Penistone Grammar School - PGS

Foundation of School, 1392
Penistone Grammar School is as much a part of Penistone's identity as the railway viaduct or Penistone Church but it has only been on its current site for just over a century. The earliest history of the school is lost in obscurity. Much of the old paperwork was either lost or illegible but Penistone Grammar School can trace its roots all the way back to 1392, during the reign of King Richard II. That was not long after the deadly epidemic of the 'Black Death' (1348 to 1351). Apart from the church, there is not much in Penistone with such a link with ancient times.

There is a record of a gift of land in 1392 for the purposes of a school from Thomas Clarel, the absentee lord of the manor. He drowned in the River Don, 1st May 1442. (Wikipedia gives the name as John Clarel). The Free Grammar School of Penistone received bequests in 1443. After the 'dissolution of the chantries' in 1547, the school continued as the free school for the children of Penistone. The school was rebuilt in 1702.

Recorded in the West Riding Directory of 1837:
'The Free Grammar School was found, by an inquisition taken in the 1st of James I., to have been endowed from time immemorial, with several messuages, lands, and yearly rent charges. Since then, the school property has been partly-exchanged. It now consists of several houses, and 22A. 2R. 18P. of land, in Penistone; 5A. 1R. 14P. in Denby, and rent charges amounting to £6. 4s. 4d. per annum. The rents of this property, with about £38 received yearly from Samuel Wordsworth's Charity, yield to the master an annual stipend of £110. The school is free to all the sons of parishioners, for English reading, and the classics, but a small charge is made for writing and accounts. The late master, (Mr. Jonathan Wood,) was appointed in 1786, and held the office for about half a century.'

John Dransfield's 1892 guide records the charter of foundation. It was a school for boys and held in the church itself. Later it was located at 'Fairfield' next to Cockpit Lane near the church as in the picture below (more or less where Robinson's News is now). It was demolished a few years before the twentieth century arrived and moved to its current Wierfield site in 1892.

The Fairfield School
This picture shows school buildings as they were about 1890, not long before they were demolished. The photographer took the picture for Penistone Almanac from a high viewpoint in the church yard and this is a scan of the original (courtesy of The Don Press). Dr. Nicholas Saunderson, the celebrated blind professor of mathematics at Cambridge, received his earliest education here and famously learnt to read and write from running his fingers over the indentations of Penistone Church gravestones.

The wall just visible on the left edge of the picture is the old cloth hall, now Clark's chemist. The gravestone on the left is still there but the gateway to the churchyard now has a lychgate. The old school buildings were demolished in 1893 and a new building built in its place. Opened in 1895 for the Midland Bank, it now houses HSBC bank, Robinson's news and Dransfield & Co.'s solicitor (soon to remove to the Rose & Crown).

Nearby land was sold for auction in 1903, including the site of an old cock-fighting pit. It is unlikely that cock-fighting was an entertainment for the scholars but more likely that older gentlemen would enjoy betting on the games.

The Weirfield School
In 1892 the school moved to Weirfield House on the Huddersfield Road site, where it is now, and they took in boarders. The picture on the left shows Wierfield House as it was in May 2011, with all of its inventive wiring. That was in the reign of Queen Victoria and in the year when Tchaikovsky composed the 'Nutcracker'. They would have been called 'scholars' in those days. Girls were admitted in 1907 and the stone-built Fulford building was opened in 1911, shown in the other two pictures below.

From the Penistone Almanac of 1953: 'A new secondary school - being an extension of the ancient Penistone Grammar School, founded in 1392 - costing £8,000 for the building and £780 for furnishing and equipment, was opened Oct. 28th, 1911, and is recognised by the West Riding Education Authority as a training centre for intending school teachers.'

It continues: 'At the time of writing there are about 550 pupils at the school. Other proposed extensions to cost £24,000 have been postponed'. That was written in a time of austerity about seven years after the end of the Second World War. Food and clothing were still being rationed then.

Fulford was called 'A' block in the 1960s. Weirfield House behind it was the original schoolhouse. It had been home to various headmasters (as they were always called) and other people but it was later taken over for staff use. It is still used as the centre of school management (according to the PGS website). They knew how to make buildings last in those days.

Netherfield Building
This brief history has been adapted from Mrs Connolly's Netherfield page at PGS:

• 1859 - 'Union Workhouse' was built by Henry F. Lockwood and William Mawson to house the poor of the parish.
• 1895 - New extension to add in an infirmary, isolation hospital and mortuary.
• First World War - Used for wounded soldiers.
• 1948 - Inmates became residents and infirmary patients transferred to an NHS hospital. (NHS started in 1948).
• 1974 - Old Folk's Home residents were moved out to a residential home.
• 1974 - Buildings acquired by the school for use as a sixth-form college and continued to be used by the sixth form up to the new build.

Netherfields 'Union Workhouse' was used for monthly Penistone Rural District Council meetings, whilst the Urban District Council meetings used other council offices. During its time as a residential home, escapees were easily rounded up at bedtime. They could always be found in 'The Bridge', Bridge End. Now in June 2011, these buildings have all gone.

Reminiscences from the 1960s
Wilfred Burgess Simms was headmaster with Mr Humpston as deputy and Mr 'Killer' Cartwright was head of the younger section. Eric Fisher (EF) Bowman was the head before Wilfrid Simms. We used to walk down the road to use an upper hall in Netherfield Church for drama lessons with our teacher, Mr. Keith. This arrangement worked well but there was one occasion when we had to be particularly quiet - for a funeral in the church proper. This church later merged with St. Paul's Methodist chapel, which was demolished and replaced by St. Andrews. Netherfield Church was then converted to flats. Visitors to its neglected graveyard are now discouraged by 'Private' signs, although they have a protected right to visit their departed ones.

The school had a small farm across the road on the end of Long Lane, as we all called it then. Rural Studies were always interesting, with Cllr George Punt in charge and as our Form teacher. George was very inventive with his punishments and on one occasion gave a boy the task of clearing the farmyard of slushy snow - with a pitchfork. he always had a way or making punishments 'value added'. I recall having to shine up some garden tools as my particular burden. Another occasion he had someone whitewash the walls as a punishment. Of course, we had him back - we mated his collection of rabbits in entertaining ways. He ended up with all sorts of fancy breeds as a result. The goat on the farm would eat anything and seemed to have a particular taste for hymn books.

The technology of the day would look quaint to modern eyes. The old copying machine was a 'Banda' machine, which used a reversed carbon paper and volatile spirits. The carbon paper was typed or written on beneath a sheet of ordinary paper to make a mirror-image. Each copy became weaker until you could hardly read it. Photocopiers did not come into general use until the 1970s and they were rather poor even then. One projector at PGS was an antique old episcope, with a cast-iron frame. It could project the teacher's notes underneath it on to a screen. A version of that machine could also project large glass slides on to a screen but we never saw it in use. That was called an 'Epi-diascope'.

Sometimes the classes were subjected to film shows made by such as BP or Esso. they were shown using a clattering old film projector that drowned out any remarks from the teacher - or the taught. Those were usually interesting films and a great relief for the harassed teacher. Video had not yet arrived. In fact the first video machines for industrial use were only just becoming available at that time. (I had an old Peto-Scott video recorder in the 1970s)

In those days, the initials 'WRCC' adorned objects large and small and probably under every desk. Those were the days of West Riding County Council and it was administered from Wakefield. In the Local Government Re-organisation of the early 1970s, the West Riding was officially abolished as an administrative region and the WRCC went with it. That removed it from the maps but the name continued in many ways, as it does even now. Educational control was transferred to Barnsley Council after that. Some of the desks in our first year were very old indeed and must have come from a junior school as they were one-piece seats with desks but far too small. They had ink wells but these were not in use.

In the 1960s, the PGS buildings ('blocks') were all called by a letter rather than a name. The stable block ('C' block) near to Wierfield House was reconstructed in 1900 but it was used as Spurler Jagger's woodwork room in the 1960s, with a science room next to it. Spurler was a fine old teacher with a very relaxed manner and a great sense of humour. If he burped, it was "Pardon my excuses". Nothing ever seemed to trouble Mr Jagger and all the lads liked him.

The Bowman building and the Large Hall/Gymnasium opened in 1956. New playing fields and temporary 'E' block (prefab 'terrapin') buildings were added across the main road, in 1960. More new buildings arrived in 1968; the Saunderson block and a new Hall and kitchens. Also that year Fulford block had alterations and the conversion of old kitchen and dining rooms. 'E' block was removed in the 1990s. 'Temporary' lasted a long time in those days.

New Buildings
Now, in 2011, a major rebuilding programme has taken place to enlarge the school and introduce the latest facilities. Building started in July 2009 and took nearly two years to complete. The new facilities started to be used by the whole school in May 2011. Familiar old buildings have now been demolished, although Fulford Building ('A - Block') is still standing with boarded-up windows. The old Wierfield House is also still standing. This has been a major milestone in Penistone Grammar School's history. Now the logo shown above, with the motto 'Learning and Teaching Together' has been changed once again and Barnsley Council is hoping that people will drop 'School' and replace it with 'Advanced Learning Centre' (see below). However, from a legal point of view, Penistone Grammar School continues to be its proper name.

It says in a downloadable pdf document (1.2MB):
'We hope to provide the community with a social hub, to unite the neighbourhood and evoke a sense of local pride'. Also: 'Penistone Grammar ALC will play host to a range of events, in the social, cultural and business sectors'.

The new buildings are lower down the hill than before and do not look very pleasing to the eye. They are reminiscent of 1960s architecture (think 'Poulson') with fairly flat roofing. Flat roofs are usually a recipe for disaster. Whilst driving down Wellhouse Lane, the school gives an immediate impression of a pile of colourful cardboard boxes scattered in a state of disarray. On the other hand, the plans show the place as generally colourful, light and spacious. Windows are decorated with brightly coloured panels. The fixtures and fittings are likely to be impressive and there are details about them on the PGS website (link below). A new footbridge with rusty martlet motifs was installed further down the road from the 'old' footbridge, which was removed in April 2011. The new bridge will probably look good when it has been properly finished with a coat of paint.

New facilities include a floodlit synthetic turf pitch, sports hall, tennis courts, gymnasium/dance studio (for such as zumba, yoga, pilates and circuit training) and a fitness suite with a 'Technogym Wellness System'. The public will be able to use these facilities outside school hours and no doubt there will be a 'wellness person' to oversee this adult influx of fitness. Classrooms and lecture theatres will also be available for hire outside school hours, which have recently been changed. The BBC website has a page for the PGS building work.

Compare the 1956 view above-right with the new school picture from March 2011, taken from the Trans-Pennine Trail. That's Emley Moor transmitter tower in the background. Since then, the historic stone Netherfield buildings have been unceremoniously demolished (like Penistone lock-up last year) and a wide staircase has appeared in the same place. It has been said that the new building was built with private money (as a public-private venture) and that the school is paying a high rent for it but that would include repairs, etc. An unconfirmed story doing the rounds is that the old Fulford building will not be flattened but be developed as apartments.

Autocratic Rule?
In June 2011, there were strong complaints in the Barnsley Chronicle and elsewhere that the PGS management has an autocratic tone and does not listen to the legitimate concerns of parents. It was interesting that none of the complaints used the 'ALC' title. The grapevine says that the current set-up has become 'very political'.

One complaint was that the new school hours of 8.20am to 2.50pm were brought in without proper consultation. It was alleged that the move was purely to encourage public use of the new facilities out of school hours. Some parents remarked on how the new school day conflicts with their working day arrangements. Of course, there might have been other parents who found the new times to be an advantage.

A further complaint was that a new dress code for older pupils was introduced without proper discussion and will incur further expenses for parents, at time when money is tight. A number of pupils complained that those who objected to the dress code were treated with indignation while those who agreed with the policy were listened to. Some might say that people of that age do not like to conform to regulations anyway but there is a common theme in these complaints about a sense of being disrespected or ignored. PGS website has links to the relevant documents about dress code, school hours and on another page, the complaints procedure. Interviewed on Penistone Fm, the Head Teacher strongly defended her policies.

What's in a Name
With the new erection on Huddersfield Road, a proposal emerged from persons unknown to dispense with the PGS name and give the school the new name of 'Advanced Learning Centre' (ALC) because of its extra facilities which, in theory, will take it beyond its utility as a school. These include: conferencing, a 'well-being' service, gymnasium access and some extra community access.

For a name change to be legal, it required unanimous approval from the governors. It did not achieve this, so the old name of Penistone Grammar School is still the legal and proper name. That does not stop the Barnsley Council zealots from trying to use 'ALC' name as much as possible, hoping that it will become the de-facto name regardless of history and the Governing Body. As usual, there are plenty of others in the media who will adopt it without question.

Six Footless Birds
The Clarel Coat of Arms has six footless birds (heraldic martlets) and has long been used by the school but also by Penistone in general, including Penistone Agricultural Society, Penistone Footpath Runners and this website, as the de-facto Penistone Coat-of-Arms. It is also in the Town Hall (The Paramount) to the right of the stage but it is now hidden by curtains. On older PGS badges, the birds were arranged 3, 2, 1 and not as shown here. This interesting page on Clarel shows an even older form of the emblem in a 3, 2, 1 formation. The old motto made a strong point:

The motto was re-branded in 2003 as 'Learning and Achieving Together.' You might reasonably expect teachers to be more 'learned' than 'learning'. In 2011 the school controversially changed its motto again to: 'Never Stop Flying', to the puzzlement of many. Local councillors questioned whether it was a good choice. It refers to the heraldic birds on the Clarel/Penistone Coat of Arms. They don't have feet and cannot land, so they and the pupils will never stop flying. Boom boom! A chocolate egg to the designer!

Getting down to earth, the emblem has now been reduced to just one martlet. The other five were 'let go' as a result of the current economic climate. Or perhaps the very long history of the school, (sorry the 'ALC') counts for little now that the school no longer owns the new school buildings.

The House System
The old system used locally significant names: Armitage (yellow), Bosville (blue), Clarel (red) and Dransfield (green) and each of these had an associated colour (apologies if these colours are not 100% accurate). The house system continues. Now it extends this to five houses with associated colours: Saunderson (yellow), Bowman (purple), Netherfield (green), Fulford (red) and Wierfield (blue). Dear Mr Clarel has been thrown out along with five of his birds. Tough times indeed.

Some Old Info
2000
Pupils: 1,333 plus 250 in the sixth form (16 y.o. and older).
Call them 'students' if you like but they are still pupils, just as railway 'customers' are still passengers. It is probably better to call them students when they go into education by choice and not by statute.
Number obtaining 5 GCSEs at grades A, B or C: 53%

2002 PGS Visit to Huddersfield Uni
PGS students recorded a jam session (WMA 813kB) during their 2002 school visit to music technology studios (Engineering Dept.) of Huddersfield University.

2008
The PGS website gave about 1600 pupils and said that they accepted 270 pupils in each year (yrs 7 - 11).

The Reunion 1992
The big 600th Anniversary of PGS came along in 1992 and was celebrated with a number of activities under the guidance of headmaster Mr. Bould (whom I mistook for a caretaker). A new window (shown on the right) was installed in Penistone Church in 1992 to celebrate the anniversary.

A big reunion was the main event, grouped into the years when people left school. Mr Bould gave a very fine speech at this hugely enjoyable event. As a spin-off from this, other smaller reunions occurred. People in my year organised a few get-togethers in a local pub and my thanks go to Lynn Harvey (nee Harley). It was a great pleasure to meet up with some old schoolmates whom I had not seen for a very long time. Some of us are talking about having another special re-union for a milestone year that will drop in 2012. I'll let you speculate on what might be special about that year.

Links:

• PGS reunion page - (on this website) has two class photos from 1965 and one from my cousin of 1956.
  The remaining links are external to this website. There's a nice video clip in here somewhere:
• PGS Homepage - Note that hidden content on the PGS page takes several megabytes to download fully.
• Sixth Form webpage - Another big download like the main page.
• Rebuilding the 'ALC' - Plans for Penistone Grammar School.
• Wikipedia - This has a page too.

Contact:
Penistone Grammar School
Huddersfield Road
Penistone
Sheffield
S36 7BX

Email: pgs@barnsley.org (but don't hold your breath waiting for a reply)
Tel 762114, 765076, 765077
Fax 370328