Leigh Grammar School

23/08/2026

If you're coming to the Leigh College at Marshall Street Reunion (1976-2007) on Saturday 5th September 2026 at St Joseph's Hall, Leigh 7-11pm then you need to buy your ticket soon so I know how many pasties to order! https://wegottickets.com/f/19892

06/08/2026

It looked like a prison camp and it leaked and/or flooded every time it rained but Marshall Street buzzed with life and laughter. Incredibly, it will have been gone 20 years next year! If you worked and/or studied there you've only 30 days left to buy a ticket for the Leigh College at Marshall Street Reunion - probably the last reunion ever on Saturday 5th September 2026 7pm at St Joseph's Hall, Leigh. Come and share some memories and raise a toast to its glory days. And get a copy of the new book 'The Marshall Chronicles - Leigh College at Marshall Street 1976-2007'. https://wegottickets.com/f/19892

06/08/2026

Here is a marvellous clip of John Cassidy and Len Westerdale being interviewed at LGS sometime in the 1960s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd2Oepiv2JM
John and Len appear 19m 10secs in.

Automation is creating more leisure time for everybody - what effec...

31/07/2026

It's 50 years in September since Leigh College at Marshall Street opened. Did you work or study at that unique community college in a building that looked like a prison camp but had a heart as big as its plethora of portakabins? If you did then come to what will probably be the last ever reunion and raise a toast to its glory days. And get a copy of the new book 'The Marshall Chronicles - Leigh College at Marshall Street 1976-2007'. The more tickets we sell the cheaper the book!
Saturday 5th September 2026 at St Joseph's Hall, Leigh 7-11pm.

A chance to catch up with ex-staff and students and remember what made Marshall Street so special. Licensed bar, hot drinks and snacks on sale.

08/12/2025

I'm writing a book about Leigh College at Marshall Street to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening in 2026. There will also be a Leigh College at Marshall Street Reunion on Saturday 5th September 2026. If you have any memories to share please join the FB page and/or email me: [email protected]

25/02/2025

6B Cawley Avenue
Culcheth
Warrington
Cheshire
WA3 4DF
February 5th 2025
Tel : 01925 766758
e-mail address: [email protected]

Dear Old Leighian

The Annual Dinner of OLA this year and will be held at the Masonic Hall, Ellesmere Street, Leigh on

Friday March 14th 2025 commencing at 7.30.p.m.

The menu will be as follows :-
Vegetable Soup
Roast Beef and Seasonal Vegetables
Apple Pie and Custard
Coffee and Mints

The cost, which of necessity must reflect the increases faced by the Caterers and the Hall in the last year will be £25.00 per person. If you are paying by cheque, will you please make that cheque out to “A. Bent” and send it to the above address with your remittance.

Will you please let me know by Friday February 28th 2025 at the latest, how many Old Leighians are in your group, so that the correct number of meals can be ordered.

25/02/2025

Here’s a message received to the group:

I taught at LGS 1962-68, contemporary with such great characters as the aforesaid John Cassidy. We exchanged emails until the time he died. In fact he wrote two reviews if my latest book, 'A Schoolmaster's Tale', based partly on my time at LGS.

Further contemporaries were Les Goodfelliw; Bill Thompson; Charlie Hughes, Bev Risman, Barrie Truman, Keith Elleray, Tony Blacas, etc etc. Ken Bruce was Head.

I deal in detail with the killing off of the grammar schools.
Yours sincerely
Alun D W Owen

Also

When I was there we were called 'masters', and indeed enjoyed some real status in the town. By inference, 'teachers' were mere mortals who taught in other schools!!

My best friend, Seymour Darby, took me along to an Old Boys' Association dinner in my last year at the school (1968) when I moved to Abergele as Head of English in a newly formed 11-18 comprehensive.

Keith Elleray was a little chap (even smaller than I) who taught R.I.
Bill Thompson and I were very good friends.

I suppose most if them are dead now, except Frank Halliwell (another close friend). We are both 89 this year.

22/02/2024

6B Cawley Avenue
Culcheth
Warrington
Cheshire
WA3 4DF
February 21st 2024
Tel : 01925 766758
e-mail address: [email protected]

Dear Old Leighian

The Annual Dinner of OLA this year and will be held at the Masonic Hall, Ellesmere Street, Leigh on

Friday April 12th 2024 commencing at 7.30.p.m.

The menu will be as follows :-
Vegetable Soup
Roast Beef and Seasonal Vegetables
Apple Pie
Cheese and Biscuits
Coffee and Mints

The cost, which of necessity must reflect the increases faced by the Caterers and the Hall in the last year will be £25.00 per person. If you are paying by cheque, will you please make that cheque out to “A. Bent” and send it to the above address with your remittance or, if you prefer to pay by BACS, my bank details are as follows:_

Name of Account : A & L Bent
Sort Code : 40-28-10
Account Number : 10149381

If you are paying by BACS, please use your own name as reference and then send me an email to confirm your attendance and payment in full.
Will you please let me know by Friday March 29th 2024 at the latest, how many Old Leighians are in your group, so that the correct number of meals can be ordered.

This year’s Principal Guest will be our President, Geoff Bent, formerly Headteacher of Walkden High School, whose knowledge of past Old Leighians’ dinners is as extensive as anyone’s in the Association and should make for a very interesting after-dinner presentation.


As in previous years, we shall be producing a “Guest List” of those Old Boys attending this year’s dinner. To ensure that the list contains the names and professions of all who attend, I would ask you to complete the attached pro-forma and return it to me duly completed with the names of the Old Leighians who are to accompany you this year.

I look forward to seeing you again on this happy occasion.

Yours sincerely

Tony Bent
Chairman – OLA Annual Dinner

13/11/2023

My next local history book will be: Leigh College at Marshall Street 1976-2007
I'm currently researching Chapter One - how the college came into being from the ashes of Leigh's grammar schools.
Chapter Two will be about the building itself. Leigh College at Marshall Street was a one off. By the end of its existence, the building was part porta cabin, part underwater and mustier than a skunk’s armpit - but it was a place where people felt challenged, energised and at home. It made and saved lives, providing a sanctuary for students who didn’t quite ‘fit’, and a refuge for some of the staff who taught them. It was also deeply loved and much missed when it was demolished in 2007 only forty-one years after its inception.
Please post here and/or email me your memories of the building from the Reception desk to the Refectory, the science labs to the social areas, the open plan classrooms to the crowded corridors, the library to the lecture theatre, the drama studio to the sports pitches....
[email protected]