The Opening Ceremony

The official opening ceremony for the school was held at 2.30 pm on Wednesday 26th June 1957 and was attended by the Very Rev. H. A. Jones, Dean of Manchester. By this date the school had almost completed its first year of operation and all pupils were invited to the ceremony. The orchestra, choir and dramatic society performed for the enjoyment of the assembled dignitaries. Thanks to Linda Struggles, I can show you details of the programme which accompanied the ceremony; this must now be a very rare document indeed.

The Cover

The back page.
Note the total cost of the school; £249,000.
This sounds small today but it was a huge figure in the mid-1950s.

From the programme it is evident that a considerable burden fell upon the (very young) school choir and orchestra to provide entertainment for the invited guests. The photo below is a press photograph taken during the proceedings that afternoon. The choir are in full voice and the look of intense concentration on every face says it all.

Conducting is Mr. F. P. Welton.
Leading (half-visible, extreme left) is Mr. Welton's wife Anne.
The orchestra is also assisted by Mrs. J. M. Fisher (two to the right of Mrs. Welton)
and Dr. Dennis Chapman (on loan from the M.E.C. Music Department) at the piano.
Identified pupils include Jean Ambrose, Isobel Merrin, Dave Evans, Pete Saunders, Biff Bailey, John Hewitt, John Ruddock, Sandra Murphy.
We also have a view of the swinging bamboo partitions in raised mode!

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