Golden Galley's Field memories - and who wants to re-live them in a reunion?

It has made for a great read, but Tom wants to go one step further.

He would love to hear from fellow former students who might be interested in a reunion.

Here is a photograph of his class year at Galley’s Field which comes from around 1953. It includes two of the teachers who did so much to shape his life and they are Mr R Fleming and Mrs E Tolson.

Tom told us: “Me, John Rowlands and my friends Lesley Trotter and John Booth moved on into 3A missing out 2A and were taught by Mrs Tolson, one of only two women on the staff at that time who was not only an excellent teacher but also a good disciplinarian.

“Whilst in 4A under the control of Mr Dowson, most of the class sat the examination to go to Stockton Technical College and there were more passes from Galley’s Field School for the 25 places there.

“I am sure that this was down to the excellence of the standards at this school. I have fond memories of all my time at Galley’s Field and will be forever grateful for the enthusiasm and professionalism of the teaching staff there.”

After school, Tom served an apprenticeship in engineering at the Durham Paper Mills in West Hartlepool before leaving to go into teaching himself. His specialist area was technical studies.

He added: “My first post in Hartlepool was at Dyke House Boys’ School. I then moved on to Manor Secondary Modern under the leadership of Mr W B Henderson, a dedicated and forward thinking head.

“Whilst I was on the staff at the Manor, there were two members of staff who had also attended Galley’s Field, Mr W Noble and Mr S Nicholson – not bad for a secondary modern school.

“I gained promotion to George Stephenson High School at Killingworth and have now been retired for 25 years.

Tom often reflects on his time at Galley’s Field and said he was “grateful to all those who taught me for their effort and encouragement.”

In a previous article, he paid tribute to other former teachers including Mr P Kay, science master who later became headmaster. He also highlighted Mr A Dormand who was a “very nice man, a conscientious teacher and avid cricket fan/player.

“During break time he would set up a set of stumps and put himself in to bat and invite the lads in his class to bowl at him and try and bowl him out. If you bowled him out you were rewarded with a sixpence, but I don’t think he paid out more than 1/6 in the year I was in his class.”

Tom would love to share his schoolday memories of Galley’s Field which was on the Headland in Hartlepool.

If you would like to join in with a reunion, send us an email to [email protected] and we will make sure Tom gets all of your responses.