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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 32 Woodworking Class

Credit line: John Belton talks about his woodworking class at the Haslemere School.

Transcription:

Interviewee: I enjoyed my time there. I don’t know how much I learned but I enjoyed my time there especially the woodworking classes. Yeah, old Mr Williams or Williamson. I wasn’t much into the sport and that so when he built the stage there, there were two or three of us weren’t interested in sport, because Friday afternoons always used to be sport, so we used to stay behind at school when he built the stage and the scenes for the stage and that.

Interviewer: Because it was used as the theatre?

Interviewee: Yeah at one time.

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