A Nostalgic Visit to Highfield School - Part 2 ![]() The boys' door from the inside with the entrance to the "new" toilet block to the right. Looking to the right from the same location we see the cloakroom. If memory serves, in our day this area was subdivided by metal partitions and there were wash basins there too. Opposite the cloakroom we see the corridor to what was the headmaster's office and a recess containing a drinking fountain. We certainly had a drinking fountain in our day, but I cannot remember if it was in the same location or elsewhere.
This is the view from the end of that corridor looking through the doorway of what was Mr Swan's office and is now used for support teaching. I lost count of the number of times I stood outside this office awaiting punishment - invariably one or more strokes of the cane on the left hand, even for the most trivial of offences. Rather unpleasant memories, but it is hard to relate the room as it is now to that place of old. Gone are the heavy oak desk, chair, table, book cases and filing cabinets and gone is the oppressive atmosphere heavy with cigarette smoke from the 80-a-day headmaster, and in their place is a pleasant, colourful and well-lit teaching space. Another view of the same office. This window looks across the boys' yard towards the shed. This was our Assembly Hall, though in reality it was and is little more than a corridor. It is difficult to imagine how we all fitted in there, but we did, all 250+ of us. I remember Mr Swan conducting assembly from his raised podium which stood just this side of the open blue door visible here. Today this space is well lit by large skylights which I don't think were there in our day. And back then there were six general purpose classrooms off this hall/corridor, three on each side; today there are only two, the first two just visible on the right-hand side of this picture. The first of those classrooms with tables in place of the lines of desks which we used, giving a much friendlier and less formal appearance. And what a change in decor, with cheerful bright primary colours in place of the drab creams and browns of our day. Another view of the same room. Things really have changed - no blackboard and no teacher's desk! Text and coloured images - Copyright © Brian Pears 2005 Introduction Home Page |