While not everyone will agree with old saying that your schooldays are the best days of your life, there's no doubt they shaped our lives.
For some of us, it's been a long time since we last sampled the delights of the school canteen, or took our final exams. But many of us will still have friends they met at school, or remember a particular teacher that made a great impression on us.
We probably remember our school corridors teeming with noise and energy. But as time goes by, the classrooms of some of our old schools, holding so many memories, fall silent for good.
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As old schools merge into new schools, and those unmistakable buildings come to the end of their life, new estates, supermarkets and fields take their place.
Below, we take a look back at the schools which closed before the buildings fell victim to the wrecking ball. This list is not intended to be comprehensive, so if you went to a school that has since been demolished and you think should be included, let us know in the comments.
Durnford Street School, Middleton
Durnford Street school opened in 1908 and was built to accommodate a thousand pupils. The Grade II Star listed building was designed by Middletonian Edgar Wood and was unlike any other school building built in the region at that time.
In the Noughties, councillors voted unanimously to demolish the school to build housing. The building had deteriorated and became a magnet for arsonists and vandals during the 10-years it had been closed.
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Hollies Convent FCJ School, West Didsbury
Hollies began life in Fallowfield in 1900, after being founded by the Faithful Companions of Jesus, an international congregation of religious women. In 1961 it moved to West Didsbury, after its original site was bought by Manchester University for student accommodation.
The school's most notable former pupil is Royal Family creator Caroline Aherne, who reportedly got nine As in her O-levels during her time there. It closed in 1985 after the Salford Diocese merged it with St Mark's School and the building was demolished later in the same decade.
St Augustine's Grammar, Wythenshawe
The school opened in September 1965, and closed just 12-years later. In the years that followed parts of the site were used first by St John Plessington High School and later by St Paul's High School, but by 1987 it stood empty and was demolished the following year.
Although it was only open for a short time, it did spawn one of Manchester's most celebrated bands. Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and bass player Andy Rourke first met at the school in the 1970s where they bonded over a shared love for the music of Neil Young.
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Broughton High School, Salford
The school was situated on Duke Street in Lower Broughton. Formerly known as Broughton Secondary Modern following its opening in 1950, it later changed its name to Lowry High School and Broughton High School.
The school closed its doors in 2000. The building was used by a local Jewish school before it was pulled down in 2007.
Joseph Eastham High School, Salford
Affectionally known as 'Joey's', this comprehensive school in Salford was built near the end of the 1950s. Serving the areas of Little Hulton, Walkden, Worsley and Boothstown, it was named after a well-respected Little Hulton grocer who had lived on Hilton Lane where the school was sited.
Its most famous pupil was the actor Christopher Eccleston, who famously went on to become the 9th actor to play Doctor Who. By the 1990s, the condition of the building was beginning to show its age; reportedly, buckets were often deployed to collect rain water from its leaking roof.
The school closed in the summer of 2001 following a merger between Joey's and nearby Little Hulton Community School and was demolished in 2008.
Worsley Wardley Grammar School, Swinton
Another school with famous former pupils, some of the Happy Mondays, including Bez, are old boys of this now lost educational establishment. It first opened as Worsley Wardley County Grammar School on Mardale Avenue in 1955.
In 1972, the school became a comprehensive school before merging with Pendlebury High School in 1988 to become The Swinton High School. It became a further education college in the 1990s, and the original Mardale Avenue building has since been demolished.
North Manchester Grammar School for boys
North Manchester Grammar School for boys in Moston officially opened in 1931. In the early 1960s, a two-storey extension, known as the White (or New) Block was built overlooking the playground.
At one time, the school had a good reputation for encouraging boys from the terraced streets of Lightbowne and Cheetham Hill, and the council estates of Blackley and Moston, into university. However, in the 1960s, the school was incorporated into a split site comprehensive, becoming North Manchester High School for Boys.
Standards reportedly suffered following the change and the school eventually closed down in the mid-'90s. The school buildings were demolished in 1997, with the site now occupied by houses and flats.
Birley High School, Hulme
Located close to Hulme Hippodrome, this respected comprehensive school welcomed its first pupils in 1967. As more people came to live in Hulme in the 1970s, the number of pupils attending grew to some 1,200 at its height.
In the 1990s, Hulme was the focus of major urban regeneration resulting in the school closing before being demolished in 1998. The Birley Fields Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University now stands on the site.
St Lawrence's RC High School, Salford
St Lawrence's on Weaste Lane opened in 1960. It was later renamed All Hallows Business Enterprise and Sports College.
In 2015 the building was demolished and a new Church of England primary school, St Luke’s, was built on the site.
Hilltop Primary School, Rochdale
Once a popular school on the Kirkholt estate, it closed its doors to pupils to 2005. However, between 2006 and 2012, the old school building was the setting for seven series of hit TV show Waterloo Road.
The school building was demolished in 2013 and now a new housing estate is planned for the site.
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