Birkenhead Institute, Wirral

                       DOCTUS IN SE SEMPER DIVITIAS HABET

Welcome to my site, "Spirit of Birkenhead Institute",  which celebrates the life of a fine Wirral school, the Birkenhead Institute. I have created this site for anyone who remembers the school, especially former staff and pupils, who may be interested in the history of the B.I. The school motto in Latin above means : "The wise man always has riches within himself", and it appears on the school crest, which is reproduced above. I believe that it is very important in these changing times to preserve, via the Internet, the memory of the Birkenhead Institute Grammar School. Therefore, through this site and its sister site, dedicated to the Birkenhead Institute's "Visor" magazine, (See below), I have tried to include as many memories in both picture and written form, many of which have been kindly donated by former pupils and staff of Birkenhead Institute.

Many of the items I have included on this site also come from the school itself, who kindly donated them to me when I attended the closing ceremony in 1994. I have also included some of my own personal collection, which I am pleased to be able to share with you via this site. Some of the articles and information also come from "The Visor", the school's magazine, and if you would like to add any of your own, I will be pleased to do so, if you wish to send them to me at the email address below.

The B.I. opened in 1889, and sadly closed in 1994, after more than a hundred years of service to Wirral scholars. In the main, the B.I. was a Grammar School, and changed its status to High School in the 1970s when it moved from Whetstone Lane to Tollemache Road. The fine old building in Whetstone Lane was demolished in the 1970s, and the land used to house Woodlands School.

The four "Houses" in the B.I. were as follows;

ATKIN                STITT                TATE              WESTMINSTER

with the corresponding house colours shown above of majenta, green, red and blue. However, I am reliably informed that after the school moved to Tollemache Road, there were two more houses added, namely COHEN and DAVIES.  I understand that the colours were yellow and white for Cohen house, and gold and white for Davies house. Former pupil John Lewis has been able to confirm the colours for Cohen house, and still has his old school tie! Any more information about these houses would, however,  be welcome.

                                    http://wsconnacher.webs.com/

There is also a section within the History page relating to the founding of the Birkenhead Institute in 1883 by George Atkin, prior to the school opening in January, 1889. George Atkin formed a Company with other business men in 1885, and purchased the property "Brooklands" in Whetstone Lane, which was later to become the site of the Birkenhead Institute.  More information will be added to this section in due course. Following on from this, there is also a page called Early Days, which contains some interesting history of the Birkenhead Institute from 1889.

THE VISOR, THE BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE SCHOOL MAGAZINE

The Visor page includes some interesting items from the school magazine "The Visor".  There are some interesting advertisements from the school magazine, as well as some early school photographs in the Visor page, so please take time to have a look to see if you remember them.  I am indebted to Dave Forshaw, (Former pupil),  and also to Dave Jones, (Former pupil and teacher at Birkenhead institute),  for donating to me some excellent copies of The Visor from the 1940s to the 1960s. Gordon Hodgson, (Former pupil), has also kindly provided me with some early copies of Visor magazines, including one from 1945. John Baker, former pupil, has also kindly provided me with the school photographs from 1943 and 1946.  As there is a large amount of material included within these items, I have decided to include them on a dedicated site for Birkenhead Institute Visors. The site also contains some traditional Visor items such as Varta, (News items old and new), and Salvete, (Welcome to new visitors to the site). I also hope to include more pictures and items which pupils send in to me. For example, Hal Darlington has sent in an excellent drawing he made of the Whetstone Lane school in 1967, which can be seen in the Tempus Fugit page, along with a programme of the B.I. Centenary celebrations in 1989. The most recent items added to the site can also be seen via the Latest Additions page.  The Visor site, which is a sister site to this one, can be found at:-

                                           http://bivisor.webs.com/

I have already added a Golden Jubilee edition to the above site, and more Visor items from 1945 to 1964 will be added shortly. Dave Forshaw has also kindly provided me with some other interesting items from the period 1956 to 1963, when he was a pupil at the Birkenhead Institute, and these can be seen in the Updates page.

LINKS, UPDATES,  TEACHERS/STAFF AND PUPILS PAGES

 The Links page has some direct links to other sites of interest, including Wilfred Owen, one of the B.I.'s most famous pupils. More links will be added once I have time to research the material available.

I have provided a page also for Pupils, in which former pupils can include articles and items of interest. Please send any items to my email below, and I shall be pleased to include them. There is an item included regarding the B.I. Playing Fields in Ingleborough Road. I am indebted to Joseen Jones, who has also provided me with two marvellous photographs of the school from 1931/1932, and one taken later in the 1930s, which her late husband, Edward Aled Jones, a former pupil, had in his possession. Both photographs are shown in the Pupils page. There is also an interesting article and information about two former pupils provided by Professor Alan Elliott in the Pupils page. Alan was a former pupil of the B.I., and was in the year above me when I was a pupil there. Former Birkenhead Institute pupil Alan Jones has also provided me with some excellent photographs from the early 1950s, including a "Roll-up" photograph from 1953, (Coronation year), which are all included in the Pupils page. Former pupil Ben Johnson has also sent me some excellent articles about the B.I., which are shown on the Pupils page. 

I did not feel that the site would be complete without the inclusion of a speech by Mr L. T. Malcolm from the BIOB Annual Dinner, and I have therefore included it within the Teachers and Staff  page. Please take time to read this, and also to look at the BIOB site, (Details below).  I am sure that Old Instonians will find the BIOB of great interest. The speech by Mr Malcolm is reproduced courtesy of BIOB. There is also a page dedicated to Wilfred Owen, arguably the most famous pupil of the Birkenhead Institute. This is especially interesting, as it is now 90 years since Wilfred died, just before the end of World War One, on November 4th, 1918.

The Updates page is intended to include your feedback, and also if any former pupils should wish to request any information or memories about former staff or pupils via this web site. There is some  information on this page about Dr. Christopher M.  Lee, a former pupil of Birkenhead Institute, who sadly died in 2002.

VISITORS' BOOK

If you would like add your thoughts to the Visitors' Book above, please feel free to add your comments and ideas about the site or anything relating to the B.I.. Please ensure that all comments are fair, and are not rude or offensive. The Visitors' Book has recently been updated to enable you to see all comments old and new more easily, so please have a look and add your views!

MY TIME AT THE BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE

I was a pupil of the B.I. from 1960 to 1967.  I was fortunate to be in Atkin House.  Having successfully passed my "11 Plus" whilst a pupil of Prenton Preparatory School, (PPS),  I entered the Birkenhead Institute as a "Newt" in 1960. It was a daunting prospect at first!  However, having escaped the ritual B.I. "Hollybushing" and "Bogwashing", I did pick up a couple of unsavoury nicknames, (Not to be repeated here!), but thanks to my good friend Robert Johnson, I ended up with "Pip", a shortened version of Philip, with which I was fairly happy. I remember Mr Thacker saying to us all once "You boys think that you know it all but you don't!" How true that was!  I also remember well Mr Malcolm as a firm but fair teacher, as well as Deputy Headmaster, and remember him saying to me "You have forty years in work, a long time, so make sure you choose well". I would therefore like to thank Mr Malcolm for his sound advice, and for setting me on the right path for life after the Birkenhead Institute.

My first year at the B.I. was generally good, and although it was hard work, as well as finding the need to adapt to a whole new school, the year went well.  I managed to emerge top of class 1B at the end of the First Year, graduating to form 2A and the "A" stream from the Second Year onwards. The following years were spent enjoying the new school, and finding that I had a gift for languages, especially French and Latin, so I especially enjoyed these subjects, although I also liked science lessons. I decided to follow the sciences into the Sixth form, taking Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and General Studies. I went on to gain my qualifications in Electronic Engineering, and spent most of my working life in telecommunications, having worked for Marconi as Quality Manager of their Multi-Service Networks Division up to 2002.  I am also a  Corporate Member of the IET, (I Eng MIET), and also the IEEE, and I am indebted to Birkenhead Institute Grammar School for providing me with an excellent educational platform for my career in the telecommunications industry.

In all, I remember the B.I. as an excellent Grammar School, with a rich history and fine tradition, with excellent academic and sporting achievements and some strict discipline. This is a rare combination these days.

Staff whom I remember well from my days at the B.I. include: Mr E.G. Webb, (Headmaster); Mr Len Malcolm, (Deputy Head and Physics); Mr J. Hall, (French and English); Mr Thacker, (English); Mr Hughes, (Woodwork);  Mr Gray, (English); Mr Thompson, (French); Mr D.S.W. Jones, (Art); Mr Richards, (Biology); Mr Shaw, (Music); Mr Woods, (Maths); Mr Sorby, (Maths); Mr Connah, (Maths); Mr Phipps, (French); Mr Townsend, (Chemistry); Mr Squires, (Latin); Mr Edgar, (P.E.); Mr Hall, (Games); Mr Ken Richards, (Physics); Mr Taylor, (Geography).

I hope that you like my site, and that you find that it brings back some memories of your days at the Birkenhead Institute.

"Although we cannot return to some of the people and places we once knew, their memory and their spirit within our hearts shall live on forever".

Let's keep the spirit and the memory of this fine school alive!

Philip Ronald-Price

(Birkenhead Institute Grammar School Pupil, 1960 - 1967)

             Mr William Sang Connacher               Mr E. G. Webb and Pupils in 1961              

If any former pupils would like to add any memories, then please feel free to add your comments in my Guestbook. All comments are welcome. Also, if you have any photographs or other items which you would like me to add, please email them to me, and I will ensure they are included. I hope to add as many historical items to this site as I can, for the benefit of Old Instonians and former B.I. staff.  My site is intended to complement the BIOB site below, which is a marvellous site for all Old Boys to register their names. Here are the details;

I am very pleased to add the link below to the B.I. Old Boys site, (BIOB), (See BIOB page), which you can click on,  to go to this excellent site, which is run by Harry Burkett. There are over 500 former pupils of the B.I. on the BIOB register, and a regular newsletter  "The Ad-Visor" is issued every year to everyone on the register, which contains interesting articles and information from B.I. Old Boys. If you are a former pupil, please add your name to the register and find out more.

LINK TO BIOB SITE:        www.biob.hemscott.net/

If you would like to contact me, or send information or pictures for inclusion on this site, please write to me at the email address below:

                                            BIWIRRAL@YAHOO.CO.UK

For the William S. Connacher site, the email address is:

                                           BIRKENHEADINSTITUTE@SKY.COM

Link to the sister site for the Birkenhead Institute Visor:

                                                   http://bivisor.webs.com/

Link to the Pupils and Staff Memories site for the Birkenhead Institute:

                                                http://biwirral.webs.com/

 Link to the Birkenhead Institute Web Directory Site:

                                           www.birkenheadinstitute.tel

       Mr George Atkin, Founder of the B.I.           Mr E. Wynne Hughes,  Headmaster of the B.I.

I would like to thank the Birkenhead Institute for donating many of the items used in this site, and also to the following people, who have inspired me to create a dedicated B.I. website, and who have provided items for inclusion:-  Olive Elma Price; Mrs N. Bunting; Pupils and Staff from the B.I.; Harry Burkett and the BIOB;  Mr D.S.W. Jones;  Mr L.T. Malcolm; Mr A.K. Richards; Dave Forshaw; Alan Jones; Gordon Hodgson; Stephen Abbott; John Baker; Martin Campbell-Kelly; Velma Clinton; Mike Worthy; Robert Wood; Joseen Jones; Professor Alan Elliott;  Everyone I remember from Birkenhead Institute Grammar School.

Pictures, articles and images used on this site are courtesy of "The Visor", "The Wirral Globe", "Wirral News", "Wirral Champion",  Mr D.S. W. Jones, Mr L.T. Malcolm, Keith Dutton, Joseen Jones, Mike Worthy, Robert Byrne, Ben Johnson, Robert I. Johnson, and also items from my own personal collection.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Olive Elma Price, 8th April, 1916  -  22nd May, 1983.