Burnley Grammar School

I'm working in Fredericton (where? - look it up!) where it's just after 11pm again as I write. A couple of nights ago it was also about 11pm when I sat down and penned my piece. But thanks anyway for the charmless night time keyboard warrior jibe, it takes a lot of effort to sustain such unpleasantness.

Many thanks for the other reply Alan. Aside from the little story I told my own education was quite decent and I was the oldest of five children and the only one my parents made the effort to put me through a grammar school. My three brothers and sister all went to local comprehensives but all bar one have done equally well for themselves. None of my brothers or sister had any major problems at school with anybody so it was rather ironic I suppose that I came across somebody like I did early on in my grammar.

I was one of those really fortunate types who gradually excelled academically at a range of subjects but also sportswise too whether as a team player or individually. When I arrived I thought I'd hate rugby for instance and ended up really liking playing it which surprised me a lot. We also ran very long cross country races and were often encouraged to remove our tops a lot I remember for those. Our gymwork was done without tops and this actually gave me quite a bit of body confidence by my mid teens and sharing showers with nothing on and lessons with my body out came to me quite naturally. A good job because I liked getting messy throwing myself about at rugby although washing the kit was a different matter altogether. I wrecked and tore quite a bit of kit.

I think the reason I was targeted, harrassed or bullied (I still have trouble with using that word about myself) was possibly some kind of misplaced jealousy. But anyone is susceptible to a determined harrasser/bully, and I was just too young by a year or two to be able to deal with it effectively at that moment.

It's not great to hear of others who had less than brilliant lives while they were in school and to be at what amounted to a condemned school where you all knew it sounds quite unsatisfactory and very unfair on not just the pupils who went there but the staff who worked there. But that is still no excuse to just give up on the job and people is it. It sounds soul destroying and if you are a clever or very clever pupil at such a place then it's going to leave one long shadowy legacy which I presume it has in your case.

Terry on 30th August 2022 at 16:36

Says the lad who blacked an eye and was too frightened to own up. But you do tell a story of miserable school days so Alan will approve of you.

What did I say that wasn't true?

I keep asking this but all I get is abuse.

You can dish out the criticisms but you can't take them can you Andy.

Barney on 28th August 2022 at 10:09

I will be away for most of September but I will turn up one Saturday soon after I'm back and see how you are playing, I think I know exactly who you are!

Garth Maidment on 29th August 2022 at 03:09

A night time keyboard warrior posting just the sort of story Alan likes about being unhappy at school. Had you not been unhappy his response would have been so different to the one he posted at Alan on 29th August 2022 at 14:05. Strange isn't it.

Jim on 29th August 2022 at 11:47

Not aware of the echo chamber? You must be deaf. We have hysteria posted about Litherland where a number of boys got the slipper and STOPP turned it into a political drama as they were prone to do.

One poster who AFAIK was new to the board posted some objective criticism of what was being said including putting the numbers into some sort of statistical framework which removed the hysteria and resulted in objective fact and the hysterical echo chamber rounded on him for all that he continued to say. Not surprisingly that poster left the board as quickly as he joined as many do who don't fit the agenda of school was a terrible place where everyone was unhappy and there was serial abuse.

That's why I don't fit because I was never abused and I loved school, particularly sport.

I must say I loved the interaction between Barney and Hugh and the possibility that you might have crossed paths with each other. If you really have that's a great coincidence.

Thankyou for sharing your story Garth.

It would be wrong to call it an enjoyable read but it was nicely said and I hope it didn't leave you with any long term concerns. You went to a good school too, sometimes they are even worse than your average achieving comprehensives.

Trying to work out people's behaviour is so often a forlorn task.

Garth Maidment: My old school in London was knocked down a year or so after I left, and it always gave me great pleasure to see it as a rebuilt branch of Tesco - though I never felt I could go in it because I would have remembered the locations where everything bad that had happened took place.

It was good that you had a teacher that finally found the lad who had made your life a misery at it, so to speak, and was able to help bring about an end to it. Sadly he probably behaved exactly the same to somebody else at his new school, but I am glad for you that it ended in your case.

The problem in my school was that you had a few teachers who would turn a blind eye to misbehavour and thereby encouraged it. It was known for a few years that our school was earmarked for closure, so therefore it didn't encourage the best teachers, and most of them were just hanging on, longing for retirement, and wanting a quiet life

It is amazing how you always remember those bad times, and I can honestly say that, though I now work for myself, none of the jobs I had after I left school ever gave me the problems school had, as nobody I worked with or for was as bad.

I'm not aware this has been an 'echo chamber' actually. Plus until all this recent antisocial activity on here I thought we'd had rather a lot of 'useful' comment and debate about many kinds of different things.

But some do want an echo chamber and have a low tolerance for any view that sits quite different from their own life experience or general life thinking. That's why we have had some of this poor attitude and wishes to cancel others with what are classed as the 'wrong' views. Robert Coulson last week was the perfect example of this when he got hit upon.

I agree with Tony, and I, too was astonished, and said so, that a man with 43 years teaching experience could be dismissed as having "limited" experience. That period of time equates to the majority of a working life.

The M.P you mentioned was Lucy Powell, but there could be even worse on the way:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-62687966


I hope HE didn't behave like that at school!

Alan it looks like you've got yourself an online stalker here doesn't it.

A bit of a chameleon too, shapeshifting himself. What a prize prat eh.

This takes me back to a year from hell I had at school during my 1978/79 school year, my second year at Royal Latin Grammar a school in Buckingham at the age of 12 to 13. For some reason unknown by me to this day another boy from the year above who I didn't previously know as we shared no classes together except seeing each other around school outside of lessons and breaks/lunchtimes etc seemed to take a dislike to something about me and began pestering me, occasionally at first but them more so, often even when I was in a group of friends, but also when by myself. It began with comments about silly things, then he kept on about me having a liking for cindy dolls. I didn't even like or ever have an action man for boys. I didn't even look girly so not sure where that came from. I got this quite a lot. I tried my best to pay him no attention but then things got worse and it developed into sustained harrassment. I always felt ashamed to admit to and use the word bullying as it felt like it made me weak in some way but it was very much that. It escalated into taking food off me, wafers and chocolate or fruit that we could eat in break times. He grabbed an entire Marathon bar I'd just unwrapped out of my hand one day while I was talking with friends and stood nearby scoffing it down in front of me, shamelessly. I never reported it. Another
time it was a bag of sweets emptied over the floor. Then for a period of a few months he began blackmailing me into bringing in food from home so he could just nick it off me out of lessons. Foolishly I did this for a few weeks for a quiet life and spent my time gathering sweets, biscuits and other snacks from the kitchen cupboards at home as a kind of currency to buy him off. I wasn't smaller than him, physically weaker than him, other than being a year or so younger. But I had no clue why he did this to me and went out to push himself into my day to day school life like he did. We literally had no reason to have ever crossed paths under normal circumstances. It was a long time after he began harrassing me before I even found out what his name was. I never told him mine but he found it out. Like so much of this kind of thing it escalated despite my best efforts, physical taunting, prodding, poking and grabbing, then I was pushed to the floor one day and I hit the back of my head very hard, it came up with a bump. There were witnesses but I brushed it off and got up. I ended up raiding a money tin at home and over a three month period took what must have been about £40 from it to be able to buy stuff to keep this harrassing older boy at bay. That was an enormous amount of money in cash at the time and although the money tin at home had a lot more where it came from I can't believe it wasn't noticed although nobody ever said anything. My good friends now noticed all this escalation and were horrified and wanted me to report it all. I refused to do so to anyone, as I said, it felt like an admission of weakness on my part that I'd allowed it to happen to me. But things did come to a head during an afternoon break when one of my teachers finally caught me being harrassed again at a quiet part of the playing fields and he was making an attempt to remove my trousers quite forcefully. He failed and was caught in the act. The rest of it all came out and some of my friends were able to corroborate what had been going on for nearly a year. He was expelled shortly afterwards and gone for good. I have no idea why it happened to me or why I was latched onto by that person for that school year like that. You can't help but look to blame yourself in some way. Previously quite confident it really knocked me back for a long time and made me wary. When somebody comes at you and you don't know why it's unsettling and disorientating to say the least and sticks with you for years just trying to work it out.

I know we are living in an increasingly polarised society with an intolerance of other peoples views. A labour MP has just been spotted wearing a t-shirt proclaiming 'never kissed a tory' as reported on the news tonight for instance. An elected representative! A lot of people are now very fearful of the future and the way the nation is going and genuinely frightened of the coming months ahead and see our country as something they no longer recognise. Mental health problems are piling up and so much is not being dealt with. People are angry, upset, fearful, edgy, anxious, you name it, the negatives massively outweigh the positives and it seems there is no end in sight.

But I do wonder how that polarisation can find its way into a quaint little history forum where a group of mainly older people over 40 come along and talk about how things were and what we got up to way back in our schooldays.

People have always disagreed with each other, that's nothing new, but what is new is the way that so many people now choose to disagree with each other with a strong intolerance of the other opinion. Take Robert the teacher a few days ago for example. What an astonishing reaction to him and because what he said didn't fit in with someone's own view he was basically delegitimised for it. In the past month both the Nicky Campbell school story and my own posting of the Litherland School have led to a strange raising of tension on here. There were other things previously.

After the past few days I've come to my own conclusions about the bad tempered content on here and why it is happening. Some of the previous comments don't appear to me to be too far wide of the mark in my opinion.

Doug on 28th August 2022 at 16:12

May I suggest then you respond to some of the good comment and let's try to bury the echo chamber in useful stuff?

Doug on 27th August 2022 at 17:25

Doug on 28th August 2022 at 12:05

Are you prone to repeating the same pointless statements?

I don't see any useful contributions from you, just criticisms.

Not surprising is it?

Alan.

There is something I don't understand.

Publishing your comment on History World is not instant like so many forums where it appears the moment you click it and send. This forum often takes a minimum of half an hour up to maybe several hours before a comment is published for all to read here. Therefore somebody is reading them and moderating them but continuing to place the obviously disruptive comments instead of weeding them out. I don't understand that part. It's so obvious what is off topic or baiting and should not be published.

I did not place the comment that was an exact replica of the actual one I did write on here last night at 5.25pm 27th August. Somebody else has chosen to re-write verbatim and repeat my original comment at 12.05pm today in my name.

I agree with you Philip. Someone is playing games on here.

I mostly only read this history site and ironically there has been some worthy content lately. Perhaps that is the idea Philip, to put off people with a credible opinion and viewpoint about the education system of old and the memories some of us have, great or not so great.

Comment by Aidan on 28th August.
That there is no login here means that anyone can post under any name at any point of their choosing and the rounding on people by multiple names in a short space of time suggests to me that the whole board is being manipulated.





I agree with you Andy.

The absolute state of this discussion shames he/they who have derailed it like this.

Hugh on 26th August 2022 at 08:07

Thank you sir for your response to my post.

I am certain we have met before and it was you who I went to see for my pre-play screening and assessment three years ago. What a coincidence. Fortunately, to date I have never had a significant injury. My recollection is that you were supportive, gave excellent explanations and you were utterly thorough in your approach for which I was very grateful at the time.

You will know which club I play for so maybe you would like to come along and lend your support at the start of the new season? Training has already begun and though I'm in Finland, I will be back for the next session on Wednesday.

Best wishes sir.

My first ever post here resulted in abuse from Alan. I've seen others complain of the same thing and while Andy has done a good job of standing up to the abuse, he is now abused not only by Alan but by what I can only describe as an Alan echo chamber without any consideration that Andy might be making valid points at all.

That there is no login here means that anyone can post under any name at any point of their choosing and the rounding on people by multiple names in a short space of time suggests to me that the whole board is being manipulated.

I will say no more. I came here to challenge a point of view and rather than my contribution be considered, I just suffered a torrent of abuse as others have.

I will take my leave and let the sick continue their manipulation. It's a pity because the discussion here could be interesting, if discussion were allowed.

I have never yet made a comment on this board to date recalling my times at my all boys grammar school in the early 1970s. I haven't because of all these awful sniping comments that others make regularly to other posters and fear receiving the same .
Whilst I find most contributions really interesting, the rest of the hatred / bile/ anger just puts me off. I am at the point now of unbookmarking this website and no longer wishing to read it.

Gary on 27th August 2022 at 14:45

I never mentioned you.

Comment on 27th August from Andy to Alan.

"True to form, he came along with an insult. It didn't take long either."



You reap what you sow, and you've been on here sowing plenty of discontent against somebody and then you wonder why they don't reply with sweetness and roses back at you.

As well as Alan who you seem to have an irrational problem with, you have managed to tick off at least a dozen other named contributors if not more along the way. I've lost count it's so many now.

From what I've been reading recently you are trying mighty hard to smear the hell out of one person on here and then smear others by vague association too.

The only reason you have received a less than favourable reaction back at you lately is because of your diabolical forum behaviour to others.

What is it that is motivating you to behave like this and what is it you actually want to achieve exactly, I'm all ears and keen to know as I am beginning to think many others are.

The absolute state of this discussion shames he/they who have derailed it like this.

I don't really wish to keep this distraction going any longer than it should, it's already been far too long and pointless, but Andy looked to me in his post today to be projecting all his own traits onto others in self justification. I have no idea what purpose any of this is meant to be serving. Please stop.

Alan on 27th August 2022 at 12:19

True to form, he came along with an insult. It didn't take long either.

Andy, why the anger? It seems excessive and out of all proportion.

Your views and Alan's or anyone else's who thinks like you or him who comes here should be able to sit side by side with each other's without the need for open conflict and accusation shouldn't it?

Remember - smile and the world smiles back at you. You might as well also say, snarl and the world snarls back at you.

I'm probably one of the younger ones on here who began reading during the past few months. I was born in 1980 and my secondary school years were from 1992 to 1998. I've given you something of myself, would you be happy to tell me what time you did your secondary school or equivalent now I've told you mine. That's your choice of course it is. I'd be happy to answer any relevent questions directed at me. Infact if you've already mentioned things like this about yourself in the past on pages going back a while maybe you could point me in that direction to read it without the need to flick back through so many pages. When did you first write up here, any idea?

Another interesting thing was the name you mentioned. I have a cousin called Aiden, spelt with an E. I always thought that was the commonest spelling of that name actually. So I looked it up and found there are an amazing amount of spellings for that name infact. If I'd written that name I think I might just have automatically assumed the commonest version with the E and not the A myself, but who knows.

Here, take a look;

'The name Aiden is primarily a male name of Irish origin that means Little Fire. The most common alternate spelling of the name Aiden is Aidan. Other spellings include Ayden, Aydan, Aydin, Aedan, Aidyn, and Aadyn. Nicknames for the name Aiden include Addie, Ahd, and Denny.'

I know you haven't agreed with a few of the things I've written here in the past few weeks/months and so be it, I don't hold it against you and it doesn't make you wrong, it just means you have a different view. For so many things there is no right or wrong view, just a different one. If for instance I agree with someone on here it does not make me one of their 'followers'.

I know at times during my 90's schooldays I could have an overly assertive and opinioated personality at times, sometimes even with teachers, including my PE ones. Sometimes it worked, much of the time it didn't.

I've done my best to be reasonable.

I have held off from replying to Andy's obssesive posts about me for some time. Let me just say to him and to everyone else, I only post under my own name and I would ask the moderator of this board to confirm that every computer owner has his or her's own unique internet address, and he/she can confirm that other names mentioned from time to time by Andy in his absurd wonderings do not come from my internet address. I have in the past published my email address, but given Andy's worrying obsession with me, I will not do so again, unless the other people he whines about are prepared to do so as well.

I will say nothing more on Andy or his absurd allegations, except to say it is about time he found somebody/something else to obsess over. Give it a rest, mate.

Robbie on 26th August 2022 at 22:18

Don't you find the mistake I outlined a bit of a coincidence in a raft of posts all made in a very short time frame? I thought his questioning without disclosing any information about himself to be that of a troll.

More generally:

It's interesting that there has been silence from the three handles concerned with the spelling mistake since I pointed it out. I presume they are exercising their right to remain silent - or maybe Alan will be along with abuse on reading this, he certainly won't have anything positive to say.

Some new people have posted on interesting topics over the course of recent weeks. I note none of the people who are racing to condemn me have shown the slightest interest in engaging with new posters who are bringing a fresh perspective to some issues here and one even cited the abuse he had suffered in the past from Alan but somehow it's me that is the villain and I'm even accused of not knowing when I left school, that says more about the troubled person and their post than it does about anything else. I find that all very strange.

Anything new is now being lost in the stream of abuse directed at me but then maybe new topics are not welcome anyway as they detract from the Alan agenda, for instance Barney sounds like a well adjusted young man who is content with life but that won't do if he wasn't abused at some stage will it for the Alan agenda?

I will continue to post and call out those who are abusive towards me and others whether Alan and his mates/handles like it or not. There is some good discussion going on around here and it's being drowned out in abuse of me by people/a person who quite frankly is disturbed.

I remember Chris Wendle answering me on that other Clitheroe thread back in mid-May over the dramatic difference in the size of our feet, he said he was 14 to my 6. I just re-checked it as I remembered his name. Don't think there is any Alan connection there in fairness.