www.Poundswick .org.uk

Links

This page includes links to other sites which may be of interest but over which I have no control.

Wythenshawe's Remarkable History
http://www.wythenshawe.btck.co.uk
A fascinating, comprehensive and well-illustrated history of Wythenshawe compiled by Old Poundswickian Peter Massey.  This site is a real treasure-trove and it reflects the huge amount of work and research that Peter has put into it.
Set aside an evening; once you start to browse you won't want to leave it!

St. Augustine's R.C. Grammar School Old Boys site
http://www.staugs.org
St. Augustine's opened in 1965 and was built on land at Sharston Mount, at the northern end of Hollyhedge Park. It was about the same size as Poundswick and cost about the same amount to build but it had a very short life. St.Augustine's was led by its charismatic and strictly traditional Headmaster, Monsignor F. J. McGuiness, under whose guidance it produced exceptionally good academic results. It survived as a Grammar School until 1977 when it succumbed to the inevitable march of comprehensivism, changing its name in the process firstly to St. John Plessington High School and then, in 1984, to St. Paul's High School. The building, then only 22 years old, was abandoned to the vandals in 1987 and was finally demolished in 1988. An enthusiastic Old Augustinian, Peter Fay, has put together this superb website. If you've enjoyed looking at the Poundswick site I guarantee that you will enjoy this one, even if, like me, you never knew St. Augustine's.

409th Manchester (William Temple) Scouts Group
http://www.409thscouts.com

Parklands High School Ofsted report - 2001
Click here to download. It's a .pdf file so you'll need Acrobat Reader to decipher it.
I thought this document might interest Old Poundswickians who would like to know how their old school performed during its Parklands incarnation. Reading between the lines, the report paints a picture of a generally competent, dedicated and well-led staff doing its valiant best against impossible odds to operate an educational system which had, in my view, been utterly discredited over the previous four decades. It's hard to imagine how the trendy educationalists, who in the 1960s foisted comprehensive education on Manchester's schoolchildren, can sleep soundly in their beds. Their achievement, as far as Poundswick is concerned, was to transform it in 35 short years from a jewel in Manchester's crown to one of the lowest-achieving comprehensives in the land. On reflection, it is perhaps no bad thing that Messrs. Gilpin and Hutchinson are no longer with us for they would have been deeply saddened to have thus witnessed Poundswick's spectacular decline. However, you don't have to take my word for any of this; you were there. Read the report and make your own mind up.

The Sky Countess
A short winter tinkering project.  Click here