FINAL WHISTLE FOR 'STAN'

A former pupil of Brigg Grammar School unearthed a fascinating cutting from the Sunday Express explaining why, in 1959, headmaster N C Matthews (pictured) had decided to quit, despite being well short of retirement age.
That led to the story being revisited, after 50 years, by the Scunthorpe Telegraph, and prompted retired Sir John Nelthorpe School headteacher David Brittain, who still lives in Brigg, to email the text of the follow-up piece to Briggensians far and wide. Many of them would have been at the school while Mr Matthews was in charge (1944-59).
Reading between the lines, it seems Mr Matthews was suffering from the stresses and strains of the job. But although he might have felt his powers were deserting him, that was not reflected in exam performances, with a high number of students gaining Oxbridge places. The governors and boys thought very highly of him, but he would not change his mind.
Brigg getting into the national press - and in a big feature - was very rare indeed.
In due course we expect many comments will be received about the follow-up article, some of which will be forwarded to the Briggensians' Association, which operates the website www.briggensians.net, and some to us.
Mr Matthews was known to boys as "Stan" - an obvious nickname with Sir Stanley Matthews being one of the world's most famous footballers.
But whereas the Brigg head retired very early for an educationalist, his sporting namesake, amazingly, played on for Stoke City at the highest level until he was 50.
A feature article about how "Stan" came to get the job as head at BGS in 1944 will appear in a future issue of the Scunthorpe Telegraph's Nostalgia. Watch out for it.