Look back: May Day memories at Marshfield School in Bradford

I joined Marshfield Infant School in 1946 and left the Juniors in 1952, transferring from one to the other in 1949.

The photo of the Infant May Queen on this page, and the Junior maypole dancing were both taken in 1949. The May Queen was always selected from the final year of Infants and Brenda Wright (later Brenda Glennan) - who was May Queen in 1949 - was in my class.

I visited Marshfield school round about the year 2000 and was shown around by the then headmistress, during the course of which I came across the old school records - pupil admission registers, log books of daily events, punishment book and photograph albums.

I was was told that sometimes these documents were used in class and I offered to bring it all home and computerise it all.

Thus I devised a computer programme so everything was available to view via a computer and I gave several copies on DVD to the school and to Bradford Libraries records department.

The log book for the infant school makes fascinating reading, much of it being during the war years. Initially it was felt that pupils were not safe in Bradford and some were evacuated to more rural parts near Keighley. Teachers would make occasional visits to check that their charges were being looked after.

On one such visit a teacher found “Leonard in tears because he had been separated from his sister Marjorie”. I managed to track Leonard down and visited him, thinking he would be pleased to be reminded of his affection for his sister, only to find that he and Marjorie were by then estranged and no longer talking to one another! Such is life.

Pupils at the Infant School pictured in 1921 (Image: David Myers)

Evacuation did not last long and pupils returned and, while the air raid shelters were being constructed, pupils were dispersed into parents’ homes in an exercise called Home Schooling.

The other interesting book of course is the Punishment Book. I must declare an interest here as I appear in it. Some of the other offences seem quite amusing, such as “climbing through the classroom window” and “blowing balloons in class creating a disturbance”. Boys will definitely be boys, although the occasional girl does get an entry.

I have been on both ends of the cane, which the headmaster, Mr Shaffner called “Little Willie”. I eventually became his monitor and when he had some caning to do during morning assembly he would call out: “David, fetch Little Willie!” whereupon I would go get the cane from the cupboard and take it to him, knees trembling.

My biggest surprise was to find all the photographs among these records. Mr Shaffner was a very progressive head and for over 20 years with the deputy head, Miss Teal, they organised many visits by pupils to factories, trips to the seaside and each summer they would take a party of around 50 on holiday in a part of the UK, starting in 1936 to London.

I myself toured a a paper manufacturer, the T&A print works, a sweet manufacturer at Pontefract, Bagley’s glassworks at Knottingley and Watson’s soap works at Leeds.

The school trip to Bagley's Glassworks in 1952 (Image: David Myers)

I found photographs of me that I never knew existed. In addition I went on a summer holiday to Bournemouth in 1951 and Orkney and Shetland in 1952.

David, third from right, on a school trip to Watson's Soapworks (Image: David Myers)

Each year the whole school went on a day trip to the seaside and the records reveal that in 1946 for example, seven coaches - one for each class - took the whole school to Scarborough. Thus I found myself in possession of a treasure trove of photos of many hundreds of people which only I knew about and felt I ought to share.

Having the time to do so, I set about tracking people down, giving them copies of relevant pictures and harvesting any names they could provide. That is principally where all the names have come from.

In 1946 the war was over so things started getting back to normal, beginning with annual trips to the seaside. That year it was to Scarborough, subsequent trips were to places like Cleethorpes, New Brighton, Fleetwood, Bridlington and Whitby.

There is a great deal of information in the photograph album, even including the itinerary showing all our journeys on annual school trips. The albums also contained some photographs of local scenes and events.

Petting the donkey at Carisbrooke Castle (Image: David Myers)

I have included the photograph of the donkey because they took us to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight which in days gone by had a well operated by a donkey to raise the water.

I have been back there since and have seen the present donkey demonstrating the well.