EARBY BOARD SCHOOL

[Stanley]

Earby of Long Ago
MORE ABOUT BOARD SCHOOL DAYS
How Another Headmaster Came to Border Town
From the Craven Herald 1/11/1935

The rapid growth of Earby in the early 'nineties following upon the erec-tion of the Albion Shed and the re-starting and enlargement of the Victoria Mill created a position of serious em-barrassment for these who were responsible for the provision of due educational facilities.
The two existing schools, the Wesleyan and the Old Grammar School, were quite inadequate to accommodate the children of school age, and they were so over-crowded that due attention could not be given to the lessons by the children. The Wesleyan School was recognised for 198, but there were 285 on the books in 1893, and the Grammar School accommodation was recognised at 81, and this school was overcrowded. A report on the Wesleyan received after the spring examinations in 1893 brought matters to a head, and H.M. Inspector expressed the view "that if the managers of the Wesleyan School do not care to enlarge the premises I think a School Board should be formed to cope with the growing requirements of the place."
Accordingly a meeting was promptly arranged between the managers of the two schools, and a deputation from the Baptist Church, which was held in the Wesleyan School, under the presidency of the Rev. L. B. Morris, the rector of the parish. After a prolonged discussion, it was agreed to summon a ratepayers' meeting at an early date.
The meeting was accordingly held, and under the circumstances it was realised that a School Board was inevit-able. The election of the School Board to serve the area of the extensive parish and township of Thornton-in-Craven was held early in 1804, and, as it has pre-viously been noted, the successful candid-ates were the Rev. L. B. Morris, M.A., J.P., Mr. John Hartley (Kelbrook), Mr. George P. Hartley, the Rev. Walter Wynn and Dr. Hunter. No time was lost by the new authority in getting to work, and Mr. W. N. Berry was appointed clerk, a position which he filled with distinction. Mr. James Bailey was later appointed as school attendance officer.
A New School.
Owing to the conditions prevailing at Kelbrook, where there was an old National School, a new Board School was im-mediately decided upon. The site of the new school had a frontage on Colne Road, which was adjoining the grounds of the Bethel Chapel (United Methodist), and there was also an entrance from Waterloo Road. The School buildings were quite imposing, and included separ-ate departments for mixed boys and girls, and infants. Mr. H. Horbury, the master at the National School, was transferred to the new school, as was also Miss Shaw, the infant mistress.
The Earby Board School was erected in 1896, and was ready for occupation early in the following year. There was keen contention respecting the site of the new school; the Chairman and Mr. G. H. Hartley were in favour of a site off Colne Road, where the Earby District Council office is placed, but Dr. Hunter and the Rev. W. Wynn pressed for a site nearer the centre of the village, and as a compromise the site in New Road was decided upon. The school had a large central hall, with two spacious classrooms on the rear side and two similar classrooms on the front side were added later. There was also a contiguous block for the infant school, and the suite of premises included rooms for the teachers and a convenient room for the meetings of the Board and an office for the Clerk. It was considered at the time as one of the finest schools for miles around.
The appointment of headmaster proved to be a very onerous task, and the coveted position was secured by Mr. Samuel Varley Heap, of Holmfirth. Mr. Heap, who was a native of Holmfirth, was the son of Benjamin and Mary Ann Heap, and he was born in 1872. He was educated at Fartown (Huddersfield) Grammar School and Bury Grammar School, and his probationary term as a pupil teacher was served at Beaumont Street Board School, Huddersfield. He passed on to Westminster Training College, where he had a distinguished career, and he was awarded a "Double First" at the Teachers' Certificate examin-ation. After leaving college he was engaged as assistant master at the Moldgreen Board School, Huddersfield, and later served in the same capacity in the Wooldale Board School, Holmfirth.
A Respected Businessman.
He was married to Miss Betsy Bower, of Holmfirth, before he came to reside at Earby, Mrs. Heap's brother, Mr. Jonas Bower, came to Earby shortly after, and he is one of the most respected business-men in the town, having a high-class greengrocery business in Colne Road. Mr. Heap entered upon his duties on
March 1st, 1897, and his engagement lasted until December 31st, 1919. The
Great War, however, interfered with his scholastic career, and he was called upon to serve in the Royal Navel Sick Berth Reserve from August 20th, 1914, to
February 8th, 1919. During his residence in Earby Mr. Heap rendered invaluable
service to the St. John Ambulance Brigade, and he was one of the founders of the Earby Corps, and also of the Nursing Division attached to the local brigade. He held the principal offices in the Earby Corps. In 1899 he was appointed secretary and treasurer, in 1903 the first officer in Earby Corps, and
superintendent in 1907, which position he retained until called up for national
service in 1914. He was regarded as one of the most prominent leaders of the
movement in the district. He was held in the highest regard, not only by the
members of the local brigades but by the medical officers and the brigades in East Lancashire and the West Riding.
Mr. Heap was also the organising master of the Earby Evening School and Technical Instruction Classes during his term at the New Road School, and he is gratefully remembered by many who were brought into association with him there.
Mr. Heap did not aspire to any public service, but he was a prominent member of the Conservative Club, and much enjoyed discussions with the members upon the topics of the day. After leaving Earby at the end of 1919 Mr. Heap took charge of a school at Sittingbourne, Kent, and two years ago he retired, having accomplished his period of service in the profession.
Mr. Heap has kindly furnished an account of his experiences and recollec-tions, which are as follows:
J.H.
FROM MR. HEAP'S PEN
"It was on a dull Saturday afternoon in November, nearly forty years ago, that first set foot in Earby. The new Board School, erected by the School Board for Thornton-in-Craven, was nearing completion, and the School Board had invited applications for the post of head-master. Two hundred and forty-seven replies were received, and I was fortunate enough to be selected, along with five others, to be interviewed for the post.”
"On November 7th, 1896, I alighted at Earby, full of the hope and confidence of youth, being only 24 years of age. Moreover, this was my first application for a post as headmaster, so I had no previous rebuffs to damp my enthusiasm.”
"From the first person I encountered outside the station I enquired the way to the Wesleyan School, where the inter-view was to take place. It happened to be the late Henry Judd, the greengrocer, who courteously directed me to Water Street. I picked my way through the mud in Colne Road, which was then narrow and bounded by a hawthorn hedge. Proceeding along Victoria Road I noted active signs of building, many of the houses being just ready for occupa-tion. I digressed for a moment to see the new school building, which stood out boldly, as there was no Co-operative Central Stores at that time, nor yet any houses in Colne Road, except towards the station. When I reached Water Street I encountered the late Thomas Bailey, near his shop, and he kindly gave me final directions to the Wesleyan School. There I found the other selected applicants in a classroom. Among them were Willie Swire, of Skipton, John Clegg, of Blacko, and one named Mason, from Leeds. Who the other two were I do not remember.”
"Presently a pale young man, muffled to the ears in a white neckcloth, invited us in turn to appear before the members of the School Board. This I found to be the Clerk to the Board, Mr. W. N. Berry, who was just recovering from a bad boil on the neck.”
Others Present.
The Rev. L. B. Morris was in the chair, and he was supported by a genial and portly gentleman whose name I discovered to be George Hartley, and a smaller, elderly member named John Hartley, of Kelbrook, the father-in-law of Mr. William Atkinson. The other two members of the School Board, Dr. Hunter and the Rev. Walter Wynn, were not present. They were absent as a minority protest against the Board's refusal to appoint a local candidate in the person of Mr. J. B. Hodgkins, headmaster of the Grammar School, or Robert Windle’s Free School as it was sometimes called. This was due to the technicality of his being unqualified to superintend pupil-teachers under the regulations then in force.
“The selected candidates were interviewed in turn, the Chairman putting a few shrewd and searching questions to each. He had previously paid a personal visit to their respective schools, un-known to the candidates, and made himself well acquainted with their several merits. Finally, the managers' choice lay between Mr. John Clegg and myself. We two were again called before the Board on November 21st, and I was given the appointment. I think it was largely a triumph of youth over middle age, for Mr. Clegg was more than 20 years my senior and had had wider experience.”
"On the first of March, 1897, I took up my duties at Earby, four weeks being taken up with furnishing, equipping and preparing the school for the opening day. This took place on March 29th, when I admitted 31 children of various ages. The number increased to 130 by the end of the week, and approached 300 at the end of the year. The school was originally built to accommodate 240 older scholars and 120 infants, so we had plenty of elbow-room. Miss Frances Brown, of Skipton, was in charge of the infant class, and I was assisted by Miss Mabel Pennington and Mrs. Edith Watson, of Barnoldswick. Soon the numbers in-creased, for Earby was growing rapidly, and additional staff had to be appointed, and Mr. John G. Vevers and Misses Bates and Stobbart were added to the staff. Meanwhile pupil teachers were appointed from time to time. At the end of the first school-year a good report was received from Mr. P. Worley, H.M.I., and shortly the numbers grew to such an extent as to justify the classification of the infants as a separate department, under the headship of Miss Brown, who retained the post until her retirement.
School Boards Go.
Year by year the school continued to grow, and at times the numbers reached 500 or more, necessitating the use of the teachers' staff room as a classroom, even after the addition of a new wing com-prising two classrooms accommodating 60 pupils each. Just before the War the average attendance of the mixed department was 323, and that of the infants about 110.
"On the 'appointed day,' under the Education Act of 1902, i.e., on April 1st, 1904, the West Riding County Council became the Local Education Authority for the county and School Boards ceased to exist. In some respects this was a pity, for the old School Boards were in closer touch with the individual school and the teacher than was possible with the larger committee. Within their limited powers, however, the District Education Sub-Committee assumed the mantle of the defunct School Boards with generally satisfactory results. Earby was particularly fortunate in retaining the guidance of the late Clerk to the Board (Mr. W. N. Berry) and of the surviving members of the late School Board, and I continued to work har-moniously with them until the end of 1919 when I left to take up work in Kent.”
"Now that I have retired from the teaching profession I find time to revive thoughts of my early days at Earby and to reflect upon the kindness which I received at every hand when I came there as a stranger.”
"The schoolhouse, "Applegarth," in which I was to live, was not ready for occupation until June, so I lived with Mr. Barry Horbury, the then school-master at Kelbrook, for the first three months, and thanks to him and his wife, lived very comfortably. During that time I lunched at the Albion Hall, where I regularly met Mr. James Thompson, and many were the arguments we had to-gether. He was, if I remember rightly, interested in the Spinning Mill, later carried on by Mr. Sam Dugdale. An-other argumentative acquaintance was Mr. Tom Taylor, a one-legged politician; known as 'Tom at th' gate-house.'”
Caustic Humour.
"During the South African War many friendly debates with Riley Hopkinson, Tom Riley, Harry Pickles (of KayfieJd) and Inspector Hardisty, took place and are still fresh in my mind. I also re-member the caustic humour of Jim and Bob Shuttleworth, of Thornton, and the familiar figure of Bob Nutter in a sou'wester going his rounds with a greengrocer's cart, in the days before he ventured into cotton. I recall, too, the parish meetings, with Wilson Green, the clerk, who always seemed out of breath, and the inevitable presence of Parker Greenwood, with his evergreen resolu-tion relating to the original channel of the beck which he maintained to be 'into and through the Thornton parish.'”
“I sometimes hear in my mind's ear the 'Torpedoes all hot' of Ben Lord, and then by the law of association I think of his musical sons, and of the sons of Bill Hartley, the one-time Baptist organist. When I think of all these old worthies, and remember that they are no more it makes me realise that I am 'getting on' and may soon be numbered with those who have passed on.”
"May I have left some lasting im-pression for good with the thousands that have passed through my hands during the forty-odd years of my career as a teacher.''
S. V. HEAP.

Transcribed from the Craven Herald 6 September 1935 written by John Hartley
From a collection of newspaper cuttings made by the author kindly loaned by Mrs.E. Wilkinson.

Transcribed from the Craven Herald 1 November 1935 written by John Hartley
From a collection of newspaper cuttings made by the author kindly loaned by Mrs.E. Wilkinson.
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