For the sake of those readers who, for some strange reason live in Blackpool, Bury St. Edmunds, Cranbrook, Canada or Durham. I should explain that Moor Park is a large park about half a mile from the church. It was constructed by unemployed people in the Great Depressions of the 1800s and has a school in one corner (formerly The Grammar School for boys) and nearby another school (formerly The Park School for girls). These two schools were separated from the rest of the park by a road (Moor Park Avenue).

Perhaps the most dramatic event occurred during the last war when a Special Constable, walking to work through the park, saw what looked like a fountain pen. It was, in fact, a device that could explode and which could have blown a person’s hand off. He immediately recognised this as having been dropped from a German bomber. He cordoned off the park and eventually several hundred of these devices were found. It was very fortunate that they all actually landed on the park area and also very fortunate – for the hundreds of children who would have been crossing the park to school after that morning, that they were discovered.

Later in the war, an Italian prisoner-of-war camp was set up in the park. These men lived in Nissen huts. Boys at the Grammar School, of whom I was one, learnt Italian in our dinner breaks from ‘Jasper’ (Mr Fielding) so that we could talk to these prisoners. They had a great deal of freedom and the Italians who came to a morning service in our Church as mentioned in this magazine about two years ago, probably came from there.

And then there was the open-air, unheated swimming baths. They always seemed to be very cold and usually had a lot of leaves floating on top of the water. The admission prices were very cheap and the swimming bath was used mainly by children from miles around. It was quite incredible that in those days, boys from the Grammar School, of whom I was one, went as part of the curriculum to these baths without any supervision and no life-savers whatsoever.

There was also the observatory which is still there. It was run formerly by Dr Baracas and later by Mr Holden. Members of the public were invited to go and look through the telescope but the main purpose in those days was to observe the sun. Mr Holden had a bevy of older boys and girls who might graduate to be his assistants. Again I was one, but soon realised that there was more to astronomy than meets the eye (!) so never became a recognised assistant.

Having said all that, Moor Park was a jewel in the town of Preston. Moor Park Avenue was a delightful road, where cars very rarely entered and where Grammar School boys used to stroll up and down after dinner. Lime trees had been planted along both sides in 1910 and sheltered it from the sun. Local cricket teams used to play in the park there and brass bands played in the evenings.

There were a few houses at one end of Moor Park Avenue. The Barrons lived at No 1 (Neville Barron was mentioned in this magazine a few months ago) and Mr Garden one of the foremost and respected surgeons in the country, lived a few doors away. He was the father of Graham Garden of T.V. fame (especially ‘The Goodies’).

During the war, boys at the Grammar School would occasionally see Older Boys come to the school and who would be talking to the teachers. These boys for the most part were dressed in Air Force Blue and sported Pilot Officer’s stripes and ‘wings’. The admiring younger boys never realised that many of these would not survive the war.

There was really no collaboration between the boys at the Grammar School and the girls at the Park School, but the boys regarded the girls as great and well-worth knowing! My mother, who incidentally was the first Guide Captain of the church, as a girl went to the Park School. She lived a few miles outside Preston and travelled by train. To vary the monotony of travelling, she and her pals often used to travel lying on the luggage racks above the seats. You cannot get any ‘cooler’ than that, can you?

There were two masters at the Grammar School, who were members of the church in those days. The first was ‘Froggy Martin’ who naturally taught French. He was a stern disciplinarian at school; boys would not dare to fail French examinations! He taught me and taught my father before me! At home and in the Church, he was the kindest of men – I always regarded him as an outstanding Christian. The second master was ‘Harry Willy’ (Mr Norman). He taught Religious Knowledge and was in charge of school sports. At church he was the choirmaster for a number of years. He also was a stern disciplinarian but in his private life was also an outstanding Christian. I remember that it was ‘Harry Willy’ who indoctrinated the new boys at the Grammar School. He told us that we were lucky to be there (only 20% of boys in Preston went to Grammar School) and we had to set an example and show that we were the best boys in Preston. If a lady got on the bus and there were no seats, we had immediately to stand up and offer her our seat, whatever the circumstances. We had to always be smart and wear our school caps!

I close with the information that at least two of the boys at the Grammar School attended ‘The Young Crusaders’ organisation at Fulwood and became ministers of religion. The first was Jim Hamilton mentioned previous in this magazine and who became an Anglican Canon at St. Helens, and second was Alan Fleetwood, who became a Baptist minister in Devon. Both these boys were friends at school.

Durham