Brackenber In The 1950s

A fellow Old Brackenbrian, Tom Graham, sent me three photographs of staff and pupils at Brackenber House prep school, Belfast, during the mid-fifties.

Many thanks, Tom, for such a wonderful contribution.

If you click on the image below, it ought to enlarge.

Tom describes these pictures in his own words:-

Above is a school photo from about 1956/57.

So few pupils, so many teachers!

A student/teacher ratio which would bring a tear to the eye of any modern educator.

On Mr Craig's left is the famous Miss Rankin.

I can't name any of the young women to her left.

To his right is Mr Henry, Deputy Principal.

He left to become an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon; then Mr Hunter, next, I believe is the Sport/PE master, whose name escapes me.

Mr Ferguson and two unknown trainee teachers complete the line-up.

They were all good teachers.

Their skills greatly eased the transition to Secondary education.


The photo above suggests that not all reds are equal.

Substantial differences in the blazers are clearly visible.

The BHS monogram is missing from many pockets.

My guess is that many families must have struggled financially, and economised by not buying blazers from the approved supplier.

My parents managed to outfit my brother as well as myself from the approved supplier, but only just, I suspect.

The parents at my daughter's private school ran a thriving a second hand uniform shop.

I can't remember any such thing at Brackenber.

I do not recall an overcoat being part of the uniform.

Its cost might have been the final straw which would have deterred some parents.

PS That's me, Tom, in the top left corner!

Above is the football team from 1956/57.

We tried hard, but rarely succeeded.

The school was small,  so the talent pool was shallow.

We played against Rockport and Cabin Hill, but not against nearby Inchmarlo.

The school supplied the shirts, but not the socks, shorts,or boots.

As you can see, the sports budget did not stretch to providing more than one size of shirt!

For away matches, Mr Craig took all twelve of us in his car!

First published in 2009.