Sheffield College students share their 1960s memories

Julia Taylor (nee Barrett) was a student in 1962/3. She wrote: “Granville College, a new building on Granville Road, was a great place to be in the 1960s.

“I attended there after passing an entrance examination. You needed a first-class pass in maths and English to get in. The girls were selected for this course from the best pupils at secondary modern schools throughout the city.

“It was very intensive and the day started at 9am and finished at 4.45pm. Then there was homework to do, particularly shorthand practice. The subjects consisted of English, maths, commerce, office practice, typing and shorthand.

“We also had time in the gym where we played five-a-side football amongst other games. We even had a cookery class as some girls were going on to the Polytechnic, as it was then, to study this subject further.

“There was a common room where we all congregated at lunchtime where we listened to the latest Beatles records and once a week there was a disco at lunchtime in the hall. There was even ballroom dancing in the evening if you wanted to go back to the college.

“I remember our typing lessons, we used to practise our speed to music, on went a record and we typed to many of the vocalists of that day but the one I remember was Walking in a Winter Wonderland. I think it was Johnny Mathis but I am not sure. It was great fun.

“We finished up with good qualifications in Pitman’s shorthand, speeds up to 80 wpm and RSA Certificates in aths and English Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 2 was equivalent to an old O-level or these days a high grade at GCSE.

“Then we applied for jobs at such places at English Steel, Steel Peach & Tozer and Building Societies.

“There were also boys who had taken the entrance examinations but they were on day release plus attending two nights a week. My husband attended such a course as he worked at Mappin & Webb.

John Leatherland wrote: “Your article on College Days in The Star (November 16) reminded me of my time studying for the ONC in Business Studies and then up to the intermediate level of the ACCA exams.

“I commenced my studies in 1960 and, like Tony Baker in your article, went to night school three evenings a week after having travelled from General Refractories in Ranmoor. I studied at City Grammar, which I attended after the 11+, and Leader House on Surrey Street.

“Two of the lecturers I can remember were F LAshley and E Bales. I was fortunate to pass the ONC first time in 1963 and then went on to study for the ACCA. The tuition for this was at the Polytechnic for 2/3 evenings in the week with another 1/2 nights spent at the Central Library doing homework and additional study.

“Unfortunately, the Polytechnic did not provide tuition for the final years of the ACCA, therefore I had to transfer to a correspondence course which I found difficult because of the lack of either a lecturer or fellow students. The latter being important because problems of either study or work could be discussed with one’s contemporaries.

“All’s well that ends well, however, and I was successful in my exams and subsequently became a Fellow of the ACCA. None of this would have been possible without the tuition and assistance I was given by the further education facilities provided.”