Figure 1.--

Primary School

My school

I went to a boys' primary school in the north of England in the 1960s.

Winter uniform

As far as I can remember, all the boys wore grey short trousers in winter with long grey socks, some with stripes, although the school did not have a uniform.

Summer uniform

In summer, we all wore short socks, usually khaki in colour, and either retained our grey shorts or put on thinner, khaki-coloured ones. It was a topic of great interest when a boy went into short socks for the first time. It meant summer was on the way and, once one boy had changed, within days the whole school would be wearing short socks.

I also remember wearing sandals in the summer. They had a strange, rubberised white sole, which could have been a form of plastic. Very often with these sandals, the strap would break due to the daily doing up and undoing.

Garments

The grey shorts I remember as being very comfortable as they were lined, but the stitching was not done as well as it probably is today and occasionally the lining would sag a little. The fastening at the waist was a metal clasp which was stitched into the crossflap and would sometimes come loose.

Regular clothes

One clear memory (an apparent paradox) I have is of the rather drab colours of the clothing, especially the shirts. I had a dull brown pullover of a dreary green colour. The design was of a type one never sees today in that it had a collar and the sides of the front 'v' overlapped. Perhaps you know the type.

Grammar School

When I moved to the local grammar school, which became a comprehensive school the year I went, I continued to wear shorts for the first year, as did most of the other boys. Paul

Created: April 21, 2001
Last updated: April 21, 2001