There were 3 separate schools - Infants, Juniors and Seniors, each with its own Headteacher. Teacher and author Norman Bridge started at Birchfield in 1916; Head of Infants at the time was Miss DAWSON, and the Principal was Mr SMITH, who later moved to a city centre grammar school and was succeed by Mr HALLAM.  Other teachers he recalls were Mr CRAWFORD and Mrs HILL. Mrs BRIDGE later returned as a teacher, although Norman had transferred to Clint Rd.

Marged attended the school in the 1940s.      The school was built around a central hall, with a balcony running right around the upstairs perimeter, and another short balcony on the top floor.  There were two flights of stairs, which were never used by pupils, actually IN the hall, the choir stood there to sing for concerts etc.

 There were air raid shelters below the school.  They were used if the alarm sounded during the day, and local people used to travel over there at night during the bad blitz – Marged’s mother, aged about 25, would have to struggle with  two children and a big bale of bedding etc.

Marged also remembered: The swimming baths  were not used in the 1940s onwards.  They were storage for millions of cardboard milk bottle tops - part of the supposed salvage initiative - waste not, want not.  They never re-opened, so far as I know.  What a sad waste!  However, Nadine remembers using it in school-time and in school holidays in the late ‘50s and ‘60s.  The pool finally closed in the late 1960s; children had swimming lessons at other schools.

The old building was demolished in 2000, and replaced.  In 2002, the school took in pupils from Acorn Nursery and became known as Phoenix.

Below - Infants

Most photos copyright Liverpool Record Office.  Photos top dated about 1914

Norma DAVIS (now BEDFORD) attended the school from 1952-1962.  She says ...”the photo shown on the site of the infants class is one of me and my class mates. That photo would have been taken between 1952 and 1954, I am 2nd from the right on the second row.  I remember using the swimming pool underneath the building from the age of 7/8 about 1955 onwards and it was quite often open for use during school holidays. One other fact I recently discovered that on of our former teachers James WIGGINS appeared in Brookside as Paul Collins; sadly he died in 1999 aged 76,”

I remember visiting this school, which was built in the same style as Rathbone and St Lawrence - big halls with classrooms on 2 levels around them - a balcony effect.  Sadly, the photo of the hall is too small to give the impression of space and size.  Probably a Health & Safety nightmare - stone stairs, highly polished floors - but beautiful all the same

The three photos above and left were taken by Marjorie INGHAM the weekend before the school was demolished.  Wish I’d thought of that!