CHRONICLE & ECHO Thursday August 11th 2005
FORMER
pupils and staff at Unity College have been saddened by
plans to knock down a landmark building at the Northampton
school.
The four-storey block, which had 16 classrooms, was officially unveiled in 1958 after the school, then known as Northampton Technical College, relocated from St George's Avenue to Trinity Avenue.
Site assistant Karen Newton, 41, recalled her father, Fred Newton, was one of many construction workers who helped to build the tower.
She said: "When I found out it was going to be knocked down, I felt a bit sad because I was actually taught in that building and it holds many memories for me.
"Three generations of my family, including my father and my son, Christopher, have been at the school." „ But she added: "I'm also pleased to see it go, because the school has to move with the times."
Registrar and former pupil Janet Anderton, 53, who attended between 1963 and 1968, took a camera into the school to take shots of the tower being pulled apart.
Mrs Anderton said: "I think it's a bit sad, but at the same time I think the new building will give the school a new appeal.
"It was a landmark at the school and the fact
that we know what's going to be in its place makes it more
exciting, because I'm going to be around to see the changes.
Meanwhile, administration assistant Chris Phillips said she
was delighted to see it knocked down.
She said: "I live right opposite the school and the four-storey building is a blot on the landscape. I'm just pleased to see it go."
make way for state-of-the-art facilities, including entry card system for students
"Trinity Tower" tumbles downCHRONICLE & ECHO Thursday August 11th 2005
By Lei Chan Education Reporter
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DEMOLITION work has begun on a
landmark building at Northampton's first Church
of England secondary school in phase three of a
multi-million pound expansion. Contractors from the Maylarch Environmental demolition firm started pulling down a four-storey block, known as the Tower, at Unity College in Trinity Avenue, yesterday as preparation for the final stage of the £23 million project. The block - along with the gym, hall, humanities department, sixth-form area and science room - is being knocked down to help create an Eden Project-style dome, as well as a replacement hall and stand-alone chapel. Staff from the Oxfordshire-based firm started stripping the tower of its fixtures and fittings last year, but at 9.30am yesterday the company unleashed a high-reaching demolition rig on to the 25m-high building. Director Nick Williamson said: "The demolition rig arrived on the site from London at about 11.30pm on Tuesday. "We've taken everything out
from the building, such as the suspended
ceilings and any cabling, so that we can be left
with a shell. Up to 10 workers will be |
involved in taking down Unity
College's old school buildings, with work
expected to be completed for the start of the
new term. Plans to revamp some of the existing buildings were scrapped after the Peterborough Diocese and school governors discovered they could replace them with modern designs for the same cost. As part of the improvements, the former Trinity School site will also feature a state-of-the-art entry system, which will involve pupils using swipe cards at turnstiles to monitor youngsters' attendance. Hugh Vass, the school's estates manager, said: "The demolition work is being carried out during the summer break for health and safety reasons, to minimise any danger to pupils. "We are currently going through a tendering process for the building work and hope to appoint a contractor ready to start work in the new year." The secondary school is currently on a split-site and is using facilities at the former Kingsley Middle School on a temporary basis, until the building programme is complete. Middle schools were abolished last summer and lower and upper schools converted into primary and secondary sites as part of a radical overhaul of Northampton's education system. |
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CHRONICLE & ECHO Wednesday August 17th 2005
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A LANDMARK building at Northampton's first
Church of England secondary school has been
turned into a heap of rubble. The four-storey block, known at the Tower at Unity College, formerly Trinity School, was pulled down as part of preparations for phase three of the multi-million pound expansion programme at the secondary. Contractors from the Maylarch Environmental demolition firm brought a high reaching demolition rig last week to destroy the building, which was constructed in the 1950s. Hugh Vass, the school's estates manager, said: "It has taken about four or five days to |
turn the tower into a heap of rubble and now
it's almost gone. "The only thing left of the building is the ground floor, which is buried underneath piles of bricks." The block - along with the gym, hall and humanities department, science and sixth form area is being knocked down to help create an Eden Project-style dome and a replacement hall and stand-alone chapel. Mr Vass said: "A few of the staff have turned up with cameras and there have been a few people standing outside the school gates taking pictures as well. |
School desk did not fly too well!
YOUR
article on the demolition of Unity College (August 11)
brought back some happy (rose-tinted no doubt) memories of
my schooldays in the late 60s and early 70s at Trinity High
School, later changed to Trinity Grammar School.
Looking back, it was a pretty good education. Compulsory
caps for boys in years one and two, Latin, teachers in
academic gowns, with nicknames like Buzzer, Gunner, Tiger,
Pip, Egg, Crutch and Nobby.
Apart from the formal corporal punishment, there was some
pretty swift justice meted out by some teachers ...
definitely not Human Rights Act compatible! The tower was
ideal for budding aircraft designers to launch their paper
creations while the teachers' backs were turned. I seem to
remember hearing that there was an unsuccessful flight of a
school desk from the top floor. The aerodynamics were not
ideal, causing an extremely steep glide path and resulting
in a very heavy landing, softened only slightly by a
teacher's Triumph 1300 car. It looks like such possibilities
are being designed out of the new building.
Mr D A Thacker,
East Hunsbury, Northampton.