Re: The Old College
 

KATEX have a look here ARCHIVE: Eagle Street College, Accrington - Jun 2006 - NorthWest Exploration Forumloadsa pics of it just after it had shut i presume becuz it certainly looks nothing like that now.

Re: The Old College
 

Seem to remember back in the days before Accy Tech was built up Sandy Lane there was a small further education/art college on Eagle st. (looking at google earth) somewhere between Willow st. and Cannon st. across the street from the original entrance to Accrington railway station . Seem to remember it was used as a place for bright kids from the local secondary moderns to go and take O and A levels , the kids who missed out on the chance to transfer to the Grammer and High school at 13 .
this would be mid 50s thru mid 60s, not the place shown in the above message

Re: The Old College
 

Thanks Dec .. don't remember that at all .. still, not my area.

Suppose the security guards are there to protect Tesco's build ... to fight off any attempts at sabotage from the competition so to speak... :D

Re: The Old College
 

wonder if the roadway in the first picture is on the site of the owd Manchester line?:confused:

Re: The Old College
 

Haha aye Katex,... come to mention it i did see a few Asda staff snooping around with bolt cutters and the like lol

Re: The Old College
 

Here is a photo Katex, you may recognise this one

Re: The Old College
 

Where was the Accrington School of Art?

Was in in a separate building of it's own?

It was mentioned in this thread...
http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...rose-4071.html

...and I've seen it mentioned in a few recent obituaries, and on some other sites.

Just re-reading Atarah's post in the linked thread, was the whole of the now demolished building, which I thought of as the Grammar School, once the Accrington School of Art & Craft?

Re: The Old College
 

thinking about it after my earlier post I'm thinking this was the place , probably Retlaw or one of the other 'seniors' can put me right .... not sure how much a 'school of art' (ala Slade) it was compared to more of a commercial concept tied into the local textile industry at the time , training talented youngsters being trained in fabric print design, know for a fact that the Devron mill in Gt. Harwood had 'artists' on the staff (the father of one of my friends was an artist there ,sure other textile outfits had similar, wether it was working on the jaquard weave (sp?) designs, know that the 'punch cards/rolls' used for this process changed every so often by market demand . Also the mills had to have "print screen" set-ups desiged for colour and pattern .
Only reason I know this is that a couple of local Gt. Harwood girls about 4 yrs older than me went there , and one later went on to furthur studies at Manchester University .
Logical thinking is that the art dept. closed down when the cotton industry began to die off and general studies type education became more popular .

Re: The Old College
 

It would be interesting to find out. Accrington School of Art & Crafts is listed on quite a few people's résumés, so it obviously existed in it's own right, before amalgamating with Accrington College of Further Education.

It does seem odd if the old Grammar School building was once given over exclusively to arts and crafts. Though neighbouring Blackburn had a similarly grand art school building, which as you say was primarily a place to train people for the once flourishing textile industry.

Re: The Old College
 

I attended the "old Grammar School" on Blackburn Rd, when it was used as an annex for Accy Tech (Sandy Lane) evening classes 70/72, when it stopped (year) being the Boys Grammar school no idea , thought it was purpose built for that .

Re: The Old College
 

I presumed that the building was built as the Grammar School, but according to Atarah, who's usually spot on when it comes to local historical facts...

'The old Grammar School which used to be along Blackburn Road once was known as the "Accrington School of Art and Crafts"
http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...rose-4071.html

So it would be interesting to find out, if anyone can throw some light on the matter.

Re: The Old College
 

wouldn't be surprised if there were links between Accrington School of Art and the 'old' WEA (Workers Education Authority ) an association which made an effort to supply a continuing education to workers in the industrial towns of the UK , active during the early part of the last century ,(a quasi charity with Govt. funding) prior to the education reforms in the 1944 act. (did a thesis on it 40 years ago for my teaching qualifications, the days when I was a red flag waving communist) :D :D

Re: The Old College
 

The plot thickens, as we now have a new name to add...

Mr. C. F. Dawson, head-master of Accrington Municipal School of Art.
Elementary Design

Re: The Old College
 

It was in the old Grammar school premises on Blackburn Rd.
I recall that my cousin Michael Rothwell attended - but he ended up as a primary school head and local history buff.

Re: The Old College
 

My lad did his "B-Tech" at the owd Grammer School, before goin on to college.