Description
The foundation stone laying ceremony for the Hebden Bridge Grammar School, 1908. Cllr Joseph Greenwood officiating. Sitting behind the lady in white and wearing a cap and gown is the first headmaster of the Secondary School, as it was then, Morton Wager.
The caption for this photo in "Looking Back at Hebden Bridge" by Frank Horsfall and T.J. Wyke is worth including here:
“Laying the Foundation Stone of the Hebden Bridge Secondary School, 1908
Following the passing of the 1902 Education Act, a secondary school was established in Hebden Bridge in 1905 in temporary premises in Pitt Street. Eventually a site was acquired at Black Pit Holme and a design for the new school produced by the local architect, Harry Sutcliffe. The foundation stone of the Hebden Bridge Urban District Secondary School was laid on 28 July 1908 by Joseph Greenwood who had played an important role in the promotion of education for children and adults in the district for almost fifty years. The photographer has captured the moment during the ceremony when Miss Evelyne Eastwood presented Joseph Greenwood with a silver trowel to perform the stone laying. Seated at the front of the platform wearing his mortar-board, is the school’s headmaster, Morton Wagner. The school was opened in May 1909. Later it became a grammar school, and in more recent times it has become the Riverside Junior School.”