Afternoon Strumpets,
Whilst Thing number one was at a party yesterday, and we had a couple of hours spare, I took Thing number 2 to a local field with a football and some bread to feed the ducks. I`ve taken the kids to this place loads of times, It`s a hidden gem, and incidentally also the site of my old Sixth Form College.
In the late Eighties as a sixteen year old leaving school, you had three options. Get a job (as this was the North East of England in the late Eighties, that was an option pretty much neutered before it began), join a YTS (Youth Training Scheme) within a company, who would then in all likelihood, get rid of you after the two year scheme, and get another fresh YTS person to take your place (remember this was the late Eighties, and Greed was good apparently), or Go to Sixth Form College.
I was of the mistaken belief whilst at School,that all I had to do to pass my O levels (Google it kids) was turn up and write my name on the exam sheet. We were constantly being told that these exams were becoming ridiculously easy to pass, and I like an eedjit believed the hype. as a result I left school with two O` levels. One in "Music", and one in "English Language (Oral)". Everybody passed the latter (it was a case of having a chat with a teacher if memory serves), and I couldn`t read music which prevented me from taking the former any further.
This meant I had to spend some time at Sixth Form. And what a time it was! The first year was notable only for me actually getting me head down to get my required O levels, so I could study for A levels to get me into Polytechnic, or even University. It was during the second year that the wonderful life of being a "student"(and at 17 student life truly is wonderful, if it`s not, you`re doing it wrong).
The Common Room was the most magical of places. It rang to the sounds of The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Wedding Present, and The Wonder Stuff to name but a few. I occasionally brought in some Siouxsie, Ian Dury, Boomtown Rats, and Squeeze tapes I`d copied off me Brother and Sisters singles and LP collections. Card games such as "Chase the Ace", " 3 Card/Donkey Brag" and "2`s and 8`s" were played, and reminiscences discussed regarding previous nights out at such distinguished venues as "The Madhouse", "Havanah", "Blaises" and "The Mall" with it`s award winning light show on Thursdays to the music of Carmina Burana. (Incidentally I will, to my dying day, never forget the image of a friend of mine dancing alone on the dance floor to Carl Orff in the light show, whilst clutching a bottle of Diamond White).
Sixth Form formed the foundation stones which have developed (and at times hindered) my adult life.
Whilst playing footie with Hal yesterday, he asked what the building was, and asked if he could go and have a look at it. so we did. And it was then that I realised that "Acklam 6th Form College" was dead.
I`d known it was of course, as all of the smaller colleges have amalgamated into the giant "Middlesbrough College" which is situated by the River. Psychologically though there must have been a part of me which had negated this fact. As far as I was concerned, 6th Form was as healthy as ever. What a sad dawning realisation.
Windows have been broken, rooms left derelict, many with whiteboards containing last teaching notes and doodles still on them. The Common Room had chairs turned over and ceiling tiles missing. The Cricket Green, now overgrown, was merely a continuation of the field surrounding the building. Bored looking security men wandered around the premises, not realising that they were walking through a space which had at one time contained so many awakenings,experiences,devastations and jubilations to so many young adults.
No doubt in time the land will be bought and "luxury Apartments" will be developed, and soon there`ll only be a handful of ageing one time students, who remember what it really was. A place where you could aspire to be the next best thing, whilst writing doodles of crude male and female genitalia on the toilet walls. A place where you could decide where your future could lay career wise, but had no idea what you were doing that night. A place where you could be old enough to smoke, and young and daft enough to start doing so.
A place of encouragement.
A place of excitement.
A place of opportunity.
Well it could be worse, I could be sat here typing about how rubbish my YTS had been.
6th Form Entrance.
The Common Room(Right side).
The Common room (left side) (note security guards in reflection in window)
The window to be climbed out of to either smoke or play football.
Our "football" pitch
The Cricket Green.
Till the next one, learn something new,
Mark.
