This
first picture was taken from the bottom end of the
playground near to the gate leading to Back Honoria
Street. The railings, benches and blue play
area will be unfamiliar to many of us as these
are
recent
additions
for the younger children who now attend the school.
When this picture was taken, there was a group of
children playing cricket in the playground and, on
enquiring as to why the pictures were being taken,
were told that they are for the Fartown School web
site. They seemed slightly bemused and gave directions
to the Fartown School that THEY know now - insisting
that the photographer had made a mistake and had gone
to the WRONG SCHOOL!
To
the right of the picture above once stood a long white
single story building that housed two classrooms,
one of them for cookery classes and the other for
music classes (remember Mr Beatie). That annexe
is no longer there having been demolished a number
of years ago for reasons unknown and the large playground
that we remember is now even larger than before.
The
picture on the right shows a slightly different
view but was taken from the same position in the playground.
Once again there are a few additions that most of
you will not recognize - some coloured
benches
in front of the school gymnasium. For
those who cannot remember, the gym was below ground
level on the left of this picture (notice the low
windows) and was reached by the stairs that were
behind the stage in the main assembly hall.
The
row of windows above the gym were from the metalwork
classroom at the left of the picture and the woodwork
classroom on the right. These two classes had a
door linking them together, but they could both
be reached by their own doors at either side of
the stage.
The
entrance to the woodwork class was at the top of
the stairs leading to the gym, and was also at the
head of the passageway leading to the right hand
side of this picture. The row of windows above
the gym were from the metalwork classroom at the
left of the picture and the woodwork classroom on
the right. These two classes had a door linking
them together, but they could both be reached by
their own doors at either side of the stage.
The
entrance to the woodwork class was at the top of
the stairs leading to the gym, and was also at the
head of the passageway leading to the right hand
side of this picture. If you were to walk
down this passageway, it would take you through
the 'tunnel' to the right hand side of the picture
above, passing through a cloakroom (again below
ground level) and on to the wing shown in our top
picture where the dining room could be found. School
meals were not comparable to the school meals of
today though and you either loved them or hated
them. The cost of these meals was five
shillings (25p) per week and, on occasions, those
of us who liked what was offered had the chance
to go round again for a second helping, particularly
with the puddings, and it is known that some kids
went round for a fourth, fifth and even a sixth
helping - especially when jam roly poly and custard
was on the menu.
Entering
the door shown in the photograph below would take
you past one of the flights of stairs (on your right)
leading to the upper balcony, and the cloakrooms
(on
your
left) taking you through in to the main assembly
hall.
Just
visible to the right of the door is the cornerstone
laid by Ald. O. Balmforth. J.P. Mayor and the Chairman
of the Education Committee in February 1908. Also
named on the cornerstone is J. Henry Field, Town
Clerk, Geo. Gaunt, Secretary of Education, and K.
E. Campbell, Borough Engineer.
Over
the years the extention was used for various
activities - one of them being another music classroom
where you were taught to play the instrument of
your
choice.
The
most popular musical instrument taught in the sixties,
possibly because they were so inexpensive, was the
recorder. This was closely followed by the violin.
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