Dennistoun Private School

Colin posted on the 27/03/2017 8:09:32 PM

Hi

My mum and aunt briefly went to a private school on Onslow Drive. It was at the corner of Onslow Drive and Craigpark and was probably number 9 Onslow Drive.

My mum thinks it was called Dennistoun Private School.

It was one of the tenements that had its rooms converted into classrooms and there was a 'playground' out in the back garden area with a school bell at the top of the stairs.

My aunt was there from about 1952 to 1955.

Please reply, if you know anything about the school - I'm doing some research into the family tree and it would be really appreciated.

Colin

44 Replies :
Newest First

#1 - James replied on the 28/03/2017 1:57:42 PM

Hi Colin - I have not heard of this before but do know that 9 0nslow Drive is not a tenement but a red sandstone terraced house.

#2 - Colin replied on the 28/03/2017 5:17:22 PM

Hi James

Thanks for the reply.

My mistake - I said tenement but should have said it was a house.

Thanks

Colin

#3 - Alan replied on the 17/04/2017 9:42:55 PM

#4 - Jay replied on the 26/04/2017 8:32:02 PM

Back in the 1960's I went to a private school in Onslow Drive in a red terraced house, but it was for commercial purposes run by two women. This is where I achieved certificates in shorthand/typing if that is of any use. The tuition took place in two of the rooms so I presume the women who ran it lived at these premises. I used to go there once a week after work

#5 - Euan replied on the 30/06/2017 1:49:34 PM

Hi Colin,
I was there for a couple of years in the early sixties. It was in Onslow drive but the infant class met in the church hall round the corner. I used to have to wear a red cap...but that's about all I remember!!

#6 - Ruth replied on the 11/07/2017 4:58:05 PM

Yes I remember seeing small boys wearing red caps - I can't remember girls going there though. We went to Golfhill. I'll ask my brothers if they remember exactly where it was. Which church hall did the infants meet in? was it the red sandstone building where the chapel hall is now? I'm pretty sure it was early 60s - I don't remember seeing them in the late 60s

#7 - Colin Campbell replied on the 17/10/2018 1:19:55 PM

Hi Colin,
I was born in 1952 in Whitehill Street and went to Dennistoun Private School till I was 9 and prior to that the nursery school round the corner in Craigpark, I think in the Church Hall. I suppose I was there from 1955 / 56 till1961. Yes it was red caps and my mother still has mine today. The school was very much mixed with boys and girls in roughly equal numbers. Class sizes were about I think 20 kids and they covered 3 years in one class. So teachers did a good job keeping the different years busy all the time. I still see my best friend today who lived in Golfhill Drive. We used to meet in the morning and walk down to the school together. You never mentioned your mothers name or when she was there although my memory is not great my mum's still is good so I can ask her. If you want to ask anything best to email me at colininglencoe@gmail.com .

#8 - Colin replied on the 19/03/2019 12:54:54 AM

Hi all

Thanks for your replies and sorry for having taken so long to get back to you. I was very interested to see your responses and sent my aunt the link to the page so that she could see what you'd written. I'll reply to you separately.

Thanks again

Colin

#9 - Colin replied on the 19/03/2019 12:56:19 AM

Hi Colin, Dennistoun Private was a school in Onslow Drive. It may well have been at the corner but it was not number 9. My friend from school days whom I occasionally still see lived in number 9 which was on the other side of the road. He did go to Dennistoun for a few years until he moved to a school in town which is where I met him. The big house on the opposite corner was for many years the manse of the Barony Church. This probably isn't telling you much but at least it confirms the existence of the school. I'm guessing here but it may have shut in the mid/late sixties.

Hi Alan

Thanks for your reply and I see what you mean about the house number *and* it wasn't the house on the corner! My aunt read your reply and referred back to the photos that she took on the day we visited. My mistake - the house was not on the corner and it seems to have been number 8 Onslow Drive.

It was great to hear that he went to the school there and that you are still in touch. I was wondering, if he remembers anything about the school? I'm really keen to find out as much as I can and it would be fantastic, if it's possible to dig up photos of the school.

Both my mum and my aunt have very fond memories of the school; although, my mum wasn't there for a full year before moving to Drumchapel.

Thanks again

Colin

#10 - Colin replied on the 19/03/2019 12:57:14 AM

Hi Euan

Thanks very much for your reply.

My aunt said that she used to wear a panama hat with a black band on it with a red stripe and presumably the school badge on the front.

That sounds similar to the boy's uniform with the red caps.

Thanks again

Colin

#11 - Colin replied on the 19/03/2019 12:58:10 AM

Hi Jay

I hadn't heard about a private school that was run for commercial purposes and I wondered, if it was maybe run like that in the evenings for courses like shorthand and typing.

What you said about the two rooms and two women running it sounds similar to what my aunt told me. I'll need to check and see.

I have an email from her and will add these to the forum (provided I don't get blocked for sending so many replies at once/spamming!).

Thanks

Colin

#12 - Colin replied on the 19/03/2019 12:59:07 AM

Hi Ruth

Thanks for getting back to me.

That's great to hear that you remember seeing the boys wearing red caps.

I'm afraid I don't know about the church hall round the corner but I did get some emails from my aunt that I'll add to the forum.

Thanks

Colin

#13 - Colin replied on the 19/03/2019 12:59:53 AM

Hi Colin

Thanks for getting in touch and your reply, which was very interesting.

I'll send you an email separately.

Thanks

Colin

#14 - Colin replied on the 19/03/2019 1:02:28 AM

Hi all

Thanks again for all your replies - it made for some interesting reading. I have had a number of things going on since I first posted on the forum and researching my family's history took a bit of a back seat. I've recently picked it back up and let my aunt see your replies. I've copied her emails in below.

It would be great, if it's possible to find old school photos and to hear more of your memories. I'm very keen to learn more about the school because it was so important to my mum and aunt.

Anyway, here are the emails from my aunt.

Kind regards

Colin

Hi Colin,

What a lovely surprise!

I looked back our photos when we all went to visit and I am almost certain I took pictures of the correct house. Looking at the photo it was number 8? I also took photos of the back of the building which was the playground. It was still all covered in concrete and looked just like I remembered it - all of 69 years ago...I think I was there from 1952 for 2 or 3 years. Please can you put this info onto the forum below for me?
Let me know what happens next!!!
H x

Hi Colin,

It was lovely to read the snippets of information people have added to the forum. I remember the inside of the building very well. There was a door at the back of the ground floor which had a spiral staircase down to the playground. I remember we used to rush to stand by the hand bell at the top of the stair and the one who got there first was so excited to ring it when told at the end of playtime.

I was in the infant class which was the big room at the front. We used to get medals on ribbons for doing good stuff in class.

I wore a black gym strip and a panama hat with a black band on it with a red stripe and presumably the school badge at the front.

I used to play with a boy who had lots of freckles and his name I think was Lex Forsyth. He might have had ginger hair. I think your mum was there for a very short time before we moved away from Dennistoun.

H x

#15 - The Mentalist replied on the 19/03/2019 12:51:47 PM

Great post Colin.

#16 - Lily replied on the 23/03/2019 10:47:40 PM

Does anyone remember the small private primary school in Broompark Circus called St. Mary's. The school was run by nuns and was closely linked to Our Lady of Good Counsel church on Craigpark I attended the school from 1965 to 1968.
Girls' summer uniform was a brown and white striped dress and Panama hat; winter uniform was a dark brown pinafore with brown hat - both hats had a band with the school badge.

I can't find any reference to the school on the internet. I believe the building is now a B and B. I would love to hear from anyone who attended or remembers the school.

Thanks in anticipation

#17 - Marjory Barrow replied on the 18/05/2019 9:08:02 PM

I went to Dennistoun Private from 1954 tilll 1960 then on to Whitehill . It was on the corner of onslow drive and craigpark . I remember only two teachers Miss Paul and Miss Thompson . One was a scary lady !! Both wore smocks Classes had about twenty pupils . Would love to hear what your relations names were ! I remember somebody Gunn , Schoolar Hastie and Oliver !

#18 - Jim Thomson replied on the 28/10/2019 12:44:00 AM

Just wondering if anyone remembers James + Lionel Morton from Dennistoun Private School?

#19 - Grant Tosh replied on the 12/11/2019 8:13:08 PM

Hi folks. I was born in 1956 and went to dennistoun private school starting in kindergarten at the church and then onslow drive till it closed after I finished P5 must have been around 1965/66. Miss MacGregor was the school principle and she was SCARY. I remember miss Paul. She was lovely. So was a Mrs Fraser. Mrs Thompson taught P5 -P7s. In my class was ian Paterson; Jackie gardiner; Christopher Barr; Norma Cullen; and carol white; ian McKenzie. There was a harry Taylor in P7. He lived in east Kilbride at one time. There was a chap who sat beside harry and played the guitar. I remember him singing a Scottish song in class one time. You had to go through a cellar kitchen to get out to the back court for playtime. The toilet block was outside and I remember it stank incredibly and I used to hold my nose when in for a pee. Hope this is helpful. BTW when the school closed some of us went to partickhill private school for last two years of primary. Our teacher out there was a Mrs Lawson.

#20 - Glen replied on the 23/01/2020 6:20:12 PM

Hi Grant,
I remember you well, but you obviously do not remember me. It was Harry Taylor who played guitar. He was fond of telling us all how much guitar lessons cost. I think it gave him a buzz. The only singing I can remember was on Friday morning when we would sing songs such as Old Folks at Home, and Scots Wha Hae. Miss Thomson would play piano. Alec Mason used to sit beside Harry, as indeed did I. Alan Thomson was also on the team. Do you remember Wilma Cant, Aileen Morrison, Helen Watson, and Valerie Spence? How about Alison Hayworth and Aileen Andrews? I also attended the Nursery School, which was in St Barnabas Episcopalian Church in Craigpark. I remember Christopher Barr very well. He was a good-natured boy, and great fun, as indeed were you, Grant. Do you remember Peter Dick? We called him Dirty Dick, after the character in the Buster comic. His older sister, Joy, also attended the school.
Yes, the boys' toilets were terrible, but I nipped into the girls' toilets if no one was about, for they were always clean and tidy. I also used the teachers' toilet a few times. (Little devil, eh?)
Do you remember Jimmy and Lionel Morton? They were always cheerful and up for mischief. Donna Buchanan is a year younger than you, Grant, so you surely remember her. She became a dance teacher, thereby following in her mother's footsteps.
Miss MacGregor was a very scary woman, but Miss Thomson could also be pretty fierce. However, Miss Paul was always so nice.
Happy days!

#21 - Gordon Harris replied on the 17/02/2020 4:15:48 PM

Writing my earlier piece generated a memory of a bull getting loose in the street outside. I wonder if anyone remembers that ? Quite how that happened I have no idea but I remember it quite clearly. Perhaps there used to be a market nearby?

#22 - Gordon Harris replied on the 17/02/2020 6:04:27 PM

Attended from approx 1958-1960. Apart from he bull Incident I remember Miss Thomson and vaguely Miss Paul. I remember class mates called Raymond, Edward, Jonquil, and Eleanor. I remember the Xmas service standing on stage in a nearby church hall singing "in the bleak mid winter". There were swimming baths near Alexandra Parade where I learned to swim. We probably weren't allowed to do this but I remember lunching on mutton pies in the Swallow cafe which I believe still exists. I used to travel in by bus from Stepps and get the bus home from Alexandra Parade just opposite the cigarette factories.
Miss Thomson I remember was very kind but could be very scary!!

#23 - anon replied on the 22/02/2020 1:26:09 PM

Hi Marjory

My mum (Rose Anne Melvin) was briefly in the school in 1955 before they moved to Drumchapel. Her elder sister (Hazel Melvin) was in the school from 1952 to 1955.

My mum had polio when she was little and wore braces on her legs while she was being treated.

Colin

#24 - anon replied on the 22/02/2020 1:32:41 PM

Hi all

I've really enjoyed reading your posts over from the past few months.

In 2017 some of my family visited Dennistoun and Drumchapel. My mum and aunt lived in Dennistoun when they were very young before their family moved to Drumchapel. We visited where the school was and I recorded our visit on my phone. It was a windy day, so the audio quality isn't great. You can see the video on YouTube by following this link - youtube.com/watch?v=tv8v68sGrEQ&list=PLDN-MEgAFhmOi6njJHj_3BqFlf9L80Q8t&index=7

Please note you will have to add the normal three 'w's in front of the link. A full link can't be posted on the forum to prevent abuse.

My aunt - Hazel Melvin - white shirt - school from 1952 to 1955
My mum - Rose Anne Melvin - turquoise jacket - school 1955 only
Woman - my aunt's daughter
Man - my dad

If you have any photos of the school, it would be great if you could let me know. Anything from 1952 to 1955 would be of particular interest.

I also spoke to my mum about this today (Rose Anne Melvin). She remembers that the pupils were awarded medals for things like good spelling, good behaviour, etc. You could keep the medals for a week and were allowed to change the ribbons on them.

Looking forward to your posts.

Colin

#25 - Colin replied on the 22/02/2020 1:49:53 PM

Hi Gordon

I wonder, if the bull could have been a visitor / escapee from the abattoir on the south-west corner of Duke Street and Bellgrove Street?

I remember seeing the Swallow Cafe when I was in Dennistoun last.

Colin

#26 - Colin Campbell replied on the 23/03/2020 1:52:55 PM

Marjory Barrow and if it was Marjory Allan when you were at school how can you not remember me and Grant when you and little sister Aileen used to fight with each other as to which one would take me or Grant to school in the morning. I think what it must have been is that both of you wanted to take Grant and the loser got me ?? We lived so close to you me on the other side of Golfhill Drive in Whitehill St. and Grant in Golfhill Drive. If you can't remember perhaps you remember my little white dog Dandy? Your names are on a list of over 20 that myself my mother and Alastair McEwan managed to compile for Colin Smith. My email address is above on the 17th October 2018 if you wish to confirm or deny. I notice that none of the names you have mentioned are on my list which is good.

#27 - Christopher Barr replied on the 23/04/2020 8:27:59 PM

Grant - How strange finding my name in a message board 50 years or more after leaving Dennistoun & Partickhill!
Miss Paul was everyone's favourite teacher Mrs Thompson was quite fierce and Miss MacGregor was terrifying (to a 6 year old). As someone already said for some reason Miss Paul & Mrs (or was ir Miss) Thompson wore pale green smocks.

I remember you very well, Grant - in fact i've still got a class photo from Partickhill Private School where we all moved to when Dennistoun closed down. Mrs Lawson was the nicest then there was Mrs Holmes and the head teacher was Mrs Jackson (?) - again a small school . Other names i can remember were Carol Whitehead and Frazer Fairleigh . I met up with Ian Paterson a couple of years ago - i hadn't seen him since his wedding some 30 years earlier - we'd changed a bit since then. I can't remember in which road Partickhill School was in. But i know that I was there between 1966 and 1968.

#28 - Rob Duncanson replied on the 27/06/2020 10:38:57 PM

I attended this school. I recall one day we were playing chain tig. Peter Dick was the boy on the end. As the human chain twisted violently he crashed into the bins and got concussion. I have vivid recall of Miss Paul and her classroom. Coal fire. Portrait of Prince Philip and the Queen on mantlepiece.

#29 - Moira Reid replied on the 17/08/2020 1:39:09 PM

I went to Dennistoun Private and Miss Bartholemew was my teacher ! I remember Harry Taylor ,Wima Cant and Valerie Spence I do remember most mornings running back out and down the hill after my mum and Miss Bartholemew used to try and distract me by going in to open up the church with her .My maiden name was Montgomery .

#30 - Sybil Hunter replied on the 10/11/2020 12:57:16 PM

Hi I was born 1954 went to dennistoun private from age 3-5 my madden name was Verner my older brother David and older sister Moira also went to this school

#31 - Fraser Fairlie replied on the 20/11/2020 4:18:23 PM

I went to Dennistoun Private school in the early/mid 60s - I remember Miss Paul and Miss (Mrs?) McGregor.
Happy days

#32 - Walter Marshall replied on the 25/11/2020 11:05:55 AM

I'm in complete agreement with the first paragraph post #27. I attended until '65 then went to The High School.

#33 - Grant Tosh replied on the 24/02/2021 6:27:54 PM

Christopher - how the devil are you. I always wondered if any other familiar names would pop up in this post. Partickhill Private School was on Turnberry road right opposite the junction with Banavie Road. If you go into google maps street view i am sure you will recognise the house. Remember there was a lane that ran down alongside the house. I seem to remember more about my time at Partickhill than at Dennistoun. Remember Christopher we used to get arts and crafts and we all made cane paper bins. They came out in all sorts of shapes. Some if you turned them upside down you would think it was a cane tophat with a big brim. I remember one incident when wd wefe playing a game out the back and for whatever reason i ended up in the thorn bushes and ripped mh leg open. You ian and jackie gardiner carried me up to mrs jackson's room where she poured iodine all over the cut....ouch that hurt. I still have the scar. It would be great Christopher if the could scan the school photo over to me and i can see who i can still recognise. Am i allowed to put my email address on this post. Not sure but here goes i will risk it grant.tosh@ntlworld.com
Cheers

#34 - Campbell Jamieson replied on the 8/03/2021 3:20:59 PM

I was trawling a few internet pages on Dennistoun doing some research and was delighted to see this. I lived at 69 Roselea Drive and attended Dennistoun Private there from 60/61 till Christmas 63. Sadly I have no specific recollection of my time there although I do have a class photo taken around 62/63 and a photo of me in full school uniform with the famous red cap. The class photo looks more victorian than 60's. I'd happily post it online if of interest although might need some guidance on where.

#35 - Grant Tosh replied on the 14/03/2021 6:45:34 PM

Hi Campbell. How old were you when the photo was taken. Just to get an idea if I may have been in your class. I would have been 7 in 1963.

#36 - Elaine Murray replied on the 27/04/2021 12:14:09 AM

Probably too late for this now but I went there approximately 1958 to 1963 when I think it closed. Remember Aileen and Pamela Morrison Peter Dick Robert Lacey. Miss Paul was lovely very gentle lady Miss Thomson who was strict and Mrs MacGregor.

#37 - Alex Hewetson replied on the 12/06/2021 12:08:32 PM

Hi all. There from 1958. I remember you well Elaine, and Aileen and Pamela and Marlen Paliwoda. The boys I recall were Edward and Raymond Mackay, Peter Dick, Geoffrey Allen and Garry and Glen Campbell. Yes, the Head, Mrs McGregor, Miss Thomson and Miss Paul. Mostly very fond memories of there. The only former pupil I used to see socially was Raymond Mackay, who is still in Glasgow. Saturday night curry in Masala Twist on Byres Road and then a few glasses in Orin Mor. I retired to live in Spain on the Costa Blanca coastline in 2017 and wish I had done it years before. Reading the posts brought back some very vivid memories of my childhood. I used to drive by Onslow Drive on occasion and well remember my easy bike ride back down Eastercraigs on my way home.

#38 - Alex Hewetson replied on the 12/06/2021 2:20:48 PM

Hi again. To my shame, I omitted to mention Tom Forsyth. Lex was one of his 2 older brothers. The church hall referred to was just before and opposite the former Dennistoun Private Swimming Pool. It was used for the first 2 years newbies before they gravitated to Onslow Drive.

#39 - Susan replied on the 7/08/2021 9:28:59 PM

I attended St Mary's Broompark Circus. It closed the summer I left 1975. Some fond memories.

#40 - Jim Neville replied on the 18/07/2022 4:47:58 PM

Lilly, Susan
I too was at St Mary's Convent school in Broompark Circus. P1,2,3 then P 5,6,7 . They got rid of the boys at P4 then brought them back as they needed the money. I was the first boy ( only boy in the class) from the first P7 to go through the school and into secondary. I am amazed that there seems no reference to the place online. It's like a part of my life was erased

#41 - Antony Martin replied on the 11/08/2022 11:05:45 PM

Hi,
My two sisters and myself attended St.Marys Convent School in Broompark Circus.
I remember being interviewed in the mother superiors office when I was 4 years old with my parents, I had to tell her the name of things she pointed to in a book when she pointed to a picture of a cone I told her it was a pokey hat! ...'A what child'?
Never forget it.
I was there from 1973-1975 when it closed.
Jimmy Johnstone's daughter Ilene was in my class she had a big mop of blonde hair like Jinky and his older daughter Marie was in my older sister's class.
He would come to school on a Friday afternoon with his wife Agnes and baby son James, he had a volvo car pretty flash back in the day.
I remember going to Our Lady of Good Council church on a regular basis.
I didn't enjoy my time at St.Marys was very frightening for a 5 year old, total silence in the playground when a nun rang a big bell and having to salute a adult, teacher or nun in the corridor, girls had to stop and curtsey.
Uniform was brown, blue shirt, brown tie and brown blazer. Girls wore a pinafore with brimmed hat, boys wore a cap.
The playground had two levels with the younger pupils not allowed on the lower level I remember I could see the back of Wills cigarette factory from the playground.
My Teacher was Mrs.Turner she was nice, there was a Mrs.Strachan and Mrs.Mackay from Baillieston where we grew up and knew each others families well.
I remember there was a red sandstone building next to the school which we would use as the canteen.
Would be good to hear from other ex pupils...

Tony

#42 - Sandra Mair replied on the 15/09/2023 10:54:32 PM

Just came across this forum. I attended Dennistoun Private School in the mid fifties. It was definitely no1 Onslow Drive.The lovely elderly headmistress at the time was Miss Cameron and Miss Thomson and Miss Paul were our teachers. I can remember quite a number of names and other snippets of information, if anyone is still interested!

#43 - Brenda replied on the 28/09/2023 10:50:46 PM

Hi Lily, Susan, Jim and Tony,
I went to St Mary's Convent Primary School in Broompark Circus from 1967 until 1974. Reading your posts resonated with me. Fortunately I have mainly very fond memories of my time there. My P1 teacher was called Miss Paton, what a wonderful teacher she was, as the school itself was rather intimidating to a four year old! I remember quite a lot of the names of the people in my class, so if anyone is interested...
I went a walk around Broompark Circus last week and the memories came flooding back, elocution lessons from the lady with albinism, the scary nun headteacher, the school secretary Mrs Walker, getting the brown envelope when my mum hadn't paid the fees on time! I loved the uniform and being part of a really lovely community. It's a shame there's no record really of the school, as you start to look back to the early days as the years roll on.

#44 - Gail Cullen (was McManus) replied on the 26/01/2024 8:14:13 PM

Hi
I was at St Mary,s in the 70's - such a long time ago! I remember a Sister Sebastian who may have been the headmistress? I had forgotten all about the elocution teacher.The other names I remember were r/s. Aulfield and Mrs McKay. Remember eating soup in a separate building for lunch and that there was a fire at some point. Struggled to find any information on the internet.

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