Stuart Sutcliffe at Prescot Grammar School
(An article by Norman Allanson for www.triumphpc.com) |
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Liverpool is a very
special place and for me holds many fond
memories. It was where I was born, grew
up and spent my formative years. My
family was typical of many of that
generation, stable and conventional, with
grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins
all living in or around the City. My
father was self employed and hard working
and provided the family with a
comfortable, but unpretentious life
style. My mother too was hard working
attending to the house and family. My
sister was three years older than me and
I was born at home in March 1940 -
consequently I was a 'Blitz Baby'. I can
still remember the sound of sirens and
the drone of aircraft during the war, and
of nights spent in the dank shelter built
in the garden of our house. The years after the
war were a period of recovery, both for
the City and its citizens. Young as I was
I felt there was a
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spirit of
optimism and a bright future ahead. I am sure
that this was a result of encouragement from my
parents and the cohesion of our family. Having
progressed through Primary School in Roby (now
Huyton with Roby) I gained a place at Prescot
Grammar school following the 11 plus
examinations. I started Secondary education here
in the Autumn Term of 1951. The school was
founded in 1544 and the motto was 'Futuram
Civitatem Inquirimus' - 'We seek a Future State.'
It is a motto that I think of often. |
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The school was to
me, aged 11, very large. Located off the
road to St Helens and bounded by a
sandstone wall it was approached through
iron gates and a large playground area.
The school buildings were faced with
timber boarding stained black set on a
brick plinth. Windows and doorframes were
gloss white and the pitched roofs faced
with clay tiles. Beyond the woodwork
studio and the canteen lay the cricket,
hockey and football pitches, which seemed
to stretch into eternity. Having existed for
over 400 years the school had its
traditions and was conservative in its
approach. The Headmaster, Mr
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Spencer-Briggs,
always wore a 'mortar board' and the teachers
their University gowns. Each class sat in
alphabetical order commencing with the front row
and reading from left to right facing the
blackboard - Aikman, Allanson, Badley, Ball, Cox,
Cutter
the register rang out each morning
the S, T, V's and W's were all at the back.
Academic subjects, including the Classics were
the order of the day and the Careers Master (who
also happened to teach Latin) majored on Law,
Medicine, Accountancy and of course Teaching. Whilst the Arts and
Handicrafts curriculae appeared to take second
place both of these subjects were taught by
exceptional teachers, Reg Walters for Art and
Cyril Davies for Woodwork. Each academic year,
numbering some 100 pupils, was broken down into
three forms, namely a, b and c. It was a simple
streaming process that roughly graded the classes
to help the cleverer ones to advance and adopt
alternative approach for lesser mortals. Stuart
Sutcliffe and I were contemporaries and
experienced five years of Grammar School life
together.
Stuart was born in
Edinburgh also in 1940. I understood that his
father was a seaman and was away from home quite
a lot. He was slight of build and wore glasses.
He made up for his stature by being quite
assertive in his attitudes and opinions, which
sometimes made him a target for the bigger boys
in the class. This scenario would sometimes be
acted out in the back rows of the classrooms,
when the teacher's back was turned or in the
playgrounds during morning or afternoon recess.
His defence against this mild form of bullying
was to befriend myself and my best friend at the
time, David Aikman. David and I set next to each
other in class and saw quite a lot of each other
after school. Our personalities clicked and we
always saw the funny side of life. We did not
have any trouble with the bigger boys - since we
tended to get out of scrapes with our humour -
whereas Stuart always tended to take up the
argument. He befriended David and I from the
beginning and looked upon us as his protectors.
There was safety in numbers! He became so
grateful one year that he gave each of us a
present at the end of term. I can't remember what
David received but I was given a book on golf
titled 'Homes of Sport - Golf' which I still
have. Stuart knew that I was becoming keen on the
game.
By the time we
reached the fifth form all the pupils with a
tendency towards the Arts were in Form VB. This
included Aikman, Cox, England, Horton, Lytham,
Sutcliffe, and others including myself who were
all pretty good at Art. Stuart had a particular
fixation on war subjects at the time, with German
soldiers, tanks and explosions being prominent in
his work. Much use was made of lamp black
contrasting with chrome yellow in his
compositions.
Reg Walters, the
Art Master would say that collectively form VB
contained an amazing amount of talent, a quite
exceptional concentration, which he would often
extol. Whether it was because of this, or the
fact that successive years proved to be much
weaker in this regard I do not know, but Reg
Walters retired after 11 years at Prescot Grammar
School in 1960, to take up a position at St
David's, Pembrokeshire, his native land.
Following the
completion of the School Certificate examinations
in the summer of 1955, the members of Form VB
went their different ways. Those that intended to
continue with their education and perhaps seek a
place in University stayed on at Grammar School
and entered the sixth form. Others were keen to
start apprenticeships or work and earn some money
in various trades and left. David Aikman joined
BICC and helped to electrify the railways between
Liverpool and London. Michael Cox recorded a pop
song, which went into the charts. I cannot recall
what happened to the other pupils who left at
that time. Stuart on the other hand wanted to go
to Art School and paint. He was offered a place
at the Liverpool College of Art. I believe it was
for a three-year course.
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He was a prolific
painter and had a number of works
accepted at the John Moores Exhibition,
which was quite an achievement. We would
meet up during the holiday periods from
time to time to compare notes. He was
always enthusiastic about his painting
and drawing - showing me examples of his
Life Class drawings, a facet of the art
course, which was not available to us in
the upper sixth. I recall that he told me he
had taken rooms near the Art School and
had made friends with John Lennon from
the Quarry Bank Grammar School, who was
keen on music. This was the time, around
1957, when Lonnie Donegan and Skiffle
groups were popularand Stuart
seemed keen to join in. I heard that
Stuart had painted his roomyellow
and blackmuch to the chagrin of his
landlady.
1957
proved to be an important year. Paul
McCartney first met John Lennon when
John's Skiffle group, formerly known as
The Black Jacks but subsequently known as
The Quarry Men played at St Peter's
Church Garden Fete in Liverpool. The
Quarry Men went on to play at the Cavern
Club in Liverpool for the first time that
year.
In 1957, I
completed my A-levels and gained a place
at the Royal College of Art in London
direct from Grammar School apparently a
unique feat at the time.
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In 1958 George
Harrison, although two or three years younger
than John Lennon joined The Quarry Men as a
guitarist. In 1959 John, Paul and George entered
Carroll Levis' "TV Star Search" at The
Empire Theatre in Liverpool and made the final
audition.
During the Easter holidays of 1960, Stuart and I
met up again and he came to my parents' house in
Roby. He told me about playing bass for the
Quarry Men with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and
George Harrison. He told me that they were
intending to change the name of the group to the
Beatles. The only connection I could think of at
the time was the Beatle Drives my mother would
hold for charity. I said I didn't think the name
would catch on.
At school Stuart had been one of the first to
sport a 'crew cut' hairstyle. It made him look
spiky and was in character with his pointed nose,
sharp stainless steel spectacles and his general
temperament. The relaxed atmosphere of the Art
School and release from school uniform allowed
more self-expression. This extended to Stuart's
approach to haircuts and to clothing - the latter
generally endorsing his penchant for black. In
letting his hair grow, from the severity of a
'crew cut' it would form naturally into a mop -
trimmed at the front to allow for vision. He
obviously persuaded others in the group to adopt
a similar style.
In May 1960 they changed the name of the group to
The Silver Beetles and toured Scotland using the
names Paul Ramon (McCartney), Carl (George)
Harrison and Stu de Stael (Stuart Sutcliffe),
with only John Lennon refraining. These 'stage'
names didn't last long! In August 1960, the group
finally became 'The Beatles' and, along with
their new drummer, Pete Best, made their first
venture abroad - to Hamburg.
I saw Stuart very much later that summer, having
won a Royal Society of Arts Bursary, which
enabled me to tour Europe for an unforgettable
ten weeks with a Royal College of Art friend
Terry Poole. Stuart told me of his experiences in
Hamburg and playing at the nightclubs. The living
sounded tough but there seemed to be many
compensations. Stuart had met Astrid Kirchherr, a
photographer and had also visited Hamburg College
of Art where his art works had been admired. In
the December of that year other members of the
group either left Hamburg of their own free will
or were deported for being under age and working
in nightclubs after midnight or other alleged,
misdemeanours. |
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It was about this
time that I undertook a 'year out' from
the Royal College of Art as part of my
overall course. Professor Dick Russell
was working with Sir Basil Spence on the
new Coventry Cathedral and he arranged
for my placement within the Practice. The
year was a very productive one and Sir
Basil was very magnanimous providing many
people, myself included, with
opportunities to contribute their time,
creativity and skills to this amazing and
high profile project. As I was working
through term times and vacation periods
my visits to Liverpool were less
frequent. In any event, as far as Stuart
was concerned he had by now opted in his
heart to stay in Hamburg with Astrid and
pursue a career in Art.
1962 saw
the Beatles emerging as a popular group,
topping the popularity charts in the
local publication Mersey Beat. 1962 saw
the consecration of the Cathedral Church
of St Michael, Coventry. 1962 also saw
the untimely death of Stuart Sutcliffe,
on 10th April, in Hamburg, of a brain
tumour at the age of 21.
Whilst our
career paths were obviously taking off in
different directions, it is certain that
our friendship would have continued had
he lived. I know that Stuart's mother was
very supportive of him and promoted his
artistic achievements for many years
after his demise.
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We all think of
what might have been, given different events and
circumstances. I am now wondering what happened
to all those other members of the fabulous form
VB. |
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Norman
Allanson DesRCA, FCSD, is a Partner in the
Architectural Practice John S Bonnington
Partnership (formerly Sir Basil Spence,
Bonnington & Collins) and is currently
collaborating with Bill Harry on a project to
establish a Mersey Beat Village in Liverpool. |
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