Hesketh Fletcher Gym Team

I think Dave is correct as I remember one particular lad who would always be stripped to the waist even when others wore vests.I don't think he even had a vest.

I think most boys dont'mind being stripped to the waist even for P.E. They don't wear shirts for swimming lessons. What's the difference? So I can't see why most schools require shirts for P.E. nowadays even as vests are vanishing from P.E. kit lists being replaced by T-shirts.

There seems to be some inconsistency.Boys object to being stripped to the waist for PE but many lads seem to have no objection to walking around bare-chested at other times.

There was more discipline in schools in the fifties and sixties and if you had to do PE stripped to thne waist you just got on with it.

School rules said that you did PE stripped to the waist(and sometimes barefoot as well).If anyone complained more than likely he would receive up to six strokes of the cane while stripped to the waist

Why are lads so reticent about being stripped to the waist for P E these days? As others have said in the sixties if you were a boy you stripped to the waist and thought nothing of it.

I too was always stripped to the waist for games and really enjoyed showing off my well-built body to all and sundry.

In the sixties it was normal for boys to be stripped to the waist for P E etc.I was from age five until eighteen and enjoyed the freedom of being bare-chested even in rain fog and snow.

Like Dan I did cross-country while stripped to the waist and barefoot.This was in a built up area with all the locals staring at our bare chests.By the time I wa in the sixth form I was quite muscular with strong biceps and well developed pectorals.I also has a ginger hairy chest!!!!!!!

Agree with Neil and Nigel.I was always stripped to the waist for P E.

Neil is so right.Boys and youths should be stripped to the waist as often as possible - for PE,games, and playing in the street and parks.Being stripped to the waist gives you freedom and a sense of exhilaration and allows you to get a sun tan in the summer!!!!!

I started doing PE etc stripped to the waist as soon as I started school right up to when I left.It was perfectly natural and it led me to being stripped to the waist as often as I could later when I was at work.

I well remember doing PE stripped to the waist in freezing fog and snow.It was tough but I got on with it.

Roy and the Yorkist:-In the fifties and sixties I always did PE stripped to the waist as did all the lads in my class.It never did me any harm and was regarded as perfectly normal.It encouraged me to strip to the waist as often as possible and to this day I go about stripped to the waist as often as I can no matter what the weather

I too was always stripped to the waist for P E in the fifties and sixties and it did me no harm. In fact the experience encouraged me to go shirtless whenever possible and I now regularly walk around stripped to the waist.

I'm glad the Yorkist agrees with me.I personally had no problems with being stripped to the waist at all times for P E.

Yes I agree.As a boy from the age of 5 until 18 I was always stripped to the waist for PE and from 11 I was barefoot as well and from about 13 it was also compulsory for boys to be stripped to the waist and barefoot for cross-country.For cross-country we would go through built-up areas and quite often we could hear some locals commenting favourably on our bare chests and well-built muscular bodies.

It was good to see boys doing gym etc stripped to the waist.That is as it should be even outdoors in rain fog and snow.