Crowle Church School, Church Street – 1942-1948
Ivan Watson.
Born Ealand 1937,I attended Church School 1942-1948
I remember there were 4 classrooms.
Infants with teacher Miss Goodison. In winter there was a roaring fire to keep us warm and as we sat around this we were made a mug of cocoa.
Next class, Miss Scales was our teacher.
3rd class was run by Mr Gillott, who would not stand for any bad behaviour in class. He would throw the blackboard rubber at the culprit with great force. (the rubber was a block of wood with felt on one side to clean of the blackboard chalk.)
If you were lucky he would only throw a stick of chalk.
Worse still was the dreaded cane on your hand, or both hands.
Top class was run by the headmaster Gaffer Clarke.
Occasionally at noon break some of us would climb over the rear playground wall into Printing Office lane and wander round town, only to have Gaffer and other teachers waiting for our return.
All the escapees would be lined up in front of the other pupils and were treated to a whack with the cane, and it was no advantage to be last in queue as it was still a hefty whack.
(Imagine that happening today)
After caning 2 fathers would visit the school and pick a fight with the teachers,
At lunchtime we would go across the road to the Parochial Hall to have our dinners, watched over by my granddad Mr Robert John Jackson who was the caretaker, he was also church warden at St Oswalds Church. He would also be there to watch over us when the school doctor and the dicky nurse came to check us all for flea’s or anything else, flea’s were a common problem in those days,and had to be dealt with quickly.
When in Miss Scales or Mr Gillott’s class being at the front of the school I could see and hear the funfair arriving to town.
Steam engines pulling up to 4 trailers each would park the trailers by the Parochial hall, and then take them one at a time down Vicars Walk to the fair field in Johnsons Lane.
It was exciting hearing the steam, the whistles blowing, and the clatter of these massive engines.