Penny Chaplin kindly donated this picture of May Day celebrations in about 1958 and supplied the following names: Isabel Garratt, Linda Boyd, Margaret Harrison, Mary Rowe, Sandra Cureton and Jenny Peck.
Glyn Bartlett was kind enough to write the following piece about his memories of Dogsthorpe Schools:
Dogsthorpe Schools in the early 1950’s.
Towards the end of 1950 I moved with my parents to Eastern Avenue. For the remainder of that school year I attended the new infant school on Central Avenue. However, when, the following year, it was time to “move up” to the juniors it became apparent that the school was oversubscribed and that for the first year juniors we would be at the old 1851 school building on Welland Road next to the blacksmiths.
(This raises the question of primary school provision in Dogsthorpe immediately prior to the building of the estate and the new schools on Central Avenue. It seems likely that this was provided at the 1851 school on Welland Road which would explain how it could so readily continue in use. However, this is only conjecture on my part.)
The Welland Road building could not have changed much since it was built. The high classrooms were open to the roof beams. The very basic toilets were outside on one edge of the playground. Behind the school was an enclosed area of grass where we were allowed to run about in dry weather. The walls were unplastered brick in the style of schools of that age and the heating was provided by solid fuel stoves. I remember this in particular because one day part of the roof of our classroom caught fire where the stove pipe passed through the roof. We were evacuated to the grass outside and the fire brigade arrived. In typical fashion for the time when the fire was extinguished we simply returned to our now colder and damper classroom and the day proceeded more or less as normal.
My class teacher at the old school was a Miss. Palamountain. The only other teacher I remember from the year at Welland Road was Mr. Tyson. (John Tyson – music teacher and choirmaster.)
After our year at Welland Road we returned to the new school on Central Avenue, presumably to be replaced by the next first-year juniors intake.
For my last two years at Dogsthorpe School my class teacher was Mr. Phillips. To me he was like a breath of fresh air and I began to think that school was not so bad after all! I know that he had at some time taught at Stanground and that prior to coming to Dogsthorpe he had been on a teacher exchange to some part of the United States. He had lots of slides of places he had visited there and I particularly remember images of American Indian totem poles.
1955 was the thirteen hundredth anniversary of the establishment of what was to become Peterborough Cathedral and in the year leading up to this we did a lot in school on the history of Peterborough. For the City as a whole the celebrations culminated with the performance in the Cathedral of “Upon This Rock” – a dramatic chronicle of Peterborough Cathedral written by James Kirkup with music composed by Roy Teed.
Mr. Phillips was an arts specialist – particularly drama and art. We did two quite big productions by primary school standards during the two years. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and an adaption of “The Pied Piper of Hamlin” for which I was one of two narrators!
I have always thought that I owe a lot, in terms of my subsequent development, to Anthony S. Phillips.
Other teachers I remember are Mr. Nichols – a sports enthusiast, Miss. Bower who took us for PE and Mr. Upex who, I think, later became the headmaster of Newark Hill School.
When we came to leave in 1955 there was a (short lived in my case) craze amongst the pupils in my year for collecting staff autographs. Among these inscriptions in the book that I still have are the following.
“Wishing you many happy hours both at work and at play. Anthony S. Phillips. 5 April ‘55”
“I wish the best for you in future years – may life be good to you and God bless you always. Mr. Kedrick. Molesthworth Dep. School.”
(Mr. Kedrick – an American – did not teach at Dogsthorpe. He taught at the USAF base school at Molesworth. He was a quite frequent visitor to Dogsthorpe and had a passion for soccer. Looking back I think that he must have had some sort of liaison role.)
“Robert Baker. Headmaster. Dogsthorpe School. 1920 – 55.”
“With very many happy memories of the parents, Staff and Children of Dogsthorpe. 1932 – 1955.
Loyalty bring its true and lasting reward. A. Herbert. 22-7-55.”
(Both Mr. Baker and Miss. Herbert were leaving at the end of the school year.)
Glyn Bartlett. March 2010.
From the information from Glyn and below, the new Dogsthorpe Infants and Juniors was too small from the day it was built. The old Welland Rd School was replaced by Garton End in 1956.
- Mary Baxter went to the Welland Road school for a short time, and also the one in Garton End Road, possibly for a whole year there. I was at Dogsthorpe Infants and Junior School from 1954 to 1960.
- Penny Chaplin went to Garton End for first year juniors rather than the old school in Welland Rd in 1960.
- At Easter 1956, Barbara Dry tells me the first year juniors moved from the old school in Welland Rd to Garton End .
- Rita Cowdell went to Welland rd school in 52/53 Mr Turner was my teacher, we lived right across the road from it at 24, yes the Fairchilds lived next door, left was the blacksmiths a cottage or two then the bluebell pub, right of it was a bungalow, then Welland close.
Garton End was closed in the 1970s, as the ageing population of Dogsthorpe, and of course the opening of other schools such as Welland, meant the building in Central Ave was finally big enough for all the pupils. Ascot Drive now covers the site of the Garton End School.
Mary Baxter also remember the following:
I was brought up on Dogsthorpe Estate and attended the Infants and Junior Schools on Central Avenue. We lived on Central Avenue, opposite Christ Church so we did not have far to go. My three brothers and a sister also attended the schools. I remember Miss Palamountain, Mr Tyson and Mr Nichols. I also recall a Miss Hetherington from Infants School and from Junior School I also remember Miss Freshwater (Games PE), Mr Kennedy and a Miss Nicol (I think). We moved to Central Avenue when the houses were built in January 1954 and I left in April 1972.
The teacher is Mr. Tyson - music teacher. I am the odd looking little creature front row right and the boy behind the shield is John Meeks who apparently became a widely recognised military artist living in Canada. Unfortunately he died before I got around to contacting him having not seen him since we were about 15! Other than that I can not remember any other names. It is about 1953 I think.
Dogsthorpe Infants School May Day Celebrations. I'm making a guess at the year being around 1958-1961. Donated by Mary Baxter.