Powys Digital History Project

Llangurig School 9
Gathering winter fuel, 1880

  Frozen ink every night
Children attending today's centrally heated schools would be amazed at the idea of going out in the autumn to collect wood to light the school fires for the coming winter, a task recorded in the Llangurig School Log Book of 1880.

 Llangurig School
Log Book

Powys
County Archives
M/E/PS/66/L1

School log book entry 
  The above entry was dated 8th October,1880 and it reads:
"On Monday at noon most of the boys went into the neighbouring fields and on the hills to get a store of gorse and sticks to kindle the school fire with during the coming winter. Before starting they were forbidden to break any fences." 
  School log book entry 
 

The winter weather is a regular topic in country school log books, and it often has a dramatic effect on attendances. The value of the fuel gathering trips can be seen from the brief entry above, from 14th January 1881:
"There has been no writing in copy books as all the ink was frozen."
A similar entry from as late in the year as 19th April,1895 noted that "No paperwork has been done for some weeks except by a very few scholars. The ink in the wells is frozen every night".

There are 17 pages on Llangurig School. Use the box links below to view the other pages.

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