Boys:
Peter Atkinson, George Armstrong, M.Allmey, Terry Baker, Eddie Brown, Bob Brown, John Bailey, Neil Bryson, David Bainbridge (left 1963), W.Carroll, Malcolm Cobb, Bob Cassidy, Ian Carr, Jim Cowan, Malcolm Cowen, K.Cowey, Frank Dixon, Andy Dennis, A. Douglas, J. Fish, John Gardner, Ian Gardner, Peter Gibson, Ernie Givens, David Heslop, Richard Henderson, Frank Hunter, Malcolm Husband, Alan Hunter, Dave Jones, Alistair King, T. Kirkup, Ian Lawson, Jackie Lonsdsale, David Lydiatt, Keith  McGuire, Bill Markham, Peter Marsh, David Mart, Graham McBurnie, Melvin Mitchinson, John Ord, Gordon Parr, Michael Pace, Bill Pearson, Phil Raine, Brian Rose, John Rutherford, Alan Simpson, Mike Sparks, Gerry Spoors, Kenny Stangroom, Brian Straughan, Derek Storey, Russell Storey, Geoffrey Storey, Dave Tait, Colin Thompson, Peter Vasey, Geoff Vlaeminke, Les Watson, Jim Walker, Dave Wood, Lennie Ward, Ray Watson, Peter Williams, John Waters, Jeff Watson, Graham "Tot" Winstanley, Kenny Young.

Girls:
Helen Ash, J.Armstrong, Linda Bailey, Hilary Brown, S. Baillie, Linda Blake, E.Cairns, Evelyn Carroll, Carol Chivers, Jeanette Cutmore, Christina Cook, Christine Colpitts, Elizabeth Davison, Dorothy Dalkin, Joan Dixon (now Stabler), D.Dales, J. Davison, Pauline Ellis, Mary Engleby (now Lock), Thelma Faith, Elizabeth Goundry,  Jean Gibbons, Hilary Gates(?), Talitha Handysides, Carol Henderson, S. Hepworth, Christine Hogg, Kathleen Hedley, Audrey Hall (Fletcher),  Margaret Henderson, Anne Holmes, Valerie Holmes, Audrey Keerie, Maureen King, Mima Lumsden, Kathleen Lynn, Pat Masters, Linda Mottram, A. Marlow, S. Martin, Pauline Moon, Jean Marlowe, Kathleen Maxwell, E. Miller, Elaine Naylor, Freda Naylor(?), J.Orr, Pauline Openshaw, Lesley Parsons, Eileen Pickard, Cathryn Rawlings, Linda Ramsey, P.Reed, Y. Richardson, Susan Richardson, Jacqueline Rogerson, Jennifer Reiling, B. C. Robson, Maureen Robson, Jacqueline Robson, Pauline Robson, Hilary Sharp, Glenise Shields, Christine Smith, Carole Simpson(now Stafford), Lena Snowdon, Dianne.Scott,  Janice Spedding(?), Jean Tatters(?), Phyllis Turnbull, Thelma Tait, C.B.Todd, Angela Todd, Marie Thew, Mary Walton, Kathleen Ward, Linda Wilson-Wardle, Dorothy Wardle, J.R.Watson, Judith Watson(?), Maureen Wilson(?), Evelyn Wilson(?)

Hilary Brown(Notes from FriendsReunited)

Living in Bagshot, Surrey. Married for 32yrs - two children, Andrew (1977) & Lyndsey (1980). Work in local Infant School as Finance Officer. Most old pupils will probably remember my father "Baz" Brown, geography teacher, who sadly died in July 2002 aged 97.

 I spent most of my Spout Lane years in the Rugby & Climbing Clubs. I am still in touch with Tim Shield (1958) in Pretoria SA and Neil Bryson (North Wales)  & Alan Douglas (both 1959).
Yes, I also remember Brian Ferry !!! but my memory is of a backside disappearing over the crags on a climbing club trip with Jonty "Cut the cackle" Coxon to Crag Lough in 1962 or 3.

I must say that it is an odd experience to see all of those names from so long ago.  All that mud on the rugby pitch because Doc Telford  (a footballing man) would insist on running the cross country course through it.  All that beer drunk in the Cross Keys by the agnostics  avoiding the Carol Service in Old Washington Village at Xmas time.  All that secret passion for girls who must all be middle aged women by now.

I have the school mag with the 1960 staff photo , undefaced but no better than the one that you have used. The "notes" on the staff list include Basher Bates - Bert Brown - "Chimpy Canham " most unfair as he was (is ) a lovely person suffering from an unfortunate photograph, Maude Hall, - Wild Man Bill Horlock ,- Jock Peart  "Why is Newcastle more important than Sunderland?"  "Because it has two branches of Woolworths Sir."  (Bosh Story) Tosh Wardle and of course Judy Rossington  who taught me English for which I am duly grateful.

If  Joe Dodd  (metalwork) is still above ground I would like him to know that all of those efforts to teach me the lathe worked out in the end as my main hobby is repairing antique firearms, in fact my only claim to fame has been in representing South Africa in international shooting events in the eighties with muzzle loading rifles.

To close out I would like to say Hi to my old buddies from WGS and I would like to hear from you all.  You might be interested to hear that I married Trees Zuidewind from Texel Holland in 1975 and we have three lovely daughters who are either  teaching or studying medicine in and around Pretoria University in SA.

Come and see us sometime.

Christina Cook(Notes from FriendsReunited)

Married to Robert for 35 years now. Four children, Caroline 32, Guy 29, Paul 27 and our late gift Catriona Eilidh. We've been living in South West Scotland now for 14 years. Have just moved south to Leighton Buzzard. Love to hear from anyone who remembers me.

Andy Dennis (Ajdennis5@aol.com)

Andy is no longer with us.  Click here to link to Audrey Fletcher's memorial page, where you can add your own memories.

I left school in 1966, having failed to get the necessary grades for University entrance, so I entered the Civil Service as a trainee accountant in the District Audit Service, on the E.O. grade. The late sixties and seventies were very uneventful as I (very) slowly climbed the ladder. In 1979 and 1980 I visited the south west USA. In 1981, I decided that spending money on luxuries wasn't all that wise, so I bought a house in Washington. In 1982, my small branch of the Civil Service was privatised by Thatcher. As the new body (the Audit Commission) needed experienced staff to get it going, I was "bribed" by a 57% pay rise to join them.

Having completed the Great North Run in 1982, I was training for the following years event in 1983 when I started experiencing some strange symptoms, which were diagnosed in 1984 as MS. Apparently, I'd experienced the first symptom, without anyone recognizing it in 1970. At first, the symptoms were not very debilitating, I decided to see as much of the world as I could, while I still could. I visited India, France, and Italy three times (being totally captivated) before it became too difficult in 1989. I was finally forced to take long term sick leave in 1990 and formally retired in 1991.

By chance my retirement coincided with the elevation of Durham County Cricket Club to first class status. When their new ground was opened in 1995 quite close to my home, I was there every day until 2000 (for a long period, Mike Candlish was the Cricket Club's Chief Executive) when some specially designed bungalows were built at Roker, near the Stadium of Light, and I moved in in December 2000.   I'm also a season ticket holder at Sunderland. (Just how much suffering can one man take?).

And here I am still. I have been visited here by Audrey Hall (Fletcher) and Lynne Murray (Hepplewhite) and keep in contact with several other contemporaries. On a fine day I can often be seen travelling the streets of Sunderland in my powered wheelchair.

With friendsreunited and its offspring, the sites run by Mark and Bob, I have made contact with lots of folk from wayback.  My main memories of WGS are Mrs Steel's wonderful ginger puddings, all the lovely girls I failed miserably with, being ordered by The Boss to get my hair cut when by today's standards it was scarcely longer than a skinhead, the Beatles.Whenever anyone asks me what Bryan Ferry was like, I tell them the truth. In the five years common to the two of us, I cannot recall speaking to him once!

My greatest regret, apart from my miserable failure with any girl, is not taking Latin at A level, thereby missing out on sixth form work with Miss Lawson, the cleverest and wittiest person I've ever met.

Joan Dixon (now Stabler)

Lives in Hetton and works ...........at Washington School!

Pauline Ellis

Ernie Givens

Known as Billy Kirkley and lived in Davison St. during my time at Hedworth Lane Infants and Juniors.After passing the 11+ went to Washington Grammar and moved to Reginald
St. then Kipling Ave. West Boldon.Main friends remembered from this era "Norny" Jefferson, Jim Frater, Keith Morland, Mickey Thornton, Elizabeth Dunn, Sylvia Oxley.
I am now 55 and live in Lincoln.Any of the guys I've mentioned want to give me a call please do.
At Washington Grammar I was known as Ernie Givens.

Audrey Hall (audreyfletcher@hotmail.com)
...then and now....
Audrey Hall (now Audrey Fletcher) was in the 1959 intake. She remembers Mary Engleby, her lifelong friend, Mima Lumsden who lived next door, Talitha Handysides who is her husband's cousin, Helen Ash who also went to elocution lessons with Mrs Race, Angela Todd who was always brilliant at Latin, Catherine Rawlings who emigrated to Australia, Linda Mottram, Carole Chivers, Elaine Naylor, Susan Richardson, Anne Marlow and many, many more.

The memories come flooding back. Practising for two years in Miss Swaddle's class at the Glebe Juniors for the 11+ exam and then finally going to be fitted out in the green and gold uniform for the Grammar School. Oh those PE shorts, they were a bit of a shock! The first day finally arrived and I found myself in 1W with my friend Linda Mottram.

Memories of First Year include cloak rooms chocker block with winter gaberdines and green berets, Mrs. Hope pretending to be a caveman and those long, boring English novels we were forced to read. I wonder if anyone remembers the jingle from that year "Mrs. Hope hoped that Mrs. Hopper would hop on Mrs. Footer's foot."

Second Year found me in 2alpha over in the temporary block. I sat in the back right corner with Catherine Rawlings from Castletown. (She emigrated to Sydney after O-levels, but when I wrote to her she had moved.) What a year that was - Mr. Young our Maths teacher who often fled the classroom, Mr. Richardson (Pop) who would never give a girl more than 9.5 out of 10 because she was a female and therefore subordinate to the male species, and that memorable "sex lesson in Biology" with Mr. Ainley. That was to be the big day when all would be revealed. It was an all girls class and we talked of nothing else for days. He must have been as nervous and embarrassed as we were because his opening question was, "Well, is there anyone here who doesn't know the facts of life?" Obviously nobody was going to put up her hand and draw attention to herself. So - we never did learn the facts of life that day and we left as ignorant as we came, with our innocence still intact!

Third Year saw me in 3A sitting next to Carole Chivers, and for the rest of my time at Grammar School it was head down and bum up. Memories include a very cold top floor classroom with a glorious view of the pit heap, many of us gathering around Angela Todd in the classroom on a morning finding out how to do the Latin translation, and Miss Patterson singing in Assembly. Woe betide anyone who didn't have a tie on in Assembly!

I won't mention my memories of school dinners.

I left the Grammar School after O-levels to join the Civil Service. I was at Longbenton for a year and then applied to join the Durham Library Service. I worked at the Washington Village Green Library for several years then transferred to Shiney Row Library after I got married. Shortly after that, in 1969, we emigrated to Adelaide in South Australia .....

Images of Australia:
Alice Springs, Uluru (Ayers Rock), Adelaide Festival Theatre, Audrey's Mam in Adelaide, A statue of Simpson and his Donkey, Sydney Harbour

.... At that time married women were considered second class citizens as far as the job market was concerned, and a married woman with a Geordie accent had absolutely no hope of getting a job, even as a checkout girl in a supermarket. It came as a bit of a shock to be told that by a government employment agency!

So, I thought, I'll show them! I applied to go to Teachers' College. I began training to be an Infant Teacher but my results were so good (I was awarded a scholarship at the end of First Year College) that I changed over to High School Training. Since then I have never looked back, though I did take two years away from teaching when my son, Lynton, was born in 1975.
Today my favourite hobby is writing web pages. In researching the origin of the name "Washington" I was led to making connections with Ancient Egypt and ultimately discovering the Lost Constellation of the Celestial Sphinx, which dominated the skies in 14000BC. There was an article about my discovery in the "Sunderland Echo" and "Washington Star". My main web pages are "Ancient Egyptians and the Constellations" and "Washington, Tyne Wear, England". You can visit them by clicking on these web addresses:

http://ancientegypt.hypermart.net

http://www.geocities.com/pictorialwashingtonuk

However I have also written web pages on Multiple Sclerosis, Mark the Cryptic Gospel (Pop Richardson would shudder in his shoes) and Bryan Ferry. Bryan's Grandma used to live next door to us at The Terraces and he lived across the road in Gainsborough Avenue.

Australia is a wonderful place to both visit and live in. I have included some photos. Hope you like them. Also, any one out there who remembers me, please drop me a line sometime.   Audrey

Peter Marsh(Notes from FriendsReunited)

Have lived in the same house in Chester-le-Street for 30 years.  Making the most of two wonderful grandchildren.  Wishing my old friends all the best. Is anybody out there???? Or can't any of you afford the tenner to mail?

Carole Simpson (now Stafford - carole@kaprico-limousin.co.uk)

I have enjoyed reading your site and found many old friends featured.  On the large photo you have me numbered as 55 Row 6 I am actually 56.  I’ve had a good look at the people around me and thought you might like to know my observations.  I noticed Keith Fisher should be 54, Spud Tate 62, and “Tot” Winstanley 55.

 My niece MARSHA JOHNSON is also featured on the photo. (Row 5(3).  Marsha is now Marsha Hemingway living in Bury St Edmunds and has 2 sons. Marsha runs her own market research company in Bury St Edmunds.

Jeff Watson may be remembered for being “sporty”, captain of the rugby team, played basketball, shot, & discus.  Remembers “Doc” Telford and Bob Hopper as sports coaches.  Hung about with “Tot” Winstanley, Keith Fisher, “Spud” Tate, Frank Hunter.  Went to sports centre on Thursday nights to play basketball with amongst others Ned Cook, Dave Wood, Gary Clark, Bryan Ferry and my pal Roy Lightburn (who I still see).  Keen on 1^st Washington Scouts, - I was in for years.  Left school at 16 with 5 O levels. Only ever won one school prize “Susan Peareth Educational Foundation prize” which wasn’t for academic prowess!  Remember having a big fight with “Fernie” Fernival in the school yard and I think I won.  Became very friendly with Bob Stapleton (Art Master) whilst living in Chester le Street many years ago.

My father George Watson was a miner at the Glebe Pit in Washington retiring after 48 years service. Dad had 5 brothers all miners in Washington. He vowed I would never be allowed to go down the pit!

I have spent most of my life in Sales & Marketing working for Johnson & Johnson, Unilever,  British American Tobacco, Akzo, and finally Sara Lee Corp., of Chicago, working as Managing Director  in Leatherhead, Surrey for many years and finally Burlington, Ontario, Canada where I was President of Kiwi (Canada) part of Sara Lee Corp..  Took early retirement in 1995 and along with my wife June returned to live in Warkworth, Northumberland.  I became involved in developing property and my wife opened an antique shop.  We have one married daughter aged 35, and two grandchildren of  6 and 3 yrs who live on a sheep farm in Co Durham. I am currently a District Councillor at Alnwick, a Northumberland County Councillor and a Magistrate and am still toying with property.  Would love to hear from anyone who wants to make contact including Fernie!     

Below is the famous Shield family Dormobile, seen here surrounded by Neil Bryson, John Bailey, Malcolm Cobb (who supplied the photographs) and Tim Shield (you can read about him on the 1958 page), who liked Washington so much that he stayed an extra year.

...and here are John "Bunse" Bailey, Peter "Peps " Gibson, Alan "Hovis " Hunter and just out of shot Alan "Doug " Douglas
(picture compliments of Malcolm Cobb) and a basketball team (messrs Dennis, Hunter, Felton, Doyle, Oliver, Abbott, Wood and Tait).

..and more from the school magazine:
Helen Ash ..............and Richard Henderson