Ron Wells - a Brief Biography
by his daughter Pamela
His earlier career: He attended Hulme Grammar School thanks to a Foundation Scholarship that he said everyone was entitled to from 1934 - his Grandad bought him a cap (for four shillings and sixpence!) but they could not afford the blazer so he never had one of those. He achieved School Certificate and stayed on into the sixth form, but his parents wanted him to get some 'teaching practice' so he left at the end of his lower sixth year and therefore did not take the equivalent of 'A' levels.
He became a Student Teacher and worked at Watersheddings Junior School from Sep to Dec 1940, and in the senior department at Clarksfield (which he had attended as a child!) from Jan to Jul 1941. He then went off to St John's College in York (long since absorbed into York University I believe) to do a teacher training course. It appears that the head at Hulme encouraged students to go to York if they wanted to pursue a teaching career as he had gone there himself. Upon leaving there, the Oldham Education Offices sent him to Werneth Junior School for one day, covering for an absent teacher, and then sent him to teach at the Parish Church School on Burnley Street, where he worked until the schools broke up in July and then began the autumn term there - this was 1943. He also obtained work teaching night school at Derker Evening Institute, thanks to Archer Tate.
However:
“ It looked as if my job at the Parish Church School was going to become a permanent one, but these circumstances were not due to last. In appointing both myself and my colleague Eric Mansfield, the Oldham Authority had in fact breached a regulation which was applying during the war. A quota system had been introduced which meant that an authority could only appoint a certain number of male teachers for their probationary year (the first year following college). It turned out that they really should not have appointed either of us as they were exceeding their quota right from the word ‘Go’!” |
As a result, Dad had to find a new job and decided to apply to the Manchester Authority, which was bigger than Oldham and hence he thought they might have a bigger quota. Following an interview, he was appointed to a position:
“ My new post was not at any of the schools in Manchester itself. An organisation (The Camp Schools’ Association) had set up several ‘camps’ all over the country, designated to provide disadvantaged children with opportunities to enjoy life in the open air, each with a school on its premises. There were a lot of these in the Manchester area as the Manchester schools themselves were in quite a bad way. When war broke out, these camp schools had to be abandoned temporarily, so the people running them needed someone else to take them on instead. Manchester agreed to take on these schools in its area, and in effect they became schools for Manchester children; many of these children had fathers serving in the war, and indeed, some of the fathers had not survived, so there was a touch of the orphan here, too. |
He was at Somerford from some point in the autumn term 1943 and loved it there as it was out in the countryside, but said that towards the end of 1944 it became obvious that the war was coming to an end, and he felt he might be drafted in to a different Manchester school. Given that he had now completed his probationary year, he decided to try Oldham again to see if that made a difference. A position was found for him within the Senior Department at Hathershaw School and he started there in Jan 1945; he also took up night school teaching again at Derker Evening Institute. With the reorganistion of education looming, he moved to Ward Street School.
During his time at Greenhill, you probably already know as much as I can tell you. In my discussions with Dad, he concentrated very much on the development of education in Oldham, and the various reorganisations, most of which is in the article by him that you already have on the website. He also told me about the trips abroad that he and Mum did, but again these appear in The Greenhillians that you already have. There does seem to have been such a bond between his students and himself at Greenhill and he was thrilled to be involved with the reunions in his later years; this does not seem to have been replicated at Counthill or, indeed, at Bramhall. I think the Greenhill time was so special because things were developing so much, and the 'O' and 'A' levels were new to him as well as to his students.
As far as his "post-Greenhill" career is concerned, I've been through the stuff that Dad dictated to me before he died and have established the following:
Once it became known that another reorganisation was on the way, Dad applied to Counthill for a Head of Middle School - and got it. He started there in September 1966, when it changed from being a Grammar School to a Comprehensive School and merged with Derker Secondary Modern. This was at exactly the same time that Greenhill Grammar School merged with Hollinwood Secondary Modern School to become Kaskenmoor Comprehensive School. He remained at Counthill until end April 1971 (not at Easter as would have been expected!), as he had a new job as Joint Deputy Head at Bramhall in Cheshire. Again this was a Grammar School which was going to reopen in the September as Bramhall Comprehensive School. In the event it quickly became Bramhall High School instead!
Another Oldham teacher, Leoné Hilditch had already been appointed as the new head, and the
Grammar School head became the other deputy with Dad. Also a former Counthill teacher, David Brierley, started at Bramhall as Head of Lower School. I think he may have been at Derker before it was merged with Counthill, but I'm not sure. He was at Dad's funeral, but Leoné had already died several years before Dad did.
Bramhall was a big school - as a grammar it had been a four-form intake, but when it reopened in Sep 1971 it was already a seven-form entry. I started there in Sep 1972, by which time it was an eight or nine form entry, and when my sister started there four years later, it was a 13-form entry! We had over 2,000 pupils and well over a hundred staff! We had a brilliant Sixth Form, and I seem to recall that Dad talked about there being around 200 pupils in the Sixth Form for several years. As well as being Joint Deputy Head (you can see why they needed two, and there was a Senior Mistress as well!), Dad continued to teach geography, both to 'O' level and 'A' level.
Dad remained at Bramhall until 1983. He became 60 that year and for some years he had planned to retire when he reached that age. Mum (Edna) died in 1981 and for a while he put thoughts of retirement out of his mind, but as time went on he decided to retire as planned. School finished in July of course, but his job continued until end August, as is the case with teachers. His replacement started on 1 Sept. Later he moved to Greenfield (do you remember Pamela Tucker? Dad went to look at this house and discovered that it was her father who was selling it!), then after he remarried (another former teacher!) they moved to Parkstone in Dorset, and he remained down there until his cancer was diagnosed in late 2006. At this point we arranged for him to come to a nursing home
here in Colchester, which is what he wanted, and that was where he died two months later.
I hope that helps. I've given you a couple of quotes as you can see, so I hope that will help you and that you can convert all this into the narrative that you want.
I remember one of his ex-students at Greenhill telling me that he and Mum held musical evenings at their home, but he never mentioned this to me, I'm afraid - so if you can find out anymore, perhaps you could let me know as that would help me!