Looking back to school days 40 years ago we see fashions of the time.
Flared trousers, wide lapels, long hair for boys, cooking lessons for girls and engineering for the boys. Stoke High School, on Maidenhall Approach, Ipswich, is now an Ormiston Academy.
When the photographs featured in today’s Days Gone By were taken in 1977 the school was new, having recently replaced the Tower Ramparts School in the town centre. Northgate School, Ipswich, has seen many thousands of pupils pass through its gates.
Some have become nationally and internationally known. Names like Trevor Nunn, film and theatre director; Nik Kershaw, singer and song writer; Brian Cant, BBC children’s television presenter; and Jane Lapotaire, actor.
The buildings in Sidegate Lane West, now Northgate High School, were previously Northgate Grammar School for Boys and Northgate Grammar School for Girls. The school buildings have altered greatly over the decades. In the late 1970s work started to add a sports centre on the site, which is now used by many sections of the community, with an eight lane athletics track, tennis courts, sports hall and gym.
Were you a pupil at either of the schools featured or are you in any of the photographs in today’s Days Gone By? To submit a letter, in less than 300 words, write to David Kindred, Days Gone By, Ipswich Star/EADT, Portman House, 120 Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1RS or e-mail info@kindred-spirit.co.uk
Grimwade’s shop on the Cornhill, Ipswich, featured in Days Gone By recently and readers have written with their memories.
Rachel Wells emailed in and said: “I started work at Grimwade’s in 1962, serving a five year apprenticeship in the tailoring department.
“The picture of the tailor/cutter was H. L. Reynolds.
“I think his name was Harold although we always called him Mr Reynolds.”
Dudley Diaper said: “My only visit to Grimwade’s was to buy a Royal Navy tie for my father’s birthday in the 1980s.
“Mention should be made of the unusual inwardly-curved shop window at Grimwade’s.
“It was designed to eliminate reflections from outside so that the items in the window could be seen more clearly.
“I believe the principle is called Total Internal Reflection (TIR). I wonder what happened to the window?”
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