PICTURED: One of the very first classes proudly line up back in 1915.

KITCHENER'S Army was braced for battle; George V reigned; Asquith occupied10 Downing Street, and Sir David Gamble was Mayor of St Helens when a well-loved seat of learning first opened its doors.

The year was 1915 and Windle Pilkington Council School rose amid the teeming terraces adjoining town-centre Waterloo Street.

Erected as an elementary dispensary of the three 'Rs' for 1,200 infants, boys and girls in classes of 50, the three-storey edifice became a focal point on the St Helens skyline, with its 70-foot-high roof playground another unique feature.

The school was named after late chairman of the Education Committee Colonel William Windle Pilkington, a member of the family of glass giants that provided employment for parents of many of the pupils, who often followed in their work-a-day footsteps.

Intended as a 'feeder' for Higher Grade, Rivington Road and St Mary's senior schools, the Windle Pilkington educational establishment also housed a communal bath, while the elevated recreation area was justified on the grounds of economic necessity due to the price of land.

Given youngsters' penchant for abbreviation the school was quickly dubbed 'Windle Pilk', while those patched knee-pants, sparking clogs, hand-me-down days of the Depression earned its adjoining Arthur Street feeding centre the somewhat unflattering title of 'the Ragged School.'

Falling roll numbers due to redevelopment caused desks to be closed for the last time in 1982, when classrooms and corridors once echoing to the sounds of junior school life were revamped and used as an annexe for St Helens College.

Now, after 82 sometimes chequered years, the final curtain has fallen on dear old 'Windle Pilk.' Demolition is now under way and the site is rumoured to be earmarked for landscaped gardens, ornamental pools and - inevitably - car parks! A world far removed then from the all-pervading aroma of Sammy Hindley's scrap-yard which stood opposite for years and, given the nature of a building which doubled as the Food Office during World War Two, countless abiding memories abound of Windle Pilkington School.

As I discovered when chatting to old boys and girls headmasters Briggs and Simcox, while not exactly ruling with a rod of iron, were nonetheless disposed to doling out corporal punishment as and when the wayward pupil deserved it.

Harry Cook, of Saints fame, Mr Garner, Mrs Welding and the Misses Burrows and Plumpton were other mentors whose names sprang readily to mind among one-time 'devils' of the classroom now approaching pension book status.

"I have fond memories of Miss Plumpton," recalled 63-year-old Arthur Bushell, "if only for the way she shepherded the classes into the showers armed with a ruler, which she didn't hesitate to use across our backsides!"

Local businessman John Henderson, another old boy of similar vintage, wistfully remembered Mrs Welding "a large, jolly lady who welcomed me to Windle Pilk on being transferred from St Thomas's at the age of seven"

With the notable exception of former mayor of the borough Lawrence Tucker, and despite exhaustive inquiries, I was unable to unearth other famous former pupils of Windle Pilkington.

Oval ball high-fliers who cut their teeth on a roof which also overlooked Liverpool Road, included Warrington's Ged Smith of St Thomas's Street, plus Walter Delves (Westfield Street) and Test star Tommy Bishop (Borough Road) both of whom played for Saints.

Report by Denis Whittle.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.