Annals of Eyam Woodlands School
ABOUT THIS PAGE:
Eyam Woodlands (now Grindleford Primary) School first opened its doors on
November 22nd 1876 - John MELLOR taking charge. Both my mother, and
my grandmother were pupils. This page contains some personal reflections
on the school, as a third generation attendee.
Miss Elizabeth Patrick
One of its teachers, in the early 1900s was Miss Elizabeth PATRICK. I remember
noticing on one of the occasions I visited the graveyard at Eyam that she is buried at
Eyam with her parents.[1]
A stereotypically strict 'school marm', she
taught the pupils of the time with the end of a ruler - or so I imagine from how
my mother described her! Nevertheless they learned the basic "three
R's" - to add up, to write well, and to spell correctly, and to recite poetry.
My mother could still recite the poems she'd learned into her old age, and to
the extent I feel I know them better than the ones I learned at school myself! I
found out only recently that "The Pobble Who Had No Toes" was one of
Edward Lear's 'nonsense' poems. I am uncertain of the author of the others -
"The Little Cares that Fretted Me" (sounds like Tennyson?) and
"Peter Augustus Marmaduke Green ... the dreadfullest boy that ever
I've seen..." (how NOT to teach good grammar?). "The Wreck of
the Good Ship Hesperus" was another one she learned, which is rather
better known generally.
"We had the cane, and it never did us any harm..."
On reflection, I guess my mother remembered it as she enjoyed poetry. Possibly
other pupils of her vintage would remember different things. For instance I don't
recall my auntie (b.1902), 2 years older than my mum, ever mentioning poetry she learned,
although she also remembered her schooldays with a similar "fondness",
encapsulated in her memory that: 'We had the cane, and it never did us any harm...'
"Come down from that tree this minute, Joe Reeves!"
Both my auntie and my mother left school at 14. My uncle Joe (their brother, b.1900)
left aged 13 to go to work on a nearby farm. This may be because the compulsory
leaving age changed, or perhaps he'd wanted to leave sooner. Whilst he attended
school, he liked to play truant, and he used to amuse me with stories of how he led
the teachers a merry dance. Miss Patrick went looking for him after he failed to
return to school after lunch: he was hiding in an apple tree belonging to the nearby
Commercial Inn (now the Sir William and whilst Miss Patrick couldn't
get up there herself, she used a broomstail (broom handle), poking at him from below
with a "Come down from that tree this minute, Joe Reeves!"
Truancy couldn't be allowed to continue, however, as there was the
"school bobby" who would visit the parents of any child who stayed
away for too long; a real ogre in these children's minds.
Another story my uncle Joe told related to meals at school, although I suspect this was
a fabrication as I'd understood from my mother there were no meals served at school.
His story was that they were served lettuce, whereupon one boy shrieked
"teacher, teacher, there's a snail in my lettuce!"
"Shurrup, else they'll all want one!" was the reply!
The first 100 pupils
My grandmother (their mother) was one of the first 100 pupils to attend
the school. When the school celebrated its centenary, the School Records
were deposited at the County Record Office in Matlock. These records contain
reports of pupils attending, and other events of interest, such as the request to
close the school on 31st August 1886 due to an outbreak of fever in the village.
Each entry lists an admission number, date of admission, name of child,
date of birth, name and address of parent, previous school, and remarks.
Sample extracts of previous schools are Stoney Middleton,
Hathersage, "G.B" (Grindleford Bridge) and
Mr. Kenyon's
Here are the details of my grandmother's entry:-
| Admission No. | Date of Admission | Name | D.O.B. |
Name + Address of Parent | Previous School | Date of leaving |
| 94 | March 21 1881 | Ada Outram | 29 Sep 1871 |
Rbt. Outram, Leam | G.B. | Sep 1884 |
G.B. = Grindleford Bridge. There were no Remarks against my grandmother's entry.
Remarks for other admissions included "Labour Certificate",
"Gone to Eyam", "Left the Village" and "Too young - sent home"!
Holidays and Celebrations
In summer school attendance was probably poor, as children from the farms nearby
would stay at home to help with the harvest. Official school summer holidays were
only 4 weeks. There were no school meals, and at "dinner time" (midday)
my mother would have to walk home from school, and up to Magclough Farm to collect the
family milk for the day. Then back to school after dinner - clothes and shoes were
'hand-me-downs', or second hand, so protection against the rain and elements may
have been minimal in ill-fitting clothing. And sometimes the school building would be
so cold that outdoor clothing would be worn in the classroom.
Generally speaking also there were fewer public holidays than now, at a time also
when the norm was to work six days a week. However, in my mum's day, the pupils
had holidays for events we no longer celebrate - the (then) relatively new celebration of
Empire Day[2] (24 May) a public holiday inaugurated in 1902,
and also (if I remember correctly) there were celebrations in the village for Oak Apple
Day[2] (31st May). This may also have coincided with
Whitsuntide. 'Whit' was a time for wearing white (to accord with its original form of
'White Sunday') and summer as a whole for village celebrations like the Maypole on
the village green, and the 'Wakes'.
Grindleford Flood[3]
Another older resident of Grindleford [See References, below] told the story
of how in 1923, some children from 'up by the station' - on the other side of the river
to the school - were stranded at school after the river burst its banks, and the bridge
flooded. Walking across was impossible - back then there were no rubber boots and
protective waterproof clothing! However fortunately a local woodcutter with a large
carthorse called 'Titch' came to the rescue and ferried the children across the bridge
on the horse's back. Miss Patrick was also mentioned in this tale as being their
head teacher who was 'firm but kind hearted', not, I suspect how my mum would
have described her!!! [uh, you'd call a dragon firm, but kind hearted?]
Ironically, also my mother recalled as a child being terrified of meeting the large
carthorses in the lane leading up to their home, so this horse may have been no
saviour for her!
References:
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[Last updated 13 Feb 2009 - 11:31 by Rosemary Lockie]
