|
The great day was always the first Sunday in June, when June days were
warm and sunny
For weeks before that day, preparations were in progress. Recitations had
to be found by Sunday School teachers or-parents.
As a child I remember learning two, one for afternoon and one for the
evening. It was not much of a worry for me fortunately, but for some it
was a nightmare. It takes a lot of nerve to stand on a platform in front
of a crowded building, knowing they are all looking at you and recite what
you have tried to remember.
The Wesleyan Reform Chapel
in Chapel Street was quite a large building, could seat 100 people in the
body of the Chapel, it had a large
gallery one end, also Choir stalls and pulpit the other end. For the great
day forms were put beneath the gallery, also along aisle in the middle
Chapel. There were up to 60 children in later years after the war years.
All friends and family came,
also other members from local villages. Wonderful tea parties that day!
Early tea because if you did not get your seat in Chapel by 6 0 clock you
couldn't get one for 6.30 service.
Cawston Silver Band
attended in the evening and played outside Chapel before the service,
after evening service they played on Market Hill.
A big platform was erected
both sides of the pulpit for the children. Chairs and forms were put in
place for them. The Choir consisted of regulars and friends from other
parishes, about twenty in all.
The children were dressed in
their best clothes, new dresses for the-girls,-sometimes one for
the afternoon, and one for the evening. Boys had new suits with
shinning shoes, no trainers in those days. '
The Superintendent, teachers
of the Sunday School worked hard for weeks before the great day,
listening and helping with
recitations. Also the organist would go over the hymns with the children,
they usually did one on their own. One evening in the week was
given over for rehearsals.
The Methodist Chapel friends had their Sunday School Anniversary at the
Wesleyan building last Sunday in May, the bigger building to accommodate
their families and friends.
The same thing applied to
their teachers at Sunday School, one evening each week to rehearse,
different program and hymns, but all members of the choir supported each
others anniversary. Then the wait with anticipation for the day out to
Great Yarmouth, paid for by monies raised by the anniversary.
Coaches were ordered from
Red Car Buses (Cromer) I think, sometimes as many as 5. The children met
in the Sunday School room before leaving, each child was given a sixpenny
piece, and an orange in my day. My daughter says in her day it was two
shillings. These extras were given by some business people in the village.
It was the only time some of
us went to the seaside as not many people had cars.
Trains went to Yarmouth
some days, but you had to change at Wroxham,
when you got to Yarmouth the station was a long way out of the
Town.
Oh the memories of sand in cucumber
sandwiches! Mothers made sandwiches to take with them, to buy was too
expensive. Some went to the Circus in the afternoon; seats had to be
booked during the morning. Fun Fair was always popular of course, most
children saved up for this before the day.
The return
journey was less boisterous, tired sunburned children having had a lovely
day, made all the worries of Anniversary Day worth it.
August 2008
Related Link: Memory Lane Index
Top
The Sunday
School Outings of the three Sunday schools in the village were real red
letter days. The Church usually took their school
to Cromer, the Methodists and Wesleyans
to Gt. Yarmouth. The latter being the one that I attended.
First of all it
meant an extra days holiday from school,
I expect that made those left at school feel a bit "green".
My dad Mr. G.
Purdy was the superintendent of the Weselayn
school
(I thought he was rather strict). Soon after the anniversary which by the
way raised the money needed for the outing he would
have to make
arrangements booking coaches. That
pleased me as I
went with him to the East Coast Motor Co., and the proprietor always gave
me a shilling (5p) to spend. The date of the outing was usually around
July 15th, old St. Swithin's
I expect
thats
the
reason it often rained.
About three
weeks before the day the teachers Mr. Harry Oakes (Sen), Mr. Edward Dack,
Miss Cissie
Gotterson
and Mr.
Dennis Oakes told us how we would be going and how much it would coast our
parents or friends if they wished to go with us. The fare for adults was
four shillings, children two shillings.
On the day all
the children met in the chapel for a prayer and last minute orders, Mr. M.
D. Howard gave each one of us sixpence (2.5p) on
the way out then it was a mad rush up to the Market Hill to get a good
seat on the coach, usually there were four coaches to choose from. Spades
and pails, macs, (in case it rained) bags of food, all piled on with
parents and friends, a quick check then it was off to Gt. Yarmouth.
Arriving at
Yarmouth the coaches stopped near the tower (now demolished) everybody
scrambled out and went
their various ways, some making their way down to the sea via the long
boards laid over the sand, through lines of deck chairs to get a place
as close to the sea as possible, (and
of course close to the pier in case it rained).
In those days it was frowned
on to take ones clothes off in public so a bathing machine had to be hired
to change in, they were like a shepherds hut with huge wheels and steps up
to the door, there were quite a number of them in rows on the beach.
Once settled the beach
salesmen would soon be along with baskets of goodies, chocolate, sweets,
windmills, footballs, balloons, and birds on sticks, (not real ones you
understand,) everything to make a happier day, and of course the ice cream
man with his tub and halfpenny cornets, they tasted much better off him.
On one part of the beach a
sand artist made models of horses, etc., for which people threw coins in
his hat, also there were swinging boats at two pence a go, of course we
had to try and get them over the top. Under the pier there were all sorts
of machines to tempt the pennies from our pockets.
After a sandwich on the
beach a walk down Regent Road was the order to finish up in that wonderful
store Woolworths, everything there was only three pence or six pence
(l.5p, 2.5p), making shopping for presents to take home easy.
Then it was back along the
Prom., stopping at the boating lake for a trip on the paddle boats where
we had to crank like made to get a little speed until a voice called out
"come
in number
45".
Then on to the Pleasure Beach and all the fun
of the fair, The Mat, Dodgems, Ghost Train, Noah's Ark, Scenic Railway,
The Whip and many other exciting rides. A good laugh was to be had
watching the ladies walking over the
"wind
grating" in the house of fun. What a time we had but alas our
purses were empty!
A meal was laid on in the
Methodist Hall given by Mr. W. Howard of Gt. Yarmouth for all the scholars
and teachers, after that it was down to Britannia Pier to board the
coaches for home.
The noise going home was
quite something as all the new instruments like whistles, mouth organs and
drums had to be tried out, those without made up for it with their voices.
A wonderful day finished up
back in Cawston at about 8.00 o'clock, weary but happy, I expect our
parents were thankful to get us off to bed so that they could enjoy a
little peace and quiet.
From the Parish Magazine November & December 1989
Related Link: Memory Lane Index
Top
It is more than 50 years since I
first went to Sunday School, and continued to go almost every
Sunday for the next twelve years. Today's children, subjected to
constant stimulation and a surfeit of possessions would find the
experience like a visit to another world.
I have an elder sister and brother,
eight and four years older than me. Every Sunday they went off to
Sunday School, leaving me behind at home. How I longed to go with
them, and, eventually, uncharacteristically giving in to my
pleadings, my parents allowed me to start Sunday School early at
the age of four. I had visions of desks and lots of activities -
the reality was quite different.
In a gloomy room at the back of the
Wesleyan Reform Chapel (always as known as the Big Chapel, as
opposed to the Methodist Chapel, which was called the Little
Chapel), lit by large frosted glass windows, we sat on rows of
hard wooden forms. The boys sat on one side and the girls on the
other. There was a large Victorian picture over the fireplace,
which I think may have been of Christ and Pontius Pilate. The
walls were painted shiny brown from the floor to halfway up the
wall. Naughty big boys would draw mildly risque cartoons in the
condensation which gathered. For reasons then not apparent to me
the big boys, some of whom were young men rising sixteen, sat at
the back, while girls of the same age were strictly segregated and
sat at the front. As many as 50 children attended Sunday School
from 10-11 am.
The superintendent, Mr David Lee, was
a large gentleman with curly hair and a very loud voice and he sat
at the front of the school at a desk. On it was a bell which he
would ring to bring us to order. His wife Mrs Norah Lee, Mr Cecil
Bellbody, Mr Dennis Oakes, Mr Ted Dack and Mrs Jean Dack were
Sunday School teachers and sat with the different age groups.
After the register had been called we would have a prayer, and
then read a bible passage, each child in the school reading a
verse, from five to sixteen year olds. We then divided into
classes. I am ashamed to admit that all I can remember of the
classes is that Mrs Dack, who was a very motherly lady, used to
read the little ones stories from Playways magazine, often about
Marmaduke the bear. However my bible knowledge is very useful in
pub quizzes, so something stuck! We had hymns, played on the
harmonium by Mrs. Lee, or her sister Trixie (also confusingly Mrs
Lee) and in later years by Marian, Mr Bellbody's daughter. As the
class was dismissed Mr Lee's unfailing admonition was 'Girls
first' as we led out into the freedom of a Sunday morning.
This was pretty much how most Sundays
went until usually the last Sunday in April. Then began the
preparations for the Sunday School Anniversary. Each child was
expected to give a recitation or 'piece'. The teachers found these
for the scholars and each Sunday we would practise them in front
of the school. Some parents found recitations for their children
themselves, and some, mine among them, composed their own. Whether
it took time for the muse to visit my dear mum and dad, or,
rather, I imagine they were always quite busy and relied on us to
learn quickly, they often did not write our 'piece' until the last
minute. Some children stood up and recited yards of verse. Dad's
offerings tended to be shorter, and to my chagrin, often produced
laughter in the congregation. How I longed to stand up and deliver
a huge chunk of Tennyson!
After Sunday School, for the four or
five Sundays before June the children would file into the Chapel,
where we were joined by the grown up choir of ladies and gentleman.
We, along with them, learnt a whole set of hymns especially composed
for such occasions. 1 think it was a series called 'The Anniversary
Budget' or something similar. The conductor was Mr Lennie Lee,
brother of David. He too had curly hair and a commanding voice. He
was a natural musician, with a fine tenor voice and the ability to
pinpoint any wrong note, wherever it came from! His brother-in-law,
Mr Ivan Purdy, played the organ for us. He too, could sight read
anything and today still entertains and uplifts congregations with
his work. The practice took an hour, so that pre-Anniversary visits
to the beach (which were a regular Sunday event in our family) were
somewhat curtailed.
On the final Sunday we would have a
runthrough with songs and recitations so that we would be ready for
the big day. For the girls there was another exciting element of
preparation - a new dress. Luckily for us my aunt was a dressmaker.
We would incorporate a visit to her for fittings when we went to
Wells on a Sunday. In the fifties most of the girls 1 knew were
neatly turned out, with white cotton socks and well polished shoes,
but the vast wardrobes of our daughters and granddaughters could
only be dreamed of. So the anniversary dress was something special.
Auntie would smock and tuck dresses and 1 remember one being
finished with an angora wool bolero (knitted by Mum of course). We
would also wear white sandals, sometimes with peeptoes, which felt
very grown up! We would gather in the schoolroom before the
Anniversary service while the congregation filed into the Chapel
next door. One of the girls - who would probably have been about
eight - had a bought dress. It was flounced nylon with a stiff
petticoat, and to my envy she had large hair slides with diamante
clips! One of Mum's friends nodded sagely 'Hm, fine feathers make
fine birds'. This totally mystified me, but looking back 1 know just
what she meant!
The men of the Chapel worked hard the
day before to erect a special platform covered in smart pink
carpeting for the children to sit on, while the choir sat in the
stalls above us. Mr Lee stood with his back to the congregation and
conducted from the pulpit while a guest chairman introduced the
items. The service would begin with a bible reading by one of the
scholars. One year 1 had been selected. It was the 121st psalm 'I
will lift up mine eyes unto the hills'. Dad had, as usual, rehearsed
me. 'Loudly, clearly, slowly - imagine there's an old lady in the
back row who's deaf. All started well. My heart thumped in a
curiously enjoyable way as 1 read. Then 1 had to turn a page. Part
of the beautiful anniversary rigout was a pair of nylon gloves with
pink pearls (which 1 had worn as a bridesmaid the year before). 1
couldn't turn the page with the glove on. A ripple of amusement
sounded from the congregation. Finally, feeling extremely hot and
bothered 1 took the glove off and continued. It taught me a useful
lesson for later years in amateur dramatics - always practise with
your costume!
One by one the children trotted out
their pieces, punctuated by the choir offerings. Sometimes the grown
ups would sing a duet or solo, and often one or other of the
children would do the same. My brother and 1 first sang a duet when
1 was about six and he was ten, and I went on to do solos and
eventually join the grown ups in the choir. These early experiences
nurtured our enduring passion for amateur dramatics!
After the afternoon service there
followed an evening service. The Chapel would be packed for both
services, with extra seats brought in and standing room only at the
back of the building. A collection would be taken at both services.
After the programme was finished Mr Lee would make a closing speech,
and, dramatically, as he finished the gentleman who had taken the
collection would give Mr Lee the figure raised. £50 springs to mind,
although my memories of exact amounts are hazy. What I do remember
is that it financed the Sunday School Treat to Great Yarmouth in
July. Three full coaches would go and each scholar would be given
7/6d to spend, no mean sum in those days. Sometimes we would perform
the whole programme again a month or two later - again raising large
sums of money.
I stayed at Sunday School until I was
16. Each scholar would be given bible at this point. My mother
insisted that it would be bad manners to leave as soon as I had
received the bible, so I left a few months later.
What stays in the memory is the
kindness and dedication of those Sunday School teachers, who happily
gave up their time to help young people, along with the excitement
of those early experiences of performing in public at the Sunday
School Anniversary.
August 2008 Related Link: Memory Lane Index
Top
1963
|
|
