Betty Occleshaw

In the cellar

My first memories of school were of spending most of the time in the cellar under the school among the hot water pipes.  Ours was a very modern school.  The infant's school, as it was called, was built in 1935.  I started school at 5 years old in 1943.  I could read and write as my mother had taught me these essential things.  My head teacher was called Miss Millner and she was very strict and stood no nonsense.  She was also very fair though.

I used to go home for dinner and my mother used to come home to collect me.  We were not allowed to go home alone as there were frequent air raids.  Sometimes my grandma would come and at other times another mother would come and collect several children who lived close to each other.

School milk

We all had milk and orange juice as well at school.  The milk was sometimes thick and sour if it had been standing in the sun for some time.

The junior school was an older building and was brick built with high ceilings and big windows.  There was a large hall where we used to go for community singing and services.

Canings

In the playground the boys would be kicking a ball around or playing football.  Occasionally, a fight would break out and the offending boys would be taken inside, chastised and frequently caned.

Reading Lewis Carroll

There were a couple of wooden huts at the end of the playground which were heated by an oil stone.  These were very cosy in the winter.  My teacher at this time was a lady called Miss Harding who was the sister of Gilbert Harding of "What's My Line" fame. She was an excellent teacher and used to encourage me to read aloud to the class.  I remember reading "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll.

I was always good at English and History but no good at Maths or Arithmetic. So I did not pass my eleven plus and had to go to secondary modern school.  However, I did well there and passed my School Leaving Certificate with Honours.  Being an avid reader also, has been my education.

I later studied languages, Spanish and French at Adult College,  although I never took any examinations.