The little school at Aldoth was built in 1851 on the site of an earlier school. It cost £150 to build and was paid for by the National Organisation for Education of the Poor.
It served as the local school to the children of Aldoth and surrounding scattered rural community for just over a hundred years.
The school seems to have had a chequered history, fluctuating between high pupil numbers, excellent teachers and good accommodation and times when pupils were few in number, teaching described as inadequate and the building falling apart.
We have been able to build up a picture of school life from the school logbooks, which cover the period from 1878 to 1957.
Mr Joseph Heslop, Headmaster notes in the first entry of the logbook,
1878 – This school was re-opened on the 18 th November when there were 15 children present, on the 26 th there were 30 and on 2 nd December 38 .
We don’t know why the school was closed or for how long, however the school appeared to get off to a good start with pupil numbers increasing quickly.
Three months later, the Headmaster was having difficulties and noted,
1879 March 10 th – To harmonise with the desire of the people the school fees have been reduced from 7/-, 6/-, 5/- to 6/-, 5/-, 4/- per quarter.
Nothing remarkable is noted in the logbook over the eight years of Mr Heslop’s stay other than comments on pupil attendance which dropped during bad weather and at hay time, harvest time and for potato picking because the children were often required to help out on the farm.
Between 1886 to 1909 there was a high turnover of teachers, some of them hardly staying long enough to learn the children’s names.
In 1910, Miss Findlayson and Mrs Johnston were the teachers
In July 1890, Mrs Johnston the Headmistress noted,
Attendance very poor today, only 37 children being present. Some are thinning turnips and others are working at home minding the house and all efforts of mine seem to be in vain to get them to school.
A Schools Inspector visited annually. The report of 1898 makes gloomy reading,
I regret to report that there is a further decline in the condition of the school. The room is untidy and the floor dirty, the cleaning being still entrusted to a child of 13, who is engaged to sweep, dust, light the fire and provide sticks for 7d a week…. Ventilation must be attended to, the closet (earth toilet) must be kept in a tidy and clean condition and floors scrubbed frequently.
Ten years later conditions are no better. In 1908 the Ann ual Inspector’s report gives a very detailed and fascinating insight into the conditions at the school. It becomes clear why some of the teachers over the last 23 years did not stay long or had difficulty educating the children to a high standard.
‘The premises - one room measuring 26ft by 18ft. All standards and infants are mixed. 10 square feet per child – room will take 48, 55 are on the register.
Desks are arranged lengthways in four continuous rows without space between them. The teacher cannot approach any child who is not seated at first file.
Infants are packed into an angle of the room… they have no freedom of movement… ventilation inadequate, small swing windows are only source of fresh air…
The Tortoise stove has no guard…the cloakroom is 9ft by 8ft. In wet weather the children’s clothes cannot be aired much less dried…. floor is always damp… no supply of drinking water on the premises. The playground is not fenced – surface neither level nor well drained. There is no house within reasonable distance, which the teacher could live in.
>In 1914, Mr Whittaker was headmaster
This report certainly spurred the school managers into action and the following summer the school was closed for ten weeks while extensive refurbishment was undertaken.
The school was re-opened in October 1909 having been extended, divided inside into two classrooms by means of a wood and glass panel and fitted out with additional furniture and equipment.
1924, Headmaster Mr Feddon Ferguson
From this point onwards Ann ual Inspection Reports were on the whole very favourable with satisfactory standards of teaching and pupil achievements. Pupil numbers were also fairly constant with about 50 children on the register.
One small fault was found in 1912 by the school inspector due to the cloakrooms being open to the outside.
‘The children most of whom bring their dinners to school, have occasionally to submit to the depredations of dogs, ducks and domestic fowls, which invade the cloak-rooms and attack the food stored for midday use…. Food should be deposited on shelves beyond the reach of these marauders.’
Mr Whittaker started as Headmaster in 1913 and soon added gardening to the curriculum. Mr Freddon Ferguson took over from Mr Whittaker in 1921 and stayed until he moved to teach at Abbeytown in 1929. Both teachers were praised for their high standards of teaching.
In 1929 Mr Carr became the headmaster and stayed until the school closed in 1957. He provided the little school with much needed continuity and stability.
In February 1932 Mr Carr introduced hot drinks at dinnertime. The children paid 1d for the week and had the choice of tea or cocoa.
The children enjoyed a wide range of activities, which included: gardening on a little plot near the school, games every Wednesday in a field about ¼ mile from the school, nature walks with Mrs Carr and Miss Carr, and going to Wigton baths for swimming lessons.
Mr Carr was headmaster during the 1950s
The one aspect of school life, which never improved, were the toilets. Despite water being brought to the school, the children were still using earth toilets when the school closed in 1957! To make matters worse they had to ask the teacher for toilet paper which was rationed to one piece per visit.
44 children were enrolled at the school in 1948 but by 1955 the number was down to 14. In the autumn of 1956 the decision was made to close the school and on 12 th April 1957 the school finally closed.
The school in 1957
| Mary Osborn (nee Watson) went to Aldoth School between the late 1920’s and late 1930’s. She walked to school from Highlaws (wearing clogs) across the fields or on the road if it was wet. She remembers helping to make the tea and cocoa at lunchtime for the children. The playground was never fenced in. Mary remembers wandering off up the lonning at playtimes and playing Hounds and Hares. |
Mary Marshall (nee Lightfoot) went to Aldoth School between the mid 1930’s to mid 1940’s. She remembers that during the war Mr Carr got the boys to dig out an air raid shelter for the children behind the hedge on the roadside opposite the school. The ground is very sandy there and she didn’t think it would have provided much protection. Luckily they never had to use it! She also remembers the annual Christmas school parties. The children played games and had tea. In the evening a dance was held for the parents with the music being provided by the Sim family. Everyone put a little money towards buying a duck for the Headmaster each Christmas. Someone tied a ribbon around its neck and it was quite a sight when it wandered through school. |
| Kathleen Armstrong (nee Strickland) was four when she started school at Aldoth in 1938. She left when she was 8 because the family moved to Plasketlands. She enjoyed her time at school and remembers playing on a sandy bank near the school, which was covered in bracken. They used to slide down the bank and dig holes in the sand. She remembers wandering down the road to Aldoth Farm some lunch times to play with Mary, Martha and Wilma Morton who lived there and who also went to Aldoth school. |