Following on from the relocation of the War Memorial Board to Shaw Lane Sports Club, plans are under way to recreate the annual Memorial Service in November. Details to be agreed but we are looking at: *service reading out the names of the ex pupils killed in the war. * creation of a Grammar School / Holgate “memorabilia” display to be permanently hosted in cabinets at Shaw Lane. * Book to list the history of the Grammar School / Holgate Ex pupils who died in the war *Dedicated website * Link to local schools to ensure the legacy is maintained All of the above is subject to funding. We are preparing a funding bid to Heritage / lottery but there are no guarantees. If any former pupils are in a position to help with any of the following, please get in touch: Photos/ memorabilia from Grammar School/ Holgate. Caps, ties, reports etc - i.e. historical items of interest Links/ stories to any of the “fallen soldiers” Donations to the charitable fund - towards the installation of cabinets, publish of books etc (Any donations would go to The Shaw Lane Foundation and would be ring- fenced for this project) Web site set up. If you can help or have any ideas, please message me. I can supply details for donations. We have a committee of “old boys”, historians, former pupils etc planning this, so hopefully it’s in good hands.
I've got a scanned copy of the "Alumnus" school magazine, plus various football team photos, unfortunately with me in them! I'll get them to you, good project!
This should give you a lot of stuff. https://barnsleywarmemorials.weebly.com/ Indicates which school they went to. Came across it after going through letters written between my Grandma and her daughters who were in the Land Army in Lincolnshire. Great reading and usually day to day stuff... sewing... problems with coupons... then finally ending with the bad news... "Well Kath I am sorry to tell you Leonard Dunkly has been killed. His plane crashed abroad I think it was the Middle East. I don’t know what to say to Mrs Dunkly when I see her. I asked her how Eric & Leonard was going on and she says our Leonard tells me not to worry as he is all right. So I know it will be a shock for them." Leonard Dunkley Son of Albert and Laura A. Dunkley, of Worsborough. Leonard attended Holgate Grammar School. He was part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (no. 162255), serving with 31 Squadron (South African Air Force). On June 21 1944 he was onboard a four-engined B24 Liberator bomber (EV946) that took off from Foggia, Italy for bombing practice over the Med. The aircraft crashed into Bardawil Bay, Port Said, Egypt. All 10 crew were killed. Leonard is buried at Moascar War Cemetery. He was 24.
Thank you. We have a historian who is involved in the project - I have a feeling that this may be her work / or what she accessed, but I will check, as I know there are a couple of people they can't find details for, and there a couple of people who should be on the Boards, but aren't.
Actually this is the page I was looking for. Gives you the lot! https://barnsleywarmemorials.weebly.com/barnsley-grammar-school.html
If the 'Alumnus' are of any use then I have 10 gathering dust - Christmas 1959 to Summer 1964. No football team photos though but one or two are slightly defaced with juvenile scribbling I don't live in the Barnsley area but do visit from time to time, so if you want them for the project, let me know and I will bring them next time I'm int' tarn.
I still wish I had my Keresforth / Lancaster tie. My dog ate it, sadly. Not sure if Spot Avery would have been pleased about that, or not. He wasn't a happy chappy in his latter days, teaching lovely people like me history...
A Butler boy myself - later Cooper Butler. Re Spot Avery; eventually I got round to thinking he was the best teacher at Holgate. Lower and upper 6th he taught interpretive history, rather than the narrative stuff. Quirky and bad tempered, with a heart problem that eventually did for him, he taught how to read history books and how to question things. I recognise this is a minority view haha! He had a son, who was in one of my social circles at that time also known as Spot, who was a jockey and rode for Steve Norton out of his Silkstone stable.
I’m fairly certain I have a letter from Jack Livesey (Junior Tutor 1967) somewhere, that asks my parents if I should like to continue the family tradition of being in Butler house. My elder brother of 13 years went to Holgate and was in Butler. Amazing but true. is this of interest.
Yes, everything you mention is of interest. Obviously there will be a limit to the amount of stuff wencan physically display, but the website will be available to store photos of the other items. You can e mail stuff to f.hall@shawlane.com or I can arrange to collect items. Thanks .
Thanks. I’m hoping to get the funding bid in next week. We should know within 8 weeks if successful. If so, we will have £3k ish for website development. Fingers crossed.