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Schooldays in Haslemere

Between the 1940s and 1960s, Haslemere had a variety of different schools. Private schools included St Ives, which at this time was a school ran by the Parents’ National Educational Union and as such emphasised the teaching of nature studies and the arts. The Haslemere School on Chestnut Avenue was opened on 22nd April 1900. It was originally designed for some 220 pupils and built by public subscription. There were also smaller schools such as Hillside School, situated for a time on the Petworth Road and run by the formidable Miss Welland, and Shottermill School in Lion Lane. Woolmer Hill, today the only secondary school in Haslemere, was built in the 1950s to satisfy requirements of 1944 Education Act.

Track 11 Maypole At School

Credit line: Andrew White talks about Maypole Dancing at Shottermill School.

Transcription:

Interviewee: I can remember being at school and having to dance the Maypole. Imagine boys having to dance with girls on a Maypole. Really basically what you do is go in and out each other and of course it plaits it. The only trouble with it was if you go wrong, you knew exactly how had gone wrong because they could trace it back to you.

Interviewer: This was at Shottermill was it?

Interviewee: Yeah.

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