Figure 1.--The only images I have of people doing sports at the Grammar School are from a Sports Day. These were abandoned after I'd been at the school for (I think) three years, being seen as a lot of effort for no benefit - I think I took these photos at the last one. These are somewhat atypical of normal PE wear, as everyone was told to wear full kit and look as smart as possible. Therefore all the boys were expected to wear shirts. It was the one and only occasion in the year when running spikes were permitted, and so bare feet were not permitted, on safety grounds. Nevertheless, there was quite a bit of variation in what was worn! Sports Day at the Grammar School in 1965 again. There are about six boys in uniform (and about ten teachers) clustered round the finishing line. Note that two of the boys are wearing shorts. The boy in PE kit at extreme right - who had actually won the race -- is not wearing socks (not clear on this image).

For PE and games, boys and girls were distinctive outfits. Our PE and Games kit consisted of white cotton PE shorts, navy blue games shorts, two rugby shirts (one green, the other white), white plimsolls, white ankle socks, coloured rugby socks, rugby boots and a white sweater. We also needed a towel. There were rules about what we were to wear and when. Inevitably the theory and practice of PE kit differed. I never wore the white ankle socks (twenty years later I gave them to my wife!): in fact, I very rarely wore any socks at all with plimsolls - I found them more comfortable without, and in the winter I put comfort before warmth. If your plimsolls were too dirty, you had to do PE in the gym barefoot. Since we wore plimsolls both indoors and out, and I never cleaned them, the inevitable happened and one day, I think in my first term, I was told to do PE barefoot. The showers, after a few weeks, became effectively optional, as a result of which I never showered. Since I usually did my best to avoid getting seriously muddy, this didn’t matter much. It wasn’t that I minded being naked in front of my contemporaries, I simply did not like showering--I still don’t. We had always done athletics for outdoor PE in the summer, for which we often took our shirts off, and from my second year I was usually barefoot. From about the fourth year onwards, I did athletics or played tennis in the summer, and did cross-country in the winter, both for outdoor PE and for games. For tennis or athletics I wore just shorts - bare feet and no shirt - and I don't ever remember being unpleasantly cold. One year when I was doing athletics we had PE first thing in the morning, but I soon got used to running barefoot on fairly cold dewy grass.

PE Uniform and Rules

For PE and games, boys and girls were distinctive outfits.

Boys' PE kit

Our PE and Games kit consisted of white cotton PE shorts, navy blue games shorts, two rugby shirts (one green, the other white), white plimsolls, white ankle socks, coloured rugby socks, rugby boots and a white sweater. We also needed a towel. Both pairs of shorts were quite brief - an inch or so of leg - and loose fitting. At our first PE lesson we discovered how this kit was to be used. For PE in the gym, we were to wear white shorts with plimsolls and, if we wanted, white ankle socks. We were required to strip to the waist. For rugby, we were to wear the navy blue shorts, one or more often both rugby shirts, rugby socks and boots. For PE outdoors in the winter we were to wear the rugby kit, but with plimsolls rather than boots. Outdoors in the summer we were to wear white shorts, a white t-shirt or the white rugby shirt, and plimsolls optionally with white socks. Underwear was strictly forbidden for all PE and games (in the sixth form, one or two boys did wear jockstraps, but the vast majority of us continued without any underwear). After PE or games, we were to strip naked and take a (communal) shower - hence the towel. Most of us kept the kit at school all term. At first, I found it rather strange to be stripped to the waist and not to wear underpants, but I soon got used to it and found it comfortable to run around with very little clothing. I soon preferred to be shirtless for PE whenever possible.

Girls PE kit

The girls’ PE kit was rather different to the boys’: they wore light green short-sleeved Aertex tops, with dark green shorts (tight and brief) or skirts. When it was cold outside they could wear a grey sweater. On their feet they could wear plimsolls with optional white ankle socks (though long white socks were an accepted variation!) or, for hockey, coloured socks and boots. I never did discover what they were supposed to do about underwear. In principle, the shorts were for PE and the skirts for hockey, but outdoors in the summer – typically for athletics or rounders, or for netball in the winter - either could be worn. The girls were far more likely to go barefoot than the boys, and in the gym, or outside in the summer, a third or more of them would be barefoot. What they did about forgotten kit I don’t really know – they clearly couldn’t just do without as easily as the boys! Skirts and shorts were clearly interchangeable for most purposes, and I suppose they could have managed with the sweater instead of the Aertex top.

Other Schools

Boys at other schools sometimes had other views: I knew one who’d hated it because at his school, they had to do cross-country stripped to the waist, whatever the weather. Apparently the course was very wet and some of them preferred to run barefoot as well. Particularly on a windy day, they got rather cold - “absolutely frozen” was one description. We were certainly better off than some - I would say that what we had to do probably counted as good practice by the standards of the day. It might be of interest to compare what we wore for PE with what boys at other secondary schools wore at about the same time (1950's and 1960's). This is information picked up from friends and other sources. There was far less variability than at the primary age-range. For indoor PE, the norm was for boys to wear just shorts; plimsolls with or without socks might be permitted, but bare feet were a common requirement. If shirts were permitted, these would be vests (singlets) or rarely T-shirts; but bare chests were more common. Underwear was normally strictly forbidden. The rationale behind wearing very little for PE was that it reduced sweating; in cold weather, it also encouraged boys to keep moving in order to keep warm.

Another School

The image on this site shows a scene in the gym of another grammar school--the Burnley Grammar School. The photograph was taken in 1959 at about the sane time I was in school. This is very similar to what I knew: a class of about 30 boys, all stripped to the waist, and one or two barefoot. It seems to be a reasonably warm day as those who aren’t active aren’t huddled up. The comments are also interesting.”

David