History of Swanland

A NEW HISTORY OF SWANLAND THE SCHOOL AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Swanland Village History Group 2003 1 Copyright © 2003 Shirley Dalby, Derek Brooks, John Holmes Shirley Dalby, Derek Brooks, and John Holmes, have asserted their Rights to be identified as the authors of their respective chapters in accordance with the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the author or authors of the chapter or chapters concerned. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired or otherwise circulated, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the authors’ prior consent. ISBN 0-9543440-1-4 Published by Swanland Village History Group 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Our thanks are due to the many individuals whose works are listed in the document. We are most grateful to all those who have provided photographs, documents and oral reminiscences and to those who have given continuing encouragement throughout the volume’s preparation. Thanks are expressed to the following organisations for the opportunity to access materials in their care: Beverley Reference Library Christ Church, Swanland The East Riding Local History Society The East Riding of Yorkshire Archives Hull City Archives Hull Local Studies Library University of Hull Archives. In particular we wish to thank the East Riding of Yorkshire Archives for permission to use extracts from Swanland School’s logbooks and managers’ minute books and Hull Local Studies Library for permission to use an extract from the Autobiography of Thomas Blossom. We thank the staff of Swanland Primary School for allowing easy access to the building and providing copies of the Governors’ Reports to parents, 1990-2002. We are indebted to the University of Hull for allowing us access to a portfolio of photographs and giving us permission for selected use and to Christ Church, Swanland for access to J E Whitehead’s Records of the Congregational Church. 3 PREFACE One year ago the first volume of A New History of Swanland, containing descriptions of the village during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was published. This, the second volume of three, features the history of the village school and one writer’s memories of village life during the twentieth century. The six members of Swanland village history group have continued to advise the two principal writers during production of the finished text and these members are still involved in researching material for the final volume. Archives used for the article on the village school have been mainly the school logbooks and the minutes from the managers’ meetings. As the school’s initial 200 years was under the auspices of the Independent Chapel (now Christ Church), the chapel records, prepared by the Reverend Whitehead in 1900, have also been consulted. There has been some input from photographs collected since the millennium celebrations in the village, from the annual reports of the current school governors and from conversations with current school staff members. The twentieth century writing relies heavily on oral tradition and memory, with support from written archives collected during the life of the writer. There has also been input from resources held in the East Riding and Hull archives. Material being researched for the next volume in the series includes a history of the churches in the village, life in Tudor and Stuart times and the character of the village in medieval times. As resources for these earlier periods in history are limited and scattered countrywide, this volume is proving more difficult to produce. The aim is, however, to publish the third volume late in 2004. The compilers of the present volume are Shirley Dalby, (The School) and Derek Brooks, (The Twentieth Century). Derek Brooks has assembled the final text and images. The other members of the group are John Holmes, Linda Collier, Yvonne Dumsday and Glenys Thompson. This volume, like the first, is complementary to the fascinating Recollections of Village Life compiled and published some years ago by J & C A Wheeler. 4 CONTENTS Table of Figures 8 APPENDICES 9 THE SCHOOL 10 INTRODUCTION 10 EARLY HISTORY 11 SCHOOL UNDER GOVERNMENT INSPECTION 14 1871-1880 14 1880-1898 17 1898-1903 20 VOLUNTARY NON-PROVIDED SCHOOL 22 1903-1910 22 1910-1924 23 1924-1930 28 COUNCIL SCHOOL 30 1930-1939 30 1939-1947 34 1947-1963 37 1963-1971 42 1971-1989 45 1990-2003 46 REFERENCES FOR THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL 49 TWENTIETH CENTURY SWANLAND 58 INTRODUCTION 58 THE EARLY DECADES OF THE CENTURY 59 POPULATION, NEW BUILDING AND LANDOWNERS 59 The Occupants of The Great Houses 60 Farms and Farm Labourers 61 Farms from the 1930 onwards 62 CRAFTSMEN AND SHOPKEEPERS 63 Joiners 63 Post Office 64 Tailors 66 Cobblers 66 Blacksmiths 67 Grocers 68 Butchers and Fishmongers 70 Fruit and Vegetables 70 Milkmen 71 Builders 71 Tinker 71 The Parish Council 72 5 The Formation of the Council 72 Early Meetings 72 The Great War and the War Memorial 72 Road Signs 73 Transfer to Beverley Rural District Council 73 The Pump and the Pond 73 The Pond 73 THE WATER SUPPLY 75 RECREATION 78 THE LATE 1920s AND 1930s 80 The Beginnings of Change 80 The Break Up of the Estates, and an Increase in Population 80 Speculative Building 82 The Electricity Supply 83 COMMUNICATIONS 84 Motor Vehicles 84 The Telegraph and Telephone 84 Fire Service 85 Schooling 87 Healthcare 90 LEISURE ACTIVITIES AND THE VILLAGE HALL 91 Playing Fields 91 The Village Hall 91 Other Entertainments 92 CELEBRATIONS 93 THE WAR YEARS 1939-1945 96 Parish Council Affairs 96 Evacuees 97 Prisoners 97 Wartime Reminiscences 97 Victory celebrations 100 THE POST WAR YEARS 101 Additions to the war memorial 101 THE GROWTH IN POPULATION 103 BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS 103 New Houses 103 PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND SERVICES 106 THE DEMISE OF OLD FACILITIES 106 The Blacksmith 106 The Methodist Chapel 106 Overhead Power Cables and the Pond Side 106 NEW BUILDINGS AND SERVICES 107 The New School and Village Hall, (see also The School part) 107 Bowling and Tennis Club Pavilions 107 The Village Pub 108 Maternity Care 109 New small shops and enterprises post war 110 6 The Mains Gas Supply 111 NEW RECREATIONAL FACILITIES 111 The Playing Field 112 The University of the Third Age 112 Village Preservation 112 The Village Hall 113 THE NEW ANGLICAN CHURCH 113 VILLAGE CELEBRATIONS 114 References for the twentieth Century. 115 APPENDIX 1: NUMBER ON ROLL AT SWANLAND SCHOOL 117 APPENDIX 2: HEAD TEACHERS OF SWANLAND SCHOOL 118 APPENDIX 3: SCHOOL BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS 119 APPENDIX 4: COPIES OF SOME PAGES FROM THE FIRST LOGBOOK 121 APPENDIX 5 128 INDEX 131 7 Table of Figures Fig. 1 Mr. Richard Witty..........................................................................13 Fig. 2 The tablet outside the main entrance to the building....................16 Fig. 3 An early picture of boys from the school......................................20 Fig. 4 Girls from the school, early 1900s ...............................................21 Fig. 5 Children by the pond with original school building ....................23 Fig. 6 Mr. Lowe with his class, 1913-14.................................................24 Fig. 7 Mrs Lowe with girls in Domestic Science, 1918..........................25 Fig. 8 Christmas concert, 1919...............................................................26 Fig. 9 1919 Group...................................................................................27 Fig. 11 Swanland School in 2000 ...........................................................31 Fig. 12 Miss Hill’s class in 1934..............................................................32 Fig. 13 Swanland School Christmas party, about 1939 .........................33 Fig. 14 Old Girls’ Reunion in 1937 with Miss Hill’s successor..............34 Fig. 15 Gardening class, 1944.................................................................36 Fig. 16 Plaque hanging in present school’s entrance..............................37 Fig. 17 School group, 1951.....................................................................38 Fig. 18 Pupils with Howdenshire Shield for Sports................................39 Fig. 19 Swanland School leavers, 1961...................................................41 Fig. 20 Swanland School in 2003 ............................................................42 Fig. 21 1967 School Group......................................................................43 Fig. 22 The dining room of the new school..............................................44 Fig. 23 Book Brain; A school event, 1991 ...............................................46 Fig. 24 Aerial Photograph of ‘The Grange’ taken in late 1930s.............60 Fig. 25 The Andrews’ family in their yard ...............................................63 Fig. 26 Main Street...................................................................................64 Fig. 27 Notice sent to Swanland Post Office ...........................................65 Fig. 28 Post Office & Turkey Hall ...........................................................66 Fig. 29 Button for Reckitt’s livery............................................................66 Fig.30 Billy Wise and his assistant ..........................................................67 Fig. 31 Blacksmith Grundy at his smithy

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