Picture postcard perfect – but that couldn’t save it...
HISTORIAN RECALLS A SCHOOL’S HEYDAY – AND CONTROVERSIAL DEMISE
IT SEEMS an eternity ago – it is actually about 44 years – since I, as a worker at Woolworth’s in Newcastle, used to spend my lunch hour in Queen’s Gardens, Ironmarket, admiring the old school building opposite me, while munching a pastie.
The St Giles’ and St George’s School – it served both of those Newcastle parishes – opened in April 1895, prompting strong hopes that this end of Ironmarket – ‘already materially improved’ by the coming of the school, according to the local press – would be enhanced still further by the transformation of the adjacent field into public gardens.
The building, with its beautiful large, round-headed windows, distinctive gables and a bell turret formed a perfect backdrop to the slightly later floral feast that became known as Queen’s Gardens.
Over the years, the school enjoyed the close company of other period buildings such as the Municipal Hall of 1890 and the post office of 1914 (largely rebuilt in the 1950s) so that it was guaranteed to appear on old postcard images. One of these is entitled Queen’s Park and National
Schools, Newcastle-under-lyme.
It was recalled as the National School by Lily Shufflebotham, whose recollections of being a pupil between the 1920s and 1934 can be found on the internet. She remembered the cloakroom where pupils hung up their coats, the outside toilet block and the large tree in the school yard.
“The boys’ school had a tall iron fence between them and the girls,” she reminisced, “and we used to go around at playtime and talk to the boys through the fence. Once a year, on the first afternoon of school after summer month holidays, we all went to the pictures in Newcastle – the Savoy, Regal or Pavilion, a different one each year – as a treat given by the Mayor.”
A booklet was produced for its centenary year, offering former pupils’ memories from down the generations. One remembered that the draughts were so bad that the gas mantles would break with the cold air.
Another contributor spoke of attending the school during the Second World War: “Half of the teaching took place in air raid shelters, which were sited on the Queen’s Gardens side of the school. Much time was spent in rehearsing gas mask drill. The shelters were dark and damp with a bench along each wet wall. There we sang numerous songs, recited poetry, tables, told stories and played talking games.”
Within living memory, the school was a very active one. Some former pupils may recall that an annual Rose Queen was crowned. Incidentally, it wasn’t until 1991 that gender equality came to be observed – and a Rose King was picked from the boys.
When funds were required for a new school minibus in 1990, novel ways were found of raising the cash. One of the parents, Paul Stevens, travelled a distance of five miles – on a pogo-stick. He was accompanied by the Reverend Marshall of St George’s Church, who rode a tandem bicycle, and a team of people pushing beds.
However, some of the extracurricular activity at the school was decidedly more serious in nature. When a town redevelopment plan of 1990 threatened to incorporate a car park near to the school, pupils and parents alike lobbied local councillors to throw the idea out on account of the pollution risk to children. What was prescient in 1990 was that there were already tentative discussions about finding an alternative site for the school in the light of the threat of town centre reconstruction.
A few years later, the school was reported to have been suffering from damp and structural problems – to say nothing of the site’s accessibility issues from Barracks Road. The mobile classrooms and the bumpy school playgrounds had hardly been ideal, either, while many former pupils recall the lessthan-welcoming outside toilets, which according to one commentator, were “always dark, always cold and always smelt whatever the weather.”
In December, 2005, The Sentinel reported that 220-plus pupils from St Giles’ and St George’s Primary School would be moving to their new seat of learning in Orme Road, with the closure of their 110-year old school building. The outgoing head teacher, Lynne Evans, whose own family had studied there, told this newspaper she would miss the building’s magnificent windows.
The removal of the pupils, however, didn’t necessarily mean that time was up for this historic, latevictorian building – and there was plenty of support for its retention. Some readers felt it might be converted into a hall for meetings and community events.
Richard Gorton, county councillor for Newcastle South, reminded the public that the building was owned by Staffordshire County Council, whose officers had heard his argument that the buildings should be used by the local community. His view, as expressed in 2006, was that the site should be used for education and community purposes, being “an important community asset that should be preserved for the benefit of Newcastle residents.”
However, the old school’s future hung in the balance by 2012. Councillor George Cairns called for it to be used as an indoor market, but it was also revealed that the cost of a basic renovation would be about £380,000. There was even a suggestion – surely borne out of desperation – that the borough’s museum and art gallery might move in.
Actually, there were already several marvellous pieces of highquality art that could be found in the building prior to its demoli
tion. I am referring to the graffiti items entitled “Oi! Go to the Headmaster,” and “You’ve been naughty” both of which were photographed by talented lensman Alex Harford. They can be found on the internet.
In a letter that echoed the logic of all those who wished to save the town’s Municipal Hall back in the 1960s, Sentinel letter-writer J Adams of Wolstanton declared: “It compliments the adjoining gardens rather than drowning them with a modern monstrosity.”
He added that county councillors driving the plan for a public sector hub on site must be stopped: “They have no loyalty, affinity or connection with Newcastle, offering similar appalling judgement to those who destroyed the municipal hall.”
However, in early, 2016, it was announced that the school would be demolished to make room for new council offices. There was great anger from those who had campaigned for its retention, giving rise to a response from Councillor Terry Turner, who declared: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for this town – this is not going to come round again. If you want to stay in the Victorian age that is fine and dandy but I do not.”
The council civic hub has since been labelled by various commentators in this newspaper as a carbuncle and having a negative impact on the ever-beautiful
Queen’s Gardens. Reference has also been made to the quality of services provided by cramming so many public services together in one building.
For myself, I can only say that the town’s once-great reference library and archive service is the palest shadow of what it once was. Of course, I may be accused of too close an attachment to the past – which considering that the borough council was so keen to celebrate Newcastle’s 850th anniversary last year puts me in very good company.