HALF a century ago, everything in the garden was rosy at Blackthorne County Secondary School, Bacup.

For wedged between history and mathematics on the timetable was – gardening.

And in 1960 it was a compulsory subject for pupils who were 12 and over in the B, C and D streams.

It had all started with the arrival of headmaster W Goddard back in 1951.

Mr Goddard decided the grounds around the school were more like a wilderness than anything else and he could not put up with it.

In an attempt to make the school look respectable, pupils started gardening when they had time during school hours.

And from there it was only a small step, as the work progressed, to put the subject on to the curriculum, Thus, by 1960 the school boasted ornamental lawns, terraced flower beds and vegetable gardens, prompting the head to exclaim: “If the inside of the building could look alright, there is no reason why the outside could not be as smart.”

During this time the work was supervised by arts master Derek Mills who, although not a keen gardener, knew the scientific side of things after studying botany and forestry at college.

A visit to the school by the Lancashire Telegraph in 1960 revealed that many pupils loved their jobs, such as 15-year-old Keith Seddon, who was keen to take it up as a career when he left school that summer and his mates David Parker and Rodney Barton, who had his own garden at home, too.

During the winter, the boys were usually taught theory.

They studied various aspects of gardening, such as crop rotation, bedding out and fertilisers.

As Mr Goddard said: “If you can grow it in Rossendale, you can grow it anywhere!”

l Can you remember gardening lessons at Blackthorne Secondary School? Do you have any stories, or photos, to share?