Westfield Junior School pupils and staff mentions in the News and Sports Mail, March-April 1977

This is the final instalment in the year-long coverage of Westfield Junior School's pupils, staff and school matters in The News and Sports Mail from 1 September 1976 to 31 August 1977.

April 1977's copies held at the British Library are microfilmed and it's taken much longer than anticipated to scan all that month's issues.
Having said that, little was reported during March and even less during April on anything connected with Westfield Junior School. April's issues extensively covered the newspaper's centenary celebrations including special supplements.

In March, Westfield's gymnasts made more news ...

 

The News, Thursday 17 March 1977.

 

Six girls from King Richard School won the Southern Region final of the National Schools Under 13 Gymnastics Team Championships at Eastleigh, versus Westfield Middle School.

Westfield Middle School, back row, left to right: Carla Thompson, Julie Moody, Michelle Lucas, Tyree Smallwood, Sarah Smith, Julie Bowler, Wendy Elford.
They were managed by Mr I. Davis (Idris Davis).

Of those, Sarah Smith and Julie Bowler were in my year group who left Westfield in 1977, all the others were in the year group below.

 

  

The News, Tuesday 22 March.

 

   Donna Hillyer won the girls' cross-country race in the Hampshire Middle Schools' Championships at Southampton Sports Centre.

 

Chipper Club's 12th birthday celebrations for March-April 1977: Patricia Ahearn, Brandon Cherry, Michelle Lucas

Westfield Junior School pupils and staff mentions in the News and Sports Mail, May-June 1977

Apologies for this being out of sequence, this was because the first two weeks of May's issues are now only available to view on microfilm and the rest print only; compared with the print version, it's taken much longer to scan the microfilm for the two weeks that were covered.

Westfield Junior School made front page news on Thursday 16 June after a burst water main in Jubilee Avenue sent a torrent of water and mud into the classrooms.

I decided to separately photograph the accompanying photo (below) in order to identify individuals more easily.

 

Pupils and staff cleared up the mess, the only people so far identified in this photo are:

Fellow year group pupil Neil Gray in the centre of the photo holding a wide black broom, recognised by his hairstyle, facial appearance and sleeveless jumper.
Teacher Miss Capp, identified by Kevin Miller, in black dress standing near the classroom door.

 

At the time I cut out the above photo from our family's copy of the paper, but threw it away about two years later. I definitely knew Neil was in the photo (and marked it as such on my copy). In 2001 I tried locating the article and photo at the former British Library's newspaper library in Colindale, London, but somehow missed it, however it was again re-discovered in late October this year. 

 

 

In The News, Saturday 25 June, the school was mentioned as a result of a fundraising effort for the British Heart Foundation.

Kevin White, who attended the school's special unit and teacher Roy Smith showed off their trophies.

 

 

Donna Hillyer continued her athletics performances finishing 3rd in the 1500m for Portsmouth Atalanta in an Athletics League, Division I match at Chelmsford, reported in The News, Tuesday 24 May.

 

Chipper Club's 12th birthday celebrations for May-June 1977: Samantha Brown, Sarah Smith

 

Westfield Junior School pupils list for final year group, 1976-1977

There is a group page on Facebook for Westfield Middle School (Paulsgrove, UK) https://www.facebook.com/groups/20514022293/?fref=nf
but it's been dormant since 2012.
I'm unable to post anything in that group because my application's pending and there's been no replies to date from its "administrator" or members.
I'm reluctant to set up another new group because this'll duplicate the current public Facebook group about the school.

As a result of school reorganisation in Portsmouth, in September 1976, Greenfields and Westgrove Junior Schools merged to form Westfield Junior School.
The abolition of the "11 plus" exam (except for entry into Portsmouth Grammar School) and reorganisation of grammars and secondary moderns into comprehensives meant pupils left junior school during the school year when they turned 12, rather than 11.

The list was initially compiled in order to contact individuals inviting them to attend a school reunion at Westfield which I organised in 2002 (pre-Facebook era), all my paper lists generated for that purpose I've now put online.
Any corrections or additions are welcome.

CONFIRMED school pupils who I knew, 1974-1977, in my year group, born 1 September 1964-31 August 1965, in alphabetical order : 

All are listed under their maiden names as known in school during that time.

Surnames A-H:

Amanda (Mandy) Abraham, Patricia Ahearn, Wade Agar, Darren Appleton, Deborah Asplett, Mark Aubry, Bruce Baker, Donna Bendell, William Blakely, Julie Bowler, Carol Brown, Samantha Brown, Michael Burge, Brandon Cherry, Alison Cleife, Julie Colwell, Tania Cook, Tracy Coppard, Denise Copplestone, Diane Crabbe, Sharon Day, Richard Devine, Jayne Dollery, Clive Donald, Shaun Drake, Helen Drain, Wendy Elford, Richard Egerton, Carl Fisher, Tony Fisher, Terry Fleet, Brian Gates, Neil Gray, Bridget Haggar, Michael Hardy, Brian Harris, Jeanette Hawkins, John Hayden, Tracy Herrity, Donna Hillyer, Antony (Tony) Humphries

NB - Glen Cotton initially attended the special unit (below) but attended normal classes in full from September 1976.

Surnames I-P:

Ian James, Wendy Janman, Karen Jefferies, Mark Jones, Sharon Kirk, Neil Larner, David Lawrence, Gary Legg, Michelle Lucas, Darin McCloud, Terry Mark, Spencer Matthews, Melanie Medley, Kevin Miller, Kevin Mills, Julie Moody, Tracy Moore, Robert Moth, Judy Mould, Susan Mulholland, Ian Murphy, Lesley Parkes, Kevin Perrin, Bettina Pincott, Phillip Pinhorne, Mandy Pratt

Surnames R-Z:

Claire Richardson, Helen Sampson, Darren Scott, Paul Sims, Mark Slater, Tyree Smallwood, Sarah Smith, Samantha Spivey, John Sweatman, Carla Thompson, Ian Thompson, Mark Tyler, Stephen Watts, Danny Westwood, Alfred Wiltshire, Karen Wray, Angela Wyatt

CONFIRMED school pupils who I knew, born 1 September 1965-31 August 1966, in alphabetical order :

David Elliott, Liz Whalley

CONFIRMED school pupils who attended the special unit at Greenfields (later Westfield) Junior School, 1974-1977:

Rosemary Bedford, Ian Brett, Mark Brown, Glen Cotton, Robert Dobson, David Fry, Mark Fuller, Paul Goater, Alan Gumbrell, Greg Harrison, Alan McBride, Stephen Patey, Graham Pengelley, Helen Privett, Stuart Roscoe, Kevin White

UNCONFIRMED school pupils in my year group, born 1 September 1964-31 August 1965, in alphabetical order
(however some may not have attended Westfield, but I don't know the former school's catchment area) :

All are listed under their maiden names as known in school during that time.

Surnames A-M:

Jayne Archer, Mark Baxter, Michelle Betts, Andrew Blakely, Stephen Blakely, John Blower, Andrew Bryant, Deborah Byng, Darren Callaway, Richard Campbell, Michelle Clark, Stephen Clark, Deborah Clements, Tracey Corbin, Angela Crisp, Samantha Critchell, Martin Cutter, Stephen Cutter, Sean Dack, Kevin Day, Sandra Derry, Mark Edwards, Darryl Field, Sarah Ford, Mark Gallagher, Jacqueline Gibbs, Michael Goff, Trevor Gould, Timothy Gray, Anthony Gregory, Kevin Grimsey, Andrew Hallam, Jeanette Hansler, Spencer Harvey, Anita Hobson, Donna-Marie Joseph, Teresa Joseph, Mark Keeping, Amanda Littlefield, Richard Lodge, Laura Manning, Alison Mackinnon, Leanne Martin, Caroline Matthews, Christopher Miller, Patrick Mitchell, Terence Moody, Paul Mouland, Adrian Mundy

Surnames N-Z:

Mark Nisbet, Anthony Nolan, Amanda Oakley, Tracey Parkhouse, Katharine Pearson, Gordon Percy, Barbara Phillips, Nicola Pilmoor, Stephanie Pitney, Penelope Plumstead, Ann Pressley, Steven Prince, Deborah Rolfe, Ian Rose, Susan Ryan, Sally Salmon, Wendy Saunders, Brian Shelton, Darren Sime, Susan Taylor, Deborah Thomas, Alison Thomson, Susanne Turvey, Trevor Ware, Paul Warwick, Michelle Waters, Ian Wilson, Caroline Wilkins, Maria Williams, Alison Wrigley, Karen Young

Sources: Portsmouth City Council electoral registers for 1982 and 1983 when they turned 18, searching for addresses using postcode PO6 4--
Others from personal memories and some other contributions from Kevin Miller, David Lawrence.

Westfield Junior School pupils and staff mentions in the News and Sports Mail, January-February 1977

News about Westfield Junior School was relatively quiet during January and February. The bad weather meant many junior football matches were called off leading to a huge fixture backlog by the end of February.

On the other hand, a gymnastics report appeared in The News and reports of Donna Hillyer's cross-country running performances appeared in both papers during this period.

The News, Thursday 3 February 1977.
Donna Hillyer won the girl's 2000m race at Alexandra Park in 6 mins 19 secs.

But Westfield's gymnastics team was in the spotlight in The News, Wednesday 26 January 1977.
They won the 2nd round of the English Schools' Gymnastics Association national knock-out cup, beating Lake Middle School, 121-113.
Team (back from left): Julie Moody, Carla Thompson, Michelle Lucas, Julie Colwell
(front): Tyree Smallwood, Julie Bowler, Wendy Elford, Sarah Smith



Sports Mail, 5 February 1977.
Despite few matches being played during this period, Westfield's U12s were still top of the table in Middle Division II North.

 

There were no mentions of pupils' Chipper Club's 12th birthday celebrations for January-February 1977.

Westfield Junior School pupils and staff mentions in the News and Sports Mail, November-December 1976

In The News leading up to Christmas, several Portsmouth schools produced nativity plays and other dramatic activities which were reported with accompanying photos.
However Westfield hosted a 53rd Portsmouth (2nd Paulsgrove) Scout Group paper hat making event as part of a Christmas social evening. This article was buried on the back page of Thursday 16 December 1976's issue to fill a gap between other sports news.

 

Sports Mail, 6 November 1976. Westfield are top of the table in Middle II North Division.

 

This match report below mentioned several Westfield football players for the first time that season.

 

 

Sports Mail, 20 November 1976.
Although league leaders Westfield lost 3-6 against Buckland, Mills, Watts and Wiltshire scored.
Full names: Kevin Mills, Stephen Watts, Alf Wiltshire.

 

Sports Mail, 4 December 1976.
Even though Westfield were knocked out by Milton Park in the first round of the Supporters' Cup (see September-October 1976 entry) they still had another chance of winning a trophy in the Hibbs Cup when they were drawn in the second round away at Buckland.

 

 

Sports Mail, 18 December 1976 (above). Westfield are still top of the table.

 

 

The News, 3 November 1976. Meanwhile, as an example, another cross-country result for Donna Hillyer in the girls' 2500m race at Ruislip. She came in 14th place with a time of 11.19 mins.

Other mentions:

 

Chipper Club's 12th birthday celebrations for November-December 1976: Denise Copplestone, Antony (Tony) Humphries, Wendy Janman, Tracy Moore

Westfield Junior School pupils and staff mentions in the News and Sports Mail, September-October 1976

September 1976 was the beginning of my final year at Westfield Junior School.
To all intents and purposes, I was effectively in the school's mainstream, the only difference was that I lived in Southsea, rather than Paulsgrove.

I was in Peter Collett's class, except for some lessons in maths when I attended Mrs Burden's class, also received specialist teaching by Mr Clarke (art) and Idris Davis (PE) amongst others.

Fellow class members included:

Mark Aubry, Bruce Baker, William Blakely, Denise Copplestone, Clive Donald, Brian Gates, Jeanette Hawkins, Neil Larner, Mandy Pratt, Samantha Spivey, John Sweetman.

Sports teams fielded by the school:

The school fielded a football team (don't remember who participated, but I wasn't involved) and a netball team (again don't remember who participated) who competed against other junior schools in the city.

Saturday's Sports Mail was the primary source of news for junior football, but my family never bought the pink paper.
No reports of Westfield's netball team appeared during these months in either The News or Sports Mail.

Sports Mail, 4 September 1976. Westfield played in the U12s Middle Division II North, they didn't field a U11s side.

During September-October 1976, few match reports involving Westfield were printed and none mentioned any of their team.

Here's one report from the Sports Mail, 2 October 1976, between Stamshaw and Westfield (above). Westfield lost 2-0.

The Sports Mail, 30 October 1976 gave details of the Supporters' Cup 1st round replay between Milton Park and Westfield schools. Again, no mention of anyone from Westfield! Westfield lost 4-2.

Donna Hillyer was reported in the newspapers several times competing for Portsmouth Atalanta in track and field and later cross-country running during this period; to save unnecessary repetition, I've selected one example of her results.

This report in The News on Tuesday 5 October 1976 unusually mentions her full name in the opening cross-country minor girls event held at Haywards Heath, she ended in 14th place with a time of 7:22.

 

Other mentions:

 

Chipper Club's 12th birthday celebrations for September-October 1976: Clive Donald, Donna-Marie Joseph, Teresa Joseph, Helen Sampson

 

[Revised 25 November 2018 adding two more ex-pupil Chipper Club members]

A postscript after I left Westfield Junior School in July 1977

Once I started attending Priory School in September 1977, I had very little contact from, seen or heard about ex-pupils.

Kevin Miller was the only person who rang me at home once not long after I started secondary school. I didn't know anyone from my year group who attended Priory. Between 1977 and 1981 the only times I passed through Paulsgrove were occasional journeys along Southampton Road.

Tracey Goodall at Priory knew Donna Hillyer as a fellow athletics competitor.
Otherwise things were quiet until 14 March 1981 when I attended the "Child Art" exhibition at the Mountbatten Gallery, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth.
I saw works by Helen Drain (then at King Richard) and Neil Gray (then at City of Portsmouth Boys School) on display there. That sparked an interest in wondering what happened to my fellow ex-pupils ever since.

During all that time, mum taught at Mayfield School. She brought home a copy of their 1981 school year book. Richard Devine gained 4 CSEs and Helen Sampson was also mentioned, I don't think she taught either of them because her focus was on pupils with special needs.

Paul (now Ashton) Keiditsch transferred to Priory School's sixth form in 1981 from City of Portsmouth Boys School. His mum, Dora, worked in the special unit at Westfield which I attended when I first arrived when it was then known as Greenfields. My only regret was I never picked his brains on how he got on with Neil Gray!

It wasn't until the reunion which I organised in 2002 that I met significant numbers of ex-pupils. For some perverse reason I actually kept records on who I recognised or read about because it was extremely rare where I lived in Southsea to encounter them.

The only ex-pupils who I've confirmed as seen and/or recognised since July 1977 are listed below, in chronological order of last known appearance (unless indicated all locations are in Portsmouth) :
August 1977: Donna Hillyer, Lawrence Road
January or February 1978: Diane Crabbe, near South Parade Pier
21 April 1981: Carl Fisher, Commercial Road
26 August 1982: Richard Devine, Southampton Road
17 June 1989: Neil Gray, Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London
2000: Darren Scott, Almondsbury Road
21 June 2002 (reunion): Bruce Baker, Donna Bendell, Jayne Dollery, Richard Egerton, Tony Fisher, Jackie Gibbs, Victoria Gibbs, Jeanette Gray (nee Hawkins), Karen Jefferies, Mark Jones, Sharon Kirk, David Lawrence, Darin McCloud, Kevin Miller, Judy Lucas (nee Mould), Robert Moth, Phillip Pinhorne, Alf Wiltshire, Angela Wyatt, all at Westfield Junior School

Incidentally the only ex-pupils who I saw and/or recognised outside Portsmouth were Kevin Miller in London (twice between 1985-1986) and Neil Gray in London (five times between 1986-1989) and Birmingham (once in 1989).

Out of the 100 or so ex-pupils, apart from myself, I only currently know four who gained higher diplomas/degrees:
Jayne Dollery (psychology), Tony Fisher (hotel management and catering), Neil Gray (social work) and Kevin Miller (chemistry). I suspect there were more but never asked.

Similarly, apart from myself, I'm aware of very few ex-pupils who currently live outside Hampshire:
Tracey Coppard (now Webley - lives in Bristol), Richard Devine (Bristol), Tony Fisher (London), Neil Gray (Bournemouth) and Alf Wiltshire (Brighton).

A few months ago, Tony Fisher won a season ticket from Fulham FC after topping a public poll of the club's superfans https://blog.grosvenorcasinos.com/grosvenor-name-meet-fulham-ultimate-superfan/

I've also joined the Paulsgrove, Portsmouth Nostalgia closed group on Facebook and made contact with several ex-pupils who didn't attend the reunion which I organised https://www.facebook.com/groups/260603590787929/

[Revised 8 October 2018 incorporating Neil Gray's current residential location from his Facebook profile]
[Revised 10 October 2018 after Neil Gray personally clarified his current location]
[Revised 22 November 2018 to update Tracey Coppard's current location and membership of Facebook closed group]

Westfield Junior School pupils and staff mentions in the News and Sports Mail, July-August 1977

During July-August 1977, there was little news about Westfield Junior School, its pupils and staff.
Unlike some schools elsewhere in Portsmouth, no reports of end of school year celebrations or staff changes were published in the paper.

As it covers July-August 1977, I should have published this part at the end.
The way that the British Library bound the newspapers, as each volume contains six weeks' issues, I decided to tackle the July-September 1977 volumes first:
1 July-14 August, and, 15 August-30 September 1977.
The 15 August-30 September bound volume was quickly returned to storage, because I only needed to examine the 15-31 August issues.
I can only have five bound volumes out under my name at any one time, so dealing with mid-late August issues first meant that I was in a better position when requesting further bound volumes within my personal limit.

Two newspaper reports about Donna Hillyer's athletics performances:

 

 

The News, Wednesday 20 July 1977.

Donna (D. Hillyer) won the 1500m in a personal best of 4:57.4 for her club, Portsmouth Atalanta, in the Division 1, B Section juniors competition, held at Southampton.

 

 

The News, Tuesday 9 August 1977.

Donna (D. Hillyer) won the 1500m in 5:08.4 in the A string for Portsmouth Atalanta in the Haslett Trophy competition at Crawley.

 

Other mentions:

 

Chipper Club's 12th birthday celebrations for July-August 1977:  Neil Gray, Michael Hardy, Darren Scott

 

 

 

 

I want to find that elusive Westfield Middle School photo taken after a water leak in 1976-1977 school year

I'm announcing my next The News/Sports Mail research project ...

To locate - if at all possible - a press cutting featuring a photo showing pupils at Westfield Middle School clearing up after a flood, which I secreted away at home at the time, but destroyed about two years later in a clear-out.
I remember the photo included someone who later appeared prominently in the Sports Mail on 16 June 1984 (see 29 August 2018 entry) who then wore a sleeveless jumper.

In 2001, I attempted to locate it when I consulted the papers at the former British Library newspaper reading room at Colindale, but time pressures because I was only there for the day from Yorkshire and the fact I only searched The News between 14 February-23 July 1977 might have resulted in me missing the article.
It could be that the article might have been omitted from the edition deposited at the British Library, because by then The News was an early adopter of computer typesetting and the paper ran several Portsmouth city editions every weekday, not also forgetting Gosport/Fareham, Havant and West Sussex editions.

Tonight, I re-discovered the articles that I arranged to be copied by library staff at Colindale in 2001 about Westfield pupils and staff. Apologies for the quality, they're reproductions of reproductions!
When I re-examine the newspapers, they'll be replaced with better quality photos.

The News, Thursday 17 March 1977

Six girls from King Richard School won the Southern Region final of the National Schools Under 13 Gymnastics Team Championships at Eastleigh, versus Westfield Middle School.

Westfield Middle School, back row, left to right: Carla Thompson, Julie Moody, Michelle Lucas, Tyree Smallwood, Sarah Smith, Julie Bowler, Wendy Elford.
They were managed by Mr I. Davis (Idris Davis).

 

Published late June 1977 (didn't write down the date) in The News, showing teacher Roy Smith (standing on right). Kevin White was one of the pupils who attended the special unit at the school and came in from Havant daily.

The headmaster at the time was Mr J. Odgers.

 

My strategy will be to search The News and Sports Mail from 1 September 1976 until 31 August 1977.
I'll note down all mentions of pupils - as far as possible - who attended Westfield Middle School who turned 12 between these dates - and staff - and all photos about individuals in my year group who attended the school, which were reported in the newspapers.
UPDATE 21 September 2018:
I've retrieved my records of ex-pupils obtained mainly from old electoral registers which I used as the basis for organising the school's 2002 reunion in order so that I can cross-check them when I come across mentions of them in The News' Chipper Club, etc.
On Monday 24th, I'll request The News/Sports Mail volumes from storage at the British Library, initially for September-October 1976 and August 1977.
UPDATE 26 September 2018:
I'm currently scanning July-August 1977 issues, then September-October 1976.
I'll post blog entries covering two months' issues at a time, plus a postscript on what happened to ex-pupils from my viewpoint.
UPDATE 29 September 2018:
Scanned September 1976 and July-August 1977 issues, photos of news articles will be taken and uploaded here on brief details of the school's football team which I hope to find out more information once more newspapers are scanned, including line-ups and results, and a participant in athletics during summer 1977. So far, most pupils' mentions relate to their 12th birthday celebrations in the paper's Chipper Club.
UPDATE 2 October 2018:
Completed covering July-August 1977 blog including all photography, finished scanning all October 1976 issues, will photograph relevant articles in the next few days or so.
UPDATE 5 October 2018:
Completed September-October 1976 blog entry. I'm scanning November 1976 issues and some names from Westfield's football team are mentioned for the first time.
UPDATE 8 October 2018:
All November and December 1976 issues now looked at in detail. Quite a few schools in Portsmouth had photos of nativity plays or other dramatic activity published in the period leading up to Christmas, but none for Westfield, I'll photograph articles in the next day or so.
UPDATE 12 October 2018:
Completed November-December 1976 blog entry. Requested two bound volumes of The News/Sports Mail covering January-March 1977 for consultation on 15th or 16th October.
UPDATE 15 October 2018:
Both bound volumes arrived, I've already scanned three weeks' issues of January 1977's newspapers, all very quiet about the school's pupils and staff so far.
UPDATE 19 October 2018:
Scanned January-February 1977 issues, will photograph articles next week.
UPDATE 24 October 2018:
January-February 1977 entry published, scanning March 1977 issues, requested mid-May, June 1977 issues - they're the remaining print-only volumes. April, mid-May 1977 issues now microfilmed and will be requested last of all.
UPDATE 31 October 2018:
All March, and mid-late May, June 1977 issues scanned and articles photographed, including the elusive Westfield Junior School flooding incident which sparked off the whole project. I'll request the April to mid-May 1977 microfilms in the next day or so.
UPDATE 22 November 2018:
All work completed and microfilms handed back for storage.

[Added photos on 18 September 2018]
[Revised 19 September 2018 announcing search strategy]
[Revised 21 September 2018 announcing intention to request back issues]
[Revised 22 September 2018 with more information on individual in missing photo and rewording of article]
[Revised 26 September 2018 progress report]

Ex-Priory and Westfield pupils competing in sports, as reported in the News and Sports Mail, May-August 1978

If I read through the sports pages of The News and Sports Mail during summer 1978, during my first year at Priory School, looking at athletics coverage, female power was all the rage.
(Fareham AC's "man mountain" followed some years later)

I knew Tracey Goodall (Priory) and Donna Hillyer (ex-Westfield Junior School, then at Springfield), via Tracey, who both competed for Portsmouth Atalanta athletics club.
They were reported almost on a weekly basis.

 

Tracey Goodall (note her first name was spelt incorrectly) Sports Mail, 5 August 1978

  

I've yet to locate a portrait of Donna Hillyer, but don't know if she's in this line-up for the Hampshire Schools Championship photo in The News, 9 June 1978 (please contact me)

 

Although Priory School's sports day at Alexandra Park in July 1978 wasn't reported, nevertheless Priory's pupils competed in sports, despite the fact that the school, because of its inner city location, never had a full-sized football pitch or athletics track for practice.

However, there was an open space, since built on, located within the school on the corner of Fawcett Road and Rugby Road, where there was a long jump run and pit. When the road layout was re-arranged around Bradford Junction (Victoria Road North) more space was created for tennis and hockey pitches.

For football (autumn and winter) and athletics (summer), pupils were bussed to open ground adjoining Warren Avenue, Milton. I remember walking home back to Southsea most Friday afternoons straight after football still wearing my claret and blue kit!

 

 

 

The Portsmouth Second Year Schools League held at Alexandra Park, reported in Sports Mail, 17 June 1978.

A Competition, Boys: Long jump, Mills (King Richard), 4.70m = Kevin? Mills,

Javelin, M. Tyler (King Richard), 27.0m = Mark Tyler

 

B Competition, Girls: 100m, Goodall (Priory), 14.4 sec = Tracey Goodall

High jump, R. Harvey (Priory), 1.20m = Rachel Harvey

 

The same event, reported in The News, 20 June 1978.

 

A Events, Boys: 400m: Vincent (Priory), 65.1 secs = (don't know his first name)

A Events, Girls: Long jump: Goodall (Priory),  4.49m = Tracey Goodall

B Events, Girls: Long jump: Marsh (Priory), 3.90m = Margaret Marsh

 

  

Finally, anyone remember teacher Roy Smith at Westfield Junior School? I remember seeing him about, but was never taught by him! Report in The News, 30 May 1978.

[Revised 14 September 2018 to correct title and include details of Priory School's outdoor sports facilities]

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My latest The News/Sports Mail research project - was Priory School's 1978 sports day reported in the paper?

I should add ...
I'm currently delving into issues of The News and Sports Mail, 15 May-15 August 1978 (the dates cover two bound volumes) because I wanted to find out if Priory School's sports day held sometime during July at the then-named Alexandra Park, was reported in the paper at the time.
I competed in the 200m and 4 x 100m relays and there were other track and field athletics events occurring simultaneously.

Even if this wasn't reported in the paper ...
so far I've found out stuff about Priory School's (and ex-Westfield Junior School's) individuals who competed in athletics, birthday mentions in the paper's Chipper Club, photos of a skateboarder and an athlete who attended Priory School, and a photo of a Westfield School teacher ...
I've searched up to 15 July, so more might crop up!

LATEST NEWS 10 September:
Both volumes have now been scanned, Priory School's sports day wasn't reported in the papers!
The school was very publicity-shy at the time, all references to Priory pupils who I found out about were from external sources.
My family never bought the pink Sports Mail supplement, yet it contained a lot of information about the local athletics scene including portraits of up-and-coming young athletes (often four per issue, but a few issues had eight)
I'll finally check outstanding Chipper Club birthday mentions plus checking if a photo of athlete Donna Hillyer was printed in the Sports Mail in the May-June volume.

[Revised 10 September 2018]

New web analytical software reveals level of interest

For some time I was concerned about how many readers actually read my blog.
Once I posted my 29/30 August entry and amendments, I installed new software to measure how much interest was generated.

I've had this for a week now and here are some of my findings:

During that time my blog was viewed from 11 UK locations;
11 users and 1 new user accessed the blog;
The longest individual session was an average of 10 mins 30 seconds from Fordingbridge;
A person from London viewed my blog most often - 11 times;
The most common time for viewing my blog was between 4-8pm;
There were 157 page views, of which 41 were unique;
The post which was viewed the longest, per session, at an average of 2 mins 29 seconds, was the 20 July post about my list of athletics events which I attended.

Considering some of the content took hours to put together; it appears that well-researched, original work with a human element attracts interest.
However it takes time and resources and it may be some time before I can produce similar content again.

[Revised and re-worded on 7 September 2018]

My first athletics event I attended

After some research in The News and Sports Mail, I can now proudly present my first athletics event I attended.

Happy Birthday, Neil Gray, 30 August!

It was the Hampshire Schools Championships held at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth, on Saturday 9 June 1984.

 

It was a warm, sunny afternoon, but I watched about two hours of the event. There appeared to be hundreds of competitors present and it was all of a blur, however, I actually remembered Neil's name mentioned over the public address system.

It was the only athletics event I attended that year. 

 

 

I was alerted to this event a week before in the Sports Mail on 2 June 1984.

I knew Neil initially at Greenfields, later named Westfield Junior School; I was one of his friends and playmates including Richard Devine, Phillip Pinhorne and Ian Murphy. Even then he was sporty and often played football in the playground; in the final year of junior school, he wore a monitor badge.

 In September 1977, he began his secondary education at City of Portsmouth Boys School, I went to Priory School, lost touch, attempted to meet him in 1983, but that fell through.

 

On Saturday 16 June 1984, an article appeared in the Sports Mail about him.

 

 

The bound volume of The News and Sports Mail which contained the articles at the British Library in Boston Spa. 

 

All outstanding gaps are now filled in my definitive list of athletics events I attended (see 20 July 2018 entry)

 

Subsequent developments from attending my first athletics event 

At the time I worked in the library at Portsmouth College of Art, Design and Further Education as a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) trainee, later taken on as an employee, and was interested in athletics to a big degree (this was the Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram and Steve Ovett era) as well as my model and prototype railway interests.

After reading Neil's Sports Mail article, it dawned on me that I had better chances seeking him out directly at athletics events than contacting him at home because his training and coaching commitments meant he was out much of the time.

On Sunday 19 May 1985, I recognised him for the first time since leaving junior school competing in the shot put at the Hampshire County Championships, Mountbatten Centre.
(Incidentally he finished in 5th place with a 14.70m best throw)

In September 1985, I moved to London to study for a degree in library and information studies at Ealing College of Higher Education. I wrote to him enclosing a passport photo of myself so he could recognise me at events, because by then I didn't wear glasses. About that time or just afterwards he joined Shaftesbury Harriers club in north London.

I saw him compete 11 times in all, but every time Sod's law dictated I was unable to say hello or introduce myself!

At three other events during my time I was interested in athletics, I heard his name over the public address (twice) or saw his final ranking on results sheets posted in the stadium (once), but didn't see him in person.

(Full details can be supplied on request)

I attended 39 events between 1984 and 2002, including the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and finally the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
However I was unsuccessful getting a ticket for the 4 August 2012 "Super Saturday" athletics evening session at the London Olympics, although earlier on in the day I watched the Mexico-Senegal football game at Wembley Stadium.

I was always interested in the bigger picture - over the years I attended a broad spectrum of events from major internationals down to national, regional and local meetings.

I don't know how many of Neil's old schoolmates and friends saw him compete, but I guess I saw him more often than most!

I felt it was time to reveal my past interest in watching athletics events because it developed only after I left school.

As a complete aside in 1986 I was one of the studio audience who saw former shot putter Geoff Capes perform live on BBC's That's Life programme in London throwing a wellington boot and describing the injury phenomenon known as "welly finger".

If Neil's reading this, please contact me as I'm delighted to hear more about his side of things and views what I've raised in this blog post ... and an opportunity to ask burning questions about his athletics career ... and meet up with him again please ...


[Posted just after midnight UK time 30 August, but time-stamped for Californian time 8 hours previously]
[Revised 1 September 2018]
[Revised 10 October 2018 removing Neil Gray's hyphenated surname as he prefers to be known by his original surname]

"Greenfields Jubilee Harriers" model railway layout diorama - part 2

In April this year, I decided at last to model the fictitious athletics club "Greenfields Jubilee Harriers" as though it existed during the 1980s and 90s, when I attended athletics events as a spectator.

On 20 April, I opened my box of sports and travel memorabilia in my spare room and unpacked a few of my stash of athletics programmes which had lain forgotten for years.

That very same day I first revealed them on a model railway web forum, I only later posted this image on Facebook.
It was a random selection consisting of five examples to show the variety of events I attended.

In parallel with disclosure of my experiences initially on Facebook and now here, I started accumulating materials to build a diorama so I could reasonably depict that era.

 

 

 

This is the rail-side view of 1980s/90s "Greenfields Jubilee Harriers" (715 x 297 mm). 

Note the club's more extensively developed, including:

Purpose-built 1950s style club house with "Lord Westgrove's Bar" on first floor (modified Triang-Hornby structure) with 1980s disabled persons' lift addition (white tower, scratchbuilt);

1950s style toilet block (modified Triang-Hornby structure);

"Westgrove Stand" covered spectator area (modified Subbuteo football stand)

The original private railway station "Westgrove Halt" shown in part 1 (the interwar era) fell into disuse and was demolished due to the rise in private transport.

A yuppie using a mobile stands to the right of the main public club house's entrance.

[On this diorama, a degree of imagination is needed, I'm imagining there's a huge car park on site as well as the 400m track finish and field event areas elsewhere]

 

In order to avoid damage to the ends of the railway track, they end 50mm from the edge and special 100mm linking pieces attached to bridge the gaps between boards.

 

 

This is the athletics track side of the club house and toilets.

There's a few athletes waiting for their mates outside the toilets and the club house entrance. Two onlookers are standing on the balcony.

 

 

Here's the spectator stand.

It represents an "open meeting" scenario, 30 years ago, with a few die-hard athletics followers sitting down and cheering, outnumbered by athletes resting and/or chatting.

Yours truly is modelled in his most garish 1980s outfit, wearing a lemon yellow shirt and dark turquoise trousers (I was mistaken for a shop assistant once)

Both model athletes wearing black and white striped kit (Shaftesbury Harriers) were modelled from memory in the mid-1990s for an abortive track and field athletics model layout scene. The tall, well-built white guy who's standing on his own on the left is based on someone I knew at school who competed at a high level.          

 

At long last, I'm now satisfied I've translated into model form something from my past experiences which has turned out to a reasonable standard.

 

 

Algeria still tops countries all-time on number of page views

I've been looking at my page view stats since my blog started here and as of today, 18th August, there are now all-time NINE page views from Algeria, three from the USA, two from the UK and one each from Belgium and the Netherlands.

I'm still very intrigued by the showing from Algeria even though there hasn't been much activity from there lately.
It seems my blog has generated a surprising amount of interest from abroad.

More material is being prepared as I speak, so I'll expect a rise in readership soon.

"Greenfields Jubilee Harriers" model railway layout diorama - part 1

In parallel with disclosure of information about my experiences as an athletics spectator and other untold stories, I've also been translating some of my past into model form.

For some time I've wanted to create a fictitious athletics club, because they've rarely been modelled, it's probably because of the size of a typical 400m/440yds running track, which in 1:76 scale (OO - as popularised by Hornby) would take up about the space of a double bed.
I've no room for a full running track, but have room for a club house diorama.

The diorama is 715 x 297 mm, based on B&Q's door panels.

It represents "Greenfields Jubilee Harriers" (founded 1897) during the interwar period, 1918-1939, although the Austin 7s date it to the mid-1930s.
It's served by a private station called "Westgrove Halt" served by request to the guard, for Lord Westgrove's private estate. The club house is built from two surplus railway carriages joined together with a shelter bolted onto the sides.

It represents a quiet mid-week training session, but with Lord Westgrove and his entourage in attendance outlining their plans for the club.

From left to right: Lord Westgrove (in bowler hat), A. Smith-Crisp, C. Lane, P. Grove, P. Castle.

Prominent sign publicising the club with two of Lord Westgrove's Austin 7s.

In reality, I attended Greenfields Junior School in Jubilee Avenue, Paulsgrove, Portsmouth. There was a special unit there for pupils with speech and communication difficulties; I first arrived in November 1974.
Pupils arrived from all over Portsmouth and SE Hampshire by minibus and taxi; I lived in Southsea at the time and came by minibus.
At the time, there was also Westgrove Junior School next door. There was a complex of four schools on that site built in the 1950s, including Paulsgrove West and East Infant Schools; they no longer exist, replaced by a housing estate, but a few remains survive.

[As an aside ...]
In September 1976, both schools merged to form Westfield Junior School. By then I was integrated into normal classes and considered myself for all intents and purposes to be a full member of the school year group.
In that school year, I was in Peter Collett's class, together with pupils including Bruce Baker, Mark Aubry, Denise Copplestone and John Sweetman. For certain classes, maths in particular, I attended Mrs Burden's class. Neil Gray was in her class.
I left Westfield in July 1977 and attended Priory School, the nearest to my home in Southsea; my family didn't want me to go to a single-sex school; I don't know anyone else who went there with me from my old junior school.

[By the way ...]
I'm working on a second diorama of the same size representing the fictitious "Greenfields Jubilee Harriers" if it existed during the 1980s/90s when I attended athletics events as a spectator.
This is in an advanced state of construction and may be completed by late August or early September.

Thursday 30 August 2018 announcement

On Thursday 30 August, I hope to announce:

Definite confirmation of the first athletics event I attended - that started the whole experience off - at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth, in 1984;
Hopefully, confirmation of which two athletics events I attended as a spectator at the same venue in 1985, and which year the Loughborough v AAA U23s event I considered attending either in 1986 or 1987.


UPDATE 8 August:
I've scanned all four requested volumes of The News and Sports Mail, 1 April-30 September 1984.
I've identified the first event I attended based on advance published information and will photograph the articles and the bound volume in the next day or so.
UPDATE 9 August:
Ordered entire 1986 and 1987 volumes of Athletics Weekly for consultation on Monday 13th to identify advance information, dates of events and results of Loughborough v AAA U23s competitions for those years.
I photographed newspaper articles for the 1984 event that I attended and will upload them onto my home laptop tonight to check if they appeared OK.
UPDATE 13 August:
Completed photography of articles published in 1984 and cover of bound volume to my satisfaction. Only the first six issues (January-February) of Athletics Weekly for 1986 and 1987 arrived for me to check, so returned straight away; re-submitted request to consult issues from May to July inclusive for each year.
UPDATE 17 August:
Identified most likely Loughborough v AAA U23s event from Athletics Weekly that I considered attending.
Today, requested four volumes of The News and Sports Mail, 1 April-30 September 1985, for consultation from Tuesday 21st, to identify which two athletics events I attended that year at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth.
UPDATE 20 August:
All four volumes of The News/Sports Mail arrived sooner than anticipated, I've already scanned the first volume, 1 April-15 May 1985. Both events which I attended may take longer to identify this time round.
UPDATE 23 August:
I've identified one of the 1985 events that I attended, but hampered by incomplete results reported in the paper for a competitor I remember in order to identify the other event, so I'll have to call up Athletics Weekly for May-July 1985. Will photograph news reports of my confirmed event in the next day or so.
UPDATE 24 August:
All The News/Sports Mail articles I wanted for my records successfully photographed, all volumes now returned to store. I've requested issues of Athletics Weekly for May-July 1985 for 29th August. I may be on the cusp of remembering the other event which I attended in 1985.
UPDATE 28 August:
Today the requested Athletics Weekly issues arrived, they were consulted, details noted and immediately returned back to store. By a process of elimination and putting on my thinking cap I now know the other event which I attended in 1985.
Now it's ready to roll for the 30th!

Welcome back from an old friend ... The News (Portsmouth) - part 1

Today in my lunch break I started scanning the first of four volumes of The News and Sports Mail, going through the April 1984 issues.
Having in the past consulted other newspaper titles on microfilm and struggling with scratchy film and varying quality microfilm readers, it's a pleasure to see old newspapers in print again! I quickly became reacquainted with The News and the pink football Sports Mail edition; my family never bought the pink editions.
At least the British Library provides decent trolleys for these huge, bulky volumes and sturdy angled rests at desks for examining them; I quickly paged through the April issues whilst standing up.
There was little reporting of local athletics news apart from a Thursday 5 April report on the first Fareham Athletic Club open meeting at Alexandra Park, Portsmouth. The weather was described as "near Arctic conditions".

It's permissible to photograph newspapers (subject to copyright rules) using mobiles and compact cameras in the reading room.
Once I've identified the event I attended, I'll photograph the accompanying newspaper report and its bound volume.

It's all too easy to overlook what's available in the British Library

Considering since 1990 I've worked at the British Library, I've rarely requested or consulted materials held in their rich and extensive collections.

In 1991, visited their Map Library at their old site co-existing with the British Museum, in Bloomsbury, to access old large-scale Ordnance Survey maps in order to assist Acton-based Western Model Railway Society's project to build a model of Cheltenham's Lansdown Road station.

In 2001, travelled from Yorkshire to the former newspaper library in Colindale to access copies of The News for 1977 in order to track down my only photographic appearance in the paper, because I never kept a copy of it at the time.

In 2002, accessed old electoral registers held at St Pancras in order to trace individuals who attended Westfield Junior School so I could draw up a list of ex-pupils to contact.

Today (31st July) I've requested four bound volumes from store of The News and Sports Mail, from 1 April-30 September 1984, in order to identify the sole athletics event I attended that year at the Mountbatten Centre. I may also find other personal and photographic material of interest.
As they're stored under special conditions, I have to wait 48 hours for delivery to the reading room on the same site at Boston Spa, Yorkshire.
(If anyone wants me to identify and locate any news items or photos around that time in 1984, please contact me)