School’s out - forever
WEST DEEPING SCHOOL
Fifty years ago, the children of West Deeping left school for the Easter holidays, never to go back! Teachers Many people’s most vivid memories are of their teachers. Only a few people might remember Miss Grassam and her assistant Miss Garford, in post until 1935. Some people will still remember Mrs Mary Rodgers who taught here from 1936 to 1942. She stayed in the village and was an enthusiastic member of the Evergreens for many years after her retirement.
West Deeping Church of England School, now the Village Hall
It’s easy to guess from its architecture that what is now West Deeping Village Hall – the distinctive red brick building on King Street – used to be the village school. Since it opened in May 1900, until it closed 50 years ago on 6th April 1971, many generations of children passed through the doors of West Deeping Church of England Primary School.
Memories
Many more remember Miss Florence Day, the headmistress from 1942 to 1967, and the infant teachers Miss Florence Day Mrs Peach and Mrs Fathers. Debbie King (née Jibb) remembered Miss Day’s kindness as well as her rather erratic driving and several attempts to pass her driving test. Mrs Wilson Smith was the Headmistress for the last few years and moved to the William Hildyard school when West Deeping closed. Debbie, herself a hairdresser, particularly remembered Mrs Smith’s beehive hairstyle, kept in place with lots of lacquer. One of Marion Crowson’s memories is of Mrs Peach bringing shortbread from Stamford for her mid-morning break with Miss Day.
Some former pupils have kindly shared their memories and, to fill in the gaps, there is information in the village archives. See Virginia Hall’s book, A Portrait of West Deeping and visit West Deeping Heritage website for more history: https://wdheritage. wordpress.com
Memorabilia
We have only one or two photographs of the school interior – one from the late 1930s before gas or electricity were installed, when there were still paraffin lamps. The impressive display of artwork was probably for an Inspector’s visit – no-one can remember there being such things as Parents’ Days!
When the school closed, Nick also salvaged some wind and weather charts – filled in daily from September 1968 until the last entry, for 3rd April 1971, a few days before the school’s closure. Another avid collector, Allan Crowson, kept the rubber stamp for ‘West Deeping School’. It’s now rather perished but was probably used many times on school books and correspondence. The blackboard and easel, recently refurbished by my husband, are still used occasionally for village events.
Village school interior in the late 1930s Everyone remembers the two classrooms, one for the infants and one for the juniors, with a glazed partition which could be pulled back to make more space, and the woodblock parquet flooring had that distinctive smell of new polish at the beginning of every school year. There were two big potbellied stoves, fed with coke and lit every morning by the school caretaker (Mrs Laurie Wilson in later years). Marion Crowson (née Wilson) remembers winter days when the stove would get red hot! A canteen was added in 1949 to provide hot meals for children even though they all lived within walking distance of their homes and few mothers went out to work. The toilets were outside, originally with separate buildings for the boys and girls. Until proper sewerage came to the village, the ‘vaults’ had to be emptied regularly!
Very few pieces of school memorabilia have survived, as far as we know. Thanks to former pupil Nick Sandall, we still have the school bell (one of the five objects described in I’d rather be in Deeping in the Jan/Feb2021 issue).
Wind and weather chart 1971
Marion Crowson still has a booklet that reminds her of music lessons: ‘Twice a week we had the BBC radio on Singing Together on a Monday and Rhythm and Melody on a Thursday.’ Theresa Briggs (née Marsden) went to the school for only brief periods during the 1960s, between her father’s postings abroad, but fondly remembers her favourite thing – a doll’s house, brought out for rainy playtimes. continued >
BBCBroadcasts for Schools 1957
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