The Old School at Newton
by Edna Davies
More: Newton Primary School at Nottage Road > by Michael Charles
Also by Edna Davies (née Harris):
which includes
High above Mumbles, approached from all sides by steep hills, lies the village of Newton, always referred to as Upalong by old Mumbles natives. Before the War and the big post-war building explosion, it was a pretty village with stone-built houses, white-washed cottages and garden walls.
The Old School
Opposite the Church at the top end of Nottage Road, stood the little School House, which had been in existence before 1860.
The little School House
Newton School, c1932
At the top of Nottage Road, next to Woollacott’s Farm was Newton School. It had been standing there since before 1860, providing the village children with an education for which they paid ‘school pence’—usually 2 ‘old pence’ per week.
The little school looked like a farmhouse. which was stone built and white-washed every spring. The schoolrooms behind were light and airy with high ceilings and long windows. There were plain board floors, which were scrubbed white by the caretakers, Mrs. Luckham and Mrs. Ivy Barry, both of Nottage Road. The heavy wooden desks could seat two children. They had heavy iron supports, which could give you a nasty bruise. These desks were always well polished by the caretakers. There was a coal fire in each of the two schoolrooms, which were tended by the teachers.
There were 15 elm trees in the playground, which gave great scope for imaginative play. The toilets were outside, froze in the winter and in the summer, boys were sent to the village pump, to collect water. The youngest children used small blackboards and chalk for their first figures and letters. Later, they used pencils with lined or squared paper. At the top end of the school, they used pen and ink. The ink was blue-black and the inkwells were washed out each Friday afternoon and refilled on Monday morning, when each child was given a clean square of blotting paper.
The Old School, 1890s
The boys and their teacher, Ellen Howard, 1890s
Pupils with Ellen Howard and Curate, c1901
Ernest Rosser, pictured above in his Post Office uniform where he worked as a telegraph boy, next to the curate from All Saints’ Church, had already had permission to leave school before he was 13 years old. He must have returned to school for the photograph.
The infants department had 18 pupils, 1924
The Newton School Football Team, 1924. Photo: M A Clare, showing Bond's Garage in the background.
(From Jeff Stewart)
If you can name any of the students, please contact The Editors >
There was time for fun on the Fancy Dress Day, 1926.
Included here we have:- Eileen Rosser, Chrissie Rosser, Flossie Rosser, Billy Rosser, Edith Hixson, Frances Richards, Charlie long, John Smith, Stella Jones, Lily Jones, Billy Jones, Gerald O'Sullivan, Hedley O'Sullivan, Stanley O'Sullivan, Joan Owen, Joe Symons, Gordon Borne, Phyllis Howell. Pupils names: 'The Story of Mumbles'
Among the costumes were a Little Red Riding Hood, a sailor and one pupil who brought a toy sword. Many had fancy hats and their Mums had certainly been busy!
The class of 1955:
with their teacher Edna Davies, their names are below
The Old School House Restaurant.
It changed hands, the new owners being Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths who continued to run it as a restaurant/hotel. When they left the new owners converted it into two houses.
Although it remained almost the same for 100 years, since the 1960s the Old School has gone through great changes.
The New School
The Newton children now had a totally new environment, with the luxury of playing fields, new furniture, a large assembly hall and many other advantages. There was one disadvantage however. The narrow entrance to Slade Road made for great difficulties. It was dangerous for the children going to and fro and difficult for large delivery vans, the fire engine and the ambulance.
Parents protested that the road should have been widened before the school was built or occupied. Eventually Pear Tree Cottage which stood at the entrance to Slade Road was demolished for road widening, as well as another cottage at the end of Whitestone Lane. We now have a very wide entrance to Slade Road and therefore to the school. Today, the school has an additional entrance at the back of the playing field, through Hatherleigh Drive.
The school at Slade Road could not be a greater contrast to the Old School at the top of Nottage Road.
OS Map of Newton, 1899
W Glam Archive
Newton Mews, site of Woollacott's Farm. Nottage Road is on the left
Nottage Farmhouse
At the side of Newton School was Nottage Farmhouse, which had been built in about 1630 and in front of it, the farm buildings, below.
George Owen and his twin brother, Eric were born in the little cottage next to what used to be Newton School in 1904. Their father, Thomas farmed there and the cow-stalls were behind the house (they have now been converted into a kitchen).
At the top end of Nottage Road were the farm and farm buildings belonging to Dick Woollacott. A boundary wall divided the old school from the farmhouse, farmyard and outbuildings. The old farmhouse, dated about 1630, was last occupied by the Skilbeck family. It became more and more run down and eventually had to be demolished, as it had become a danger to the children in the adjoining school playground.
The children at the school derived much pleasure and gained much knowledge from the day-to-day running of the farm. They saw the farrier shoeing the horses, the cows coming in to be milked, foals and calves with their mothers. Then, in autumn, came the threshing machine. All windows in school were closed to prevent the chaff blowing in. The straw stack was built alongside the boundary wall.
Now: Newton Mews, Woollacott's Farm was sited on the left.
Then: Saint Peter's Church, Newton. It is possible that the cows crossing the top of Nottage Road are from Woollacott's Farm, 1903
More: Newton Primary School at Nottage Road > by Michael Charles
Also by Edna Davies
