Going to School in Edwardian Mumbles 

Going to School in Edwardian Mumblesby Carol Powell MAOn 23 January 1901, Bertie the eldest son of the late Queen Victoria announced to his Privy Council that 'We have decided to be known by the name of Edward,  a name carried by six of our ancestors'. And so began the Edwardian era, that much- eulogised time of long hot summers and dainty cucumber sandwiches on the lawn.

                 But what was life like for our village youngsters thoughout this decade, and particularly their education which  was by now, compulsory for all children up to the age of twelve?

For the privileged few, there were several small Private Schools, such as the School For Young Ladies run by sisters, Isabella and Caroline Nettell at Pendeen College on Overland Road; the Misses Mary and Harriet Phillips had a Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies at Bellevue on Langland Road;  Amelia and Lucy Potts ran a Boarding and Day School for Boys and Girls at Brynheulong, also on Langland Road and Martha Wilkinson had a School for Girls at Langland Villas.

 The boys wore a uniform consisting of a blue jersey, brown cordoroy knickerbocker trousers and a white 'cellophane-like' collar and the girls were dressed in white pinafores over their dresses.

Sometimes the log book recorded that they had days off e.g. In April 1902, the school closed for dramatic entertainments in aid of the new Church which was being built at Newton, while  on 3 October 1902, there was a half-holiday for those who had attended regularly.  Then the occasion of the funerals of the local lifeboatmen who  had drowned in the recent disaster on 1 February 1903, closed the school for a day.

                Sometimes attendance was low because, as on 30 March until 3 April 1903, 'children were engaged in gathering seaweed and working in gardens'. And in September 1910, 'many scholars are absent with their parents who are taking their holidays now.'

In 1903 the Glamorgan County Council took over the running of all the schools and as nowadays, money for equipment and Staff was sometimes short. Mr Clough despairingly wrote in his school log book that ' I have worked in this school for over 14 years, but never under such trying circumstances as at present, under this so-called authority.' This was at the time when there were only Miss Blair and himself to teach 152 children, as other staff were incapacitated or had left. He had repeatedly asked for replacements but none had arrived and the situation continued for many weeks until he was joined by his daughter Miss Nellie Clough who arrived as a Pupil Teacher. But still, equipment did not arrive and supplies of exercise and drawing books gradually ran out. Eventually he was told that as there was only £2 in the budget the supplies would not be arriving.

               Soon several children had to be transferred to the Council school due to overcrowding and His Majesty's Inspector recommended that a new building was necessary, After much delay the new premises, which many of us remember as the Church School, was opened on 3 February 1908 in Dunns Lane, but still a shortage of Staff remained a problem – that very same day,  'Miss R. Rees has had 96 infants since Tuesday'..                 The new County Councils, which had taken over the running of all primary schools in 1903, were also responsible for secondary and  technical   education  i.e. The Part II Authorities as they were called.

                The 'Scholarship' (later called the 11plus) with possible access to Grammar or Municipal Secondaries became an option for very few at that time, but in 1907, the log book proudly recorded that  of the few who had attempted it, 'George Eliot and Adelaide Beer were successful in the written exam and must go to Gowerton County School for viva voce exams'. Both were awarded £4 scholarships to Gowerton. Two years later, Consuelo Smith and Georgian Cawling also passed their scholarships.  Presumably they would have had to travel to Blackpill and board the LNWR train (the London and North Western Railway train), running from Victoria Station through to Gowerton and beyond.

   The school continued to educate the local children for many years, but was demolished sometime in the 1980s and the site is today  occupied by the houses at Dunns Close.

The Board School, which had opened in 1878, was run by a local Board, which oversaw its operation. The Chairman of the final Board in  1903, was Rev Samuel Pinch of the Congregational Church and the Board members included Messrs Henry Davies, Cumming Evans, Thomas Davies, William Davies and John Harris.  The School Attendance Officer, commonly known as the  Board Man was John Phillips of Pendrew House, Newton. The school was run on a non-denominational basis supported by the local council and QUOTE 'No catechism or religious formulary, which is distinctive to any particular denomination is to be taught.'                 The Staff, comprised Headmaster Mr Luke Jones Bessant,  teachers, Miss Sophia Beynon (from 1895,  the head of the infants' dept), Gladys Lloyd, and Bertha Harris, plus pupil teachers, Bertha Davies and Ada Shepherd and Monitress, Annetta Richards.

                 These pupils whose backgrounds were predominantly from the Baptist, Christadelphian or Methodist Churches, learned the 3Rs, reading, writing and arithmetic (of which more later) plus nature study.   Much emphasis was also placed on acquiring the skill of copperplate handwriting and prizes were given for the best efforts. Some afternoons there might be clay-

                According the the HM report of that year 'Discipline is of the right character -gentle and unrepressive. Teaching is thorough and conscientious . . . such as to encourage the children.' This, despite the cane being in regular use!Mr. Bessant's log book noted various reasons for absences, the weather playing its part. Back in 1895, ha'penny dinners of cocoa and cake or soup and bread had been introduced hopefully to obviate the need for extra journeys home and back at lunchtime,  there being no waterproof clothing or wellington boots and no means of drying their clothes. However, it was still noted that e.g. – 1 December 1902, Closed the school this afternoon owing to the heavy rainfall, the few children who came along being wet through.' and on 13 September 1906,  'only 66 in school owing to wet weather, 4 sent home as they were too wet to remain in school'. 13 December 1911, 'wet and stormy. Only 107/163 in school.'

                There were also days off for national and even international events e.g. The school closed because of the fete on the Mumbles Pier to celebrate the return of the volunteers from South Africa, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited Swansea on 20 July 1904; there was  a Gorsedd Proclamation on 20 July 1906 and the school also closed when the local and national elections took place. There were six half-days off for the various Sunday-school treats for the Chapels, as each one was held on a weekday and each was on a different day.

                Attendance was also affected by illness such as measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, and mumps and as there was no way of containing the diseases, school was closed e.g. During the measles epidemic of 1901, the school closed for four weeks and again in 1910 when it closed  again for a month. 

                 There was a playtime morning and afternoon, when the boys might play  ball, tag or hoop and the girls would skip to rhymes or play hopscotch.

                 Edwardian Mumbles ended when the King passed away on 6 May 1910 and a new era had now begun. The village mourned and then celebrated the coronation of the new King George V and Queen Mary on 26 June 1911. The whole area was decorated with drapery, flags and streamers and a thousand children, many dressed in red, white and blue trimmings and carrying flags, enjoyed the day with a procession though  the village,  followed by a spectacular tea for the younger ones, taken indoors because of the inclement weather at their respective schools and, for the older ones from the Council school, at the Congregational schoolrooms. The caterers were Messrs Jones and Son, although all the village Bakers shared the order for the cake. Afterwards everyone moved on to the Castle Field, where they enjoyed sweets and nuts, sports and games and the local band under the direction of Robert Todd played 'suitable selections.' Each child was  presented with a Coronation mug.

                The school-leaving age was to remain at 12 until 1914.

                My family has a long connection with the Council school, which goes back some ninety years. My Mum, Elaine Bladen would go up with the other girls from the Church School in the 1930s, to have cookery lessons with Miss Trick, together with  those girls  from  the  Council School. In 1950, I, Carol (Symmons-as-I-was-then) was a pupil in the infants department, as was my future husband John Powell and in the 1970s, our two daughters, Elizabeth and Cathryn Powell attended the Junior Comprehensive there for two years. This building continues to serve the youngsters of Mumbles to this day.

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