8/10/2019 Memories of Love lane school
1/3
Denbigh schools in the year 1915
In the year 1915 Denbigh had seven schools. Howells high school
for girls only, Grammar schoolfor boys only, Catholic mixed school,
girls seven to forteen school, infants mixed five to seven,one
mixed school seven to forteen and one boys only seven to
forteen.
I attended the infant!s school from the age of five to seven
years and then moved to the boys! onlyschool from seven to forteen
and on attaining the age of forteen I left and commenced wor"ingon
the railway # to the age of my retirement after a total of fifty
years. $he school I attended wasthen called the %ove lane boys
school as this school was sitated in one of the town streets
whichis called %ove lane, the school was bilt sometime in the early
1&'' s being bilt of dressed stone
Dring the seven years that I attended the school I had to wal"
the one and a half miles to be atschool for nine in the morning
bac" home for dinner at twelve noon, retrn for one thirty and
bac"home at for.
$he school #lay yard was sally a sea of md es#ecially after
rain. $his wold be cleaned and
carried away at intervals by the boys themselves so as to ma"e
it a little more sitable to #lay.In the main games #layed were
ronders, football, marbles and a few ronds of boxing.
$here were abot one hndred and fifty boys in the school bt we
were never given mchhomewor" to do, we might be given a few sms to
wor" ot abot once a wee".
$he school had three classrooms above and for classrooms at
below grond level. $heses forclassrooms wold be very dar" dring the
winter months and also very dam#. $here was alsonever many boo"s
abot to read, there was also one long washroom below with for wash
handbasins fitted with a cold water ta# only.
$he lower rooms too" in classes one to for and the to# room
which was one long room too"
classes three to seven.$he school carried a total staff of for
teachers and one head teacher.$he one female teacher and for male
teachers all lived in Denbigh or in the contry on theots"irts of
town.
$he headmaster was (r )ohn *oberts+ he was a very stern man. He
wold wal" between thechildren and their des"s while the boys were
doing their wor". He always carried a cane and if henoticed
anything wrong with the boys wor" he st rise the cane across the
boys hand and #ointot the mista"e with it.Classes six and seven
were ta"en by him and everyone dreaded to thin" when they had to
move# from the lower classes.
$here was also one long cloa"room where all the boys hng # their
hats and coats.
$he careta"er of the school which at that time was a woman and
she lived in a flat below theschool.
-e were only given fifteen mintes morning and afternoon
#laytime. $here was no sch thing asschool meals for the ordinary
school only at the conty or higher school. -e were never ta"en
otfor wal"s or ta"en anywhere to see anything edcational.ny
#nishment /was0 handed ot by the headmaster himself and wold be ite
severe. It woldbe three stro"es across the right hand or three
stro"es across yor seat, bt for all that he trnedot some very fine
boys which were a credit to the Conty school.His school always had
the highest nmber of boys to #ass /ot of0 all the schools in
Denbigh and
the otlaying district.-hen yo finally #ass, the boys wold go to
the Denbigh Conty 2chool and the girls from theother town schools
wold have to tre" to *thin by train, a distance of eight miles.
8/10/2019 Memories of Love lane school
2/3
ll the lessons were in 3nglish. $he school wold commence in the
morning with a servicesometimes ta"en by one of the boys, bt mostly
ta"en by the schoolmaster himself.
I cannot recall anyone s#ecial coming to visit the school other
than one of the school heads orsometimes the town (ayor.$heir
visits wold be loo"ed #on as fn becase it wold be a means of ta"ing
the (aster awayfrom his classes. I did not miss a lot of school and
there were not a lot of writing boo"s.
nother sbect we were learned once a fortnight was cardboard
modelling.
$he #o#lation of Denbigh arond this time was arond nine
thosand.
/$his #hoto was ta"en at the right hand side of the entrance to
Denbigh castle0
