BLUE COAT PICTURES

The above pictures are reproduced with grateful thanks to J D C (Chris) Jones, Eric Woodbine, Her Majesty the Queen and Andy Roberts.  (Click on each picture to open it). They are explained in the scrolling text box below.

Picture 1: A letter of reference for Chris Jones, a pupil from 1950 until 1954, now residing in Pocahontas, Arkansas, USA. Although showing over fifty years' wear and tear, this is what it says:

3rd February 1955

J D C Jones entered the Grammar Stream of this Grammar/Secondary Modern School in September 1950 as a result of his success in the General Entrance Examination.

He was an earnest, conscientious pupil, of average Grammar ability. He left in his fourth year when beginning to show promise as a GCE candidate.

Jones's character was blameless. He has a pleasant and agreeable personality, and got on well with his fellows.

G G Watcyn

Picture 2: The dedication of the main School Gates, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the school. This event took place on Saturday 31st May 1958. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Alderman Harry Livermore and Mrs Livermore are escorted up the path by Blue Coat student Eric Woodbine, who attended the school from 1953 to 1959. Now living in France, Eric kindly sent me this picture and the next one after viewing the website and reading "Return to the Blue Coat"

Picture 3: Present at the ceremony to dedicate the gates in 1958 were headmaster Mr G G Watcyn, Sir Alan Tod CBE TD DL (Treasurer), Maj C V R Hollinshead-Blundell (President of Brotherly Society), Lord Mayor Alderman Harry Livermore, Mrs Livermore and pupil Eric Woodbine.

Picture 4: "The Queen cometh..." 1977 was the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, and she paid a visit to Liverpool. Several schools closed for the day so that pupils could go to see her. The Blue Coat School, and my brother's school (Gateacre Comprehensive) refused to do this. I asked permission to take the day off, but this was refused. We decided to write to the Queen herself and ask that she put our headmasters in their place! The picture shows the very tactfully-worded reply that we received a few weeks later.

Picture 5: Mr Ling with a group of his elite students in 1995. Head boy, Peter Bouvier, is at the back left, with dark hair. This picture and the next one were kindly submitted by Andy Roberts - a pupil from 1988 to 1995.

Picture 6: Up the Clock Tower, 1995. Left is Andy Roberts. The others are now (left to right), a surgeon, an Investment Banker in London and a Marketing Executive in Cambridge. If any of you are reading this, please get in touch via the "COMMENTS" page.

My collection of photographs of the Liverpool Blue Coat School is near the 130 mark and will not fit on this website, so I have posted them all on a Fotopic site, which you can reach from here. The pictures are all downloadable from the Fotopic site, for personal use. If you would like to use any of them in another website or publication, please contact me first.

If you would like any of your own pictures to appear on this site, please e-mail them to me in jpg format.

Modernisation work still continues at the Blue Coat School. Compare these pictures of the Music Room (44) taken in 2004 and 2007. This room is now available to hire from the Blue Coat Foundation for functions.

The gentlemen in the recent picture are Ray Livingston (a pupil in the 1950s) and Eddie Ardren (secretary to the Foundation)