Nostalgia with Margaret Watson: Fond memories of school days in Dewsbury for two life-long pals

Margaret Watson writes: They were old and some were dropping to bits but we loved those little old schools and were sorry to see them go because with them went so much of our social history.

Many readers might remember one such school, the Walker Council School that used to be on Edge Lane, in Thornhill, for infants aged five to seven.

It certainly holds fond memories for two life-long friends, who both started there in the same week, aged five.

The little girls, Pat Sykes and Mollie Dean, never forgot this lovely little school and have many happy memories of it.

Pat’s family lived in Overthorpe in Thornhill, and she began school on her fifth birthday on the Monday.

Mollie’s family lived in Castle Mount, and she started school on the Friday, before her fifth birthday on the Saturday.

Both friends are celebrating their respective 90th birthdays in November and they have kindly agreed to share some of their memories of their old school.

The following is their account of what this school was like:

The Walker Council School was very small, consisting of a hall with coat pegs and just two classrooms.

Each classroom had double desks, and Miss Robinson taught the five to six year olds in the smaller room.

Miss Mercer was the headmistress, and she taught the six to seven year olds in the larger room nearest to Edge Lane.

The toilet block was outside, and cold in winter, but this was regarded as normal because most of the children lived in houses with outside toilets.

The school had no kitchen, although the children were each given a third of a pint bottle of milk to drink in the mornings.

The children had to walk home for their dinner, and then return for the

afternoon lessons.

When Mollie went home for her dinner on that first Friday, she remembers being very surprised when she had to go back in the afternoon.

She had been told that she was going to school but thought this was an extra present for her birthday the following day, and not that she had to keep on going and going.

The school’s hours were from 9am till 4pm, with dinner time between 12 noon and 1.30pm.

The teaching was traditional, using blackboards and chalk and both Pat and Mollie learned to write using pencils and paper because the infants were not old enough to use pen and ink.

They both learned to count using cowrie shells, which Pat remembers lining up in rows on her desktop, and then sliding around to practice addition and subtraction.

The school had a few children under-five, and Pat and Mollie remember these little children napping on camp beds in the bigger room in the afternoon.

Yet, it wasn’t all hard work, for they went to Sports Days, held on Savile Town Cricket Field each summer term, which drew children from many of the surrounding schools together.

Although, neither Pat nor Mollie remembers doing sports there, they do remember going instead in fancy dress.

In summer term 1938, Pat remembers going as a Dutch Girl, after her mother had fixed whitened cardboard shapes to her pumps to make them look like clogs.

Mollie remembers going as Minnie Mouse, whilst a mutual friend from their school, Marjorie, was Mickey Mouse.

Pat remembers making papier-mâché nests at Easter, which they filled with paper shavings, and small egg-shaped sweets given by the teachers.

The school had a radio and during its Music and Movement broadcasts the children would dance and skip around in the bigger room.

The school had a small playground, including a flower bed that Pat

remembers helping with.

Mollie remembers the school’s rocking horse in the hall that pupils were briefly allowed to ride on their birthday.

They both remember the school’s Christmas tree, laden with presents that the children could choose from in birthday order – eldest to youngest.

Pat and Mollie both had their eyes set on the same doll, but Pat, being five days older, managed to pick it ahead of her, something Mollie still reminds her about over 80 years later.

One memorable occasion occurred in summer term 1939, when the school held a “Balloon Day” in its playground.

Luckily this was photographed and is pictured. Pat is the little girl third from left, but unfortunately, Mollie was not in this photograph.

The taller boy on the right with the pole and top hat was Eric Hobson, and the smaller lad next to Eric is thought to be Jeffrey Peace.

When Pat and Mollie look at this picture they remember when life was so much simpler.

They also remember how the world was shortly to change, for the picture was taken in the summer of 1939 just before the outbreak of war.

In autumn of that year, Pat and Mollie both moved to the C of E Juniors’ School in Combs Road, Thornhill, for children aged seven to eleven.

Around the same time, war was declared, and they had to learn to wear gas masks which they carried in a cardboard box slung from their shoulder.

The children had to practice air raid drills at school and ironically the

distribution centre for their gas masks was at their old Walker Council School, where they went to be correctly fitted.

Now, as they each reach 90, Pat and Mollie remain good friends,

Happy 90th birthday Pat and Mollie, and thank you for sharing these lovely memories with us.