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Welcome to the Guestbook
Feel free to add messages relating to the site and the school. The only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).

It would be appreciated if you gave an email address, where you now live and said when you were at the school, but you don't have to.

Plase note that if you click on an email address below you will need to replace ~DOT~ with . and ~AT~ with @ in your email program. The Guestbook presents these this way to avoid email address harvesters collecting your email addresses from the page. I know it's a pain, but it's very much better than the alternative.

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Viewing messages 1 to 10

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

As it's Good Friday I got to thinking whether or not there is still the parade and gathering in front of the old Town Hall - collapsed or not?

I seem to remember that I had difficulty getting to the town from the outskirts of the Sutton Trust estate as the buses didn't start running until 9 AM.

The ancient ones reading this will understand.

Fri 18-Apr-2025 20:55 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike, Neale and Bruce,
Thank Goodness!! It's such a relief to learn that there are at least two more un-popped cloggers out there. Though it seems that neither of you saw the 'collapsed Town Hall' on Facebook. I still haven't had a reply from the Gazette. I'll keep plugging away at it until I get some satisfaction. At the moment I'm like 'The Rolling Stones'...not getting any.
Cheers, from a light snowy North York,
Alex

Thu 10-Apr-2025 19:46 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Neale Backhouse. | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hi Mike,
Kudos to Alex as he continues his ninety year old gallop in our Guestbook. He's so boisterous that the rest of us have to struggle to find something to talk about. He reminds me of Captain Ahab in "Moby Dick," in search of the great white whale! (just reading it at the moment).
The only item I have to report is the exquisite joy that I felt last weekend after defeating my 12year old Grandson at chess. (he is leading me 11 games to seven in our latest test series). I have learned to embrace humiliation of late, not easy for a soon to be ninety year old. He even tells me where I went wrong, and then adds, "You taught me too well." But last weekend was glorious!!!

Wed 9-Apr-2025 01:13 - Victoria BC

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Yes, Alex, there are some people still watching and marvelling at your contributions.

Just to note that one the the BBC daytime programmes "Under the hammer" seems to have chosen SS as a new site for many of its house-buying adventures.

Lovely views if the harbour and the retrored Roman fort.

Tue 8-Apr-2025 17:47 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike and anyone else who might ever look at the site again,
This is the first of my April contributions, and this one has nothing to do with our old school, other than the fact that some of you still live in South Shields. Last week I did something I never do, and that is to look at my desktop before I’ve had breakfast. No specific reason, just force of habit. My computer was still on Facebook from the evening before. It was the usual front-load garbage, then a South Shields email flashed on showing a photo of the Town Hall clock tower collapsed into Westoe Road with a commentary describing the unsteady ground beneath the tower, 3:00 a.m., time of collapse, no injuries, road closures for Fowler Street and Beach Road and preliminary engineering report that the tower would not be rebuilt, even the rationale for the tower being built on the corner of the Town Hall and not over the central main entrance, because of the risk of subsidence. The photograph showed the police patrolling the scene complete with barriers and temporary guard rails then POOOUUUFFF!!! the email disappeared and I couldn’t recover it.
My immediate reaction was to call one of my friends in South Shields but there was no reply so figured they were probably out looking at the damage. I called a couple more with the same result. Then I called my eldest daughter here in Canada and of course she got it right away. APRIL FOOL. My relief was palpable. I sat down and had a nice cup of tea. Then I tried to see if I could find the article again. No joy!! I must say whoever perpetrated the item was extremely skilled. From what I remember of the email it looked like a drone shot complete with all you would expect from such an incident. I was surprised that the tower would collapse so tidily almost intact except for the belfry and I couldn’t discern the ship model from atop the Tower and presumed it had been salvaged by city workers.
Have any of you readers seen this hoax at all ? I’ve tried Youtube and done endless searches but can find no record of it. I would love to see it again and take a photo of it…no one believes me here. Any suggestions Mike or any reader? I couldn’t find any reference to it in later editions of the Gazette “Is puzzlement”
Regards from a no-snow North York
Alex

Mon 7-Apr-2025 22:00 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

...and in honour of St Patrick's Day, my favourite Irish expression, "It was this mornin' when I got in last night an' it'll be tomorra' mornin' tonight again"
Cheers,
Alex

Mon 17-Mar-2025 20:30 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello again,
....and Rory won the Players on St. Patrick's Day !!!
Cheers,
Alex

Mon 17-Mar-2025 18:00 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Dear anyone who looks at this site anymore,
In keeping with my New Year’s Resolution, here’s my March letter to the Guest book. I spent best part of this afternoon reading the minute-by-minute commentary on TV of the English Premier League Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United while wearing my No. 7 Rob Lee shirt with the Brown Ale badge. Of course he wasn’t playing today !! I would love to have been there at Wembley today particularly when there were 12 additional minutes of ‘extra time’ and Liverpool scored their only goal in the fourth minute with another eight minutes to go. Well Done NUFC and Howay the Lads!!!!!
Best wishes from a Sunny and warm North York.
Alex

Mon 17-Mar-2025 02:07 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike
I’ve mentioned Billy Connolly now in my last couple of FEmails (F ormer or Ex-students emails) and when I was reading last night”s chapters of his autobiography, I came across the following passage, regarding swimming lessons while in school and I quote Billy Connolly here,

“My friends and I had a disgusting grooming routine. There was a Brylcream machine in the changing room. You put a penny in, and when you heard a tap, you’d push the button and it went, PFFFT !! A blob of Brylcream shot into your hand (‘A little dab’ll do ya’ was the Brylcream radio jingle) and you’d rub it straight onto your hair. But we never had any money so we used to clamp our mouths around the metal spout and suck the Brylcream out of the hole”
GROSS!!

Neale commented on me being a Brylcream Boy (anyone in the RAF) This is a quote from the response that I sent to our Guestbook, on 1 April 2022,

“Furthermore, I was a Brylcream Boy since my days in High School. You may remember going to Derby Street Baths where on the way out after a swim, there was a Brylcream dispenser, that emitted a great dollop of Brylcream for a penny (or maybe it was a threepenny bit) but when one applied the complete dollop we all ended up going back to school looking like Rudolph Valentino, while eating our pork fat dip from the butcher shop in Derby Street.”

For those of you young’ns who may be reading this but not responding, Rudolph Valentino was an highly successful actor in silent movies who played the romantic leading man with a Latin look about him. He was considered very handsome and always had his hair plastered down with some sort of concrete glue. It never moved even in his fight scenes.

So it seemed to be a commonplace item in swimming baths, and obviously not limited to Derby Street Baths. Mike, do you know if there is a Brylcream dispenser in the current school’s pool?
Regards,
Alex

Wed 12-Feb-2025 05:19 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike,
In keeping with my New Year's resolution of at least one letter a month to the GB, here's this month's version. As I mentioned in my earlier letter (Re: Alan Myers), that I found Myers reminded me of Billy Connolly. In a remarkable coincidence, I went down to the library in my retirement home to do a bit of browsing. It's a great library, very comfortable with easy chairs, nice fire and several tables. The process is such that any new donations are placed in a big wicker hamper and the person who looks after the library eventually places them in their correct alphabetical order by surname. I say this because when I arrived they were placed by first initial of the forename!! I pop in every day on my way to the dining room and see what's new in the basket. This week to my surprise one of the new donations was "Windswept and Interesting" by Billy Connolly. It had obviously never been opened, so I borrowed it and have been reading it in bed at night, but can only manage about two chapters before I drift into oblivion. I've twice wakened in the middle of the night with the book in my hands and a stiff neck. I rarely laugh out loud when I read, but have done a few times this week. I know he's not to everyone's taste, but he is to mine.
We're free from COVID again, but I'm keeping my mask on for the time being. One of my daughters bought me two masks for Christmas, one with a photo of the Herd Groyne and the other of a Lowery painting. They draw a lot of attention; most people here in Toronto wear the typical blue masks, but I've quite a collection of non-blues.
Anyhow this winter has been kind to us in North York, we've had very little snow and it's a beautiful clear blue sky, still cold (windchill -12C) but better than warmer with snow. Take good care of yourselves and write something soon.
Best wishes,
Alex

Fri 7-Feb-2025 20:25 - North York, Ontario, Canada

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