1920 Harry Floyd's schooldays

This report is listed in Social Snapshots 1900-1968 inc.

Report by Rosemary Mortham on a conversation with Harry Floyd about his schooldays at Lacey Green School. For Harry's life history see Harry Floyd

click John & Rosemary Mortham for life of Rosemary Mortham

In 1920 Harry Floyd was 14, about to leave Lacey Green School.

There were two school rooms. Nancy Hawes taught the babies in the room at the front right of the school looking from the road, and Mabel Janes was pupil teacher. The headmaster was Mr Avery. He was a nice man, and sent postcards to the school when he was sent away to war. He was replaced temporarily by Fanny Palmer during the First World War. After the war Mr Avery went to teach at Downley.

The entrance to the school was a corridor in the middle of the front wall. The girls cloakroom was to the right of this and the boys to the left. There was a side door near the postbox. There was a wooden fence around the school. The playing fields went as far as the outside toilet block. Harry thinks there were about 50 children there in his time. Next to the school was a reading room for adults.

The children brought packed lunches, or went home if they lived close enough. School was from 9 am to 3.30 pm. They had one hour or lunch.

Only a very few children got to grammar school.

Occasionally the boys played cricket at Lane Farm, Church Lane, where Harold Hickman lived. click Harold & Emily Hickman for their life story.

They spent half a day a week gardening on the school allotments during WW1. They also went blackberrying for the war effort. For this they were paid, and Harry bought his first packet of Woodbines at aged 10 to 11 for one penny. Nancy Hawes was not pleased. The boys got the cane but the girls did not.

Harry's Granny, Ann Horwood had been a school teacher. See Peter and Ann Floyd

Ted Anderson's sister Bertha was a pupil teacher when Harry was there. She later packed up teaching, but never married.

Harry wrote on a slate. He really liked painting. Arithmetic wasn't bad, but he hated spelling, and was not keen on reading. He didn't have many books of his own. Worst of all was learning poetry by heart. He hated school, and skipped off as often as he could. If he tried this too often, the school inspector might come round, and his father would be prosecuted.

After school, Harry helped on the farm, but he preferred to play marbles in the middle of the road. At other seasons the boys would have spinning tops and hoops (trawlers) with hooks. The girls played hopscotch and skipping. Harry was wanted on the farm to move hurdles, do horse raking and hay making.

The vicar, the Reverend William Robson came to teach scripture first thing every morning. On Ash Wednesday, they went to church, and had the rest of the day off. They had one month holiday in summer and one week a Easter and Christmas, also a long weekend at Easter.

There were no prizes or exams that he can remember, although he thinks there may have been end of the year tests. The children were not encouraged to do well at school. They were expected go to work as soon as possible, and saw little use for education. His grandfather Saunders could only write his name. See William Saunders & Bethia Janes The other grandfather, Peter Floyd was a churchwarden, so he could probably read and write.