School Log Books often refer to events beyond the school and the local community. This example from Garth School shows that in 1898 local people, many with little money to spare, did their best to help others even worse off.

20th May - "Made a collection among the children for children starving in Rhondda Valley owing to the colliers strike - amount realized ten shillings".
Working conditions for coal miners were terrible and very dangerous, and wages were low. This 1898 strike in south Wales lasted about 6 months until the miners were defeated by lack of money to survive and feed their families.
Nowadays we are used to seeing pictures of events all over the world, as they happen, on television. There was no TV for Victorian children, but they occasionally had the treat of seeing pictures projected on to the wall by a 'Magic Lantern' ! This is from the diary of Llangamarch School in 1882 ...

The Log Book entry above reads -
"On Wednesday evening there was a Magic Lantern entertainment for the children in school".
The pictures would probably include views of places in Africa and India which were then part of the British Empire, and of animals from other lands. All these were popular subjects for lantern slides in the Victorian years.

Back to Llanwrtyd schools menu