Crickhowell
Victorian school days
  Over the hills to school  
 

There were no school buses for children going to school in Victorian times ! Some of the luckier children got a ride to school in a horse-drawn wagon, but most had to walk - in all weathers ! And many had to walk for up to five miles each way, often over very rough tracks and across fields.
The weather often made a big difference to the numbers turning up for school...

 
14th January
1880
School diary entry
  This entry is from the Log Book of Llanbedr National School in the winter of 1880 -
14th January - "Wednesday - Very cold, the snow lying on the ground to a depth of eight inches. Attendance diminished, 31 scholars present against 50 yesterday".
 
7th November
1869
School diary entry
The old schoolroom
stove shown opposite is in a display of a Victorian
schoolroom at
Brecknock Museum
in Brecon.

More weather problems from the diary of the same school at Llanbedr, this time from 1888 -
9th November - "The weather this week has been so rough and wet, which makes it impossible for some of the little ones to attend. Average [attendance] 29.9".

The school rooms in the early schools were often poorly heated by small fireplaces or old stoves, like the one shown here from Brecknock Museum in Brecon.
Children who arrived at school soaking wet often could not get warmed enough to avoid the risk of colds and chills - and then got soaked again walking home !
There is more about the problems caused by cold weather in Victorian schools on the next page...

It's my turn to sit by the fire...

 

Photo of old stove
Link to sources
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