LESLIE Huyton became a teacher eight years after the First World War in 1924 when children aged four to 14 were taught in the same class before they trooped off to work and an university education was enjoyed by a privileged few.

The 96-year-old was brought up in inner city Liverpool and attended Anfield Road School before winning a place at one of the few grammar schools in the city.

Despite having dedicated 75 years of his life to education, Mr Huyton, was not keen on school as a youngster and had wanted to fail his 11-plus exam.

However, his father, who was not an educated man, realised how far his son could go with the right qualifications and pushed him all the way.

At the age of 17, Mr Huyton finally took a shine to school and after another nudge in the right direction from his father, he became determined to go into teaching.

He attended Cheshire County Council's teacher training college in Crewe for two years and started teaching in Liverpool in 1924.

In those days, newly qualified teachers provided supply cover, which was known as being on "active reserve" for two years before gaining a permanent position.

If they could not find a job after the two years of supply work then they were deemed unsuitable for the profession and had to leave.

However, Mr Huyton proved a hit in the classroom and was snapped-up by St Saviour's School in Everton in Christmas, 1927, despite it having just been declared in need of immediate demolition following a Government assessment of every school in the country.

He married Margaret Abraham in 1942 who he had met on his first day teaching at St Saviour's.

Margaret, who was deputy head of the school, became the only girl from her year group to marry as so many of the men her own age had been killed during the First World War.

The couple courted for what might seem an extraordinarily long time now - 15 years - before they married.

Margaret, who was older than her husband, had an outstanding career as a teacher and had become the youngest headteacher working in Liverpool at one stage.

Despite the couple's devotion to one another, they had to prolong their courtship as marriage meant Margaret having to sacrifice her job because women were not allowed to work as teachers or nurses if they were not single.

Mr Huyton worked at several schools in Liverpool throughout the 1930s, but was unable to gain a headship until 1947 as teachers' promotions were banned during the Second World War.

As a member of a Congregational Church in Liverpool, he was thrilled to become the headteacher of Little Lever Congregational School.

Mr Huyton recalls that moving from Liverpool proved tricky as houses for sale were a rarity following the Second World War and that when they bought the Bolton Evening News to look for a property there were just six adverts for houses across the whole town!

The couple bought a house in Lynsted Avenue, Great Lever, but had to wait for it to be built with Mr Huyton staying in the Grosvenor Hotel in Manchester Road while his wife stayed in Liverpool.

Despite being Liverpudlians born and bred, the couple took such a shine to Bolton that they never left and Mr Huyton, who is now a widower, lives in Green Lane, Great Lever.

Mr Huyton caused a stir when he took over as headteacher of Brandwood Street School in 1951 as he was the first head to be appointed who had not previously worked as a teacher in the borough.

As his previous school in Little Lever had been under the jurisdiction of Lancashire County Council, Mr Huyton was considered a newcomer in Bolton and ruffled a few feathers after being given such a good job.

But any ill feeling soon disappeared and he loved his 21 years at the Daubhill school where he stayed until retiring.

Despite his retirement at the age of 65, the self-confessed workalcoholic, who never had children of his own, carried on working for the next few years as an external examiner at Didsbury teacher training college in south Manchester.

There can only be a handful of schools in Bolton where Mr Huyton has not served on the board of governors having notched-up 30 years in the role and even sitting on the board of governors of 13 schools simultaneously.

Mr Huyton, who also served as a Great Lever councillor for four years after retiring and was recently bestowed with a Civic Honour for his numerous achievements in the community, said: "Schools lack discipline now which is why so many teachers leave the profession so quickly.

"When I became a teacher, schools were extremely disciplined.

"I still believe good teachers are born and not made.

"Schools couldn't be more different now. When I started you could often be teaching at the same time as another teacher in the same room with the pupils' desks split into four rows.

"I loved teaching and didn't want to retire at 65."

Mr Huyton, who was recently presented with a Civic Honour for his loyalty to teaching and achievements in the community, said, "The Civic Honour came totally out of the blue - but I was absolutely delighted."