School mates never lost a match
THIS charming school photograph, taken some 60 years ago, has been kindly loaned to the Bugle by John Igoe, one of the young lads in the football team.
John was a pupil at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Dudley and he has shared with us some of his memories of his days there.
John writes, “Our school, St. Joseph’s RC was situated in St Joseph’s Street just off Fisher Street, Dudley. Below stands the church of Our Blessed Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury, where all of us in the photo were Confirmed and received our First Holy Communion. Being a Catholic, the church played a huge part in our education.
Nice
“Our headmistress was Sister Coleman, who was nice but could be very stern. There were two other nuns, Sister Lucy, who went on to be headmistress when Sister Coleman retired, and Sister Margarita.
“The parish priest was a tough old, strict and not very nice Irishman, Father Quilty, who used to single me out nearly every time he saw me and embarrass me in front of the whole class. I never could understand his reason for this.
“Father O’reilly was the complete opposite. He was such a lovely man and everyone felt at ease in his company.
“He used to take us up to Kates Hill, just a five minute walk from our school to play football between us, once or twice a week.
“Our team was made up from all the boys in our class. In the photograph, on the back row are Fr O’reilly, Christopher Haddlington, Steve Milan, myself, Tommy Welch and Philip Quintin. On the front row are Michael Byatt, Brian Moore, Brian Dyce, John Mcdonagh, Patrick Mccann, Dennis Coady and Robert O’meara.
Never lost
“We never lost a match, the reason being, we never played one.
“I remember a couple of us going round the corner to St Edmund’s school, which is now the Dudley Central Mosque, to ask their headmaster if we could arrange a match between us. He glared at us and told us to get back to school and never gave us a reason, he was horrible.
“Not long after this photo was taken we left St Joseph’s to go to senior school. After failing my eleven plus I went to Bishop Milner school, which in those days was strictly for Catholics only.
“The only people I have met since are Steve Milan, who lives quite near to me; Tommy Welch, who I have bumped into a few times; and Robert O’meara, who I met by chance at a Wolves match.
“It would be lovely to meet as many of those lads again after all these years. If anyone of them are reading this, please get in touch to hopefully meet and chat about our time at St Joseph’s – john migoe11@icloud.com”
The St Joseph’s School has relocated since John’s days there and can now be found in Hillcrest Road, Kates Hill, Dudley. Have you an old school photo and memories to share with Bugle readers? Please email dshaw@blackcountrybugle.co.uk or write to us at the Black Country Bugle, Dudley Archives Centre, Tipton Road, Dudley, DY1 4SQ.