest went to the Willows which was a Secondary School then but is now Marple Ridge High School.”

1943- 1949

Name Jean Taylor

Headteacher Mr. Revill

“I have one or two memories of All Saints’. I must say that everything I remember from there are very happy days.

I left in the Summer of 1949 to go to Hyde Grammar School. I could not believe how my life changed, from absolutely loving school to going to this huge, quite frightening place where I felt quite lost.