THIS week saw King Charles visit Bradford, in his first Yorkshire tour as the new Monarch.

The King arrived by helicopter, landing in the grounds of Bradford Grammar School, before he was driven to the Morrisons head office then on to Centenary Square, where he was greeted by hundreds of people, and a reception at City Hall.

The royal visit prompted memories from VINCENT FINN of the time the King’s late father, the Duke of Edinburgh, came to Bradford Grammar School, in 1949.

Pupils presented the Duke with the gift of a shawl for the then baby Prince Charles.

Prince Philip returned to Bradford Grammar School in 2002, to open a new swimming pool, sixth form centre and music school. Pupils and parents waved Union flags to welcome him, while the school brass group played a fanfare. Before hopping back into his waiting burgundy Jaguar, Prince Philip chatted to some of the school’s younger pupils.

But back to that 1949 visit. WritesVincent:

I remember the day when King Charles’ father, the Duke of Edinburgh came to open Bradford Grammar School.

I was at St Bede’s School, in Heaton, and we used to take the Bradford Moor bus along Manningham Lane from the bottom of Emm Lane. But that day the whole area was closed off for the royal visit.

I think the new Bradford Grammar School, in Frizinghall, had been completed before the Second World War but it was taken over by the army during the war, so it wasn’t officially opened until after the war.

There was a high wall that ran along the whole length of Bradford Grammar’s boundary with Manningham Lane.

Prior to Prince Philip’s visit protesters had painted in huge letters along the wall “No guns for Germans”. This was in protest to the government’s decision to re-arm the newly formed West German republic. As you can imagine, this was a very controversial issue coming so close to the end of the war.

I am sure the Duke must have seen the protest graffiti as he drove along Manningham Lane on his way into Bradford.

Prior to moving to its new building, Bradford Grammar was at the top of Manor Row opposite the Yorkshire Penny Bank building.

When the school moved to its new location, this former school site was taken over and became Carlton Grammar School. The Carlton Bolling building was burned down about the mid-1950s and Carlton then merged with another school.

The Bradford Grammar building was completed in 1939 but due to the outbreak of war, pupils were evacuated to Settle while the school was used as a military training centre. Maybe some Telegraph & Argus readers might know of any other Bradford buildings being taken over for war use during the Second World War.

I know that St Mary’s girls school , on Jermyn Street was, because my sister, Mary, was a student there.