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This evocative painting of Bemrose Grammar School was accomplished in 1952 by the school's art master Charles 'Ike' Watts

BEMROSE GRAMMAR SCHOOL was officially opened on Friday 11 July 1930 by Sir Charles P. Trevelyan, President of the Board of Education.

It was named in recognition of the services to education given by the Bemrose family of Derby, who partly funded the building.

The all-boys school occupied a large and handsome new building erected on a substantial site on Uttoxeter Road, Derby, close to the district known as Rowditch.

The school offered what at that time were state-of-the art facilities, including extensive sports grounds.

It forged an excellent reputation, and its pupils attired in their disticntive maroon blazers were a familiar sight around Derby.

Boys initially belonged to one of four 'houses' - Burke (Blues), Newton (Greens), Sydney (Yellows) and Wellington (Reds). These were later re-titled Wellington, Gainsborough, Nelson and Drake. Each house had its own Latin motto.

The school's 'Buck in the Park' badge displayed the Latin motto 'Non Nobis Sed Aliis - Non Fallunt Futura Merentum'.

A colloquial translation would be 'Not for ourselves but for others - Those worthy of it will not be let down by the future'.

This seemed to hold good for the countless Bemrose pupils who went on to succeed in business, commerce, science and industry, many of them locally.

A number also made their names in sport and the arts. Among the more celebrated Old Bemrosians are Derby County's father and son footballers Tommy Powell and Steve Powell, actors Eric Lander, James Bolam, Michael Knowles and Kevin Lloyd, his TV news-correspondent brother Terry Lloyd, and playwright and author Don Shaw.

For reasons which are not entirely clear, pupils of the original grammar school styled themselves 'Bemrose Bucket Bangers'.

Like many grammar schools, it underwent a major change in the 1970s when in 1975 it joined with the nearby Rykneld Boys Secondary Modern School. Girls were then admitted for the first time. Pupils could still stay on until the age of eighteen.

In September 1989 the establishment was re-styled Bemrose Community School for pupils aged 11 to 16. In September 1990 an extension was opened as part of a £2million development.

Notwithstanding the changes that have occured, the fine original building, with its disticnctive green 'coppered' domes and art-deco styling, remains a landmark in the locality today.

Were you a Bemrose Bucket Banger? Do you remember any of the well-known pupils? Or perhaps you are at Bemrose Community School now. If you have anything to add just click on 'edit' or 'discussion' at the top of this page.

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County:  Derbyshire