HALES OWENROOTS

 

British School Stourbridge Road Halesowen

Regular contributor Jim Tether has sent in these two photographs of the British School which he attended in the late 1940's/early 1950's.

 

 

When Jim attended this school , the Infants Headmistress was Mrs Simpson and Misses Hobley and Hunt, Mrs/Miss Adams and Mrs Watkins were amongst the infant teachers. The Junior School Head Mistress was Mrs Dowd and the other teachers were Messrs Oakley, Gotel and Wilson. School helpers were Mrs Butler and Mrs Probert.

The British School owed its origin to Caleb Bloomer who in 1867 built the Islington Ragged School in Stourbridge Road. He lived at Beulah Lodge .

He passed away while on a trip to the Holy Land in 1872 and the school was bought by the Primitive Methodists.

A day school, called the British School,  attached to the Congregational Church in the Great Cornbow  was outgrowing its accommodation so in 1878 it merged with the Ragged School in Stourbridge Road . The combined school being named the British School.

The name of the school was subsequently changed to Hawne County Primary School and it kept that name until it closed in the 1980's.

I have very little information about this school so if anyone has any more photos or information please send it to me for inclusion on this page.

Graham Longley Hughes writes:-  

I went to this school from 1942 to 1949.The Junior School headmistress was a Mrs Williams, who died in 1949.
Some of the pupils I remember were Jimmy Pearshouse, Bryn Williams Alan Parr, Robert Lewis, J Neal,  Dawn Holloway,  Sheila Rook , Rosemary and Frank Withers, Barry Bradley &Colin Tether
There was a playing field at the rear of the School with air raid shelters in which we used to play.
The food was excellent.
I remember well Miss Hobley who took us for the 1st year.  She used to heat my legs up on a regular basis and Mrs Wilson who liked to prod you with her finger. It was a wonderful place to become primarily educated.

 

 

e-mail John@Halesowenroots.com

 

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