Saturday, May 14, 2022

BRIGG SCHOOL'S LATEST SPORTING SUCCESSES BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF EVENTS ENJOYED LONG AGO


Brigg Blog was very pleased to see that pupils/students from the town recently enjoyed success in the Humberside regional finals of a major schools athletics competition currently being held nationwide.
They travelled from Sir John Nelthorpe School by coach for the 2022 Track & Field Schools Cup meeting in Hull.
Posted through the Sir John Nelthorpe PE Twitter account were performances and even video footage recording the action from various races.
Watch some of the action here...
SJN staff reported an amazing day of athletics, and added: "Our students were fantastic!"
The Year 9/10 boys finished first, the Y7/8 girls came second as did the Y7/8 boys, while the Y9/10 girls finished third.
Fraser, is seen above (top left) while finishing second in the Y9/10 100m race, with Andrei (top right) runner-up in the 200m.
Former SJN pupils since 1976, and those who attended the earlier Brigg Grammar School (BGS) and Brigg Girls' High, will have many memories of taking part in athletics events at this time of year... decades ago.
BGS pupils used to join those from many other schools for a major annual meeting hosted by RAF Cranwell, near Sleaford, when local education was still organised by the Lindsey County Council (Lincolnshire) prior to the formation of Humberside in 1974.
Most sizeable athletics meetings back then were staged on grass, prior to so-called Tartan Tracks becoming commonplace.
A picture posted as part of SJN's many updates from the recent meeting at the Costello Stadium, Hull, showed some Year 10 girls who spent the day inputting all the scores and results, and thanked them for their efforts. Laptop computers were employed for this task.
Things have certainly changed for the better, in this respect.
As a reporter with the Brigg-based Lincolnshire Times newspaper 40 or so years ago, we recall visiting the staff room at Sir John Nelthorpe School in an effort to locate PE teachers, who fortunately we knew well, as we sought to get our hands on all the sports day results (boys and girls).
These were hand-written onto sheets of paper. And the results had to be extracted back in the office at 57 Wrawby Street, then typed up to add to the article written about sports day - always mentioning any records that had been broken.
Staff photographer Coun Bryan Robins attended on the day to photograph trophy presentations and to gather groups of pupils together for pictures - all taken in black and white.
These prints were later displayed in the front window of the paper's office, and many parents dropped in to order copies as family keepsakes.
It's a fair bet that some of these pictures still survive, having been passed down to later generations.
The Lincs Times, and other local papers, also gave coverage to athletics events at the Vale of Ancholme School (and the Glanford and Westmoor Secondary Moderns before it), plus those arranged by local primary schools, including Glebe Road and Brigg Preparatory.
Sorting the results from hand-written sheets - and even the back of rolls of surplus wallpaper! - was a time-consuming task for newspaper reporters.
In today's computerised era, the information is out there to be 'cut and pasted' from websites and social media, or hyperlinks employed to lead interested readers to the relevant posts online.
Athletics at Brigg Grammar School in the late 1960s and early 1970s involved high jumping into sandpits, shot putting and discus throwing from concrete circles on the edge of the cricket pitch outfield, and hurling javelins into the air (following safety warnings!).
Pupils ran around a circular track marked out with a hand-pushed lining machine under the direction of groundsman Stan Beedham, from Wrawby - a former Brigg Town footballer of note while the club still played on the ground before the Brocklesby Ox pub on Bridge Street.
A local dignitary would be invited down to present the trophies, offering additional picture opportunities for local newspapers.
Lt Col Roger Nelthorpe, from Scawby Hall, was ever-present - ex officio, as chairman of the school governors.
School masters were employed to start, time and judge the running races, with Gerry Longden and Jack Moore (PE & chemistry) often employed near the start/finish line in the middle of the field.
Those boys not considered good enough to take part in events on sports day would be found jobs, including delivering and packing away equipment.
Pupils selected for track and field events needed to present very convincing sick notes to avoid doing duty for their 'house' - Ancholme, School (boarders), Sheffield, Nelthorpe or Yarborough.
During seven years at BGS, we can't recall rain being considered heavy enough to stop sports day going ahead.
Also pictured above - the finish of an athletics race at Brigg Girls' High School, possibly in the late 1960s or early 1970s, and the Grammar School field with the white discus and shot putt circles evident.