These
images should bring
back a few memories
for you
younger ones, perhaps whet some appetites. These Eric Johnson photos are dated roughly late 1960's, and some of these children may well have been amongst those that moved to Dorchester Road when the Old School closed in 1976. We have the registers only up to 1973, as sadly, the last three years were lost in a bad flood they had down Leads Road. These little guys and gals will be somewhere in their 60s now, with grandkids of their own. Don't
know who told us, but
there is a rumour about
that the faded Four
Circles may be restored.
Those who were there will know what we mean. They can be seen on the aerial photo below. DOMINOES READING BOOKS How many recall the ‘Dominoes’ series of reading books for early years pupils? These were published nationwide, but the photos were by Sutton St James’ headmaster, Mr Eric Johnson, under contract from the Department of Education at the time. These were published around 1970-72. We
have quite a little
collection of these in
the museum, courtesy
of former pupil Diane
E Sharp, who gave us
her whole collection
of the blue and pink
covered titles. We’re
still missing a
couple, which we would
readily scan on the
spot and return to
owners if they’d
loaned them to us.
The children in these books are surely the parents and grandparents of some local Sutton and Hull children today. It may interest folks to know that the whole photo collection we hold of former headmaster, Eric Johnson, is now quite considerable. There are some 110 individual photos from these ‘Dominoes’ books, around 46 older b&w studies from the late ‘40s and the ‘50s, of class and team photos. Then there are the original slides we copied some years back, glorious full colour photographic studies, many of which would easily have been prize winners in competitions of their day. We have 62 of those. So in total, well over 200 photos of Sutton children over the years, albeit most of them of the later years, late ‘60s and into the 1970s. All saved digitally, and all can be viewed on the museum computer on request on Fridays. By any standards, that is some village collection. Folks will appreciate that we can’t put the whole collection online, only a few of them occasionally at a time … webspace has to be paid for, and we have a considerable amount up here already.
TWO
SUTTON VIEWS
Here's another view
most of you would
not have seen from
this angle, but I'd
bet many of you
former
pupils will see many
things to recognise
in this cracking
quality photo. I've
scanned it good
quality and left it
big enough to fill
the screen.
Click to open in a
new browser window,
and see it enlarged.
It will show full
screen if you know
how; pressing F11
helps, or sometimes
Fn+F11, depends on
your keyboard setup.
See what you can
pick out, what
features take you
back years and years
.... something tells
me this was a school
day, and this was in
the morning before
break time.
One
feature, almost
unnoticeable, is a
real joy, being
Eric Johnson's
greenhouse. Former
headmaster Mr
Johnson was keen
on gardening, and
just as keen on
introducing
children to this
valuable hobby. So
the pupils had a
thriving little
garden at the back
of the school.
This is the only
known image we
have of it. Many
thanks to Pam (neé
Suddaby) and Rob
for bringing this
in for us. A
lovely quality
pic. Update:
though we do have
some short clips
from John Riley's
cine film of the
boys helping to
build and assemble
it. Hope to
show some of that
soon in a
'presentation.'
Another
quality
photo from Pam here
on the left that may
bring back distant
memories for Sutton
folk. In a way,
although a mile or
two distant from the
village itself, this
scene almost
epitomises what
Sutton felt like
back then, rural, a
bit out of the way,
peaceful and with
definite overtones
of the old world of
England long
ago. Castle
Hill Road was a very
popular venue for a
Sunday afternoon
walk, and many boys
and girls will
remember playing
amongst those trees
on the old mound,
just near Castle
Hill Farm, now sadly
no more.
Several
local farms of
fond memory have
long since ceased
to exist. Old
Sutton folk that
revisit often ask
us exactly where
it was, as they
are confused by
the newer Noddle
Hill Way cutting
right across it,
actually not far
from where this
drain bridge was
and behind the
camera. If you can
find it on your
map, and take a
straight line
across Noddle
Hill, the old lane
cuts right through
where Biggin
Hill School
is now, and would
exit onto Wawne
Road roughly
opposite
Barnstaple Road
today.
The memory is prompted by recent visits by ex-Sutton residents to the museum and pouring over our huge photo collections, and also some of the scanned pen & ink drawings by the late Ken Cook. There are several featuring scenes on Leads Rd, including the old garage once owned by Ken's parents who lived at Springfield Cottage. Quite a lot of local young folk, now in their late teens and early twenties, will remember this house as being their 'Cherub Nursery' up until quite recently in memory terms, only some five years ago or so, albeit with a huge extension on the side nearest this corner. Time moves on, scenes change, and memories are made to be filed away in the back of our minds, only to be brought back to life by an unexpected image such as this. There are many more on these pages ... explore, enjoy! Talking of farming, of years ago, brings me to this fascinating discovery. An entry in a massive newspaper sheet for a paper called "The Pilot", dated 12 June, 1837, just eight days before Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. This little extract details a fascinating farming experiment; see what you think. For I think they started something big here. Print quality was quite poor, so tidied up a fair a bit to make it all more readable. It's saved as a photo, jpg, and loads MUCH bigger if you click it ... click to load in a new window. I have a feeling this experiment led to major changes in farming that very quickly even affected our area. The common census entry, "ploughman", would soon become more and more rare. Another set of memories here, for those who were lucky enough to get up there and see these views. Looks like there may have been a late fall of snow, and it's springtime. These might have been taken on St George's Day. The very observant will note that, in the view of the school, the playground is still fully concreted, and we can just see the tip of Mr Johnson's greenhouse peeping out in from the other side of the dividing fence behind the new vicarage, in front of the white hut, the senior pupil's classroom by that time. Memories!! OUR CHATTY CAFE |
but not
quite ....this GOOGLE info re-aligned
from the top of the page .....
GOOGLE
and our website
It
is with much sadness, and a
great amount of 'miff',
that we have to announce the closure of our previously free Google Website, the one you used to be able to see when you click on our Old School on Google Maps. For
those who have never seen it,
this link takes you, for now
.....
GOOGLE US. From March 1st, the website we have there will no longer show, but just the main profile of your main website manager, that's me! I created and maintain it under my own name. Then, from June 10th, it will not show you anything at all, just a bland notice saying it has all closed. Really thrilling news. Yes, very miffed indeed. We will of course, still have this main website, the one we pay for privately, and incidentally, is paid for by your generous donations. On the Google site as it shows now, there is of course a link that takes you directly to this site, but that ultimately will be withdrawn. Perhaps we should not be complaining. After all, the Google site has always been free, the only input required was the extra amount of learning this tired old brain needed to master in order to make sense and best use of it, to place photos, announcements, etc. It hasn't cost us a penny, so far, offered by the goodness and largesse of one of the world's largest and richest technology companies. But I strongly sense here that there will be soon a requirement, a 'request', for us to shell out some of our funds to keep our placement on Google Maps too. Like with most tech companies today, here now comes the rub off, just as many of you are finding currently with internet companies and their marvellously 'cheap' subscription deals to undermine KC. Like fish, we are all on very sharp hooks. So, if any of you run a small business, and trade is enhanced by your placement on Google Maps, beware .... times are a'changing. No doubt the tech companies will make a fortune building you a new site to replace your Google one. But not here, they shouldn't even ask us. I have enough trouble remembering all the tricks to maintain this one you're reading now. But, for the most part, you'll have no choice but agree and pay up. Government calls all this 'trade' and 'economics' .. I suspect most of us have another old English word for it - I'm still allowed to use English, I think - .... Corruption. And
if you don't subscribe to keep
your place on their maps, your
business will surely
suffer.
Oh, you can be well assured, they'll make very sure of that. Just
like with the Post Office and
our own Government,
you can't fight them. You will not win! Never. 10
January 2024
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