Burnley Grammar School

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.

one2jack, It wasn't really an issue wearing shorts without underwear, as we were never allowed underwear for sports or PE. I just grew accustomed to wearing shorts without any, so it didn't draw too many comments.
I think the main drawback with wearing shorts was that older boys didn't wear them.
What kind of shorts did you wear and do your parents still insist that you wear them?

james, im not sure why exactly i was and am kept in shorts... but i guess the reasons are: laundry, to get comfortable with my body, fear that i'd damage the clothes, etc.

yea i was de-pantsed. they were like "hey he's not even wearing underwear" "what happened to your underwear?" or something like that and some even wanted a proof, ganged up against me and de-pantsed me....

what your friends said when they noticed?

one2jack,I'm sure there were many reasons why my parents kept me in shorts, mainly it signified I was still a juvenile and so to be regarded. Other reasons included, the "cute" factor influenced my mother. Certainly they believed that making boys go bare-legged had healthful benefits, developed hardiness, as well as character building
virtues, instilled docility and taught humility.
It was occasionally noticed that I wasn't wearing underwear and yes, I was de-pantsed when I misbehaved, which was very rare as I behaved with decorum and wearing my shorts kept me in check.
How about you, why were you kept in shorts, were you de-pantsed and what did your friends say when they realised you weren't wearing underwear?

in winter i never was in just shorts, so i was never cold.
i'm speaking about outside. inside i was always kept in shorts, even today.

yeah older ladies called me "cute in shorts" etc too... i hated it.

did you ever ask you parents why?
did your friends notice you wasn't wearing underwear with those shorts?
did they ever de-pantsed you?

One2jack, one of my main objections to wearing shorts for school was simply my winter uniform was similar to what I wore in the summer, apart from being allowed to wear knee stockings.
In the 70's/80's, fashion dictated that shorts were very short and mine were no exception.
Although we had a winter uniform for school, my shorts were considered quite suitable for the harsh, cold weather.
I remember being told that I 'looked cute in my shorts' and told to 'wrap up to keep warm', but I felt I would freeze in those little numbers.

james, i know what you mean. i have same experiences with comments... my friends wore long shorts or jeans and i was and am still in shorts...

embarrasing when about 13-14 outside and you are the only one in just shorts no shirt and barefoot.

one2jack, It was difficult wearing short shorts, especially as most of my friends were wearing long trousers or jeans. Often, it would lead to many derogatory comments, but I had to accept it.
Like you, I would wear my play shorts without underwear and often go bare foot. I can assure you, it was not by choice!

James
I also had to stay in shorts but at least only until 13 years old. There werre some other lads had to do the same according to parents wishes. My shorts were short and tight. Not like the longer shorts of today. The shorts were worn with long grey socks.

mark, yes same here. boys had to take their shoes and socks off.

james, at home i was often made to wear short soccer shorts. in summer when its hot not even underwear. how did you feel running around in just shorts? what about your friends? how did you feel wearing shorts in school til that age? how old are you now?