Burnley Grammar School/Habergham High School

[taio]

Gordon Alison, a Forest fan

Habergham had some brilliant Maths teachers - Saunders, Blezard, Sutcliffe, Bentley

[taio]

Gordon is my wife’s uncle. Still going strong and only retired from the family coal business a couple of years ago which. He retired from teaching shortly after Habergham closed in the Building Schools for the Future project.

Does he still have them orange shorts?

[claretlife]

Mel Saunders was just a bully, simply a bully. Nothing else. As a “teacher “, he was stealing a living. He never picked on me personally, but I saw him turn classmates into quivering wrecks, and I bet most of them turned out to be better people than he could ever have dreamed of becoming. Absolute ars****e.

Can't argue with anything here.....!

[chipbutty]

The new Burnley Secondary School (presently up at Parkhill) will be built there. Pleased to say the footy pitches are still there, including the great goalmouth up next to The Vicarage (now Eaves Hall), where Crazylegs once netted 6 in one game (2 with the left, 2 the right and 2 headers) versus Calder High School , as documented in The Brun.
Keep wandering, Dion

Secondary school currently at Park Hill??
Are you sure?

[burnmark]

Secondary school currently at Park Hill??
Are you sure?

It’s an old post from when Burnley High was temporarily based at the business park at Park Hill. It moved into a new building on the old Habergham site in around 2017.

[burnmark]

Does he still have them orange shorts?

He still did when Habergham closed.

[burnmark]

Gordon Alison, a Forest fan

Never heard of that??
Although not a regular on the Turf, he is definitely a Claret.

[taio]

Never heard of that??
Although not a regular on the Turf, he is definitely a Claret.

He was definitely a Forest fan late eighties/early nineties.

[Longfellow]

I was there from 72 till 75 and remember most of the teachers mentioned…the posts about ‘Belly’ and Hoss Cartwright particularly made me laugh. Poor Hoss…he was my first history teacher when I arrived and straight away tried to be too friendly with all us spotty oiks…we saw though him in no time and tortured him relentlessly until he finally cracked one day and grabbed this young lad and started beating him up. We never saw him again after that!
Interesting to hear that Dave Denton is still alive…he was my form teacher and was always a decent bloke.
I lost all my school photos aons ago, but if anyone has any from that period I’d love to see them!
The lads
I used to hang around with at the time were Glyn ‘Issac’ Heys, Russ ‘Kets’ Kettlewell, Martin ‘Cow’ Brown (his Dad was Burnley manager for a few years) , Steve McDevitt, Andy Kerr etc etc.

[ClaretTony]

I was there from 72 till 75 and remember most of the teachers mentioned…the posts about ‘Belly’ and Hoss Cartwright particularly made me laugh. Poor Hoss…he was my first history teacher when I arrived and straight away tried to be too friendly with all us spotty oiks…we saw though him in no time and tortured him relentlessly until he finally cracked one day and grabbed this young lad and started beating him up. We never saw him again after that!
Interesting to hear that Dave Denton is still alive…he was my form teacher and was always a decent bloke.
I lost all my school photos aons ago, but if anyone has any from that period I’d love to see them!
The lads
I used to hang around with at the time were Glyn ‘Issac’ Heys, Russ ‘Kets’ Kettlewell, Martin ‘Cow’ Brown (his Dad was Burnley manager for a few years) , Steve McDevitt, Andy Kerr etc etc.

Martin Brown lives in France I believe, definitely did when his mum Connie and dad Joe passed away a few years ago.

[longsidetrumpet]

Anybody know what became of Mick (not Mel) Saunders, a brilliant English teacher we had in the 60s? I'm sure he must have gone on to better things. Yes Dave Denson is still alive, though not in the best of health. However he gets out and about on his mobility scooter in Worsthorne, pet dog on his knee. Lives a couple of doors away from where Mike Ferguson, Burnley-born but never played for us during his pro career, used to live.

[ClaretTony]

Anybody know what became of Mick (not Mel) Saunders, a brilliant English teacher we had in the 60s? I'm sure he must have gone on to better things. Yes Dave Denson is still alive, though not in the best of health. However he gets out and about on his mobility scooter in Worsthorne, pet dog on his knee. Lives a couple of doors away from where Mike Ferguson, Burnley-born but never played for us during his pro career, used to live.

Dave must be getting on now. He was teaching at BGS when I first went there.

[Claret Till I Die]

Dave must be getting on now. He was teaching at BGS when I first went there.

I think he'll be 83 now

[ClaretTony]

I think he'll be 83 now

Not seen him in years - really good bloke and good teacher. He must have gone to the school as a teacher at the same time as I went there if he’s 83.

[Claret Till I Die]

Not seen him in years - really good bloke and good teacher. He must have gone to the school as a teacher at the same time as I went there if he’s 83.

Maybe wrong but I'm pretty sure that hes 2 years older than my dad so will be 84 next time, a really good bloke as you say with a very dry sense of humour.

[Vino blanco]

Dave Denson was my German teacher when I took my A-levels at BGS. I kept in touch with him and for many years after leaving school and Uni. I used to have a few pints with him in the Glory pub on the way to Rawtenstall when he lived over that way, then we met up quite a bit in the Crooked Billet when he moved to Worsthorne. He is a great, down to earth character and was always good fun to be with.

[Somethingfishy]

Dave must be getting on now. He was teaching at BGS when I first went there.

He was a German, Computer Studies and Careers teacher at Habergham in the mid/late 80s when I was there. One of my favourite teachers. A teacher you could have a laugh with.

[Falcon]

1997-2002 for me

My form tutor was the chemistry teacher Mr Mortimer who was a Rovers fan with an Alan Shearer mug.

It found itself 'accidentally' dropped on the ground on more than one occasion (not by me of course)

[Somethingfishy]

1997-2002 for me

My form tutor was the chemistry teacher Mr Mortimer who was a Rovers fan with an Alan Shearer mug.

It found itself 'accidentally' dropped on the ground on more than one occasion (not by me of course)

Teachers back then tended to stay a while at a school it seems unlike these days. He was a Science teacher in my time there. Can't be sure if he ever taught me though but I remember him being a Rovers fan then so he wasn't a glory hunter
I remember we had a Mr Blackburn too but he was a Huddersfield fan I think.

[longsidetrumpet]

Dave Denson was my German teacher when I took my A-levels at BGS. I kept in touch with him and for many years after leaving school and Uni. I used to have a few pints with him in the Glory pub on the way to Rawtenstall when he lived over that way, then we met up quite a bit in the Crooked Billet when he moved to Worsthorne. He is a great, down to earth character and was always good fun to be with.

Dave never taught me, but we chat because I have an allotment near where he lives. He’s still bright as a button but his mobility is limited. Until Covid times he was in the Billet every Thursday night with fellow ex teachers Jack ‘Stevie Cool’ Whitaker, Dave Sheridan and Chris Holdsworth

[ClaretTony]

Dave never taught me, but we chat because I have an allotment near where he lives. He’s still bright as a button but his mobility is limited. Until Covid times he was in the Billet every Thursday night with fellow ex teachers Jack ‘Stevie Cool’ Whitaker, Dave Sheridan and Chris Holdsworth

I know Chris Holdsworth. He was a year below me at school. Used to see him a lot at the Turf but not for a while.

[the_magic_rat]

Dave Denson was a big influence on me during my time at BGS and I owe him a tremendous amount for how my career panned out. I've not seen him for a couple of years and am sorry to learn that he's lost his mobility.

[Sheffield Claret]

Chris Holdsworth still doing fine - he lives across the road from me so we can have neighbourly chats about the time he drove round the Nurburgring in the school bus during trip to Germany with Dave Denson!

[ClaretTony]

Chris Holdsworth still doing fine - he lives across the road from me so we can have neighbourly chats about the time he drove round the Nurburgring in the school bus during trip to Germany with Dave Denson!

Pass on my best to Chris please when you see him.

[burnmark]

Chris Holdsworth is another good bloke.

[ClaretPete001]

Burnley had a 13 plus system when I went to BGS

So, you spent two years at Barden getting your head kicked in by the teachers and if unlucky by the third, fourth and fifth years. At 13 you transferred to the more benign environment of Burnley Grammar School.

[ClaretPete001]

Just realised this is an old thread -not read it all but yes, Mel Saunders was adept at hitting you in between the eyes with a board duster.

I seem to recall a Mr Wild in Geography who hit you from above his head with a metre rule but that might have been Barden.

I think Gordon Allison was a Chemistry teacher but it's so long ago. He was reasonably popular.

Seems distasteful bringing back some of this stuff. No one believes you now but an education in Burnley in the 70s. was really just the teachers hitting you with everything from pumps, to metres rules to board dusters etc.

Did us no harm and no complaints but not much to remember either.

[Mala591]

IMG_6532.jpeg (512.37 KiB) Viewed 3282 times

IMG_2320.jpeg (1.53 MiB) Viewed 3282 times

The under 12’s football team 1967 - unbeaten all season. What a wonderful year that was!

[Oshkoshclaret]

He was definitely a Forest fan late eighties/early nineties.

Fat G was a decent bloke and teacher, but did relentlessly take the **** out of Burnley in our darkest hour. Got back on the claret bandwagon later. (File under “Jimmy Anderson”)

[KernowHouseClaret]

Anybody know what's happened to Steve "Cool" Whittaker?

[KernowHouseClaret]

1997-2002 for me

My form tutor was the chemistry teacher Mr Mortimer who was a Rovers fan with an Alan Shearer mug.

It found itself 'accidentally' dropped on the ground on more than one occasion (not by me of course)

Eventually the mug did indeed break and was later put in the wall near his blackboard, lol

I taught there from 2000 onwards until it closed with BSF, I then moved to Hameldon, absolute **** show, and ended up at West Craven in Barlick, before leaving teaching altogether and moving down to Cornwall

[longsidetrumpet]

Anybody know what's happened to Steve "Cool" Whittaker?

Alive and very well and lives round the corner from me in Worsthorne when he's not on a cruise

[KernowHouseClaret]

Chris Holdsworth is another good bloke.

Always a good bloke, great craic in the staffroom with Chris, Smithy and the like!
How are you doing Mark, all good I hope?
(It's Gary, by the way)

[sandy richardson]

Great picture -- and a 36-goal centre forward. Has Riley still got his boots?

[KernowHouseClaret]

Alive and very well and lives round the corner from me in Worsthorne when he's not on a cruise

That's sounds about right for Stevie Cool, he did love a holiday

[burnmark]

Always a good bloke, great craic in the staffroom with Chris, Smithy and the like!
How are you doing Mark, all good I hope?
(It's Gary, by the way)

Not bad thanks! You? I clocked it was you from your last post.

[longsidetrumpet]

Great picture -- and a 36-goal centre forward. Has Riley still got his boots?

Bill Riley. Probably not but he kept on firing them home in the Sunday League. A couple of those young lads not with us any more

[KernowHouseClaret]

Not bad thanks! You? I clocked it was you from your last post.

Yeah, all good down here thanks Mark, loving life, pass on my best to Gordon and any other you still see

[Intoclaret]

Great photo of the under 12's Mala591, brought a lump to my throat! Are you in the photo?

[Darthlaw]

Mel Saunders was just a bully, simply a bully. Nothing else. As a “teacher “, he was stealing a living. He never picked on me personally, but I saw him turn classmates into quivering wrecks, and I bet most of them turned out to be better people than he could ever have dreamed of becoming. Absolute ars****e.

Odious individual who I had the displeasure of being ‘taught’ by.

Thankfully his ‘methods’ were well out of date by the time I was subjected to him and after he chucked a board rubber at me, my dad finished up with Dave Clayton and threatened to head to the press unless he publicly apologised.

He left me alone from then onwards and I heard he was ushered into retirement not long after.

[ClaretTony]

Odious individual who I had the displeasure of being ‘taught’ by.

Thankfully his ‘methods’ were well out of date by the time I was subjected to him and after he chucked a board rubber at me, my dad finished up with Dave Clayton and threatened to head to the press unless he publicly apologised.

He left me alone from then onwards and I heard he was ushered into retirement not long after.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it further up this thread but he hit me on the side of the head with a board duster one day. Horrible, horrible man.

[Broadsword]

He was a German, Computer Studies and Careers teacher at Habergham in the mid/late 80s when I was there. One of my favourite teachers. A teacher you could have a laugh with.

Mr Denson was a fantastic teacher. Went on a trip to Germany with him around ‘81- I suspect that’s the only time the Nurburgring has seen a D reg school bus! Loved it..

[Claret Till I Die]

IMG_6532.jpeg

IMG_2320.jpeg

The under 12’s football team 1967 - unbeaten all season. What a wonderful year that was!

David Waine is still alive and kicking and living not far from Worsthorne

[Vino blanco]

You weren't the first to do the Nurburgring in a school bus, Broadsword. My year did exactly the same excursion in 1961 I think it was. Obviously not with Dave Denson but with his predecessor (Durkin?). We were based in a lovely village called Altenahr and that was one of our days out. I remember we were about 14 years old but we found a small bar that would serve us beer in the evenings, obviously the first time I got ****** on German beer, but far from the last.

[Gerry Hattrick]

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it further up this thread but he hit me on the side of the head with a board duster one day. Horrible, horrible man.

What had you done?

[Somethingfishy]

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it further up this thread but he hit me on the side of the head with a board duster one day. Horrible, horrible man.

I think I've said this before on another thread but I was lucky to avoid him in my regular years at Habergham but heard the stories. However I ended up with him during my A-Levels in the sixth form centre. Pure Maths and Statistics was the subject and he taught one half of it. I was having trouble grasping quite a complicated topic that was heavily algebraic and he said if I was struggling to see him at his lunch time clinic. So I did just that. He snatched my book out of my hand and scribbled the next line of the equation and threw (quite literally) the book back at me and said "You should be able to do it now". Zero in the way of explanation.
It was then I decided he was a w***er and decided to pull out of the subject. Less than half the class ended up completing the course. I don't know how the school let him get away with it with a drop out rate like that.
Never saw him throw a rubber but then again as an A-Level student I was there by choice. He was very much a write it on the board and copy type of teacher. Not much in the way of explanation. He expected you to just grasp it.
My dad knew him from his time at BGS and agreed with my summing up of the bloke.

[Claretitus]

As I stated earlier in the thread, he never picked on me, but I saw him throw chalk, and board rubbers on a number of occasions,along
with verbal assassinations of many of his “students”. The guy wasn’t a teacher, he was a vicious bully. I think I only had him in 3rd year, can’t remember who else in 4th and 5th, but I sailed through my O Level.Nobby Stokes was a great teacher, who we had for 1 lesson a week in 3rd year, teaching Algebra. A keen Claret as well was our old headmaster.

[Volvoclaret]

Mel Saunders was a poor teacher and a vicious bully. He ruined my enjoyment of maths. The only pupils he didn't bully were those that were involved with the rugby team, to his mind all other sports were for gays. I used to daydream that the brakes on that banger he drove would fail on a very steep hill.

[ClaretTony]

What had you done?

Nothing, he was aiming at the lad next to me and misfired.

[ClaretTony]

I think I've said this before on another thread but I was lucky to avoid him in my regular years at Habergham but heard the stories. However I ended up with him during my A-Levels in the sixth form centre. Pure Maths and Statistics was the subject and he taught one half of it. I was having trouble grasping quite a complicated topic that was heavily algebraic and he said if I was struggling to see him at his lunch time clinic. So I did just that. He snatched my book out of my hand and scribbled the next line of the equation and threw (quite literally) the book back at me and said "You should be able to do it now". Zero in the way of explanation.
It was then I decided he was a w***er and decided to pull out of the subject. Less than half the class ended up completing the course. I don't know how the school let him get away with it with a drop out rate like that.
Never saw him throw a rubber but then again as an A-Level student I was there by choice. He was very much a write it on the board and copy type of teacher. Not much in the way of explanation. He expected you to just grasp it.
My dad knew him from his time at BGS and agreed with my summing up of the bloke.

As a mathematician, I was really fortunate that he hardly ever taught me, I'm sure I would not have been as good had he done so. In my early years at BGS it was mainly TAG (Don Fraser) and then the headmaster Noel 'Nobby' Stokes and Paul Jennings. There was reference to Dave Denson by the_magic_rat and how he'd influenced his career. I have to say I was blessed to be taught maths by Jennings.