See if you can spot any of your former classmates in this Hartlepool line-up

Hartlepool man David has shared this photograph of the West Hartlepool Technical Day School for Boys class which was taken in 1955.

Not only that, he even submitted the name of every person pictured. Do you recognise anyone yourself?

Who remembers this back row line-up of JM McLoughlin, B.Oram, P Evans, J Milburn, I Forgan, CR Taylor, M Stevenson, and J Dixon.

In the centre, there is A Nicholson, S Green, John F Busby, D ‘Hornby, M Kirk, M Hardy, B Drew, and A Anderson.

And lastly, on the front row, there is P Jobling, P Butler, A Millions, J Dutton, Mr F Walker, D. Burnham, DN Payne, E Dickinson, and C Metcalfe.

We’re hoping these faces bring back lots of happy memories.

David also shared a newspaper report from the Northern Daily Mail which was published 65 years ago.

It told how children, after their junior school years were over, were allocated to a particular ‘big school’ depending on how they did in a series of six tests and an essay.

That school could have been the Grammar School for Boys, the Girls High School, or the Technical School. Which one were you allocated to?

The significance of the newspaper report, was it was the first time the town’s Education Committee had taken issue with a new way of measuring how children were doing in the new tests.

It was a new measurement compared to the previous one of children just sitting three tests.

The article, from 1954, said the committee wanted the Secondary Schools Entrance Examinations Board to report on the effect of the new system and how it was faring.

But it didn’t end there.

As well as tests, the Board was considering whether homework was beneficial for children in primary schools.

“A homework ban, in force for the last three years, was reinforced by committee reminders to head teachers some months ago following the complaint of a parent that some children were being given homework while her child was not,” said the report.

Coun TV Oldfield, who was the chairman of the Education Committee, said he did not believe homework was good for children in primary school.

He said many parents had objected to it strongly.

An old photo shows the Bull Field car park, as well as West Hartlepool Technical Day School and the Engineers Club and the Grand Hotel.

Who remembers those days and were you a former pupil yourself?

Can you remember who your classmates were. Which were your favourite subjects and can you recall the names of any of your teachers?

We would love to hear from you. Get in touch by emailing [email protected]. Let’s share the memories.