The practice of walking behind R. S. Briggs through the town to Prescot Parish Church was "revived" in 1946, I think. Nothing like that happened during the War. Whether it hade been going on prior to 1939/40, I do not know. The first time we did it, I remember that we had to walk round the tram from Liverpool which parked up just round the corner from the Liverpool-Warrington road just past the traffic lights, besides the horse shoeing place. The Chairman of the Governors was Canon Martin who was Vicar of Prescot and he conducted the service, if I remember rightly. The business of seeking a half day's holiday was done by the chap who gave the prizes away and gave the address at the annual Speech Day, held initially in the gymn (hence only the parents of prize winners could attend) but later by the late 1940's in the Canteen at BICC Ltd (when every one could attend and had to!). I take it that the Boocock seeking the half day holiday arose because Speech Days were abandoned (in the name, no doubt, of not hurting the feelings of those who had not won prizes either in the class room or on the sports field - the heady days of the 1970's when my kids started school in North Yorkshire).

Oh for the days of Mrs Carey, the school cook until the late 1940's. The great, great joy in those days was Jam Flan, basically a layer of pastry covered with a red jam and served with custard with a just a few second helpings. Next favourite was Spotted Dick, a sponge pudding made with dates amongst other fruits that were available (we were still on ration books at the time) also served with custard. Trouble was if you were unlucky enough to be on second dinners, some of these favourites had run out and we were offered a variety of ghastly things, thought up by the cook at the last minute.

I should tell you that when I first went to PGS, the dining room was what became Room 19 later...the kitchen became the VIth form room or was it for prefects...cannot remember. The "new" dining room was opened in the post WW2 period and was huge by comparison. Before that people could only have lunch in the dining room one week in two: those of us on sandwiches ate them in the room next door to the old dining room which was the woodwork room in those days.

Joe Kirk came to PGS in the late 1940's, probably around 1948, certainly before the year 1949-50 when I was in the V th form doing School Certificate. Even in those days, there was a mega row when Kirk tried to have us sing a hymn other than "And did those feet in ancient times" at the end of the School Year, probably in 1951. RSB intervened and had us sing Kirk's choice at the start of the last assembly and then "Jerusalem" at the end.