Burnley Grammar School

In reply to Michael, we were not given the option or told to wear swimming trunks under our shorts. In fact right up until I left in 1966 when I was sixteen we wore nothing underneath. ?there was not instruction about any form of athletic support. Whereas, a friend who attended another local school were instructed to wear some form of support. Swimming trunks we just for our weekly swimming lessons.

Michael - that is an interesting idea. The only sport I remember boys being advised or required to wear anything underneath was cricket where a "box" was sometimes worn. As I didn't play cricket at school I never knew much about this but I do know swimming trunks would never have been allowed. It was always thought that the air should circulate beneath our shorts and I don't recall any suggestion that anything needed to be kept in place in such a manner.
I have seen that American schools often required jock straps though I've never understood the benefit. I had no idea that any English school in the 60s might require anything restrictive under shorts.

I have been reading comments in this section for a very long time.
It amazes me that so few boys who went to school in the 60's ( as I did ) have not mentioned that they were encouraged to wear swimming trunks under their games kit. Certainly it was the rule at my school that we should not wear our everyday underpants, or vests for that matter. But there was no saying that nothing at all should be worn!
Usually it was those who were selected for the rugby team who first took to wearing swimming trunks. Sometimes the teacher would suggest to a boy that he should do so.
I would be most interested to hear from anyone who has had the same experience, whether from the 60's or any other era!

Dennis, I was at secondary school from 1955 to 1961 and my PE experience was also,like yours, the norm for those days, as we were not allowed to wear anything under our shorts for PE and football and we all had to shower together afterwards.I would have thought it would have been better that you didn't know the boys in your class,otherwise wouldn't it have been embarrassing being naked in front of your friends from junior school, especially the first time? Although,as you had to talk to your dad about it, perhaps it would have been better if you had a few friends to share the experience.

Kevin, good for you and for persevering. It's a pity there are not more dads about now who believe in making their sons grow up and become men. I hope you continue to enjoy soaking up the vitamins and other benefits of letting the sun and fresh air to your body.

We had two PE sessions a week, one was boys only and the other was mixed. The girls did usually like to come near the barechested boys, bump into us 'accidentally' or do partner gym work with us. That didn't apply to one of the other barechested boys whose family was really poor and he obviously wasn't allowed a top by his parents for financial reasons, even his shorts were old with holes in them and he smelled quite a bit.
I however got to like the girls attention as we got a bit older

My experience at secondary school was in an all boys school. This was 1961 to 1966. As was the norm it seems for those days, pe kit was shorts, plimsolls and nothing else. At the first lesson the teacher informed us that we were not to wear pants under the shorts.

At first it seemed strange going into the main hall which doubled as a gym and although only 11 years old I missed the support of wearing briefs. However this soon passed and with it being the norm for the lesson and football I got used to it. Again going into the communal showers for the first time I was a bit apprehensive because when I went up to this school, my friends from junior school were in a different catchment area and they went to another school. This meant I did not know any of the boys at first whereas most of the class knew each other.
There was no choice but just accept it. There was no alternative. No good complaining because dad would say whats the problem you are all fellas together( bearing in mind that it was not long after the war and he like most dads and older teachers had served in the forces where everyone lived in barracks and huts and were used to all changing together.

Nowadays things have changed so much that I do not think there are any showers in schools, and a lot of pe or sports seems to be done in tracksuits not shorts, and heaven forbid if you were told to remove underwear before pe or sports

Simon, I was at a boys grammar school, somewhat earlier than you, in the late 50s. The uniform list included a white T-shirt for PE, which all boys brought to the first lesson, expecting to wear it.However at the beginning of the lesson before going to the changing room, the teacher told us all that when we got changed we must take everything off including pants and socks and come back into the gym wearing just pe shorts and plimsolls.At the end of the lesson we were told to go back to the changing room and take our shorts off and go in the showers which were communal. Thereafter,until I left the school at age 18, we were always stripped the waist in the gym and outside for athletics (when we often went barefoot) and cross country running.

Kevin, I was also at a school in the 80s where the PE shirt was optional for boys. What most of us hadn't realised until the first lesson was that the option was the teacher's, not ours! He was old school, very strict, and immediately made it clear what was expected by ordering one boy to stand up and take off his shirt. "That's the kit you'll be wearing in my lessons," he announced and informed the rest of us that any boy not wearing the 'correct' kit in 10 seconds time would be getting detention. Unsurprisingly there was a mad scramble as we all pulled off our shirts. From then on we did PE in just shorts and that was how it stayed for the rest of the year, no exceptions. The next year we had another PE teacher who did allow shirts to be worn, but by then we were all so used to going barechested that many boys just didn't bother.

Kevin, were there girls in your class? If there where, did they treat you differently from the boys who wore shirts?

I went to a comprehensive school in the 80ies which must have with hindsight just changed its PE uniform policy for boys when I arrived. We got a letter with a uniform items that needed to be bought and I went with my parents to get them just before school started. We got the main uniform and then it came to the PE kit. White shorts and a green polo shirt. So far so good, but my dad spotted on the list that the shirt was optional for boys. He made it quite clear that he would not pay for the shirt, that I would go barechested; he wasn't into wasting money. My mom made matters worse by pointing out that I might be could doing PE stripped to waist which really annoyed my dad who insisted I needed to grow up to become a man.
Too cut a long story short, I wasn't given a PE shirt and had to go to my first lesson knowing I would be barechested zhich really worried my. As it turned out luckily I wasn't the only boy without a top, two other boys had to strip too. In the end I never ever wore a top for PE and actually enoy it in the end. My PE teacher made no secret out of the fact that he tought all the boys should be stripped to the waist and he did favour the small the group of us who were.

Well, this brings back memories. This could have been taken at our school with the boys barechested. Our teacher was fanatical about us being stripped to the waist for every PE lesson. I'd started in the October following a family move due to my dad's job. When changing for the first time I was told to wear a vest. We were taken into the gym, my classmates all barechested, I was pulled out to the front and made to strip off facing the class as a welcome. From then on, in line with the rest of the school we were kept stripped regardless of the weather both in the gym and outdoors. After every summer hols our first session was always in the gym and were given a tough workout which bought us down to earth. To this day I can still hear him shout "If you're not sweating, you're not working." Needless to say everyone showed sweat at the end of each session.

Brings back fond memories of BGS & Ron Parry.I was pretty good at gym so was treated OK by Mr Parry.
must have been quite cool though & that could be most of the reason we left the UK in 1967 for Australia.
Been back quite a few times but most of my relatives are here in Australia & Burnley not what it used to be.
I've left my email in case anyone might remember me.
Cheers Ron Wood

For indoor PE we wore white shorts and plimsolls.
The same for outdoors although some boys went barefoot.
The same for cross-country.

For indoor pe we wore just black or white shorts with nothing underneath and plimsolls. Outdoors we wore the same for cross country and athletics although we often went barefoot for athletics. For soccer we wore the same shorts, again with nothing underneath and football shirt with football boots and long socks.

We had two single periods for indoors and one double for soccer or cricket in the summer.

There was nothing very technical about our PE kit!

Indoor kit was a white polo shirt and regulation navy blue knickers only. We could also wear white plimsolls, but most of us did it barefoot.

For outdoor activities such as netball or rounders we had the choice of a PE skirt (a short pleated 'wrap-round' style skirt or coulottes (a sort of cross between a skirt and a pair of shorts) and could wear a long sleeved top rather than the polo shirt if we wanted too. Outdoor footwear was either canvas hockey boots or plimsolls depending on the season.

From memory, we had two single indoor lessons per week and one double lesson outdoors, so we always knew which kit to bring for that day.

Too technical? Ok, sorry.

Emily, It's getting a bit too technical understanding the different items of clothing but I would have thought sometimes you might have needed something warmer for outside rather than wearing a leotard indoors. No need to explain.

Hi Rob, looking back now I'm also surprised that it was acceptable! I think your sins had a much more normal PE kit though seeing as it was mixed I guess they had to.

For outdoor PE we had gym knickers and aertex tops. The funny thing was when we were outdoors we weren't allowed to wear our underwear knickers underneath! For our indoor lessons we just took our knickers off for showers then put them back in. Not cover nice, thinking back! Once we were in year 9 we had indoor kit too, which was a leotard.

Emily,I'm surprised that it was acceptable to make you wear
just your knickers as recently as 1994 even if it was an all girls school.Our two sons had to wear t-shirts with shorts at a mixed secondary school from about 1985.But presumably you had to wear shorts and a top when you went outside so what was the point of making you wear knickers indoors because you would not have had a complete change of clothes. Did you have to take them off to have a shower and then put them back on again or did you have another pair to wear? I expect you and all your class looked forward to getting into year 9 and being able to wear shorts & a t-shirt for indoors pe.

I've commented on one of the other photos here about my PE kit. I was at school much later than this photo, I started senior school in 1994. It was single sex like in the picture but we had to go barefoot rather than wear plimsolls. In years 7 and 8 Like the boys in the photo we did our lessons bare chested, but we weren't allowed shorts and instead had to do indoor lessons in our knickers!

I was at an all boys grammar school in the late 1950s and we had to wear just pe shorts with nothing underneath and plimsolls, as in the photo.We certainly never felt cold as our pe instructor worked us hard and the sweat used to run down our bare chests. We all looked forward to getting back to the changing rooms afterwards, getting our shorts off and going in the showers together for a good wash.

It's easy to forget how cold those gyms could be at any time of year. They were big spaces and, especially in winter, uneconomic and almost impossible to get warm.

But, the PE teacher made us work so hard we soon forgot about the low temperature.

Our uniform included plain white t-shirts, but as the lesson progressed, we became so hot despite the chilly conditions, that most of us asked for permission to remove them.

Like most schools in the late 60's we did indoor pe in just shorts, nothing else (and with no choice but to strip). Also had to run cross country shirtless all year around - both of these were fairly universal I think.

We were always allowed to wear plimsolls for cross country (one lad didn't, but that was his choice), no one wore short trousers at school beyond 13/14 (and most switched as soon as they started secondary school).

In high summer at home boys mostly didnt wear shirts, and indoors often were barefoot. Outdoors I don't remember anyone always being barefoot, and the only times we were was when swimming in the lake/river or playing around on grass on a very hot day.

In the winter, homes had limited heating, so no one went shirtless,in fact the opposite and mostly we wore several layers even indoors.

Yes some parents used heavy coprporal punishment (one lad in my class often had belt marks on his bare back in pe for example), but no parent would have made their kids go around stripped off to just a pair of shorts.

It wasn't unusual to wear shorts at school until at least age 12 at school back in the 60s and 70s but I've never saw a teenage boy age 14 running around the street playing with friends barefoot and bares heated. Did you you ever see this James?

I wore shorts to school, where in primary school it was compulsory, wearing shorts at secondary school was optional, for PE we were always topless and barefoot.
I suppose it was no different for me at home.

If the onejack stories are true then to make a teenage boy go out in the street bare foot and without at shirt is a abuse. Given that these things he writes about happened only five years ago I suspect the stories are pure fantasy.

One2jack, I was told to be stripped to the waist because my parents think that tops aren't necessary for young men in the home and that it would be better if I 'toughened up'. This involves remaining stripped during cold winters. They also think that it will encourage me to take care of my body and be more confident, which is true. Hoesntly, during the summer, it's s real advantage being stripped to the waist- I usually spend entire weeks with nothing more than a pair of shorts.

james, phil: they don't insist that i wear shorts, but i'm just used to strip to shorts now

On 29th March, one2jack says that he is nineteen and on 1st April, he says that his parents still keep him in shorts. This conversation is becoming silly.