The
First 50 Years PDF
The Opening Tuesday 9th January 1951
In August 1950 Walter Hamblin retired
after seventeen years as Headmaster of Altrincham Grammar School
for Boys. He was 67 years of age.
During his final years at that school
he had witnessed at first hand the effects of the 1944 Education Act.
He had realised that the introduction
of the Eleven Plus examination, and the abolition of fee paying in
state grammar schools, had deprived countless very worthy boys of
a grammar school place, despite the fact that their parents were
prepared to pay for it, because they could not jump through a very
unreliable hoop at the age of eleven.
At 67 most people would want
a well-earned rest, but not Mr Hamblin. He decided to devote the rest
of his life to providing a grammar school education
for boys who were capable of benefiting from it, but who were being
denied the opportunity because they could not pass the eleven plus.
He
did not have any capital, but he did have his dream, his faith and
a tremendous amount of determination. During the Autumn Term he advertised
the
fact that he planned to open a school in January, although at that
time he had no premises. At a very late stage he rented two rooms
in a building on Dunham Road called Fernlea, which was owned by Manchester
and Salford Branch of the Cooperative Wholesale Society.
The School
did open on 9th January 1951 with 26 pupils.
The School grew very quickly,
certain proof that Mr Hamblin had correctly assessed the need for an
independent grammar school in the Altrincham area.
By September 1954 there were nearly 200 pupils, the first GCE candidates
and twelve members of the Staff, including Peter Morton who became
Headmaster in 1963 and who presided over the continuing expansion
of the School into a fully fledged Grammar School with a thriving
Sixth Form and extensive facilities. He remained at the helm for
an amazing 33 years until retirement in 1996.
Our Name
When Mr Hamblin opened the School in January 1951 he called it North Cheshire
Grammar School, and this was the name of the school attended by the
original pupils.
Altrincham was at that time in Cheshire, before Greater
Manchester came into existence. The Director of Education for Cheshire
quickly objected
to our name on two counts; one that the name clashed with the shortly
to be built North Cheshire College (now Warrington Collegiate),
and two that he considered the County Council to have the sole rights
to the title Grammar School.
On the second point Mr Hamblin dug
in his heels very firmly. He had founded a Grammar School, and nobody
was going to make him call it anything else. The first point was
more difficult, especially as boys were already attending the School
wearing blazers with N.C.G.S. on the pockets.
A compromise was obviously
needed and so he opted for the Latin version of the same name, North
Cestrian Grammar School, with all the attendant
variations of spelling and pronunciation with which we have had to
contend with over the years.
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