well as boys – a pre-condition of the County Council's grant of £600 towards the building costs. This was the first time an endowed School of this type had become co-educational. The school opened with fifty pupils on roll, all between the ages of eight and eighteen. The first Headmaster was Charles J. Mansford, B.A.(London). Subjects taught were Religious Knowledge, English, Classics, Mathematics, Science, French and Drawing. Boys did Woodwork, girls did Domestic Science. The Bakewell Show Ground was used for games. Fees were £2 per head, but this meant the school operated at a loss and so the County Council agreed to fund 12 scholarships. The school was one of the first to establish a more modern curriculum. An article in Review of Reviews (1898) says "Within the school there is a School of Science, affiliated with South Kensington, about one half of the scholars being so classed. Girls are taught exactly the same science, for instance, as boys, and at the same time, in the same room. So far the science taught embraces Practical and Theoretical Chemistry, with Practical and Theoretical Physics". The 20th century In 1900 two boarding houses were set up, at Dagnall for boys, and in The Avenue for girls, and in 1909 the Old Bath House (now Haig House) was bought as extra premises for Fifth and Sixth Form, and Staff. In 1919 four acres of land who bought in Shutts Lane for use as a playing field. This remains part of the school playing field today. The Foundation Stone of new school buildings, on the present School site in Shutts Lane, was laid by the Duke of Rutland on 20 May 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the founding of the School by Grace, Lady Manners in 1636. The new buildings were opened on 24 February 1938. During World War II Lady Manners School shared their building with North Manchester High School for Boys who had been evacuated. On a two-week rotation, Lady Manners pupils went to school in the morning (including Saturday), and Manchester Grammar pupils in the afternoon. The following week, this was reversed. In the 1960s the school had around 550 boys and girls and was a voluntary controlled school. In 1972 Grace, Lady Manners Grammar School became a secondary comprehensive, admitting all pupils within its catchment for secondary education. By the late 1970s it had around 1300 boys and