Birkenhead Institute, Wirral
Birkenhead Institute Grammar School, Wirral
WELCOME TO THE BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE HISTORY SITE
YOUR MEMORIES OF BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE
Welcome to this special web site, which I have set up to include pupils' and teachers' memories of Birkenhead Institute. Owing to space restrictions, it is not possible to include all of your memories on my original site, and since setting up the "Spirit of Birkenhead Institute" site in August 2008, I have received many interesting items form pupils and staff. This site will therefore allow extra space to enable me to add more of your memories as I receive them. I believe it is very important to preserve your memories of the school, and by adding them to the site, they will be available to be viewed by anyone who is interested in finding out about the history of the school in the future.
This site 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. As I said above, I believe that it is very important in these changing times to preserve and centralise, via the Internet, the memory of the Birkenhead Institute Grammar School. 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. Two former Headmasters of the Birkenhead Institute are shown below :-
FORMER PUPILS AND STAFF OF THE BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE
This site is dedicated to you, the pupils and staff, to include more of your own memories of Birkenhead Institute. I have already received many items which have been added to the original "Spirit of Birkenhead Institute" site. However, I have decided to add more of your memories to this special site, and several items have already been received. For example, former pupil Keith Sedman, (1942 -1949), has sent in some excellent sporting memories and photographs, which can be seen on the "YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS" page. These include the school cricket and rugby teams, along with Keith's medals which he won in 1949 for his successes in Cross Country. Similarly, there are some more interesting memories of the B.I. from former pupils in the "YOUR MEMORIES" page, so please take the time to have a look.
As well as this, there are more items from the early days of the B.I. in the MEMORABILIA page, including a 1949 school photograph, which I am sure you will find of interest! Please keep sending in your memories, and I shall ensure that they are added to the site.
THE ORIGINAL FOUR B.I. HOUSES
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.
THE VISOR, THE BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE SCHOOL MAGAZINE
I have also created a separate site to remember the B.I.'s excellent school magazine, "The Visor".
The Visor site includes some interesting items from the school magazine. There are some interesting advertisements from the magazine, as well as news items from across the years, so please take time to have a look to see if you remember them. I have also included some interesting photographs from the relevant years. 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 Visors, I 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 Visor site can be found at:-
I very much look forward to receiving more of your memories, stories, and photographs of Birkenhead Institute shortly, and these will be added to the site in the near future.
Your memories will help to keep the spirit of the Birkenhead Institute alive!
Philip Ronald-Price
(Birkenhead Institute Grammar School Pupil, 1960 - 1967)
DOCTUS IN SE SEMPER DIVITIAS HABET
Welcome to this special site, which is dedicated to your memories, the pupils and staff, of Birkenhead Institute Grammar School, Wirral.
Above is a photograph of the B.I. Playing Fields entrance, Ingleborough Road, taken in 1999.
CONTACT INFORMATION
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:
For the William S. Connacher site, the email address is:
Link to the sister site for the Birkenhead Institute Visor:
Link to the "Spirit of Birkenhead Institute" Site:
