“Between 48 and 55” now would seem to indicate they were youngsters in the last few years of UK state school CP. Although many state schools had ceased to use SCP by then a good few still used it. Bottom spanking with the hand in senior schools for older youngsters seems a bit unusual. Most SCP, the cane, slipper or strap was the usual method of official SCP particularly in senior schools. Going back to my own senior schooldays, around 1960 I only remember one instance of hand spanking. For some reason we had a lesson in another classroom to usual. A couple of lads were were caught playing up. The teacher usually used a plimsoll but there wasn’t one there. Towards the end of the lesson he told the two boys they would be going back to his teacher’s own classroom for the plimsoll at the end of the lesson. He then offered them an alternative, he would spank them with his hand there and then. I suspect he was keen to get to the staffroom after the lesson as it was breaktime. Both lads were no strangers to bottom whacks and elected to take it with his hand there and then. They bent over  a desk and each had three hard whacks. The teacher pushed his sleeve up and really slapped their bottoms. I think both boys had thought that his hand would hurt less than the plimsoll. As we left the classroom one of the boys said it was worse than the plimsoll and the other said it hurt much more than from his dad at home.
I always thought of bottom slaps like that was what parents did not school teachers. My mother spanked me a  few times like that at home but that stopped when I was about 11.
All that said I believe that spanking with the hand was an ‘approved’ method of UK SCP.

I Researcher
Many thanks for your illuminating post concerning the activities of Ms Blackmore. From what you say she seems to have no qualms about the effectiveness of CP upon her charges and continued its use to the last possible legal moment and possibly beyond . I find this interesting as my own research and knowledge over the years implied that SCP on girls was extremely rare after 1975 although it was often retained for boys until later.

It seems Miss B was not adverse to spanking bare flesh i.e. legs and I am surprised that she did sometimes adopt the the  practice of pulling up knicker legs; A subject which has previously been discussed at some length herein.

In this respect I find Vicky’s comment about smacking your arse in front of the class “for all to see” intriguing. But then I do often tend to think outside the box.

I ,and I am sure many others, very much look forward  to your next post and hopefully other detailed information relating to activities at   Ellesmere Park , Deane Grammar and Eccles C of E .

Please keep up your excellent work

Hello six of the best,

I’m 49 and therefore amongst the last generation to be subjected SCP in England. This was the reason of my interest in Brookway.  I went through a slightly different schooling system than most.  I went to Infants/Primary and then a Junior High before starting secondary in 1987.  I was last subject to CP at my Junior High School in 1985.  In regard to  hand spanking, there’s no doubt that if applied with enough force it does hurt. Just like yourself, growing up I was no stranger to getting spanked by hand in both primary school and at home.  The hardest smack I can recall receiving in primary school was by a student teacher and the force lifted me off my feet.

Hello Sir John 2,

I’d agree that you’re correct that generally the SCP of girls did begin to decline in the mid to late 1970s.  However, there’s no doubt that there were a couple of exceptions, Brookway High being one of them.  In regard to Vicky’s statement, I interpret that the ‘for all to see’ was referencing the spanking itself.  I’ve not been able to find any reference of her altering attire (lifting skirts or lowering trousers) to target bare flesh.  It does sound as though Miss Blackburn was physically a powerful lady and her hand was sufficient enough to serve purpose through 2 layered clothing.  Especially, if you add in the embarrassment factor of it being public.

Anyway, back to the schools which you’ve requested additional information.

Firstly, at Deane Grammar School it was the same Female P.E teacher who administered the slipper and flipper (another unconventional implement for the list) during the late 70s and early 80s.  Although somewhat stereotypical it cannot be denied that there is a lot of evidence out there that punishment with a gym shoe/slipper was far more common in P.E. than in other lessons.  Another, interesting case at this school is from a lady called Jilly (born about 1960) , who after being caught smoking (outside school but in uniform) by an education officer her parents had to write a letter of apology in which her dad wrote to giver her the slipper.  I didn’t list this case as I found no evidence of her actually receiving it.  However, it is interesting how parental attitudes were back then in the early 1970s.

Secondly, regarding Eccles C of E.  Beverley (A) has posted the same account in multiple groups, and this has been verified by others.  Essentially, it was the first time the girls had showered together and were messing about.  The teacher asked them all to bend-over and they all got smacked with a slipper.  I’m leaning to this being an isolated/one off incident.  My rationale is that Beverley (A)’s account is very specific and is also remembered by Julie and Beverley (B).  I think had there been more occurrences then more people will have come forward.  Furthermore, the teacher (Miss Taylor) was the younger sister of another teacher at the school.  Perhaps she had a point to prove or something.  Of course, I could be wrong.

Finally, Ellesmere Park Secondary appears to have been another that utilized SCP from the beginning until the early 1980s.  Evidently it had no issues in the 1960s with male teachers slippering girls on their bottoms. Here Christine remembers:

‘Taffy actually gave me the slipper,bent over the desk in front of everyone. Almost like a badge of honour lol.’

This is supported by Sandra who received:

‘My own pump 1st day Ellesmere park for talking in gym he through my over the vaulting horse never did it again though lol’

During the 1970s it looks like there was a little progression as Cathy states:

‘I was given the slipper from Mrs mortimer on the instruction of Mr fitzpatrick  I had a foot print on my bum for ages’

Finally, Clare recalls:

‘I still remember getting the ‘slipper’ in year two and it wasn’t any slipper a bloody size 9 trainer. Left a proper red mark on the bottom’

Hi I Researcher
Thank you for responding .The extra detail provided is much appreciated and helpful . Apologies for my delay in replying to your post but I only just returned late yesterday from a trip and one of my (several?) areas of incompetence is typing on phones.

As usual the “unspecified anatomy” designation makes firm conclusions difficult but looking at your examples in this post the usual inference is that the cane and strap were normally applied to the hand whilst the slipper was sometimes applied to the bottom especially at Junior school and when the girls were in lower forms (year 1 and 2) .However there have been a few excellent revelations /exceptions in your  many excellent posts. Keep up the good work

I am unsure if the phrase “unspecified anatomy” is from I, Researcher’s pen or from actual details in the numerous SCP record books. As many of us know how SCP record books varied both in design and how they were used. A girls only senior school that only used the cane for CP across the palms would not need to record these recurring details.
However in mixed schools where both methods and implements varied more information may well have needed to be recorded. Even more so if many different teachers applied it. Regarded less how detailed entries were it was impossible to say how severe the strokes were.
I’m unsure if keeping records of SCP was a national legal requirement or if it various area to area. I presume that some books were inspected periodically by some LEA official. The books once completed seem to have been stored by the appropriate LEA. There are also suggestions that in some schools only official SCP was recorded meaning that only punishments from the headteacher, etc. were entered with classroom punishments not being recorded. If all punishments were recorded there would have been many more SCP record books required!

In my own senior school, a 1950s/60s boys grammar school, various implements were used by a number of different teachers. For serious bad behaviour the cane was used by the headmaster and deputy head. It was also used by a few of the older teachers. I remember the metalwork teacher giving a 2nd year lad 3 firm strokes of the cane for a danger prank involving hot metal. The lad was made to bend over a workshop bench and caned in front of the class. We had never known of this teacher using any form of SCP before. He did occasionally after that use the cane. As I remember he only caned for potentially stupid dangerous things. Other teachers used a plimsoll or 18″ ruler, some used it regularly. One of two whacks in front of the class were the norm, Some teachers whacked far harder than others too. There was an adjoining girls school next to mine but I knew nothing of SCP being used there.

Back in my schooldays, corporal punishment was an accepted method of maintaining discipline in many schools Although not all schools used it even then. Parents had little say in it and most just it accepted it as the way schools punished. Whilst some fully approved not all did. It has to be remembered that many parents of that era used spanking at home too on both boys and girls. It was not, unlike today, seen as wrong back then. In fact many good parents of the time saw it as sometimes necessary but used it sensibly.

The phrase “unspecified anatomy” does not appear in SCP record books.

Thanks for that Larry. I rather thought as much. I guessed that I, Researcher used it meaning that he had no further information regarding that particular punishment.. That said I, Researcher is doing an amazing service to the forum.

Hi, 6otB!  Although I can’t really speak for I,Researcher, I’m fairly sure he said gets his information from social websites rather than archives of official punishment books, so the information is mostly from the victims.  I expect you could probably read things into what information the people provide – maybe along the lines you suggest – as most of the readers would be fellow former pupils of the school, and would know whether the policy was to cane on the palms or the bum, so might not consider it necessary to say?  Maybe also some people might be reluctant to be specific, especially if they had to remove any clothing?

Hi Sorepants,
I have yet to meet anyone who can convince me that any youngster in a UK state schools received proper SCP across the bare backside. Perhaps it happen in gym changing rooms on a few occasions but it was very much against the rules.
All that said back in the 50s/60s plenty of youngsters had their bare bottoms spanked at home, both boys and girls. No doubt some of these spankings were rather suspicious but not all were.

I am also skeptical about stories of bare bottom canings in state schools, 6otB, especially on social media sites!  However, there is a stereotypical image of schoolgirls having their skirts raised and being spanked on their knickers.  I had wondered whether some women might be shy of giving the impression they were punished like that if they said they were caned on the bum?