David Cooper, 1940s

St. Kenelm's C.E. Primary School, Romsley
Centenary Celebrations
1915 - 2015

Memories of Mr David Cooper - Pupil - Late 1940s onwards

 

  • The headteacher was Mrs Southall and the other teachers whilst I was at St. Kenelm's were Miss Payne, Mrs Marshall followed by Mrs East.
  • Miss Gladys Tandy and Mrs Barker were the dinner ladies in the Church Hall where we had our lunchtime meals.
  • The playground monitor (lunchtime supervisor) was Mrs Whitcombe.
  • Our occasional music lessons were led by a Mr Love and his selection of stringed instruments.
  • The rector at the time was Rev. Owen. He would visit the school regularly and would peer at us menacingly over his half-moon spectacles whilst calling the register.
  • During the annual Sports' Day all the races (including egg and spoon, sack and three-legged) were started by Mrs Southall's husband using a starting pistol. No health and safety worries sixty years ago!
  • The toilets and washbasins were situated in the brick shed across the back playground. They were very basic and probably rather smelly.
  • When I first started school my mum used to cycle to school with me riding on the back of the bike. As I grew bigger I had my own bike, a BSA with 18 inch wheels, which I left at Jessie Deeley's house next to the Church Hall and then walked up to school.
  • There was no new estate in those days so many of the children travelled quite a distance to get to school. The three Round brothers came all the way from Shutmill for example. Not many parents would have driven their children to school by car either. Most of us would have walked or ridden on bikes.
  • Roads were not as well maintained either. Spring Lane, Holt Lane and Hagley Wood Lane were not tarmacked; they would have seemed little better than farm tracks.