50's Primary School

Thmaga · 10 Jul 2013

A primary school near to me is closing and merging with another school in a new build. I've been documenting the interior of the old school which is due for demolition in a few weeks. I've photographed every room in the school - I'm still yet to sort through and process them all but here are a few so far.

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mrtoad · 10 Jul 2013

great nostalgia here and a good set of reportage shots
i remember schools like this as my wife is a teacher and i used to go in to help...and be father christmas etc
i was 7 in 1950 and the gym shot really brings back memories of injuring myself trying to do the jumping over the buck stuff...with the springboard etc...not a good time for me as i am not very athletic
my school was a bit older in fact and we had desks and benches and ink wells, pen nibs and slates and chalk to do our sums..
the teachers carried belts to entice us to be little darlings

cheers
geof

Thmaga · 10 Jul 2013

mrtoad said:
great nostalgia here and a good set of reportage shots
i remember schools like this as my wife is a teacher and i used to go in to help...and be father christmas etc
i was 7 in 1950 and the gym shot really brings back memories of injuring myself trying to do the jumping over the buck stuff...with the springboard etc...not a good time for me as i am not very athletic
my school was a bit older in fact and we had desks and benches and ink wells, pen nibs and slates and chalk to do our sums..
the teachers carried belts to entice us to be little darlings

cheers
geof

Thanks for the memories Geof - these images haven't yet been seen by locals I'm hoping they will spark some memories from them too.

A few more

7

8

9

10 This and the next image were once part of a large hall, it was partitioned into two rooms and a corridor a few years back.

11

12 - Something I wasn't expecting to see, a projection room.

Niall97 · 10 Jul 2013

I really like these, the mood is - as mentioned above - quite nostalgic, the first shot with the hall just evokes thoughts of generation after generation going through the school until eventually their kids went there and the cycle starts again. I’m sure some happy memories were had there and it’s almost sad to see it all go.

Nickyj · 10 Jul 2013

I really enjoyed your pictures, they really did give me that nostalgic feeling too, I wasn't at school in the 50's as I wasn't born but these remind me of being in school in the 70's, the classrooms look huge, the racks for the bags and coats I could see my little home made PE bag there, and as in the other comments that feeling of how many children and staff have passed through those doors - wonderful idea I love these !

Thmaga · 12 Jul 2013

Niall97 said:
I really like these, the mood is - as mentioned above - quite nostalgic, the first shot with the hall just evokes thoughts of generation after generation going through the school until eventually their kids went there and the cycle starts again. Im sure some happy memories were had there and its almost sad to see it all go.

Nickyj said:
I really enjoyed your pictures, they really did give me that nostalgic feeling too, I wasn't at school in the 50's as I wasn't born but these remind me of being in school in the 70's, the classrooms look huge, the racks for the bags and coats I could see my little home made PE bag there, and as in the other comments that feeling of how many children and staff have passed through those doors - wonderful idea I love these !

Thank you for the comments, will hopefully have the full set sorted in a week or so...got another two schools in progress too.

bl0at3r · 14 Jul 2013

Good that you've managed to get the rooms as they were rather than just empty. Some sort of floor plan or interactive map would be great as I have no sense of scale or layout from the pictures here.

Dexter247 · 14 Jul 2013

It's great that you have created a record of the school before it's demolished, I'm sure that in the years to come someone will look back at these and remember their days spent here, thanks to you.

Thmaga · 14 Jul 2013

bl0at3r said:
Good that you've managed to get the rooms as they were rather than just empty. Some sort of floor plan or interactive map would be great as I have no sense of scale or layout from the pictures here.

I've got a copy of the floor plan and I'm working on the best way to present the images by using it. I can't really release that until the school is closed though as there are security implications to releasing the layout whilst its still open. I can do it in Flash but would rather not if I can avoid it.