Remembering Miss Crowson

by Nancy Titman

Gladys May Crowson was born in January 1901, at the beginning of the reign of King Edward VII. She was the daughter of Alfred Arch Crowson, the village builder and stonemason , and his wife Louisa, both of them members of long-established Deeping families and staunch worshippers at the Parish Church where Rev Samuel Skene was the vicar.

The church was at the centre of village life, both religious and secular. Sunday was special, a day of rest for most. The shops were closed, pub hours restricted and noisy games prohibited. Children went to Sunday School crowded into groups according to age, in the Vicarage Schoolroom, to say prayers, sing hymns and hear a Bible story. Their attendance was recorded in a register so that Miss Charity could include them when organising the Christmas and summer treats.

Gladys May, grown into a pretty blonde blue-eyed girl, went to Sunday School with her brothers and was so good at helping with the small children that at the age of twelve years she was teaching a class of her own.

She was just as reliable and conscientious at day school and trained by Mr Jennings the headmaster. With further teaching at Grantham High School she qualified as a teacher, taking on Standard 1 seven-year-olds at the Cross School.

Children at school were under strict discipline; corporal punishment was allowed and teaching was formal .Every morning began with a scripture lesson followed by arithmetic, and girls did needlework every afternoon to a high standard.

In the wider world there was progress, chiefly in transport, and a few cars were seen amid many bicycles. Buses came to Deeping, making a trip to town much easier, while the wireless connected the people of the countryside to towns and cities.

Times were still hard in the 1920s and 30s; money was scarce and people had to work long hours. Class distinction was observed, the Vicar and professional people at the top along with land-owning farmers, whilst at the bottom were the majority who were agriculture workers or railwaymen. These labourers got very little reward for their skilled physical work and it was often their wives and children who were most deprived. There was much hardship and poverty in some families.

A group photograph of Standard 1 in 1925 shows Miss Crowson standing proudly with her class, looking steady and confident in her dark skirt and jumper, hand-knitted in the variegated wool that was fashionable at the time. She continued to make her own clothes all her life, having a favourite pattern for a dress, which appeared in different material to suit the season, with clever use of pockets, buttons, pleats or a collar to ring the changes.

The children in the group would all do jobs to help in the family, boys feeding chickens, helping in the garden or fetching water or coal, while girls helped in the house and did washing up, housework and minding younger children. They were not paid but if lucky would get a Saturday penny to spend on sweets.

Parties were few and far between, or non-existent, so the Sunday School treats were special events for most children, though at that time they were Spartan affairs.

At Christmas there was a tea; plates of bread and butter and slices of bought cake set out on long trestle tables in the Vicarage Schoolroom with plenty of hot sweet tea to drink. Singing games and Spin the Tray made the entertainment, while in the summer there was a picnic with lemonade made with crystals and some sports, the highlight being a scramble for sweets.

In 1926 there was a reshuffle at the Cross School when Mr Towning became the Headmaster, and Miss Crowson moved to the Infants School to take charge of the Reception Class. It must have been her dream job as she loved the small children so much. Many elderly residents will remember their first days at school in the sunny classroom with the door to the playground by the river.

There was another change for Miss Crowson when the family moved to the spacious new house which her father had built on a site opposite the Waterton Arms. There was also a large workshop, garden and a lovely river bank.

Miss Crowson was always busy sewing her own clothes and also making things to sell on her stall at The Rose and Sweet Pea Show. As the festivals came round she helped to decorate the church, and her special area around the pulpit always looked fabulous. She sang in the choir too, and was appointed Superintendent of the Sunday School. She had a loyal team of helpers and attendance numbers increased. It was time to plan a better Christmas party for the children.

A creature of habit, every Saturday Miss Crowson went to Peterborough on the bus to do her shopping. Her last call was at Woolworths the store where nothing was more than sixpence. Here she bought toys and trinkets to hang on the Christmas tree, always including some toy cars and celluloid dolls .These were the star prizes for children who had made perfect attendances and there were always several of them.

For the party the Vicarage Schoolroom was decorated with paper chains and balloons while the tree had pride of place, laden with presents. The trestle tables had cloths and there was jelly and blancmange as well as bread and butter and cake for tea. After the games and passing the parcel each child chose a present from the tree. Boys with full attendance had the superior car, girls the fairy doll dressed with wings and a wand by Miss Crowson. Everyone had a present and some sweets and an orange to take home.

Miss Crowson far right

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The summer treat was to be an exciting new venture: a day trip to Skegness which required careful planning. Mr Shaw of Maxey promised to supply buses for transport and the Tower café was booked for the tea. All prayed for a fine day for the outing, hoping they would wake up to one of those hazy mornings that promised perfect sunshine.

The fleet of small buses waiting nose to tail from the Church Gate to Broadgate Lane corner was an amazing sight to the day trippers who converged on the area from all directions, the children rushing to find which one they would ride on. Many had never been on a bus before so everything was thrilling and wonderful. The seaside, and the joy of paddling, making sand castles, donkey rides, visiting the pier and boating lake, the amusement park; so much to cram into one magical day. After the tea there was still time to look at the shops and buy a stick of rock or a small present for someone who had not shared the day at the seaside. When all the stragglers were rounded up and the buses filled Miss Crowson made her rounds and gave a bag of sweets to be passed round while the children told each other the day’s adventures, before settling down to some singing of ‘Ten green bottles’ or ‘Old Mac Donald’. Long before reaching Deeping many of them, overtired from excitement and flushed from the long day’s exertions, had fallen asleep. Their parents were pleased to be met by friends who had sat on the Cross or waited ages to welcome the travellers home. Miss Crowson continued to organise the annual Sunday School day at the seaside until the 1970s, raising the money to pay for these treats by holding whist drives and socials during the winter months. She cycled and trudged for miles, relying on friends and contacts to buy tickets, donate prizes and provide refreshments for the events.

She was especially fond of the ‘big’ girls in her own Sunday School class, so every summer she held a party just for them at her home. After a picnic tea there was a treasure hunt on the river bank. The girls were also given special gifts, like a needle case, comb case, embroidered handkerchief, and pencil case – all personal presents hand made by Miss Crowson and treasured for years.

Miss Crowson spent the last two years of her life in The Laurels Care Home where she died just shy of her 92nd birthday. A large number of people attended her funeral service at the Parish Church which was conducted by the vicar, Rev Stanley Haworth. The choir sang and the Church bells rang in appreciation and to say Goodbye to one of the most faithful members of the church.

The vicar gave a touching and personal tribute to Miss Crowson’s life and devoted work for the Church. He had known her at the end of her life and could not imagine how much her kindness had meant to so many children when times were hard. Having no children of her own, she embraced all of them, loved them and made them happy.

l-r Miss Crowson with friend and colleague Miss Doll Swift

left Miss Crowson in latter years

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I’d just like to thank everyone for their support during my 4 years as your county councillor for Langtoft and Deeping St James. It has been a fantastic journey and I have made friends and enjoyed working with you all as residents and with many businesses. I would like to take this opportunity to wish your new councillor success. Barry Dobson