110 per cent - 26 July_Tennyson
110 per cent - 26 July_Tennyson
110 per cent - 26 July_Tennyson
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<strong>110</strong> PER CENT<br />
TENNYSON EDITION<br />
THE HISTORY OF TENNYSON<br />
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN…<br />
<strong>Tennyson</strong> was bought for £12,500 on 17 November 1961 when the need for larger playing<br />
grounds arose with the expanding school population.<br />
The land needed to be changed from cow paddocks to first class sporting fields. This<br />
required the help of Brothers, parents and students alike. From 1962 working bees<br />
were formed with rosters for the tireless weekend work that was needed to make the<br />
transformation.<br />
Carloads of men would arrive on the weekends, carrying their own tools and carting<br />
water in kerosene tins from the nearby Sea Scouts hut. Local turf was sourced, as it<br />
proved better than the bought turf. Car boots, trailers, barrows, cartons and hands<br />
delivered the turf to the prepared grounds, which were hard and difficult to work.<br />
The process at <strong>Tennyson</strong> brought the Terrace Community together with men working<br />
side by side every weekend, doing all they could to get the grounds up to standard.<br />
Men gave their time generously and worked tirelessly with bare hands and their own<br />
tools sustained by the lunches prepared by wives and mothers.<br />
The ovals were used for the first time in June 1964 for overflow Rugby games. Nine<br />
age division teams played against Ipswich Grammar. By August <strong>Tennyson</strong> was ready<br />
for major fixtures.<br />
Working bees continued throughout this time, completing the caretaker’s house, tree<br />
planting, completing the driveway and building the grandstand.<br />
The grandstand was made up of a galvanized roof supported by steel girders and<br />
posts on cement blocks. Concrete tiers were put in to hold the seats, which were<br />
brought from the assembly hall, repainted and braced. Additional seating was made<br />
and placed on concrete slabs around the oval.<br />
The year 1968 saw the last of the working bees after the canteen was built to supply<br />
the ever-growing demand of hungry boys and families.<br />
The grandstand was all but destroyed during the devastating floods of 2011.<br />
St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace<br />
A Catholic School in the Edmund Rice Tradition<br />
3
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