Burnley Grammar School

Some boys liked semi-nude PE, but for most of us it was a case of getting used to it because we had to and certainly not relishing exercise in the gym with almost nothing on, or having to go on a run like that. From some comments posted, it seems this style of PE was still around as late as the nineties. Was it a matter of schools' policies or down to individual PE teachers with a tough ,spartan approach?

Thanks Adam, did you wear shorts out of school or just for sports?

Thanks James. I was at school between 1991 and 96. We didn't have any rules like shirts vs skins, or only wearing shorts in PE at my school.

We all wore a t-shirt and shorts for PE at my primary school, so I think it was a 'culture shock' for the girls to go up to secondary and then need the gym skirt & knickers instead. When we were in Year 9 they were allowed shorts, and most were in tracksuit bottoms by Year 10.

By contrast our PE kit never changed once in my 5 years in secondary school.

Rob, and others: In my seven years in secondary school, I only had topless PE for about three years. For the remainder of the time we wore white cotton vests, generally our ordinary underwear vests (school 1) or white heavy cotton T-shirts or rugby shirts (school 2) depending on the activity. Underpants were optional, and largely dispensed with in the early years, but as we "developed", swimming trunks and ultimately jock-straps were favoured. Looking back from a rather long distance, I know which upper garment option I preferred, but sadly it didn't last very long as I changed schools after my O-level year. A grojup of us even tried to persuade the PE master and the Headmaster that topless PE was healthier, but to no avail.

Interesting stuff, reading through many of the comments. Thought I would start contributing.

I went to an all boys secondary school in Kent. Late 80s / early 90s. Of course by then there was no caning, slippering etc, and nobody was ever made to do PE in just his underpants. (Forgotten kit meant you went to the store cupboard and found something in the stash of bits of skanky old kit they had there.) Other than that though, much of the stuff from the 50s-70s I've been reading about on here applied to us.

There were three PE sessions a week. Two single lessons (always in the gym) and one double (90%-ish of the time outside on the pitch/field.) The regulations stated outdoor kit was rugby shirt (in the school colours, red and black), black shorts, black socks, and football boots. Indoor kit was blue top and shorts, black socks, and trainers.

Most of us knew from older brothers, friends, rumours etc that lessons in the gym didn't necessarily follow that guide! Our first lesson was indeed an indoor one. The hard bloke PE teacher told us that all of these lessons would be team sports; usually basketball or indoor football. And that he would spilt us into teams at the start of each lesson. Which he then did on that first day. We had to line up, shoulder to shoulder, facing forward. He then started at one end and pointed to the first lad, and said loudly 'one'. He pointed at the next boy and shouted 'two'. And then he walked along the line pointing at each of us in turn, shouting 'one' 'two' etc. Once he'd finished, out came "1's stay as you are. 2's you're skins." I was a 1, and thus mightily relieved! I felt so sorry for the 2's being made to take their tops off, and then spend the whole lesson playing bare-chested.

Next indoor lesson I was a 1 again. Phew! I get to keep my top on! Except that lesson he said "2's stay as you are. 1's you're in skins. Shirts off NOW!" And this was my introduction to shirtless PE. Hated it at first, especially as you never knew which team you were on when he was numbering you. He clearly planned it that way. You'd spend the whole time thinking "What number will I be? And will that be shirt on or stripped to the waist?" You never knew until he announced his decision. (Other than the very occasional lesson when he walked along and just pointed at random lads and shouted "skin" until he had us divided in half.) And this went on all year.

As I say I hated it as first, but when you realise there's no way around it, you have no choice but to get used to it. And most of us did. We were all in the same boat together.

Then, at the start of the second year, there was a note attached to our new timetable that said "All boys must bring both indoor and outdoor shorts to indoor PE lessons." So, of course, we were wondering what that was all about. The following day was our first indoor/gym lesson of the year, and all became clear! We had the usual line up in the gym, and the dividing by '1,2,1,2....'. He then told us his new rule going forward was all team games indoors would now be skins v skins, rather than shirts v skins. And one of the two teams was sent back to the changing room to put their outdoor shorts on, so that we could differentiate between our team and the opponents. He also told us he'd be bringing in more activities for indoor PE (basically circuits, fitness training etc) and we would all be shirtless for those. He finished with something like "In summary, lads, you will all do all of my indoor lessons this year bare-chested. Shorts, socks and trainers only." And it wasn't just that year....he had us stripped to the waist for all indoor sessions until the end of compulsory PE. And most of us loved it by then. I would go back and do it all over again.

He worked us hard - VERY hard - in his lessons, the gym was always hot, and every lad soon ended up shining with sweat. I can't imagine wearing a shirt for that. And, yeah, if anyone's wondering, showers were compulsory, communal and naked. And he saw to it everyone conformed. But I've prattled on enough for now, so I can talk about that, outdoor lessons, and other memories in future comments. Or if anyone wants to e-mail me, that's fine. Happy to chat. I've included my e-mail address.

Andy,
We had the shorts only rule for PE and cross country but were allowed to wear trainers for running. I bet you didn’t have a problem with being shirtless.

We had a shorts only (no underpants) rule for PE at grammar school - all boys, until one day while out running, a lad cut his foot badly and had to be taken to hospital. Plimsolls became the norm from then on and as for the lad, at the next lesson when he couldn't join in anyway because of his bandaged foot which had stitches in it, he was given six of the best for being so careless!

Imagine that happening now.

Adam,thank you for your reply,I considered that girls were more appropriatley dressed than boys simply because the kit as you describe is a more comprehensive list for girls,as at my school all we were allowed to wear for our sporting activities were our shorts.

James, thanks for the reply. I thought the girls would have worn skirts, yeah.

I'm surprised you said: "I always thought that the girls were more appropriately dressed for our sporting activities than the boys." though. I know the girls at my school absolutely hated their gym skirts!

Rob,
You were lucky, my brother went to a boys only senior school and had a much happier time than I did. The shirtless PE rule was a good one, it was far more comfortable exercising without a top. Just because a few lads may have preferred to wear a top was no reason to change a sensible policy that had been normal practice for lads in many UK Primary and Secondary Schools for many decades.

John, I understand how it must have been for you and appreciate how fortunate I was to have gone to an all boys school. I remember there were boys of all shapes and sizes but no-one ever commented. Like you, I enjoyed exercising without a shirt and saw no need to wear one, but no doubt there may have been some who would have rather have been allowed to cover up.

Toby - You are right - running cross country shirtless and barefoot was not as bad as it sounds. Plimsolls would have been useless in mud and would have required cleaning. Bare feet gave more grip and were easily washed in the showers. Feet get softer with age if shoes are worn most of the time so kids feet should be able to cope with running over most surfaces without shoes. I used to enjoy running on the pavements, dirt tracks, muddy sections and the edges of ploughed fields.
I'm not sure whether being barefoot or stripped to the waist felt colder in the winter - neither was too bad. It was how we did all p.e. so we just got on with it and no-one came to any harm.

Rob,
Perhaps you were a good looking well built lad that the girls fancied as opposed to a skinny or fat lad that the girls made fun of. I was a skinny lad and got verbally bullied by girls at my Co Ed school. I would have been happier at a boys only senior school. Your encounter with the girls was brief, I had to put up with them on a daily basis.

John, although I went to an all boys school where we always wore just black shorts and plimsolls and nothing else for PE it always felt good when we went past the gates of the girls school on a cross country run and there was often a group of girls who used to admire our bare chests.

Andrew C
You clearly had a great PE teacher, I much preferred it when shirtless PE was brought in when I went to school and shirtless cross country was a lot more pleasant than having a hot sweaty top stuck to your back. Most lads prefer exercising shirtless once they’ve experienced it a few times.

Adam,

The girls wore t-shirts and skirts and it was a secondary school that I attended.

Despite the "official" PE kit being a blue or white vest depending on which class you were in. It was made crystal clear at the start of our first PE lesson that we would be stripped to the waist at all times in the gym. Outside depended on the activity, x-country was always barechested and football was games shirts vs skins or vests depending on the teachers mood. Outdoor fitness sessions were again vests vs skins. For those who represented the school or county teams, there were additional fitness tests always performed barechested outside likewise any selection event to make it on a team. I left school in June 1999.

James - just to clarify some points.

1) What did the girls wear during your PE lessons?

2) Are you talking about primary or secondary school?

For context, "PE" at my secondary school in the 1990s was a mixed lesson, with your form group. We wore our usual PE kits for everything except gymnastics.

We had a "Summer" kit of a white polo shirt, white ankle socks and white trainers. For 'bottoms' us lads had black football shorts, and the girls had black gym skirts & knickers.

In the winter we all swapped the polo shirt for a long-sleeved yellow reversible rugby top and the socks for black knee socks.

When we had gymnastics everyone was barefoot, the girls had leotards and footless tights. Us lads kept our football shorts but also had a black vest just for gymnastics.

We were never stopped from wearing underwear under our shorts. The only underwear 'rule' anywhere in PE was that the girls were supposed to wear black knickers under their gym skirts.

For outdoor sport (football, rugby, cross country) we wore a reversible rugby shirt. I found it so heavy, particularly in the rain. I’d have preferred a lighter alternative or to go shirtless.

We used to wear football boots for cross country runs which were all routed through fields or on dirt paths. That at least meant there was no trouble with grip.

This afternoon I’ve been rubbing down the plaster on a ceiling which made he so hot and sweaty that I had to take my t shirt off to cool down. It reminded me of how unpleasant it was doing PE before the shirtless rule for lads PE was introduced at my school.

James,
Barechested PE rule was brought in when I was 9 at Primary School and I didn’t mind being seen by girls then. At Co Ed Senior School it was different, girls made fun of skinny and fat lads when they saw us stripped to the waist in the gym or doing cross country. I was a skinny lad and wish that I’d been to a boys only Senior School. Apart from that I was perfectly happy being made to exercise shirtless.

Dave,I think most of the boys were slightly apprehensive when we realized that we were going to share the gym with the girls, especially as we were only wearing shorts. I always thought that the girls were more appropriately dressed for our sporting activities than the boys.

Toby T We were expected to be barechested indoors. Outside, well it depended on what we were doing. In the winter Xcountry was always done barechested regardless of the weather. We also often played football skins vs shirts and had regular outdoor fitness sessions in either teams of skins vs vests or with everyone barechested, The teachers decided on the teams and like you, when we were made to strip to the waist we simply just got on and removed both t-shirts and vests. Being mixed school of course the girls saw you topless both in the gym or outside from day one so were used to it.

James: What was the reaction of boys having to do PE shirtless with girls present?
Answering your questions: Here in Middle-Europe the primary school lasts from age 6 to age 14 (or 15 sometimes). The secondary school (high school) lasts from the age 14 to age 18)19). I went to these kind of schools.
In primary school our PE kit was white vests shorts and pumps and socks.Shirts vs skins were mandatory in some team games. In secondary school the PE kit was T-shirts shorts and pumps and socks.

Toby T, I enjoyed cross country runs in winter wearing only shorts and trainers but no way would have wanted to run barefoot.

Toby T,we also did our PE and games bare foot,we were only allowed to wear our shorts.

James, did you do outdoors PE barefoot too? That was pretty much the norm for my school unless it was rugby or football we even ran cross country shirtless and barefoot which sounds more worse than it actually was because plimsolls were no use for running through the mud.

Dave,
We sometimes had PE with the girls and shared the the gym.
Weather permitting we just wore our shorts,otherwise we were allowed to wear a vest.Most boys found in very cold wearing shorts in cold weather.
What type of school did you attend and what did you wear for PE/

Toby T: Thank you for your reply!

James: So you were in different houses in one class? I attended another type of school here in middle Europe so that's why I ask this.
Did you have PE classes with girls or separated boy's only classes?
What did you wear outside?

Hi John,
We were divided into four house teams with four different colors:red,yellow,green and blue. We were not allowed any form of underwear and did PE barefoot.