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stop press.....stop press.......stop press......stop
press........stop press......stop press......stop press.....stop press.......
October 4th 2002
I've uncovered the latest news about the Brownley Green
site (which has been allowed to become overgrown, why they couldn't have kept the grass cut so the local kids
could use it for footy is beyond me), apparently the land has been bought, and it will be used for a private
housing estate. I have very strong opinions about this (I'll save it for another page), to say i'm
not happy is a gross understatement.
Appologies for the lack of updates this month (i've been enjoying this
great weather before winter sets in), no new stuff, but i've got a few articles that may be of interest, which
should appear soon....honest...lol, any new photo's that are sent to me appear on the site within 24hrs, soooo , you know
the drill.
September 2nd 2002
No new material to report (even though a couple have ex-pupils have written
saying they have photo's they would like to show). I may have to send a few e-mails out , to give those concerned a nudge
in the right direction.
Following a great summer of sport (the Commonwealth Games were
amazing and gave Manchester city centre, the feel of a true european city(and not a north of England crime ridden dump)), and
as this summer draws to a close, hopefully you may have the time to contribute to the site.
July 20th 2002
Appologies to those that made a guest book entry
in mid July and didn't see the entry appear up to a week later. When someone signs the guestbook i usually receive an e-mail
informing me, i then update the book normally on the same day, unfortunaltely the site that runs the book has had technical
problems, hopefully they will have it sorted soon.
I've been advised by other school site webmasters that summer is a quiet time
for sites like this one, so would the last one here please turn the lights out and lock the doors, till the Autumn term.
Seriously though, i will still check the school mail box looking for material (hint
to Sean Tisdall and other photo owners)and keep updating the guest book, i'll also add a few more articles.
9th June 2002
A bit of a slow month i'm afraid, i haven't received any new material
for a while, hence the lack of recent articles. Whilst looking through former pupils notes on the Friends reunited site i've
noticed a number of people threatening to send photos into our site, well this would be a great time to send new material.
We still haven't had much input from Moss Nook (do they get the internet
in woodhouse park..lol) so anyone thinking of contributing, you couldn't pick a better time.
I have got a couple of articles on stand by (for emergency use only),
but if you dont see the site being updated dont worry, i'm just waiting for material .
Photo News
Anyone that has left the area (or country) and would like
to see how Wythenshawe has changed, whether it be a house, road, infact anything, let me know and i will see what i can do,
also if you can think of a usefull addition to the site mail me at the usual address.
May 12th 2002
The site seems to be ticking along ok at the moment, but having read through
the pages , i've noticed a lot of spelling mistakes and errors , i tend to add new material in the early hours of the morning
(1am-3am), because connection speeds seem to improve, so if you notice any errors please let me know.
We're still waiting for the first teacher input , so if any former teachers
are reading this , please get in touch.. even if you dont wish to appear on the site.
As always , i'm still looking for material , photographs, documents, personal
memories, remember, this site will only be as good as the contributions it gets.
Has anybody noticed ,pupil additions to the friends reunited site, have
stagnated slightly ,for both schools, so we will just have to wait till the next influx of pupils join us in the internet
revolution, hopefully they will be overloaded with school related material to contribute.
Date 18th April 2002
With all the good weather we've been having recently, the thought of sitting in
front of a hot computer hasn't been very appealing, but i have got 3 or 4 articles in the pipeline..so over the next few weeks
you should see more pages.
Unfortunately none of the articles include pupil or teacher photo's (which is what most
of us are after), but having recently checked the friends reunited site , the vast majority of people i knew at school still
haven't registered, so there is massive scope for material appearing in the future.
The memories page is still very sparse, so if you get chance please try and contribute,
i'm sure one persons recollections will spur others to add their own memorable stories.
Thats all for now, i'm off to randomly hassle ex-pupils on the 'friends' site for
material.
date 26th march 2002
It's been about 6 weeks since our site first went on-line,
the site has had about 700 hits (the counter was offline for about 2 weeks), it has been hit from all over
the world at all hours of the day, so there is definately a need for the site.
I must admit though, i've been dissapointed by the input to the site,
only a handfull of people have contributed to the site so far, so this is another request for material.
I have also found myself saying 'site' far too often,
(well you think of another word at 2.30am)
When your doing the spring cleaning over easter, check those shoe
boxes for any relevent material, photographs in particular also recollections of your time at school are needed.
Forth coming items to the site;
I've come across a number of photos of both schools, (all
black and white unfortunately) , so watch out for a dedicated page,
I've also found a sports day 'book' from 1975 with all the schools
athletics records, its 32 pages long, so it may take me a while to transfer to the site,
The ofsted report of South Manchester 1997, now this is interesting,
and also depressing, (you will need a pdf reader, adobe is a good one and its free)
Also , looking further ahead, a chatroom in planned, we could
have a dedicated decade night, ie; pupils from the 50's, 60's etc all having there own chat night(obviously we will
have to get more ex pupils and teachers informed of the site).
If you have alternative words for 'SITE' please send them to this .....WEB
.....ermmmmm THINGY
On a recent visit to my local library in a desperate search for material,
i discovered information contained in newspaper cuttings that you may find interesting.
In 1995, the local education authority announced (out of the blue) that
South Manchester High School was to close.
On hearing this news Phil Taylor(headmaster at the time), advised outraged
parents that the only way the school was going to survive, was if they opted out of local council control.
Phil Taylor had turned the school around, and the school for the
first time in memory was making the headlines in the media for all the right reasons.
Once the council had heard the plans of the parents and teachers to
opt out of their control , they did a complete U-turn , and then promised the teaching staff, pupils and parents that the
school would be safe for the foreseable future, in fact at least 6yrs.
The school should be alive and kicking today, but i believe the councill
duped the school into thinking they were safe.
It seems the local authority were resolute in their plans to
get rid of the school no matter what it took, they were determined to cash in on the money the site would raise for re-developement.
Like other schools that have fallen in the recent past, Wythenshawe
residents have not only lost a vital hub in the community, but also the playing fields that provide essential open spaces
for the children to play on.
The houses that have been built on the Sharston School field are beyond
the vast majority of Wythenshawe residents pockets, and i wait with concern to see what happens to our old school site.
It seems to me that an enormous 'FOR
SALE' sign has been placed over Wythenshawe, and i'm sure its not the residents that will be cashing in.
please note ..this is the first draft of this article..any mistakes will be corrected and additions
will be made later.
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