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Herefordshire Memories: 1950s

Schools - in 1953, and for very many years afterwards:
- Most schools had outside toilets divided into Boys and Girls. As in Longtown School
these could be water closets utilising a stream but even schools in Hereford had
outside toilets . One difficulty was that they could freeze in winter.
- Heat in schools came from stoves, similar to those still in Hereford Cathedral , which burnt
wood or coal. Huge stoves in nearly every classroom where clothes could also be
dried and milk warmed. These had to be lit every morning either by a teacher, or
sometimes in town schools by a caretaker .
- It was usual for children, even young ones, to walk to school and the distances could be
in miles. They would walk in groups, collecting children as they went, the older ones
looking after the younger ones. There was little if any traffic. Now children are most
often driven to school by car.
- Everyone knew the School Attendance Officer, the Boardman. In Hereford , Mr Herbert
used to visit the Wednesday Market to catch boys and girls truanting. I expect he
was a very nice man but even though my Father, a Headmaster, knew him I was
petrified of his reputation. He visited my home once and I fled upstairs refusing to
come down until he had gone. He obtained results though and few dared to truant.
Anyway, if you did your own parents would discipline you as well.
- Schools were very disciplined and a cane was threatened and sometimes used. It was
needed as classes were much larger than today so keeping order could be a
problem if things got out-of-hand. However, teachers, and schooling, were
respected so if you behaved badly or were inattentive your parents would support
the teachers. Very different today in many areas. Older people were
respected and you didn't argue with your parents.
- Country children always had more discipline anyway as they were expected to help out
on the farms before and after school.
- Schools were divided into Infants, who started aged 5 years, and Juniors - now they are
all Primary. This meant there was an age range in each grouping which
necessitated skilled and dedicated teaching to keep all the children occupied. Miss
Thelma Matthews, Headmistress of a Hereford School, always wore her stunning
charm bracelet on the first day to help ease the new children from their mothers -
it worked too.
- Of course children had different clothes and hair styles in the 1950s, including short white
socks. Girls often wore plaits.
- Men wore caps or hats. Everyone dressed in their best for Church and outings.
- Classes included English, Arithmetic where everyone learned their tables by rote,
sometimes Geometry, some History and Geography, Games and P.E., always
Scripture and Nature Study. In the country schools nature walks were common.
Many schools, especially in the towns had gardens where possible allotted to
individual older pupils. Boys could also learn woodwork and girls cookery.
Geography lessons used maps with a lot of countries coloured pink for the
Commonwealth or remnants of the British Empire .
- The school day started with an Assembly which was religious having a hymn, prayers,
and a talk or reading. When I went to the Girls High School not talking was strictly
enforced so a group of us learned sign language....
- Schools put on plays and many had Christmas parties.
- Most children were encouraged to save regularly through the National Savings collected
each week in school.
- The school leaving age was officially 15 years (1944 Education Act), and at 11 a girl or
boy would sit the 11+ exam. In Herefordshire results were graded so the top group
of girls went to the Girls' High School while the top group of boys went to either the
Boys' High School or the Cathedral School . Then other schools would be
considered, on merit and distance, such as in Leominster , Bromyard, Ross and
Ledbury. After that there were Secondary Modern Schools such as the Bluecoat
School and Whitecross. However, it took a long time for the new system to work
and well into the late 1950s older pupils, who had 'failed' the 11+ or whose parents
did not want them to take the exam, stayed on as the older pupils at their first
school.
- Uniforms for the Hereford Schools were usually bought at Augustus C. Edwards' shop,
opposite the Old House in High Town . This shop had a curved window set back
behind a barrier and with mirrors at each end. If you leaned over the barrier you
could see yourself multiplied...
- Boys went on to do National Service in 1953.
- There were occasional outings to the seaside, such as a day to Barry Island or
Porthcawl, usually arranged through the Sunday Schools that most children
attended. Sunday School and attendance at Church or Chapel was still very, very
common.
- Children played out of doors using their imagination. Conkers was popular. Girls used to
skip in groups. Tried-and-tested games were Grandmother's Footsteps, Freezes
and Football though it was rare to follow particular football teams as now. In the
country children explored their areas, found birds' nests, climbed trees, while
swimming in the rivers was common in town and country.
You knew where you lived and you were taught to respect where you lived. Today
children are bought toys and computers but some parents use these as
substitutes...too often the child's imagination is not stimulated.
- In town you could buy a paper folded into a cone into which sherbert was pored, or 4d
worth of chips.
- Money has changed from ??-s-d to ??-p and other measurements have gone metric.
- The word 'youth' has changed its meaning from a young person in 1953 to a teenager
engaged in nefarious activities today .
- Many children felt isolated on farms when they left school. Some farms still had labourers
and at times, like harvesting, everyone around helped each other. In this situation
the Young Farmers' Clubs were welcome occasions for young people to socialise
and many a wedding resulted as well.
- Trips to Hereford and Abergavenny were often only to the weekly markets to sell animals
or produce. Holidays were a highlight.
- Rationing was still in operation. In February 1953 it ended on sweets, but sugar remained
rationed until September 1953. Rationing finally ended with removal of restrictions
on meat and bacon in July 1954. On the farms, though, food was grown for home
consumption. Rationing affected sales of meat and bacon. Cooking was affected by
sugar restrictions and children grew up without too many sweets and possibly better
teeth than today!
- Cars were driven by double-de-clutching which required the use of the clutch twice when
changing gear; once to move the lever into neutral and again to then put it into the
required gear whilst at the same time adjusting the engine speed with the accelerator.
Failure to double declutch produced a horrible rending and grinding from the gearbox!.

- However, by far the biggest changes have been the arrival of electricity, followed
by mains water, in the county. Some villages did not have utilities, electricity,
mains water and telephone until 1959 or later.
Farming in the county:
- 'Although there was hardship, not all was gloom and doom. There was a great spirit of
community, with neighbourly co-operation at times like shearing, harvest and
Christmas poultry dressing. There were many opportunities for social interaction.
The work was very hard at times, but it was often work shared. Nowadays
mechanisation has made life much easier, but at the same time farming is a much
lonelier activity. Not that anyone would actually want to return to the old back-
breaking days, of course!' quote from L&DHS Farming booklet.
- Most farms only had tractors from around 1953. Electricity started arriving about.1957 but
many didn't have the utilities until the early 1960s. (water was from wells).
- Stooks and sheaves were still common in fields. Now farms have combine harvesters,
driers and tractors for different soil types. in the 1960s milking parlours appeared.
- No electricity meant no washing machines or TV either.
- There was a wooden stand at the road entrance of most farms for the milk churns so
neither the farmer or the collector needed to bend too much...a full churn is heavy!
- Gypsies called annually to help with hop-picking in the Frome Valley and many Hereford
families spent the day helping too.
- There were local blacksmiths. In Hereford there was one in Blueschool Street until the
late 1950s and you could stand and watch the shire horses being shod.
- Farm sizes were smaller then too. When amalgamation of land started houses and
cottages were usually bulldozed. A farm could be bought in the early 1950s for
about. ??7,500.
- Barns with large opposing doors were still used for winnowing by hand. Now most have
been converted for housing.
- Many farms still made their own cider.
- Trains were used to get animals and produce to markets. The Hereford to Gloucester
train still ran. Pontrilas was a busy station.
- Everyone who could went to the weekly Wednesday market in Hereford . There was a
crockery stall where the proprietor had the trick of tossing a basket full of crockery
into the air and catching it! Buses were well used.
- People had very few holidays.
- People did not work on Sundays though on farms some jobs still had to be done. People
and the traffic stood still for the 2 minute silence on Remembrance Day.
- Traffic was light then compared to now. Usual for the Salvation Army to play and sing in a
group even in the middle of main roads on a Sunday.
- In Hereford there was a rag-and-bone man who used a horse and cart into the late
1950s. Breweries still used dray horses... two white shires were called Prince and Duke.
- Another difference between 1953 and now are the Health and Safety Laws. Many jobs
were done on farms, even by children, that would not be allowed now.
- In 1953 a farm labourer could be dismissed on the spot for little real reason...not true
now.
- Far more paper-work of farms now and subsidies are important.

Coronation Celebrations in 1953 (RER):
- There was a fair and pageant in Hereford on the Bishops' Meadows.
- Opened by HRH Princess Alexandra who arrived by train and used the specially opened
stairs from the railway bridge that brought her directly outside the station without
having to pass the booking hall.
- All schools and community groups took part....extensively covered in 'The Hereford
Times'.
- The pageant was led by Queen Elizabeth I (a girl chosen from the Girls' High School) and
her attendants (boys and girls from local schools, one girl was from Holmer School ).
They had lovely costumes and the Queen had a red wig.
- There was activity everywhere on the field and the weather was glorious. The Margaret
Allen Preparatory School (Redcap) girls danced around a maypole.
- One very popular stand depicted the singing of Uncle Tom Cobley and all with each
character, in costume bobbing up-and-down when his name was mentioned...very
effective: 'Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry
Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all'.

Other Points (RER):
- In 1959 the RAF received the Freedom of the City of Hereford .
- In 1954 Henry Wiggin & Co., now Special Metals Wiggin Ltd., moved to Hereford from
Birmingham . Hereford became the main UK production site in 1961.
- specialised in nickel alloy production (since 1835). It had a huge impact on the
county as before most of the available jobs were related to farming. Wiggins
brought specialised workers with them but not all stayed. From 1954 Wiggins also
needed many other workers who were recruited locally and this helped to raise
farm wages. (Not as labour intensive now though.)

Observations

Well, I hope these points help to show how very, very different life in the county is now from life in 1953. Women especially have more freedom to choose and mechanisation, notably electricity, has brought huge changes. Nevertheless, there has been a downside as we have lost something of a community spirit. Newcomers do move into the country and make no attempt to have a connection with the area...some don't use local shops, or the local milkman, or even take the Parish Magazine (which functions as a community newspaper giving details of all events). Not all, thank goodness, are like this as there are newcomers who do try to join in. However, as one friend said to me about his village: 'When I was a boy you knew everyone ...now you have to join clubs and societies...' That is the difference between 1953 and 2012.

Ruth E. Richardson.