Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

Victor, another interesting post.

I don't think back in the day, when boys did PE in shorts only there was much of an issue of Vitamin D deficiency. I don't ever remember being given such supplements routinely - sometimes a multi-vitamin in winter, a dreaded dose of Castor Oil or a much more dreaded dose of Syrup of Figs. My mother firmly believed that a child who was restless or 'cranky' in any way was constipated and to a point she might have been right. Two tablespoons of Syrup of Figs soon changed that.

As a child, I remember my father talking about how he had suffered from Prickly Heat whilst a soldier in India and suggesting that I did not go bare top for any great length of time in strong sunlight. He said that I could spend as much time outside as I liked bare top from 5pm onwards in the height of summer. My recollection is that none of the schools I attended objected to boys going bare top for sport if they wanted. I get the impression from previous posts that these days boys are discouraged from going bare top both inside and outside by many schools. I wonder whether bare top inside is discouraged because there is concern that sweaty boys doing forward or backward rolls on "mats" would mean that sweat is more likely to be passed from student to student than if they wore tops? I wonder whether this might be viewed as likely to spread bacterial, fungal or viral infections? If so I can see that bare top might also be discouraged outside because activities like piggy backs might also spread infection. I'd be a little surprised if exposure to the sun (thus increasing the chances of Melanoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carsinoma in the longer term future) would be sufficient reason to discourage it except in very strong sunlight as it is probably still the case that some boys are deficient in vitamin D which might result in them being more prone to disease, breaking bones and rickets. I'd have thought that boys should be encouraged to either eat food high in vitamin D or take vitamin D supplement or cross country run bare top when there is not very strong daylight. Since some students might not follow the first two suggestions, encouraging bare top cross country running seems sensible except in very strong sunlight.

Victor, interesting post.

I'm just a few years younger than you and by the time I was at school - boys grammar school, all the PE teachers had done national service and two were ex-military PTIs.

There was no let up in the rigour of PE sessions, cross country, circuit training, team sports, swimming - in the outdoor pool all year round and athletics in the summer. If something was to be outside come hail, rain and snow in the winter, it went ahead. PE classes were usually for 90 minutes at a time and usually combined two things, the particularly hard sessions were cross country followed by circuit training.

There was no let up in the sixth form either, there were no real options other than staying and some lads from the nearby secondary school joined us as the school was still a good choice results wise and parents in those days liked the strict discipline that was enforced.

PE kit for anything other than team games was white shorts, bare foot indoors and plimsolls outdoors, rugby was shirt, shorts, socks and boots and swimming was naked. Needless to say with that regime there were no underpants but there was an ever ready plimsoll to warm the bottom of any boy wearing them or committing any one of a number of other offences.

I'm don't think things have changed for the better.

I am new to this site. I went to secondary school at 11 in about 1960. Gym kit was white singlet being that worn to school, white shorts, underpants being those worn to school, socks being those worn to school and white plimsols. It was very serious gymnastics. Although I did not realise it at the time one or more gymnastic exercises sometimes caused me serious stomach muscle pain that resulted in my parents taking me to the doctor thus missing school time. Football kit was Football shirt, white shorts, underpants being those worn to school, Football socks and Football boots. Showers were not compulsory (in order I suspect to save money).

At 13 I moved to a different school that played Rugby. Gym kit was white Rugby shirt, white Rugby shorts, underpants being those worn to school, socks being those worn to school and white plimsols. It was not serious gym as in my former school and my stomach muscle pain became less frequent and less severe. Rugby kit was black or white Rugby shirt (two were allowed on cold days - one on top of the other), Rugby shorts, underpants being those worn to school, Rugby socks and Rugby boots. Nobody taught me anything about Rugby so for a few games I came away seriously battered as had no idea what the game was about let alone knowing how to tackle nor what to do if tackled. After a time I worked out where the ball was likely to go and tried to make sure I was somewhere else. Towards the end of the Rugby season I realised the staff were taking too much interest in me so next year opted to do cross country running as had done quite well in the summer athletics. Cross country was a seriously demanding alternative to Rugby due to a huge hill but much to my amazement I soon came to tolerate it and then enjoy it. Often next day one of my big toes hurt so it briefly made walking and running a little painful. Cricket in summer was a problem as I could not throw a cricket ball far due to a dodgy shoulder but I could bat quite well. Occasionally when hot in summer PE and games were done topless. Showers were normally not compulsory (in order I suspect again to save money). When I started the lower sixth the old PE/Games staff started to teach academic subjects and new PE/Games staff replaced them. We got the impression they had both just left military service and they initially seemed to treat us like military recruits. No underpants were allowed and it was a choice between going Commando, jockstrap or swimming costume under shorts. Socks were discouraged but white socks were allowed. Circuit training was introduced. Showers were sometimes compulsory. Swimming ability was assumed but some of us had not been taught. I got the impression somebody (e.g. the headmaster who may have been concerned that next year lots of fifth form boys might decide to opt for a different school for sixth form due to the new PE/Games regime) must have talked to the PE/Games staff as they eased off and after a time they treated us like sixth form boys instead of military recruits. When we got into the upper sixth things improved dramatically as the staff somehow arranged additional options like Golf and Squash. I opted for Squash and was very concerned when I discovered it was to be taught by the senior games master. However, since he assumed we knew nothing about it he started at square one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a consequence I played a lot of Squash during my adult life including attending three residential holiday Squash courses. I also did a reasonable amount of adult cross country running. I guess I would have enjoyed swimming and maybe Rugby if I'd been properly taught. It was only after I retired that I enrolled on a course to learn how to swim and really enjoyed it. The key messages I would have for all PE teachers are to recognise that some activities cause some students discomfort and/or pain, to build up very slowly and to recognise that new students joining (particularly mid way through school) may know nothing about certain activities and are taught properly to swim and to play games like Rugby if they would like to learn how to play them. The overriding objective is to result in students partaking in active sport at University and during the rest of their life. My school experience resulted in me doing no sport at University and I only restarting doing it to enable an incomplete football team of colleagues to play and I found that I enjoyed doing so. I then restarted playing Squash as I mentioned to some of the footballers that I used to enjoy it at school and some said they played.

Very surprised to see these lads in vests. Barechested xcountry irrespective of the weather or temperature. No lad ever wore a vest regardless of age.

I don't remember shorts being particularly tight but in the 1960s they were short compared to anything you would see now. My memory is that grey school ones had an inside leg no longer than three inches, white gym shorts and rugby shorts were even shorter.

Wearing underpants with grey shorts was normal and it was usually by then briefs of my mother's choosing but gym shorts and rugby shorts were always worn without underpants at my school so there was always a risk of exposure not that I remember it happening or being bothered by it.

It was only when I went to university and joined the rugby team I first saw a jockstrap and some lads wore them. As a poor student counting my money carefully, I figured that if I hadn't needed on up until now I still didn't and all the years I played rugby - until I was almost forty I didn't wear underpants and nor did most of my team mates.

Things have changed now - you probably wouldn't find a player without his compression shorts on, I don't know how we managed!

I meant to say'like Declan I used to wear my very brief and tight shorts,I suppose to please my parents'.

Chris G,Declan, I did continue to wear shorts when I left primary school and started secondary school.Like Declan I too wore my very tight and brief, I suppose just to please my parents.My shorts were lined so I went without underwear.Due to the brevity of my shorts there were occasional problems in the nether regions,but like with our PE when we went without underwear I had to cope with it.

Declan

It's a very long time ago, and my grey cells are getting a bit rusty, but I have no memory of my grey school shorts being particularly tight. Unlike James, quite a lot of us were still wearing shorts by the time when we started secondary school, and although the numbers of us dwindled with time, there were still two or three boys in them, generally by choice, when I got my first long school trousers.

As for nether-regional "support", I don't remember that ever being a problem, and I suppose my shorts must have been long enough to prevent embarassment! In any case, there wasn't exactly a lot of support in regularly-washed underpants back in those days. In fact I never managed to find underpants that maintained adequate levels of support throughout their working life until I was in my late teens, when briefs without gaping flies appeared.

I spent time at two different secondary schools, and in each case what we wore under our shorts was left to our own choice. At the first school, most of us went commando, but when we were about 13, the PE master advised us that we ought to be wearing some form of support, suggesting jock-straps (which none of us had ever heard of at that point) or tight-fitting underpants. I don't think many of took very much notice. I changed schools when I was 15, and at my new school most boys wore underpants or supportive swimming trunks, while a few had jockstraps. I soon acquired one of the latter items, and to this day, a jockstrap is still my preferred underwear for vigourous activity or under shorts in summer.

Chris G,Paul & Declan, what I found disconcerting was when I attended secondary school was that the majority of boys were wearing long trousers and I was still in shorts.This didn't change as I went through my second and third years and nearly all first years were wearing long trousers.
Fortunately there was one other boy in my class that also wore shorts and we became friends.

Chris G. So we both "suffered" woollen underwear. I am intrigued by your parents no underpants in summer. If your shorts were the normal black or grey school shorts, which if they were like mine were very tight. Was there ever any problems of "support" in the nether regions. In other words was it easy to keep everything contained . Obviously when progressing to long trousers that was not a problem. What about p e in secondary school. Was the rule there shorts and no underpants?

Paul, James, Declan

I wore shorts all the way through primary school and for the first two or three years in secondary school. Like James, I suffered the full Winter school uniform experience of blazer, shorts, jumper, shirt and tie, over a "base layer" of woollen short-sleeved vests and underpants, which were always itchy until they had been washed numerous times. In summer, the jumper became optional, the woollen vests were replaced with cotton singlets and the woollen underpants were replaced with nothing at all. As Mum always put my clothes out for me to dress myself once I was capable, I never questioned the difference between Winter and Summer arrangements, and with hindsight, I can't understand why I had to wear vests all the year round, when most other kids didn't and many never wore them at all. It was not until I was about ten that Mum suggested that I should leave off my vest in really hot weather, and it was another two or three years before I stopped wearing a vest altogether (an unintended consequence of the introduction of topless PE at school). In contrast, I was still encouraged to go commando in summer and I had turned 13 before I wore underpants during the whole summer term at school, more from choice than parental encouragement.

I remember the struggle to be allowed to wear long trousers when I went to secondary school.
the majority of boys had "progressed" into longs. But there were a few of us who still wore grey shorts.
Due to the demise of my mother when I was 8 years old, I was raised by my father who was busy earning a crust so most of clothing and " motherly" thing were the domain of my Nan. She was lovely but of course I was being dressed almost like a generation behind my friends at school. For her "long trousers were a rite of passage into manhood when you left school to go to work".
In a similar way a strange thing to say was the embarrassment I felt when changing for pe. all the other boys wore briefs but my nan kept buying me trunks which were considered "old men's pants" However, after I kept hassling eventually at about the age of 13 I did get longs and briefs. And they were the genuine Y fronts which was better than my contemporaries. ( amazing how nowadays fashion has changed away from briefs.

Paul,it was bad enough receiving the cane on my bare bottom,but it was to be accepted on my behalf if I behaved badly,but wearing short trousers was far worse as I had to wear them daily.My mother was so conscientious as I had to be dressed,particularly in the cold winter months and saw that I wore a vest,shirt,pullover,tie,blazer anorak,knee stockings and shorts deliberately cut short to expose my knees.
How I wanted to wear long trousers like other boys.

James, it was a very wise boy who knew to keep his mouth shut to avoid the cane, I was pretty good at it but I still failed all too often! The cane was bad enough but what I really hated as I grew older - last got it at eighteen was that my father always gave it on my bare bottom. Getting your trousers and underpants down was just about as bad as the cane itself at that age. All my mates got it bare too at home so maybe it was just something fathers always did.

Paul,the wearing of short trousers was also optional at my school and usually at the age of thirteen was considered the'rite of passage'when boys were introduced to wearing long trousers,but paradoxically some boys including myself wore shorts right through up until leaving.
Like yourself I was brought up to comply with my parents' wishes and to avoid reprisals I wore shorts simply to please and satisfy them.
It was difficult wearing shorts all the time, particularly as I grew older,but like yourself I resisted a caning and obeyed my parents.

With regards to school swimming lessons. By that time the synthetic trunks(briefs) were worn. By then fortunately the woollen ones were no longer available.

James, I was also kept in shorts for longer than many of my peers. We had the option of longs at thirteen but in the course of the previous year my mother had bought me two new pairs of school shorts. Back then clothes had to be worn until they dropped to bits and although I asked for longs, I was told there was 'plenty of wear' in my shorts and the matter was closed.

If I had argued with my mother on that (or any other score) her line always was 'I'll let you discuss that with your father when he gets home'. In reality such a discussion took place only between the cane and my bottom so I knew when to shut up because in that contest, the cane always won.

I was sixteen when my shorts finally wore out but I wasn't the last and one lad continued into the sixth form in them.

I'm glad I grew up when I did without the pressures kids have today, we had a good time and in the main, life was fun without the pressures kids face today.

Paul,I didn't wear string vests or under pants,but like yourself I had no control of what I wore and although short trousers were not compulsory at the secondary school that I attended I was to be kept in shorts all the time for school and at home.If I had the choice I would have worn long trousers like my contemporaries.

Paul,we also had communal naked showers at school,which most of us didn't object to because of the privacy apart from ourselves.
We were introduced to naked swimming as the school had it's own pool and most boys found it disconcerting as we were very exposed in the swimming pool.

It is disgusting to think that Paul was required to swim naked at school. Even now there are some schools which force vulnerable children to strip naked and shower. Here is one such offending Roman Catholic school in this country.

https://www.sph.academy/parents/information-parents/school-uniform

P.E. KIT – The Essentials
Black or white approved Polo shirt with school crest.
Plain black PE shorts.
Trainers or plimsolls.
Black socks.
Optional approved sweatshirt with school crest.

P.E. Kit – Additional
A plain black track-suit where P.E. staff say it is appropriate for winter – no logos or designer outfits.
Ties, jumper with school crest and all items of P.E. kit can be purchased from school.
A current price list is included.
Physical Education is a National Curriculum subject and all students are required to participate in the course.

All students are required to shower unless there is a confirmed medical reason for not doing so.

It is important we speak truth to power and stop compulsory showers in all British Schools.

Paul, did you swim at school in woollen trunks? They were slightly before my time and I remember having a pair of nylon ones for beach holidays in the 1960s in places like Margate and Bournemouth.

At school we swam naked - probably a legacy of woollen trunks and right up until I left trunks were not worn in the pool. Given that we were used to seeing each other naked in the changing room where underpants were always taken off and communal showers were compulsory, naked swimming was not a problem.

Going back even further in time in the approx 1956/59
I remember wearing knitted woollen swimming trunks on summer holidays at the seaside. I recall they were very baggy and really uncomfortable. It was great when synthetic ones were produced. Of course they were the briefs design. These days modern fashion seems to dictate that I can only wear these at the swimming pool at the Gym. Elsewhere outside in public it has to beach shorts on the beach in the sea.
In secondary school 1961 60 66 (all boys school) at the swimming lessons held at the municipal pool we all wore swimming trunks(briefs) no particular colour or design was stipulated.
For P E as most writers have said for that era it was shorts only (no pants) and no top when indoors and outside games it was a T shirt (no uniform style) again shorts ( no pants) and foot wear accordingly either plimsolls for athletics or boots for football.

In the late 1960s and early 70s I had both string vests and underpants. I remember the underpants having a front panel but not a back one but given the only place anyone else saw you in them was in a changing room where you were taking them off anyway there was nothing to be shy about.

String was definitely seen as 'cool' at the time, not that it influenced what your mother bought for you and I certainly got no say in what I wore. I quite liked them but can't imagine wearing anything like that now.

Tim H, Arby, Declan

I never had string underwear, just plain underpants and vests, woolen in winter and cotton in summer., At some point while i was still in primary school, this evolved into cotton all the year round. I stopped wearing vests altogether n my early years at secondary school, as did most of my class-mates, an unintended side effect of the introduction of topless PE at school. Looking back, I can't remember anyone I was at school with having string vests or pants.

To Declan & Arby ... Likewise. I'm not sure when I stopped - late 1960s I suppose.

Yes Declan I remember wearing both string vests and briefs. At the time they were sort of fashionable amongst with me and my mates. They were though a bit bulky to wear. With the briefs you had to make sure that everything was covered by the front panel otherwise it became a bit embarrassing.

Does any one remember wearing the string underwear. I know the singlets could often be seen through a shirt. Did anyone wear the string briefs with the plain panel at the front and back

Have you ever been punished either at school or outside? I remember 10/15 years ago when I answered back my teacher, she didn’t let me run or other things, she only told me: take off your shirt and let me tie your wrists to the basket. Obviously it was outside and weather was really cold, if I run I could warm myself but in this way I had to stay an hour taking cold. More over, She told the other guys to untie me at the end of the lesson and to go home without re entering school. When teacher left, after an hour in freezing cold bare chested, I received the true punishment, because the guys decided not to untie me.. I received a lot of punch, some spit, some whip and I remember a guy who put his cigarette out on my chest. The only thing I could do was to watch and take it. At the end they untie me, but I can say it was strangely funny, even though I was destroyed ahah

Graham

Google reveals that "Sandra Brookes" posted exactly the same material in Voyforums in November 2020, where you can find numerous other dubious reminiscences on the same topic that have appeared here recently.

I discounted the veracity of all of this cr*p long ago.