Hesketh Fletcher Gym Team

Hi Jack,

Our class teacher was female and usually took the whole class (boys and girls) for PE lessons.

For some of the more gender specific activities (football / cricket for the boys and netball / rounders for the girls),two classes were combined and a male teacher took the boys and a female one took the girls. This was well before the era of girls football!

We were only in our underwear while we were actually getting changed, as both boys and girls wore T shirts and shorts (or sometimes skirts for the girls) for the actual PE lessons.
I don't recollect there being much misbehaviour while we were getting changed, although in the final year at Primary school, a few of the girls who had started to 'develop' and wear bras were allowed to change separately in the girls toilets.

There were no showers at our Primary school, so compulsory showers at Secondary came as a bit of a shock!

Hi girls, was your class teacher who took you for PE lessons male or female?
I assume that it was the class teacher who gave the boys and girls PE lessons since there were no PE teachers in primary schools, at least not in mine or any other primary school I knew of. Of course it was different in secondary schools, with gyms and PE teachers.
Also do you remember any boys or girls getting physical punishments during PE lessons for misbehaviour while in their underwear?
I am also curious to know if there were any primary schools which had compulsary showers after PE. We only had showers in secondary school.

I left Primary school in July 1971 and about 4 or 5 of my classmates had started to wear a bra during our final few months there.

My mum bought me my first bras during the last term of my first year at Secondary school, but I didn't wear one regularly until the start of my second year there.

What did you wear for PE at Secondary school?

Andrea

Hi Andrea
I was at primary school from Jan 1970 - July 1976. I don't recall any of the girls wearing a bra at primary school, I certainly didn't start wearing one until I was 13.
I don't think many girls owned a vest either.

Neil, was it embarrassing being a skin? Were there any female teachers present?

Looking at Neil's post it seems that even to this day pe is sometimes done shirtless. was it embarrassing/difficult to be a skin?

Neil, did you get to choose whether you were shirts or skins in PE or were you just told which team to play? Which did you enjoy more?

I only recently finished high school (boys school) as well and we never had nude swimming (thankfully!!) although communal showers after pe and swimming were compulsory and were always done nude by most. Also, during basketball and football, there would be two pe lessons in the hall at once and not enough bibs for everyone, so we just did shirts vs skins. Remember this was only around two year ago.

Any questions go ahead. That's the whole point of history sites.

I was at school in the fifties and sixties and although doing PE stripped to the waist was the norm-both indoors and outdoors including cross-country runs-we certainly never had nude swimming.
As being stripped to the waist was the norm we accepted it and eventually got to enjoy it.

I honestly can't imagine having to grow up in a time where shirtless pe, corporal punishment and nude swimming was the norm. I only recently graduated high school and thankfully never had to hAve this lack of privacy. If anyone wants to ask any questions, go on.

Hi Jason,
I'm interested to know whether the shirtless PE rule at your school applied only to the gym, or were you ever required to do lessons outdoors with your shirt off?
We had teachers who would sometimes make boys take their shirts off for PE as punishment but it wasn't part of the actual uniform.

Dave,

no, it didn't take very long, we all lined up and our teacher walked along in front of us putting an X on every second boy's chest and then did the same on our bare backs.

Being shirtless was not an option and we didn't really think about whether we liked it or not, you just went on with it and you better not complained if didn't wanted to be mocked or punished.

Hi DM and Pete! Thank you for all the answerings!

Jason: Wasn't that ink proceura too long before team games?
How did you react for and for having to be shirtless anyway. Was it a problem for more boys or most of them didn't mind it?

Hi Jono

As we were all shirtless anyway, a method of distinguishing teams was needed. Rather than letting some boys wear a top, which our teacher would never ever have allowed, he marked our chests and backs with a big X. We had that method of marking until I left school at 18.

Dave, I await DM's further comments but in the meantime I knew from the Uniform List that we had to do PE shirtless.
Teams were told apart by coloured tags on our shorts and yes we were barefoot as well.

In reply to Dave. My elder brother was already at the secondary school. However, my dad attended a parents evening prior to my going there, and came home and told me pe was white shorts, no tops and no pants for reasons of hygiebne because we would work up a sweat and we would not want to go onto other lessons in sweaty underwear. (Communal showers were available,but, because of the time limt to get changed and onto next subject very few lads had time to use them)
Tops were only worn for outdoor games, football etc. There was no set uniform for sport and we just relied on remembering who was in our team. Indoors footwear was the old fashioned black plimsolls,with boots for football outside. In addition when we did football outside it was the same white shorts and again no pants so could be very cold in winter. Even as we progressed through to the age of 16, unlike a lot of schools we were not told about , or wore athletic supports. Everything had to be held in place by your shorts depending on the style and cut. Usally a lot of bouncing about. If it was raining we still did football outdoors, which was not good in white shorts. Especially for those lads who wore the nylon shorts. However, one seemed bothered. Nowadays they all seem to be covered virtually head to toe.

Hi DM, welcome to the forum!

How did you get to know that you have to do PE shirtless? Were there a uniform list or the PE teacher told you at the first lesson what you had to wear?
How did you distinguish as all of you wearing no tops?
Were you allowed to wear footwear?

This is a new sight I have just found. I recollect that at junior school, pe was mixed with boys wearing there normal vest and grey uniform school shorts. The girls were in vest & knickers. I am sure that the equality gang would object to that these days.
In 1961 I went to an all boys secondary school. Pe was done in shorts( much shorter than the ones in the photo) and tighter and as in those days no pants we allowed to be worn. As was the general rule no tops. The shorts were thin white and anyone tried to wear pants then it would be obvious. One lad tried to get away with and ended up be made to remove them and then got the slipper on the backside which wearing only thin shorts must have been painful.

As far as I know this was the norm in most schools. One of my friends who went to different secondary school where they wore black pe shorts would sometimes randomly select a couple of boys to check that they were not wearing pants.

Swimming was more civilised becuase it was at a public pool although hired exculsively for the school. In those days we all wore what are now described as "Speedo" type swim briefs but there was no designated colours.

This is a new sight I have just found. I recollect that at junior school, pe was mixed with boys wearing there normal vest and grey uniform school shorts. The girls were in vest & knickers. I am sure that the equality gang would object to that these days.
In 1961 I went to an all boys secondary school. Pe was done in shorts( much shorter than the ones in the photo) and tighter and as in those days no pants we allowed to be worn. As was the general rule no tops. The shorts were thin white and anyone tried to wear pants then it would be obvious. One lad tried to get away with and ended up be made to remove them and then got the slipper on the backside which wearing only thin shorts must have been painful.

As far as I know this was the norm in most schools. One of my friends who went to different secondary school where they wore black pe shorts would sometimes randomly select a couple of boys to check that they were not wearing pants.

Swimming was more civilised becuase it was at a public pool although hired exculsively for the school. In those days we all wore what are now described as "Speedo" type swim briefs but there was no designated colours.

We we similarly attired for PE mostly shirt free! For some it was liberating freedom of movement and for others a nightmare!

It seems to have put a great many of sport as young adults and therefore damaged the health of the nation!

Jason, ink is used routinely in triathlons to number competitors, perhaps your teacher was involved, mine was but thankfully didn't implement ink at school!

Jason, I too went through school during that time en we were outside on the yard or field, it was normal for teams to be shirts vs vests or if they decided, shirts vs skins or for everyone to go barechested which happened a little to frequently for some of my friends liking!

The teachers always kept a few "regulars" who were always made to strip down regardless. These tended to be the really sporty lads and how I fell into this category, I have no idea, but all the same I didn't mind being barechested, maybe it showed?

I'm surprised that your teachers chose ink rather than bibs or vests to distinguish teams, what age were you when that stopped.

Like Jason, I hated having to do PE stripped to the waist and I regret having hated it so much. However, I can strip to the waist now and enjoy it. In a strange way, like Toby, I'm glad I was made to do it.

It did come off under the shower, not always very easily but no problem with the help of a mate.

Jason, how indelible was this black marker ink? Did it come off easily in the shower? Bearing in mind, you wouldn't have been able to see your back to check.

Read your post Jason, it sounded familiar and I remember corresponding with you elsewhere! I was at school around the same time as you and also had to do PE bare-chested, dreaded it at the time but with hindsight I'm glad I was made to do it. Anyway let me know if you'd like to continue the discussion!

I don't think that it was only a matter of changing times but depended on the kind of policy a school chose to enforce. I went to a school in the 1990's that had a barechested indoor for gym or sports hall PE rule. It applied to all lads 11 to 18's. In fact the PE teachers seemed to delight in enforcing the rule especially on the shy ones like me who detested it, which was quite a few of us actually. It was just a case of wearing white shorts, no top no shoes. What bugged me in the gym was team games, when we all looked the same up top. Rather than half of us put a top on to tell the teams apart on such games as indoor footy or basketball, we had teachers pick the teams and proceed to line you up and get a thick black marker pen and scribble a large cross right over the chest and the back of half the class.
Looking back I'm a bit sorry that I didn't actively enjoy all this barechested PE I was made to do.

It is strange that while vests and shirts are seemingly obligatory for PE/Games many youths are prepared to go about outside of school stripped to the waist.

Sounds like we were quite lucky when I was at school by comparison! I can't remember any boy ever having to do outdoor PE in bare feet. And apart from that punishment session, the only times I had to do it with a bare chest was for shirts against skins team games. But this was the late 80s and things had clearly changed a lot.

Oliver our normal kit for all outdoor PE was bare chest and barefoot.

Thanks for your reply Roy. Was that your usual kit for outdoor PE or only for punishment sessions?