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Genealogy/memories

What do your ex schools look like now?

(65 Posts)
soontobe Tue 17-Feb-15 20:10:41

In the mood for something lighthearted.
Apologies if this has already been done.

How much have your primary and secondary schools changed?

Primary - Still a Primary School. And surprisingly very similar. And the road and houses around it too. Quite reassuring really.

Secondary - Has been a Sainsburys for about 10 years!

Falconbird Thu 19-Feb-15 08:14:28

My first school, now long gone had coal fires in the classrooms. It was very cosy but of course the smoke polluted the air. We were innocent of such things then. I remember the dreadful fogs caused by burning so much coal.

It will be interesting to see how long the environmentally friendly buildings last. In my area such a school has been built to replace the old Victorian school which is now luxury flats. The school was full of beautiful tiling, wood block floors and huge radiators - I expect they have all become "features."

My old house was bought by a young couple who set about knocking down walls and restoring the house to some of its Victorian glory keeping the little Victorian fireplaces in the bedrooms and other features.

I was so pleased that the house was being kept going in this way. It was built in I think 1896!!! and was part of a long line of Victorian town houses.

feetlebaum Thu 19-Feb-15 08:39:26

What? No radiators to stand the milk crate by? My abiding memory of Infants and Junior schools is ghastly warm milk, and feeling nauseated...

Why the stuff always ended up stacked by a radiator I do not know.

Juliette Thu 19-Feb-15 09:21:51

Infants school long gone, houses there now.

Junior school, still standing with modern additions and the railings dividing the boys and girls playground have been removed. Hopefully the toilets are inside the building now. The milk was indeed kept nice and cosy next to the radiator, I never drank mine I always swapped with the boy who sat behind me, my full bottle for his empty one. I had a look on the school website and there are only 100 more children in the whole school now than were in the fourth year when I was there, 'baby boomers'!

Grammar school was situated in a beautiful 19th century country house, it had a 'carbuncle' added in the sixties which I don't think planning would be happy with today. It is now a thriving comp. with boys and girls not just genteel young ladies.

rosequartz Thu 19-Feb-15 09:55:37

My infants school had long verandahs, with a roof but the sides were open to the elements, with the classrooms off them.
The milk crates were left on the verandahs so caught the sun in the summer and in the winter were left to freeze. I remember when I was milk monitor trying to jam the straws through the frozen tops of the milk which had risen up out of the bottles.

Falconbird Thu 19-Feb-15 11:37:17

In the winter at Infant School, the bottles of milk were thawed out next to the open fire. Quite often the bottles would explode!!

We all liked it when we had a bottle of frozen milk because it tasted like ice-cream smile

annsixty Thu 19-Feb-15 11:42:45

What a lovely and nostalgic hour I have just had. Thank you so much*soon*. I decided to google my schools (3) and was led to a website all about the village I grew up in. Some of the info and pictures went back many years. Imagine my delight when I came across a photograph of my Father in the Bowls team taken in the 1940's. He died when I was 11 in 1949and although I do have some photographs that one is now online for anyone to see.
I found that my first school is still there and my junior school integrated into it and my Grammar school which was a beautiful building had stood empty for some time and has now been demolished but some lovely panels and other things were saved.

soontobe Fri 20-Feb-15 21:54:47

You are welcome annsixty.

Lovely about the photo of your Father smile

Treebee Fri 20-Feb-15 22:07:30

My primary school is a pine furniture shop which is celebrating its 25th year! My Dad was the head and when he retired the school closed, sadly.
My grammar school looks exactly the same, it's a very old one. Main difference is it's now co-ed and independent.

Fili Mon 09-Mar-15 12:18:29

Too much changed all around. Sometimes I even do not recognise places where i grown up.

janerowena Mon 09-Mar-15 12:45:45

My old school exists, pretty much unchanged. It was a very old building to start with, apart from the science wing and the school hall, and the rose garden was replaced with a sixth form block. The uniform however is lovely. I wouldn't mind wearing it now.

granjura Mon 09-Mar-15 15:20:27

More or less exactly the same, the secondary school has a new sports' hall.

harrigran Mon 09-Mar-15 15:24:38

My primary school is a large block of flats but the secondary is exactly as it was.

kittylester Mon 09-Mar-15 15:33:13

DD1's husband's school looks somewhat like his parents in law's home! grin

soontobe Mon 09-Mar-15 16:38:18

I am surprised how many of the schools are still schools.

Bit disconcerting though Fili, when lots of things have changed.