Chapter Three

The Boys’ Department  [1860 – 1939]

 The first Boys’ Master was Mr. Levi Peak. He was paid £55 per year and in addition had the occupation of the Schoolmaster’s House free of rent and tax, together with free fuel.

Aged 22, he was the son of a bricklayer and had attended the Teacher Training College in Saltley, Birmingham. He started his employment in February 1860 and some letters written by him to the Management Committee in the early years still exist. From June 1863 onwards we are able to learn much more about Mr. Peak and the school following the introduction of the School Log Book. In 1862 The Government issued a Revised Code concerning the payment of Maintenance Grants to schools. One of the requirements for a school to receive a government grant was that the master or mistress should keep a daily Log Book. [In the 1870’s this was to be slightly relaxed to allow entries to be made less regularly but they continue to provide the greatest source of information on the running of the school]. Teachers were told they should make only entries as to facts and not opinion but this was sometimes ignored. Another stipulation of the Revised Code was that the amount of grant received by a school was dependant upon the number of children achieving a certain level of attendance and upon their passing tests set by the school Inspector on his early visits. This caused the schoolteachers of 1860’s, 70’sand 80’s to be greatly concerned at the extent and causes of children’s absence from the school.

The first entry in the Boys’ Log made in Mr. Peak’s neat, copperplate handwriting was on 29^th June 1863 when two boys were sent home because ‘they had not brought their school pence’ From the entries in the Log Books we can obtain some idea as to the personalities of the various Masters. Mr. Peak does not appear to have been the stern disciplinarian that one might imagine a Victorian Schoolmaster to be. He referred to the boys almost affectionately as ‘lads’. On 9^th October 1863 he tells us that he gave a lesson on ‘volcanoes’ for no other reason than that ‘the lads desired it’. On occasions Mr. Peak forgot to complete the Log, and he once missed a whole week of entries, owning up to his mistake when he remembered to make the next entry.

[Until 1939 the Old Swinford Schools provided the total education of most children – there was no general secondary education until the opening of the Grange School in 1939] On 26^th October 1863 Mr. Peak readmitted three boys aged as old as 11, 14 and 15 who had been absent for some time ‘working or playing’. On 30^th November 1863 a night school was opened for some of those who could not attend during the day or were too old to attend school. This took place three nights a week and was taught by Mr. Peak himself. During the day he was the only adult in charge of the Boys’ School where there were often over 60 boys present. The only assistance was in the form of ‘monitors’. These were older boys who were paid a small wage. On 16^th September 1863 John Hall was taken on as a monitor for a month’s trial for a wage of 2/- per week. He received lessons from Mr. Peak before the school opened in the morning. In addition homework was set for the classes. The parents had to provide the books for the children to write in. Mr. Peak wrote ‘As often as I can I examine the lessons [homework] out of school time’. On Sundays and religious days such as Good Friday Mr. Peak was expected to accompany the boys to Church.

Mr. Peak therefore taught before school, taught 60 boys in school time, taught evening classes three times a week, had homework to mark in his own time and attended Church every Sunday.

Most of the school time was spent in teaching Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Religious Instruction. In the early years regular drawing lessons were also given by a Maser of the Stourbridge School of Art. Singing was also an important part of the curriculum. During Mr. Peak’s time as master the girls often came into the Boys’ Department for singing. There were some lessons on other subjects but in February 1865 we are told ‘First class given up reading English History for a time, until the reading is a little more in a natural tone’. Much teaching at this time was done by rote with children having little understanding of what they were reading or writing. In addition Religious Instruction and the repetition of the Catechism, a series of religious chants and answers, were central to the curriculum.

Even the apparently mild Mr. Peak found it necessary to punish the boys. He provides us with a list of possible punishments – extra lessons, keeping in without lessons, public reproof, loss of office, loss of play and finally the cane. On 1^st August 1864 Mr. Peak wrote that he had given one boy the cane for telling lies but he ‘did not get the truth out of him at last. This morning a neighbour came to me about some bruises, which he got – not from me but from fighting’.

There were often treats for the children. On 19^th July 1864 Mr. Peak ‘gave away toys – lead pencils, India rubbers, whistles, toys etc. Each boy present had one’. The wives of the clergy provided Christmas treats. There was also a half-day holiday for the yearly summer treat. This usually took the form of a tea followed by games. On 17^th July 1863 we are told that ‘only one lad was sick and two late’ from the effects of the treat on the day before. Mr. Peak was evidently expecting there to be more.

At this time the summer holidays referred to as the ‘harvest holidays’ reflecting the use to which the children often put them. On the last day of summer term Mr. Peak took an inventory, which shows us the contents of a classroom in the 1860’s. There was ‘one large Bible and Prayer Book, 24 Bibles, 23 Testaments, 33 penholders, 79 slates, 3 boards and easels, 1 map of the world, 1 map of Europe, 1 map of England and a quantity of reading books’. One item that was surprisingly not present in the school at this time was a clock. On 14^th March Mr. Peak’s own watch was broken and as there was no clock in the school the time was ‘not divided very nicely’ between lessons.

Mr. Peak’s exasperation with the stipulations of the Revised Code is clear. On 27^th January 1865 there was ‘deep snow’. The next day there were only 21 boys present rather than the 50 or 60. ‘The snow is very deep and is still coming down’ Mr. Peak wrote ‘this will make a difference in the {attendance} averages. Payments by results – will this punish us for bad weather?’. By this stage Mr. Peak had already notified the Management Committee of his intended resignation. In January 1865 he gave away some of his books to boys who had done well in exams. On 13^th March 1865 he sent the boys home at half past three so that he could attend to the sale of his belongings in his house and left at the end of March 1865, visiting once more in April 1865. His replacement, Joseph Fowler, eventually explains these goings on. Mr. Peak had ‘left for New South Wales’. He had emigrated to Australia.

Joseph Fowler shared many of Levi Peak’s preoccupations with the children’s absences and the requirements of the Revised Code but in character and temperament he was very different. He had been trained at Culham Teacher Training College in south Oxfordshire. There are now more references to the use of the cane to such an extent that Mr. Fowler wrote in his Log on 25^th May 1865 that he had not caned anyone that day – evidently an unusual occurrence. On the same day the junior of the two monitors was expelled for ‘falsehood’ and for ‘contradicting the Master’s judgement in the drawing exercise’.

During his time as master Mr. Fowler mentions a variety of misdemeanours by the boys. On 8^th October 1867 he ‘found a pipe and some tobacco on some lads and destroyed them’. Later in the same month he ‘cautioned seven boys about their conduct in Church on Sunday and absence from Sunday School’. He was not as tolerant as Mr. Peak had been of the boys mixing with the girls. In March 1868 he ‘cautioned the boys about playing with the girls’.

The Government Inspector called at the school once a year to examine the children in Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Religious Instruction. His comments on the school were transcribed into the Log Book. The Inspection for 1867-68 stated ‘The boys are in good order’ but ‘discipline might be carried out with more gentleness’. Mr. Fowler seems to have been quite a forbidding figure.

On 12^th February 1866 Mr. Fowler learnt that a number of boys had started to attend a free Infant School in the village that had been opened for the benefit of very poor children. Even the ‘school pence’ were too much for some families to afford. Nevertheless in July 1866 the fees were increased. Those boys in the highest class were to pay 3d per week instead of 2d. Some in the 2^nd and 3^rd classes were to pay 3d in order to be promoted to the higher classes.

A number of comments made during Mr. Fowler’s time make clear the poverty of many of the children. The main occupation in the village was nail making, carried out in small workshops and outhouses. There were also chain makers. Glassmakers were also present but many of these moved away after the closure of the Heath Glassworks in 1882. Thus the village of Oldswinford largely consisted of typical Black Country trades. This is confirmed by the census returns in addition to references in the School Log Books. Nail making was in decline throughout the nineteenth century and the nail makers went on strike several times to try to improve the piece rates at which they were paid. Times of strike increased the children’s poverty yet further. Some families were still also dependent upon work as agricultural labourers. During the 1860’s we also see the first references to children being absent in ‘Worcestershire and Herefordshire hop fields’ for the annual hop picking in September and October. The poverty of the families made them often dependent upon a contribution of income from their children. On 27^th November 1866 Mr. Fowler wrote ‘Mrs. Harris here – paid some money and expressed her sorrow that Henry was obliged to work now; he is only 10 years and 7 months old’.

Bad winter weather reduced the number of children attending school – as well as creating some fun. On 14^th march 1867, after a deep fall of snow in the night there was ‘some fun with the lads in the snow, who were attacked by the girls’. No doubt the girls had a different version of events. But four days later we are told that due to the cold and snow a number of boys were away as they ‘had no shoes’ – it was too cold to walk to school barefoot. On 30^th September in the same year Mr. Fowler again commented ‘A few lads very poor and badly clothed’. Some shoes and stockings were given to one lad. Perhaps Mr. Fowler was not a completely hard man.

The curriculum continued much as in Mr. Peak’s time. There are references to an ‘Annual Drawing Examination administered by the Department of Science and Art in South Kensington, London’. Successful boys received prizes and certificates and the school also received some income by way of government grant according to the number of successful entrants. Mr. Fowler was still the only adult teacher, assisted by monitors. The Inspector now began to urge that a pupil teacher be appointed. 

Mr. Fowler encouraged the boys in playing football. A club was formed in February 1867 by about 25 of the boys who each paid one penny. A new football was purchased in April 1867 costing 9/-. There are a number of references to the boys ‘playing football’ and in January 1868 there was ‘hindrance in marking the Register owing to the lads having to leave to recover the football which was seized by someone in the lane’. There was evidently also a cricket club as before leaving Mr. Fowler cleared out ‘a bat and stumps belonging to the boy’s cricket club’.

Mr. Fowler left on 17^th December 1869. George Benson replaced him. He was aged about 28 and was born in Whitehaven in Cumberland. He was married to Fanny Benson who was born in Worcester. During Mr. Benson’s time the night classes were closed. During the day Mr. Benson continued to teach with only the help of monitors. The Inspection Report for 1869-70 stated ‘The new master Mr. Benson has evidently taken pains with the teaching’. In 1872 we see the first reference to a visit by the ‘Inspector of Factories who called to enquire about attendance of some of the boys’.

After a promising start Mr. Benson resigned on 3^rd October 1873 ‘in bad health’. On 19^th March 1873 there is a note in the Log Book ‘George Benson, late Master, died today from consumption [tuberculosis] at Cheltenham’. He was in his early thirties.

John Clark, who was to prove to be a particularly successful master, replaced George Benson. In March 1874 Mr. Clark reprimanded the monitor for ‘ill-using the lads in his class’. Shortly afterwards the monitor was ‘put back in the class for continued carelessness’. In June 1877 Mr. Clark refused admission to a boy ‘belonging to Enville Street Board School [now the Robin Woods Centre] – he was leaving that school, he said, because they would not let him stay away when he wanted to’.

It was fortunate that Mr. Clarke was an able Master as there were other difficulties. Many of the original Management Committee had left or died, including the Reverend Craufurd who died in February 1876. There were also staffing problems. A pupil teacher who he had engaged left in 1876. A new selected pupil teacher declined the position and the post was re-advertised. Eventually a new pupil teacher was appointed in August 1878. Two weeks later a complaint was made by one of the mothers that the new pupil teacher had struck her son on the head. He ‘was sick for three days in consequence and that the said pupil teacher offered to give the lad something if he would not tell’. It was evidently thought that there was some truth in this as the new pupil teacher was withdrawn from the school shortly afterwards. In addition, the boys, as ever, continued to be naughty. In February 1879 one boy was ‘withdrawn from the school, being called upon to pay for a slate, broken wilfully, on a classmate’s head’.

By 1878-79 the average attendance was 76 boys. Mr. Clark now had the benefit of the help of a ‘School Attendance Officer’ and in July 1979 it was finally decided to obtain an Assistant Master so that Mr. Clark no longer had to rely entirely on monitors or pupil teachers. The first Assistant Master was Mr. J.W. Vickers of Hampshire who took up his new post in August 1879.

The Government Inspector who visited the School at this time was M. J. Barrington-Ward. In early 1881 he wrote ‘The Boy’s Department is in very efficient condition as regards both instruction and discipline. The results are in all respects praiseworthy’. Other annual Inspections were equally good. During Mr. Clark’s time we see first references to a few bright boys gaining scholarships to the ‘Grammar School’. This entitled them to free tuition and books but was of benefit to only a very small number of boys.

Mr. Clark appeared to have been fond of singing. Each year he entered into the Log Book a list of the songs being learnt by the boys. They give us an idea of the tunes sung by the children of the time and include ‘Begone dull care’, ‘Be kind to thy Father’, Home Sweet Home’, ‘Men of Harlech’ and ‘Ye Mariners of England’.

By 1881 school attendance was made compulsory. In July 1881 the parents of one child were fined 5/- by the Magistrates ‘for his irregular attendance at school’ writes Mr. Clark, ‘ the first instance of the kind here’.

We know from the census that in 1881 Mr. Clark was aged 38. He lived in the Schoolhouse with his wife Mary and their four-year-old son, John. In December 1883 Mr. Clark was absent from school ‘due to illness’. He died on 20^th December 1881 aged 40. His wife would have been rendered not only a widow but also homeless. On his next Inspection Mr. Barrington-Ward paid tribute to the excellent inspection reports that had been given during Mr., Clark’s time.

Following Mr. Clark’s death a Mr. Burns took temporary charge of the school. On 7^th January 1884 the boys were ‘very troublesome and disobedient’. On 3^rd March 1884 the new permanent Master, John Sutton, took charge.

Mr. Sutton was to be a major figure in the history of the Boys’ School – not least because of the length of his Headship. He was Boys’ Headmaster for over 38 years, from 1884 to 1922. His Headship spanned a time of major social change and National Crisis. This was mirrored by changes in Education and attitudes to the welfare of the children. He provided continuity from Victorian times through the Edwardian era and First World War to more modern times.

In the early years the concerns of Mr. Sutton were similar to those of his predecessors and the curriculum remained limited but gradually the school life changed. At first, things were not easy. In September 1884 Mr. Sutton was absent from school one afternoon ‘suffering from nervous disability’, but he recovered and persevered. In February 1885 he ‘admitted six boys from Stambermill, some of them having never been to school before can neither read nor write. Monitor commenced teaching them the alphabet’.

The poverty of the local families continued to be of concern. Now that education was compulsory the payment of the pence became a particular difficulty. Parents who were unable to pay were to ask for remission of fees but this was only done on a temporary basis and involved investigation by the ‘Enquiry Officer’. In order to encourage attendance The Managers agreed in 1888 to ‘give prizes to scholars who have made 90% of attendance during the year. It is hoped that this will have a wholesome effect upon the scholars’. In order to raise money for the Prize Fund a School Entertainment was held at which the boys performed ‘dialogues, recitations and songs’. Education was eventually made free in 1891.

The School Inspector was not always impressed with the boys. In 1888 he wrote ‘The boys are quiet, on the whole, in school but they have an unpleasant custom of answering out of turn, and they do not always show due cleanliness’. Mr. Sutton tried to improve the boys’ appearance but this was not totally successful. In April 1888 he punished a boy named Albert ‘for having dirty hands and face. His mother objected to his being punished and has subsequently taken him away from these schools. The punishment consisted of one stroke of the cane across the hand. The boy was afterwards sent into the lavatory to wash his hands but instead of doing this, he ran off home and fetched his mother who used abusive language’. In 1890 the Inspector continued to complain ‘the boys of this school are not nearly smart enough in their discipline, and they are ready to talk at the wrong time. The introduction of efficient military drill would soon secure prompt obedience’. There is little evidence of Mr. Sutton taking up this suggestion.

In September 1888 the School Attendance Committee met to investigate cases of irregular attendance. ‘Over 20 parents summoned but only about half attended’. Given that the meeting was in September it is quite likely that a number of the parents were hop picking along with their children.

By 1893 Mr. Sutton had a qualified assistant, a pupil teacher and a paid monitor to help him. There was now also a school caretaker. By 1895 the numbers on the Register had increased to 141. There are now references to the school buildings being used for other purposes. In 1897 the Managers agreed to ‘use the Infant’s Department for a dancing class’ and in 1898 the ‘Dramatic Club’ were allowed the use of the schools during some evenings. The first use as a poling station took place in July 1886. In April 1895 the school buildings were hired on several evenings by a ‘Colonel Furness for the purposes of holding political rallies’ in connection with elections to the Urban District Council, one was presided over by Lord Denbeigh.

By the 1890’s there are mentions of visits by the ‘Medical Officer of Health and Sanitary Inspector’. It was increasingly considered that the children’s health and welfare were important. Hungry and sick children could not learn. In February 1895 the weather was particularly bad. Funds were raised to start a ‘soup kitchen’ and the children had their first free meal on 15^th February 1895. The free dinners continued into March and on Shrove Tuesday the children were also ‘regaled with oranges’.

Also in the 1890’s, the restrictions on the curriculum were loosened. Pianos were purchased for the three departments to accompany singing lessons. Some boys now achieved higher levels of education than in the early years. In July 1895 there is reference to two boys starting to learn French. Boys who wished to leave school before the stipulated age could undergo an examination for a ‘Labour Certificate’. If they could show they had achieved a certain level of reading, writing and arithmetic they could leave and enter into employment.

In 1896 the first reference is made to ‘a scheme of instruction In Horticulture and Agriculture as a class subject’. This was part of the general move to widen the range of subjects taught and a number of schools started to teach Horticulture at this time. Few can have done so with the enthusiasm of Mr. Sutton. On 17^th July 1897 a Manager’s meeting was called ‘to decide upon garden allotments for the boys. It was agreed to leave the matter in the hands of the Master with permission to secure any available piece of land near the schools for the purpose’. This Mr. Sutton soon did and by the autumn the allotments gardens were established and in use. There were fourteen allotments each in the care of one boy, and there was a fruit and flower ground. In 1909 there was an Inspection of the allotments by the ‘Local Authority’s Chief Horticultural Inspector’. Despite the enthusiasm of Mr. Sutton the Inspector was not impressed. He said the plots were ‘too long and narrow’ and should be altered. Five of them were ‘wholly unsatisfactory’. Mr Sutton was undaunted. The next year the Horticultural Inspector said ‘these gardens are greatly improved and much credit is due to Mr. Sutton and his pupils for the improvement and excellent way in which they made the desired alterations. The plots were very clean and well cropped with good variety of fruit, vegetables and flowers’. This interest in horticulture continued. A later report read ‘very valuable instruction in gardening has been given here and none better than the year of 1916…..especially good have been the potatoes, peas, summer beans, cabbage, parsnips, carrots, turnips, broad beans and beet, and brussels sprouts, cauliflowers, savoys and leeks have closely followed’. There was even a heavily cropping apricot tree. In 1919 Mr. Sutton calculated that the retail price of the crops grown during the year 1917-1918 was ‘£16 18s 0d’ – a sizeable sum at that time.

By 1899 it was clear that the school buildings needed extending. The number of children on the register was increasing. By 1901 160 boys were attending. In desperation all corners of the school were in use for teaching. The Inspection report of May 1900 says ‘The practice of teaching a class in the cloakroom should be discontinued’. A Parish meeting was called to decide how to raise the necessary funds for two additional classrooms, one each for the Boys’ and Girls’ Departments. It was decided to ask for voluntary rate payments of 1/- in the £. By the summer 1901 there was still difficulties in raising the money. The Church magazines from this time give some information about the fund raising efforts.

In November 1899 the Dramatic Society, who rehearsed in the school buildings, performed two farces to raise money to go the buildings fund. The two plays were entitled ‘Poor Pillicuddy’ and ‘Cool as a Cucumber’. The magazine read ‘If you want a thoroughly enjoyable evening and an opportunity for hearty laughter, secure a ticket for this entertainment’. Far more money was needed and in August 1901 Mr. Sutton and one other gentleman were to form a committee to ‘collect subscriptions from parents and working people’. The Great Western Railway, which had recently re-built Stourbridge Junction, agreed to contribute £50 towards the cost of the buildings.

The Church magazine worried that if the money could not be found ‘the only alternative will be a School Board’ which, it was believed, would mean a considerable increase in rates and loss of status as a Church School. Eventually the money was raised and building work commenced in 1901.

The worries about replacement of the Management Committee by a School Board were soon overtaken by a major change in the organisation of education. 1^st April 1903 was a date in the School’s history that dramatically changed how the school was to be run. On this date the school passed into the control of Worcester County Council. From now on there are frequent references to the receipt of circulars and instructions from the ‘Education Department in Worcester’. Matters that would formerly have been decided within the school now became part of a bureaucratic process.

By 1904 the Boys’ School staff had increased so that Mr. Sutton had two Assistant Masters and two Pupil Teachers, one of whom was his own son, John Sutton. Even Mr. Barrington-Ward, the Inspector, expressed himself satisfied in 1907. ‘The boys are taught with care and success. They are in excellent order’.

The process of improving the children’s health and welfare continued. In 1904 we see the first reference to boys attending the newly built ‘swimming baths in Stourbridge’

In 1908 there is reference to sick children attending the ‘Open Air School’ in Malvern. In the winter 1908-09 some local ladies formed a ‘Free Dinner Committee’ and a soup kitchen was established for ‘the benefit of the poorer children’. Some children also received free boots from the committee. In June 1909 Mr. Sutton attended a ‘Garden party in aid of the deficit on the Poor Children’s Dinner Fund Account’. In 1912 matters were put on a more official footing. Mr. Sutton received a communication from Worcester Education Department ‘in respect of the Provision of Meals Act, and asking for information as to the number of children who are unable for want of food to take full advantage of the education offered’. On 18^th March 1912 ‘Owing to some distress among the nail makers and a few others 50 of the children attending the schools from poor homes were supplied with free dinners’. Nevertheless these dinners were not to be provided on a permanent basis. In 1911 the first reference is made to the children of the ‘Cottage Homes’. These were built in Norton in 1904 to provide homes for children unable, for various reasons, to remain in their own homes. These children were often seen as needing extra tuition on entering the school as they were often found to have had little previous education but there are also several references to them in later years. In 1914 about 30 children came from the Cottage Homes.

The last ten years of Mr. Sutton’s Headmastership included the years of the First World War from 1914-1918. With characteristic lack of sentiment Mr. Sutton makes only passing references to this. In 1919 he does tell us that he sent off ‘a list of names for the War Memorial of ex-pupils who had been killed’. [These names are now displayed on the Remembrance Board located in the Hall of the new school buildings in Field Lane.]

As Master since 1883 Mr. Sutton would have known all of them well.

By the early 1920’s changes were inevitable. A long detailed Inspection report from 1921 begins ‘The Headmaster has been in charge for 37 years. His unfortunate deafness renders his work difficult and is possibly largely the cause of the lack of cohesion between the classes’. A replacement was sought. At the same time Charles

King, the school treasurer for 45 years, died. On 31^st May 1922 Mr. Sutton made his last entry in the Log, written for the only time in the first person ‘After 38 years and 3 months my services as Headmaster terminated today’.

Mr. Leonard James Cook became Headmaster of the Boys’ Department on 1^st June 1922. He was a very different in character from Mr. Sutton. In contrast to all the previous Boys’ Headmasters he already had experience of Headmastership. Born in Walsall and after training as a teacher he worked in a number of schools in the Midlands. In 1897 he was appointed Headmaster of St. John’s Church School, Stourbridge. He was transferred to The Old Swinford Schools in 1922 upon the retirement of Mr, Sutton. In addition to his teaching commitments Mr. Cook also had a political career. He was first elected as a Conservative member of Stourbridge Borough Council [which no longer exists] in March 1904. He developed an interest in public health and sanitation and was Chairman of the Borough Sanitary Committee from 1914. In 1921 he was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Public Health, of which he later became Vice President. He was also a member of a variety of other committees of both the Council and other bodies. During World War 1 he was involved in the local ambulance service in transporting the numerous wounded soldiers who arrived at Stourbridge Town Station to local hospitals. Despite all of his previous experience Mr. Cook’s political career reached its height during his time at Oldswinford. He was elected mayor of Stourbridge in September 1926 and again in the two following years. His various achievements, interests and contacts undoubtedly had some impact upon the Boy’s’ Department.

Mr. Cook was often away visiting various congresses and official meetings. In June 1927, for example, he was away at the ‘International Congress of Public Health in Ghent, Belgium’ and in May 1929 he was at a similar event in Zurich, Switzerland.

During these years the boys also were away visiting. There are references to numerous educational outings for the boys. In June 1924 ‘seventeen boys visited the Stourbridge Gas Works where they were shown around the works and the various processes explained’. The next month, July, some of the boys visited the ‘local Water Board and were conveyed in a motor charabanc to the Coulbourne Brook Pump Station, Doctors Hill Reservoir and works at Wychbury’. The next week a visit to the ‘Main Drainage Works and Sewage Farm’ followed and shortly after there was a visit to the ‘Rolling Mills’. In February 1926 there was a visit to the ‘Skin and leather Works’. In September there was a visit to ‘Baggeridge Colliery…The machinery and plant upon the surface were first viewed and then the party descended the shaft and for about 2 hours remained underground in the workings’. Many of these visits were repeated and Mr. Cook’s own interests and contacts undoubtedly prompted them.

In June 1924 a more ambitious trip was arranged with a party of both boys and girls

attending the ‘British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, London’. This was reported in the Parish Magazine for July 1924. ‘The 8.05 train was caught on Monday morning and after a pleasant rail journey, Wembley was reached before noon. Most of the time was spent in visiting the various parts of the Exhibition. The Canadian and Australian Buildings and the Palaces of Engineering and Industry being exceedingly popular, while the Scenic Railway was well patronised. The night was spent in the Children’s Hostel at Wembley’. The visit was repeated the following year when Mr Cook gave a full account in the Log Book. On this occasion the second day included a tour of London by motor charabanc, viewing all the usual tourist sites and ending ‘at Paddington Station where a substantial tea had been provided in the Dining Room, and the party reached home at 10pm’.

Mr. Cook also concerned himself in trying to obtain a sports field. The playground was cramped and unsuitable for anything but basic ‘drill’. In January 1925 he persuaded Mr Brown of Racecourse Farm to allow him the use of a field next to the Golf Links. It was agreed the boys should have the use of the field for 50 shillings up to 25^th March 1925. Mr. Cook bought a football and posts and these were to be stored at ‘Oakleigh’, a nearby property belonging to Major Green. The arrangement was renewed in the summer of 1925 when the grass was cut and a cricket pitch arranged, with Mr Cook buying the two sets of bats, balls etc. This was all the more necessary as the school allotments were lost in 1925 following the sale of the land on which they
stood.

There are various references to other interests and activities during Mr. Cook’s time. A ‘wireless set’ was installed and Mr. Cook helped some of the boys make their own sets. A ‘very valuable collection of specimen moths, butterflies, beetles’ etc. was donated to the school. The school was also involved in charitable and public events. In May 1925 a stall was provided at a ‘Bazaar raising funds for Church Restoration’ and between £60 and £70 was raised. At the beginning of the Stourbridge Carnival Week, inaugurated by Mr. Cook, as Mayor, in aid of the Corbett Hospital the boys provided four tableaux – ‘The Cave Man’, ‘Romans’, ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘The Trial from the Merchant of Venice’.

All of this activity was no doubt stimulating to the boys but the School Inspector of 1927 was not impressed. ‘The boys read widely and have no lack of interesting ideas but it is clear that definite and rigorous measures…are needed…in order to train them in accuracy of knowledge, habits and statements’.

By virtue of his appointment as Mayor, Mr. Cook was also expected to act as a Justice of the Peace, and this took him yet more often out of the school. In May 1929 Mr. Cook handed in his resignation in order to retire upon his pension. His replacement was appointed in July 1929 but was not able to take up the post until December. In the meantime Mr. Cook remained Headmaster during which time he was also elected as a County Councillor. He never attended a County Council meeting. He died of pneumonia in August 1929.

The County Express printed an Obituary on 17^th August 1929. It reported ‘Profound regret and the realisation of an irreplaceable loss to the town and district were occasioned….when news of the death of Alderman Leonard James Cook CC Mayor of the Borough, of School House, Oldswinford became known. The news came as a great shock to the townspeople for few were aware that His Worship was ill, and even those who were acquainted with that regrettable fact little realised that his end was so near’.

As energetic as ever Mr. Cook had recently visited the sites of the World War 1 battlefields in France with the British Legion. Upon his return he had continued to deal with Council business [the school was on holiday]. He was taken ill one Saturday night and died the following Thursday.

On 23^rd August 1929 the County Express printed an account of the funeral that had taken place at St. Mary’s Church, Oldswinford. Numerous representatives of local organisations attended and at the cemetery more than 2,000 townspeople came to pay their respects.

Mr. Cook’s replacement was Mr. J. Francis Fourt who took over on 2^nd December 1929. He appears to have worked hard in difficult circumstances. In 1931 the Inspector wrote of ‘the special problems inherent in these bad premises where three teachers are at work in very close proximity in the same depressing room’. The Inspector referred to this again in 1934 but wrote ‘the Headmaster and his Staff work hard and the generally satisfactory level of attainment achieved in these circumstances is creditable’. The excitement of the 1920’s under Mr. Cook was over but Mr. Fourt continued some visits out of school, along with the girls, including ‘Tewksbury Pageant’ in July 1931 and ‘Windsor’ in July 1932. In early 1935 Mr. Fourt handed in his notice.

The next Headmaster of the Boy’s School was Mr. S. W. Round. Mr. Round had already joined the school as an Assistant Master in October 1934. In 1935 he was appointed Headmaster in succession to Mr. Fourt.

During the late 1930’s the life of the Boys’ Department continued much as under Mr. Fourt but by early 1939 change was in the air. September 1939 is another historic date in the history of Oldswinford School’s. The Log Book records that at a meeting of the Managers ‘it was decided that when the Senior Scholars of the Boy’s and Girls’ Departments proceed to the Grange Senior School in September 1939, the three departments, Boys’, Girls’ and Infants’ should be amalgamated to form one department, a Junior Mixed and Infants Department under the charge of Mr. S. W. Round, the present head of the Boy’s Department. This has been made possible by what the Director of Education described as the splendid spirit of Miss Sharp and Miss Eveson in expressing their willingness to work with Mr. Round as Assistants. Certain structural alterations are to be made to the buildings’.

Miss Sharp and Miss Eveson were the Headmistresses of the Girls’ and Infants’ Departments. Their ‘splendid spirit’ was indeed great as both had been in post for longer than Mr. Round. Miss Sharp since 1923 and Miss Eveson since 1920. Miss Sharp left in 1941 but Miss Eveson was to remain until 1958.

Workmen proceeded to cut doorways in the centre party walls of the building to allow internal access from one department to another. On 27^th July 1939 Mr. Round wrote ‘school closed this day at noon. This ends the existence of the school as an all-standard school’. But there were clouds on the horizon. The very next day the Staff reported for duty ‘in connection with evacuation plans’. On the first day of the newly combined school, 4^th September 1939, those children who attended were sent home.

War had been declared.