Memories of Rossall

On 10 November 2024 Alleyn’s 1^st XI football team took on Rossall School in Lancashire for a match. Together, the teams and spectators also observed a two-minute silence for Remembrance, and enjoyed a lunch together after the game. The gathering was particularly poignant this year, as marking over 80 years since Alleyn’s School was evacuated to Lancashire in 1941 where they shared Rossall School’s facilities for the duration of World War Two.

Rossall was then a boys' boarding school situated between Blackpool and Fleetwood on the north-west coast of England (it became co-educational in the 1977/78 academic year). Alleyn’s took over some of the boarding houses to accommodate its pupils and both schools continued to run as two separate entities whilst sharing the same classrooms, dining hall and sports facilities.

The biggest change for the Alleyn’s boys was adjusting to being at a boarding school. This was also reflected in a change of House names. The eight Alleyn’s house names were divided into those from Rossall, being: James House, Hall House, Spreadeagle House and Rose House.  

Photo below: Boys playing football near the observatory at Rossall

Notable events in boys’ recollections of Rossall include The International Forum held in 1943. This was the brainchild of Headmaster C. R Allison. Dignitaries from around Europe with access to wartime Fleetwood gave talks to the pupils on their respective countries and an international concert was held in the evening, conducted by W.J. Smith. Many other such memories of Rossall are captured in the 1940s Decade Report in the Alleyn's Alumni Archive.

Browse the 1940s Decade Report

In 1944 an Anglo-American weekend was held when the two schools hosted American military personnel who were stationed locally. The aim was for the two nations to know each other better and games of cricket and baseball were played.

With Alleyn’s boys now being boarders, they had more time for football, cricket, music and rugby. The boys from both schools met for afterschool activities and the nickname Rossalleyns was coined to refer to joint sessions in drama and sport. The boys also played separately and Alleyn’s 1^st XI football teams played many of the local schools.

The nucleus of the 1^st XI football team in 1944 were Leslie Cranfield (Roper's 1945), team captain Ron Ferne (Brading's 1946), goalkeeper Nash, Jimmy Crisp (Tyson's 1946), centre half Anthony King (Tyson's 1945), wing forward Albert Hird (Brading's 1946), winger Ronald Akerman (Brown's 1946), Lewis, Anthony Foulkes, Robert Dover (Brown's 1946), Reginald Waller (Spurgeon's 1946) and Stevens at centre forward. Their successes in the 1944 season matched their losses, with their winning five games, losing four and with one game being abandoned.       

In 2023 Ken Pywell (Spurgeon's 1949) travelled back to Rossall with his family, writing a blog about that memories that the trip brought flooding back to him.

Read about Ken's trip back to Rossall 

When Alleyn's departed Rossall, one pupil wrote the following poignant lines:

"Rossall fades but often in our minds we remember. Never to be forgotten: Sunshine, breeze, and darkness. Wind, rain and happiness. Towers red, chapel grey, and friendships made. Four years passed, four years of life. Wasted? No! Worth it? Yes!"