Extracts from the Bletchley and District Gazette 1940
July 20th - Bletchley Schools Parents’ Association held a social in the Senior School hall on Saturday when Mr H. Rees was MC. About £3 was raised for the YMCA canteen.
Extracts from the Bletchley and District Gazette 1942
February 7th - Children of Bletchley Senior School began a salvage drive and the main part of the town was divided into groups, each with an ‘official’ collector. The scheme was brought before the newly formed school parliament and was rapidly put into action, organised by the school captain, Alan Kay. Sacks were obtained from the UDC offices.
February 14th - A dance in the Senior School hall on Saturday by the Parents’ Association raised £23 for the Help for Russia Fund. The Modernist Dance Band from Buckingham gave their services free.
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Extracts from the Bletchley and District Gazette 1943
July 10th - Katherine Bonham, only daughter of Mr & Mrs E. Bonham of Newton Longville, was married on Saturday at Newton Longville. She is a popular mistress at Bletchley Junior School.
August 22nd - Mrs Maria Fry died at Newport Pagnell on Thursday aged 86. She had been teaching all her life and before her marriage taught at the Infants’ School. After her marriage she opened a private school in Church Street, which she continued into old age.
October 16th - Mr R. Michael, the handicraft master of Ecclesbourne Road LCC Senior Boys’ School was recalled to London last week. He came with the school at the outbreak of war and performed much service in supervising the repair of footwear. The boys presented him with a wallet.
December 11th - Bletchley Senior School will hold an exhibition of craftwork on Wednesday, December 15th from 3 - 4pm, admission free. All proceeds for the Parachute Fund.
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Extracts from the North Bucks Times, 1939
January 3rd - The new school clinic in Bletchley Road will be in use for the first time on Tuesday by the Bletchley Infants’ Welfare Centre. Lady Leon had been one of its greatest advocates. The main hall is able to seat 100 and can be used for lectures and serving teas. There is a room for optical work, another for dentistry and a recovery room. A nursery and weighing room are also included and a doctors’ consulting room, plus a small antenatal room. The building has a kitchen and the usual offices and is heated from a boiler house and there is a large pram shed at the rear of the main block. The building belongs to the Bucks Education Committee and has been rented by the Bletchley Infants’ Welfare Centre. Plans have been made to convert the Clinic into a first aid post for ARP casualties if necessary.
January 10th - By the National Emergency Survey the Government aims to survey the number of schoolchildren who could be accommodated in towns and villages of all the Rural Districts ‘in the event of a recurrence of a National Emergency’. The Minister of Health has drawn up a scheme to find available accommodation in local households. It is proposed to do this on a voluntary basis with ‘visitors’ appointed in every town and village to survey existing accommodation. Volunteers are asked to contact the RDC Offices, 7 Station Road, Newport Pagnell.
Official notices in connection with the National Evacuation Scheme have been received at the BUDC offices and householders are shortly to receive a letter for co-operation. Various organisations are to be called together and canvassers appointed to visit every house. The complete report has to be sent to the Ministry by February 28th.
February 7th - Sixty lady enumerators in Bletchley have been tasked to find out what accommodation is available for the billeting of refugees in the event of war.
March 21st - The evacuation census for the Urban District revealed the number of habitable homes to be 10,174. The additional number of persons who could be accommodated was 3460. The number of unaccompanied children who could be accommodated was 1601, teachers and helpers 156, others 629 and accommodation in private reservations 725, a total of 3111. One hundred and sixty-five double mattresses would be needed, 176 single, 202 double blankets and 194 single blankets. A letter of thanks would be sent to each of the 80 enumerators.
April 4th - Under the Evacuation Scheme 2000 have been allocated for billeting in Bletchley but BUDC received voluntary offers for 3172. The letter from the Ministry of Health to the UDC said in the event of London being evacuated, 2000 would be billeted in Bletchley and 4500 detrained at Bletchley LMS Station, for transport to adjacent rural districts.
Mr E. Cook has been appointed to act as Chief Evacuation & Reception Officer and has been authorised to appoint volunteers to assist.
July 4th - The Bletchley Road Junior Mixed Schools first annual sports were held in Bletchley Park on Wednesday.
July 11th - Kathleen Shakeshaft and Arthur Bass from Bletchley Senior School and their agricultural instructor, Mr Barrowman, helped with milking, butter making, etc. at the Royal Show last week.
July 18th - The reconditioned Bletchley Road Infants’, Junior and Senior Schools opened in 1938.
The playground at the Old Bletchley Church of England School needs resurfacing and there is only one washbasin for 100 children.
The Bletchley Road Junior Mixed Schools first annual sports were held in Bletchley Park on Wednesday.
August 29th - Mr E. Cook, the Chief Evacuation Officer for the BUDC scheme, made a full report to the Council on Monday evening. The evacuation train was scheduled to arrive at Bletchley Station at 1.43pm each day and the children were to be met by the Chief Evacuation Officer and others. 822 would come each day, on the first day to be detrained at Bletchley. On the second day they would go to the Winslow Rural Area and on the third 274 would come to Bletchley and the rest would go to Winslow.
That was the first arrangement but last week a Ministry of Health Inspector called on Mr Sherwood to say a further 1500 might be sent to Bletchley. Children with teachers and helpers would be detrained and marched into Bletchley Market to receive rations, the organisation of which was in the hands of Miss Gascoigne, Mr Jones, Miss Wing and others. They would be distributed to the children as they filed past long tables and each would receive a carrier bag, a can of meat, a can of milk, 1lb of biscuits and a quarter-pound of chocolate. Adults would be given an extra can of meat.
For distributing the children to their billets the town would be divided into zones, each under a marshal, who would have helpers and given charge of one or more streets. The marshals would await the arrival of the evacuees at the rationing centre and the helpers would wait in the street assigned to them. Each marshal would take charge of the billeting books for his area. As soon as the rationing was complete the marshal would take charge of a group and march them off to a zone to meet the helpers and hand over the billeting books and children. The helper would then take the evacuees to the homes for billeting. If for some reason they could not be accommodated, they were then to go to Bletchley Senior School with a guide and await instructions. LIST OF ZONES AND HELPERS GIVEN ON PAGE 4.
Of the 1139 evacuees, 1096 were expected to arrive as soon as an emergency arose. The helpers had organised themselves into a welfare organisation and after the evacuees were settled in they would be visited to see that everything was all right. On the first day no buses would be required but on the second six would be waiting in Oliver Road to make at least two journeys to the Winslow area. Under the Emergency Powers Act Mr Cook had the right to requisition any billet or property with any objections to be dealt with by a tribunal. The evacuated children were intended to come from Kilburn.
On receipt of the rations at first it was found that they were short of 317lbs of biscuits. However, it was later discovered that some of the tins marked 7lbs in fact contained 12½lbs, leaving a shortfall of 95lbs.
September 5th - Under the Evacuation Scheme children’s clothes are urgently needed and also the loan of pushchairs and prams. Contact the Evacuation Officer, Bletchley Senior School.
Evacuees numbering 2700 from the London suburbs have come to Bletchley by train and another 500 by bus. Of these, 1600 are settled in Bletchley and a similar number are distributed in the Wing Rural Area. Many Bletchley people are busy preparing for a further trainload. ‘There was a general expression of relief that the tension had ended, even though the decision might mean hardships and sorrow.’ In some churches the declaration of war was read and special prayers said. The Rev. Arthur Yates, the new Methodist minister, was taking his first service at Bletchley Road Methodist Church, when the news was received.
Bletchley received its first batch of evacuees on Friday when 800 children and helpers from the Islington district came to Bletchley Station by train. The ration staff working near the poultry section in Bletchley market had filled the carrier bags with the necessary rations before the children arrived. The train was due at Platform 7 at 1.43pm and a welcoming party and others had assembled. Children came to watch but were moved to the station approach junction. Amongst those on the platform were Mr E. Cook, Billeting Office, Mr Crisp, Miss Workman and other teachers, Mr R. Sherwood and members of the police and clergy.
They had a long wait for train No. 15 was about an hour late, due to entraining and detraining, first at Islington, on the electric line to Watford and then from Watford to Bletchley. When the train arrived, the platform soon filled with children. ‘They formed a happy throng, clutching haversacks, cases or parcels of clothing in one hand and steadying their gasmask cases with the other.’ They were then formed into a line and walked over the bridge to the station entrance where they were formed into school groups and headed by teachers with, in most cases; banners showing the name and number of the school were marched to the Duncombe Street market entrance, watched by Bletchley parents and teachers.
Mr E. Jones and helpers took charge of rationing and the children examined the contents, ‘the quarter-pound of chocolate receiving devouring attention’. The rations included a tin of meat, a tin of sweetened and a tin of unsweetened milk, two 6oz packets of biscuits and a slab of chocolate. Also included was a postcard view of Bletchley with, printed on the reverse: ‘Bletchley has welcomed your child’. There was also a space for the child to send back their address. Instructions were also placed in each bag about the opening of the Clinic when, the day after evacuation, doctors and nurses would attend the Clinic to examine any child whose ‘foster mother’ thought fit to bring the child there.
The children were divided into groups for the seven areas, with some difficulty, since brothers and sisters often wanted to go to the same house. Under the charge of a marshal and helpers the children were taken to the various areas and at road junctions small sets were handed over to the officer whose job it was to see the children to their final homes. The children treated the whole adventure as a new and unusual holiday. The rations were intended to last for two days when the Government grant would start and there would be sufficient food for all. Hosts received 10s 6d per child, 8s 6d if more than one and 21s for adults.
Vouchers will be issued by the local evacuation officer and are exchangeable at Bletchley Road and Aylesbury Street post offices.
It was found that some children had not been accommodated and with their helpers they were taken to the Bletchley Senior School hall, to be redistributed.
For tuition purposes the schools are closed until further notice, as they are at the centre of the evacuation organisation.
The train load of children who arrived on Friday consisted of 407 children and 47 adults under Mr Taylor from Ecclesbourne Road School, Islington, 300 children and 31 adults under Mr Lewis from St Paul’s School, Islington, seven children and two adults under Miss Mills from Beresford School, Islington and five children and two adults under Miss Fulford from Arundel House School.
There was an air-raid warning in London and 72 evacuation trains passed through Bletchley station during Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Under the Government Evacuation Scheme payments to persons in need will be made at Bletchley Employment Exchange on Thursday, 10 – 12 and the High Street schools from 10 – 4. Billeting forms must be presented. The Central office at the schools will deal with evacuation queries.
Ivor Liebiski, aged seven, from Islington suffered head injuries on Saturday evening when falling whilst playing in the playground of Bletchley Rec. He was taken to Northampton hospital; he is billeted in Vicarage Road.
The Evacuation Office staff at Bletchley Senior School has been dealing with any problems. Most of the evacuees are comfortably settled in, including those houses taking in mothers and babies or expectant mothers in place of children. Some evacuees made a quick return to London, chiefly those who had been in trouble with the authorities ‘and whose farewell aroused a feeling of relief’.
On Sunday hundreds of people arrived at Bletchley station on visits to wives or children. Some found them, but for others they were inaccessible in far-off villages.
The evacuated schools have been allocated different sections of the local school. Boys and girls have been split into groups and are going on nature study walks or having lessons. No fixed schedules have yet been planned. To distinguish the schools some scholars are wearing improvised badges. Two large notice boards have been erected at the two entrances of the Senior School for the evacuees to study.
500 children from St Paul’s School and Ecclesbourne Grove School, London attended an afternoon children’s service in St Martin’s on Sunday. The headmaster of St Paul’s read the lesson.
September 19th - Bletchley schools opened for local and evacuee children on Friday. Local children will attend 9-12.30, taught by local staff and evacuees from 1-4.30, by London school staff.
The Council were informed on Tuesday evening that 1181 children and 233 adults from other areas had been registered in their area.
There were four categories of evacuees: (1) Children, teachers and helpers from two large schools, Ecclesbourne Road and St Paul’s and one or two small private schools; a total of 718 children, 44 teachers and 46 helpers. (2) Mothers and small children, 143 mothers and 379 children, including 34 expectant mothers. (3) Children who came but were not attached to schools, children on holiday, who had come down since the evacuation took place and a few transfers. Those who returned to London are 44 adults and 61 children.
September 26th - Bletchley schools opened for local and evacuee children on Friday. Local children will attend 9-12.30, taught by local staff and evacuees from 1-4.30, by London school staff.
October 3rd - The Bletchley Evacuation office has been transferred from the schools to rooms at the Lantern Café. There, staff work every afternoon compiling and updating a register of evacuees.
So far about 300 evacuees have gone back to London and around 600 blankets, 65 mattresses and six camp beds have been issued.
The new school timetable has been compiled. It preserves a balance of subjects but devotes less time to each. Organised outdoor activities are being arranged for the afternoons.
The evacuated senior school children are attending the senior school with Mr Taylor as headmaster and Miss Stearns as headmistress. The junior schoolchildren are being taught in the junior school by Mr Lewis as headmaster and Miss Hawkins as headmistress. The infants attend the infant school under Miss Eden. Games and walks are arranged in the mornings and gardening is to be started on a piece of ground near the schools.
October 10th - The helpers who are making clothes for the London children have plenty of material but only one sewing machine.
Thirty-two Bletchley infants, between the ages of three and five, are attending the Bletchley Nursery Class which is now in its first full term and occupies a separate building, opposite Bletchley Road Infants School. The idea is to guide them in school discipline and teach them to look after themselves.
October 17th - In future Bucks County Library books will be issued from the Bletchley Road Junior School on Saturday afternoons, 2pm-4.30pm, from October 21st.
October 31st - About 50 more evacuee children will arrive in Bletchley in a fortnight, connected with the schools already billeted in the town.
November 7th - The Education Authority is to use the Baptist Sunday School rooms for accommodating children while others are using the Bletchley Road schools, the London children in the mornings and those of Bletchley in the afternoons.
November 21st - Mr W. Crisp has been appointed Deputy Billeting Officer; Mr E. Jones, Secretary to the Education Committee; and Mr W. Puryer, supervisor of the records.
Bletchley Parents’ Association held a social evening at the schools on Saturday. This was the first time the large hall had been used at night since war began.
December 12th - Maurice Kent, an 11-year-old evacuee from Islington, living at Water Eaton, some weeks ago rescued a five-year-old Bletchley child from drowning. He has been awarded the Gilt Cross for Gallantry by the Boy Scouts’ Association. He was fishing with the younger boy at the canal when the lad fell in.
December 19th - London teachers entertained all the evacuee children at the Bletchley Schools on Wednesday. A tea was given, followed by a concert.
Elmer’s Grammar School premises are no longer available and so a limited number of pupils are being received at The Rectory. The next term commences on Thursday, January 18th. Particulars may be obtained from the headmaster, Highfield, Manor Road.
A Christmas entertainment for children was give by schools of Bletchley Road Junior Mixed in the Senior School hall on Friday, a prelude to the coming Christmas party.
December 26th - A house-to-house collection for the evacuees Christmas festivities raised £26 3s 10½d.
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Extracts from the North Bucks Times, 1940
January 30th - On St Paul’s Day, the evacuated children of St Paul’s School had a day’s holiday, attending a morning service in St Martin’s Church.
Five homesick children from an Islington family left their Bletchley billets on Tuesday morning and set off to walk home. They were found at South Mimms, 29 miles away, at 7 pm and brought back in a police car. Two had been billeted with Mr & Mrs Collyer of 19 Osborne Street, one boy, aged 12, with Mr & Mrs Battams of 39 Osborne Street and two boys with Mr & Mrs Essam of 20 North Street. They had gone to school that day and although they hadn’t returned there was no concern as it was thought they had stayed for dinner.
February 13th - Ropley House, occupied by Mrs Bradford, Chief Organiser of Helpers, is being used by the Evacuation Reception Executive Committee for billeting children whose habits made them unsuitable for billeting in other houses.
February 27th - Bletchley has been allocated 400 evacuees under the Government’s new scheme, in the event of an emergency.
March 5th - An audience of 200 on Saturday was attracted to ‘A Welsh Night’ in the Bletchley Senior School hall. It had been arranged by five Welsh teachers on the Bletchley and London school staffs and the designs inside the school included red dragons and leeks. At the end the Welsh national anthem was sung in Welsh as well as the National Anthem.
March 19th - It was agreed to ask the Ministry of Health for authority to use Ropley House as a social centre for evacuated mothers and as a working centre for the helpers and as an evacuee enquiry office, as a clearing house for children being moved from one billet to another and for difficult children needing special attention. If accepted the Evacuation Executive Committee would arrange to staff the premises and if necessary offer a council house as alternative accommodation for one of the Ropley House tenants.
The 1st Bletchley Company Boys’ Brigade arranged a concert by the Islington schools on Thursday evening and raised £5. The hall was full.
Mr B. Davies, a master at Bletchley Road School for two years, is to teach at Penygoddfa Council School in Newtown, his home town, North Wales.
April 2nd - Ronald Reynolds, a 7-year-old evacuee from 40 Baxter Road, Essex Road, Islington, drowned in a disused reservoir at the back of North Street and Western Road, on Sunday evening. He had been warned not to go but went fishing for tadpoles with a boy aged 7 and a girl aged 4. Dr W. Carter was called to attend but the boy had drowned. He had been billeted with Nellie Osmond of 2 North Street.
April 16th - Ladies of Bletchley Parents’ Association Committee gave a farewell dinner on Saturday to Mr B. G. Davies, the schoolmaster leaving for Newtown, North Wales.
April 23rd - The Council agreed that children on holiday could use the tennis courts in the mornings at half price.
May 7th - Mr B. G. Davies received and gold wristlet watch and a propelling pencil from the school children and staff.
May 14th - Bletchley housewives who have satisfactorily cared for evacuees for more than four months are to receive a personal letter signed by the Queen. A LIST IS GIVEN.
May 28th - Four Senior and four Junior School boys from London schools, billeted in the town, have been given places in a Central School, on the recommendation of the headmasters, Mr Taylor and Mr Lewis. This will enable them to remain at school until 16. The nearest evacuated London Central School is Marylebone School, now at Buckingham, where the boys have been re-billeted.
Persons in charge of evacuated children are reminded that an increase in the billeting allowance is payable from the first week in June.
The Bletchley Schools Sports Association was started last year and at the AGM on Tuesday Mr E. Cook said it had been decided to carry on, principally with tennis and cricket. £59 5s 21/2d has been paid out for sports club equipment, etc. by the Parents’ Association, who now wish it to be run separately. All married persons living within the area served by the schools are eligible to join the Parents’ Association. Bletchley and London schoolchildren could play cricket in the Park and it was hoped matches could also be arranged for the men at Bletchley Park. Only one other club was allowed its use and that was the Bletchley Town Cricket Club, of which Mr Cook had been a founder member and its first captain, about 20 years ago. It was suggested that a grounds man should be employed.
The Baptist Hall was decorated for the Ecclesbourne Road Infants School celebration and all the children took part in hymns, songs and recitals.
Several foster mothers attended the entertainment provided by the senior boys and girls of the London schools, given in the Temperance Hall on Friday afternoon.
The Bletchley Schools Sports Association was started last year and at the AGM on Tuesday Mr E. Cook said it had been decided to carry on, principally with tennis and cricket. £59 5s 21/2d has been paid out for sports club equipment, etc. by the Parents’ Association, who now wish it to be run separately. All married persons living within the area served by the schools are eligible to join the Parents’ Association. Cricket could be played in the Park by Bletchley and London schoolchildren and it was hoped matches could also be arranged for the men at Bletchley Park. Only one other club was allowed its use and that was the Bletchley Town Cricket Club, of which Mr Cook had been a founder member and its first captain, about 20 years ago. It was suggested that a groundsman should be employed.
Mr Cyril Evans, a former Bletchley Road Junior School master who recently took an appointment in Shrewsbury, has joined the RAF as a PT instructor.
Empire Day celebrations were held in Bletchley. Union Jacks were flown and there were special celebrations in the schools. Bletchley senior scholars assembled to hear and Empire Day message from Viscount Bledisloe, President of the Empire Day Movement, read by Mr Cook. A similar message was read to the junior children.
June 4th - The school now has a National Savings Group.
June 18th- Bletchley evacuation authorities received notification on Friday to receive 220 evacuees from Chingford who could not be accommodated at Wolverton. Due to the demand for billets in Bletchley they were instead, sent to Buckingham. On Sunday, having arrived at Bletchley in four large buses, 175 children and 18 helpers and teachers were given a medical examination and a hot meal in the school canteen.
The schools are to be closed if continuous air raids take place on the country.
July 2nd - Special protection for the children of Bletchley schools against air raids has been made. Parts of the buildings have been reinforced with 14in. brick walls, which form a safe refuge against everything except a direct hit. The windows are protected and the children are taught to use stirrup pumps. The teachers have received first-aid instruction.
July 16th - Many Bletchley children have gained special places or qualified for admission as fee payers, to the Cedars, Leighton Buzzard and Wolverton Secondary School, as a result of the County Secondary Schools entrance examinations.
July 30th - Mr Eric Jones who for years has been a popular master at Bletchley Senior School was married on Saturday week at Holy Trinity Church, Wolverton, the home town of his bride.
Bletchley Parents’ Association Social Club held a social evening in the school hall on Saturday. Mr T. Papworth, amongst others, provided the music. Approximately £3 10s was raised for games for HM Forces.
August 6th - Bletchley schools have closed for two weeks holiday.
Mrs J. S. Harrington, formerly Miss I. Le Min, who has been on the staff of the Old Bletchley Schools since September 1937 is to resign. She will join her husband in Rugby.
September 17th - Models of two Spitfires, two Fairey Battles, a Westland Lysander and a Me109 are shown at Water Eaton Co-op. 15-year-old Joe Birtle of 22 Water Eaton Road has made them for the Spitfire Fund.
A social evening was held by the Parents’ Association on Saturday in the Bletchley Road Schools and raised £1 6s 2d for the refugees fund.
September 24th - The Spitfire Fund is now competing with the Emergency War Relief Fund.
During a tea at Bletchley Road Infants on Thursday, to mark the anniversary of the London schoolchildren coming to the town, a presentation was made to Mr E. Jones who had done much work for the evacuees. Miss Workman and her staff arranged it and Mr Jones was presented with a barometer.
October 1st - The billeting officers in Bletchley were busy on Sunday evening and most of Monday finding accommodation for 660 London schoolchildren and helpers who’s coming to Bletchley was announced on Friday. By arrangement with Winslow RDC, around 400 of the children were sent to that area on Monday. The came from many parts of London and arrived in Bletchley around 5.30pm on Sunday evening, being met by a fleet of cars lent to the evacuation committee by residents of the town. They took them to the Senior School where they were served tea in relays. Mr Sherwood had obtained 800 blankets and 600 empty palliasses from Aylesbury. Members of the Boy Sco €Í P€ °¤ gade then filled them with straw and arranged them as beds on the schoolroom floors. Mr E. Cook, headmaster of Bletchley Senior School, who as billeting officer was assisted by the Evacuation Secretary, Mr E. Jones.
October 22nd - For the Bletchley Spitfire Fund, the collecting boxes at licensed and business premises were opened and the amount totalled £42 19s 9d. Form 3a at the Senior School gave 3s 1d.
November 19th - The children of St Paul’s, LCC School, who are now working in St Martin’s Hall, gave £4 to the Spitfire Fund.
It was recommended that approval be sought to buy a wooden building for £120 as an evacuation office in the Council yard, to allow the transfer of the office from Ropley House and to increase the accommodation there from 15 to 30 beds.
In view of the many evacuee problems, the Committee felt a sub-committee of the Council was necessary to deal with reception and other matters. This is to be discussed.
November 26th - Miss Z. Bailey of Slough has been appointed headmistress of Old Bletchley Church of England School and begins next Monday.
December 17th - A dance was held in the Senior School hall on Friday and the Spitfire Fund benefited by about 30s.
December 24th - A German Me 109 is to be exhibited in the grounds of Bletchley Road Senior School this weekend, admission 6d, children 3d; to sit in the cockpit 3d extra.
Miss E. Workman is headmistress of Bletchley Road Infants’ School.
The schools had various break-up parties for Christmas. At St Paul’s Junior Mixed, the headmaster, Mr J. Lewis, gave an impromptu concert in St Martin’s hall on Wednesday. The Ecclesbourne Road Infants’ School, which had been evacuated to the Spurgeon Baptist hall, enjoyed their event on Wednesday, to which the Duke of Bedford gave a Christmas tree.
Some evacuees went home for Christmas.
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Extracts from the North Bucks Times, 1941
January 7th - The exhibition of the Me 109 in the Bletchley Road Senior School grounds proved popular and made £51. Souvenir hunters got away with small pieces of fabric, but the vigilance of the Committee and helpers prevented further damage.
Classes for Bletchley children, evacuees and residents aged 5-11. Experienced teacher, Freeman Memorial church, during school hours, Wednesday afternoons excepted.
Classes are available for Bletchley children and evacuees aged 5-11 with a registered teacher at Freeman Memorial Church. Apply during school hours, except Wednesday afternoon.
January 14th - The Parents’ Association of the Bletchley Road Schools held a social evening in Bletchley Road school hall on Saturday evening.
January 21st - Diphtheria inoculations will be given at the Clinic in Bletchley Road on Wednesday, January 22nd, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. Thereafter, they will be given at the same place and time on second and fourth Thursdays each month – R. Y. Stones, School Medical officer.
February 11th - The Bletchley Road Schools Parents’ Association held a social evening on Friday for the Spitfire Fund.
March 4th - BUDC diphtheria inoculations take place at the School Clinic, Bletchley Road on Thursday, March 13th from 2pm until 3.3pm.
March 11th - ATC Bletchley Squadron No. 356 is now formed and approved by the Air Ministry. Boys must be aged between 16 and 18 to join and are to apply to Mr E. Cook, Senior School headmaster, for details and an enrolment form.
April 8th - Arthur Catterall, the famous BBC violinist, visited Bletchley Junior School on Tuesday, arranged by the Board of Education Inspector of Schools. He listened to the school percussion band and watched puppet shows. His daughter, a brilliant pianist, who gave solos, accompanied him.
May 6th - Mr W. Crisp presided over a good attendance of members of the Bletchley Council Schools Sports Associations on Wednesday evening. Miss Mary Timpson, secretary, reported that the three lawn tennis courts on Bletchley Park Sports Ground were nearly ready for use and tennis tournaments with other Bletchley clubs are to be arranged.
Bletchley Senior Schools have adopted SS Chelwood, commanded by Capt. Wright, through the Ship Adoption Society. The Captain was recently entertained to lunch at the school by Mr E. Cook and the staff.
May 20th - BUDC decided on Tuesday to establish a child psychology clinic in the town. The Medical Officer had been in correspondence with Dr Ethel Dukes of the Institute of Child Psychology on the setting up of a Bletchley clinic for the treatment of difficult children. The ARP Committee had recommended that the Council should establish such a clinic and to ask the County Health Department for the use of two rooms at Bletchley Road Clinic and for Ministry of Health approval for this for the period of the war. They were also asked to approach the Evacuation Account to pay Dr Dukes’ travelling expenses and Mrs Hays fee of 10s 6d per visit as play therapist, plus £5 towards play material.
May 27th - At Mrs Lorna Webster’s concert in the Senior School hall on Wednesday evening, the Bletchley conjuror, Bernard Brown, drew a pile of carrots and strings of sausages from the pockets of Mr Bates, Chairman of BUDC. The venue was extremely popular and many people had to be turned away.
June 3rd - Mr E. Cook, the headmaster of Bletchley Road Senior School suffered bruises and shock in an accident driving between Bicester and Oxford on Tuesday evening, when he had to brake suddenly and his car skidded into a ditch.
During War Weapons Week children of Bletchley Road schools contributed the following sums: Infants £18 10s, Juniors £204 1s, and Seniors £221 7s.
A licence for music and dancing has been granted for Bletchley Road Senior School, excepting Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.
June 17th -The Bucks Education Committee is to be charged £5 for the water used in the past and 10s per month for that used in the future, for the shower baths at Bletchley Road Schools, which are used by troops.
In aid of the Ship Adoption Scheme a Social Evening was held in the Bletchley Road Schools on Wednesday. A profit of £2 was made.
June 24th - A verdict of accidental death was returned by the North Bucks Coroner, Mr E. T. Ray, at the inquest on Friday evening on a young boy, aged 12, of Grosvenor Avenue, Highbury. An evacuee, he had been billeted for 18 months with Mr & Mrs H. Ince of 6 Watling Street Terrace. He had attended the Ecclesbourne Road School Senior department in Bletchley Park pavilion and drowned on Thursday evening in the Mill Pond at Water Eaton. Herbert Smith, aged 18, of 11 Windsor Street said he had been near the pond on Thursday at 7.30pm when he was told a boy was drowning. He dived twice into about 7ft of water before recovering the body. Arthur Cox, aged 12, lived in Lennox Road and said he met the boy at the Mill Pond and joined him in the water. He swam a few strokes but got out of his depth, grabbed at Cox’s bathing costume but went under when this tore. Four soldiers applied artificial respiration and Dr Dorothy Lufkin gave treatment but to no avail.
July 8th - Bucks County Education Committee require a full-time caretaker for Bletchley Road Council School, £12 10s per month plus 6% war bonus; to reside in the caretaker’s house at 7s 6d per week excluding rates. Apply to Ernest Marchant, The Elms. Also an assistant part-time caretaker is needed, £1 18s per month.
Miss W. Evans, domestic instructor at the Bletchley Road Schools, gave a cookery demonstration on Wednesday afternoon on ‘Packed Lunches’. This was the second of six lectures sponsored by the Ministry of Food and arranged by Bucks Education Committee.
July 15th - Local teachers are to be asked to stop schoolchildren from swinging on shop blinds.
July 29th - Bletchley Junior School held their annual Open Day for parents on Friday. Articles made by the classes were available for purchase.
August 5th - Despite Government warnings that the bombing lull was only temporary, trains have been packed with evacuated mothers taking their children home.
Bletchley schools started their summer holidays on Thursday and will re-open in a month’s time. Some of the children will help out on farms.
When St Mary’s Church of England School broke up it was announced that the 139 members had saved a total of £142 15s.
Bletchley Senior School’s second speech day took place on Tuesday, presided over by Mr W. Brown, chairman of the school managers. Mr E. Cook, headmaster, said this was the second speech day since the school opened in 1938.
Due to the war, in addition to the usual activities a knitting guild has been started with around 400 garments despatched to the Forces. Most of the wool came from voluntary subscriptions from children and staff and free wool would be issued once the school had proved its worth. Also, most commendable were the efforts of form IIIa who during the Christmas term formed a charities organisation and sent subscriptions to the YMCA canteen, Spitfire Fund, War Relief Fund, hospitals, St John Ambulance Brigade and the Red Cross Comforts Fund. During War Weapons Week the school raised £221 7s 6d. The shortage of craft materials and an increase in the price of new text books meant they had to make the most of what they had and much waste was salvaged. Two of the staff were in the Army, Mr Ken Davies and Mr Hinton, and another, Mr Puryer, would join on Thursday. New activities included the formation of clubs for art, handicrafts, drama, gardening etc. The school had adopted SS Chelwood and the captain had visited the school. Social life was at a high level and there was good competition between the four houses. Miss Dove and Mr A. Jones were doing splendid work on the sports side and Miss D. Robinson and Mrs Linnell were also well involved in dramatic art and music contests. The Parents’ Association had raised about £500 and a presentation was made to the school of a radiogram, wiring the school for broadcasts, sports equipment, tennis courts, reference books, school prizes, crockery and a mirror.
September 2nd - After 31 years’ service as caretaker to Bletchley Road School, Mr William Clarke retired on a pension on Saturday. He was presented with two cheques, from the infants and senior departments, an electric clock from the juniors and a pair of slippers from the nursery school. For 29 years he was a member of the local fire brigade and for 131/2 years worked at the Old Foundry, Denmark Street, under James Garner. He will live with his daughter at Wembley for a while. The new caretaker is a retired Metropolitan Police Constable who until recently was stationed in Portsmouth dockyard.
While carrying mailbags across Bletchley railway lines, at about midnight on Friday, a lady porter, was struck by a train. She was taken to Northampton but died from her injuries. She had been evacuated about 12 months ago from her home at Newington Green Road, Islington and was living with her two small children, at ‘Rosaville’, Denbigh Road, the home of Mr & Mrs A. Hubbell.
Many infant evacuees would have no one to care for them during the school holiday if their teachers had not arranged special lessons for them. About 40 to 60 infants attended their school every day and were entertained with games and outings. Their school, the Ecclesbourne Road Infants, occupies Spurgeon Memorial Hall and the teachers took it in turns. They included Miss B. Eden, the headmistress, Miss D. Wilson, Miss R. Gray, Miss W. Davies and Miss M. Filer.
Five boys aged between nine and 12, four of them evacuees, were summoned for damaging Bletchley Co-op Sports Pavilion to the cost of £10. Mr C. Flack, of Buckingham Road, the Society Secretary, said that in June the Pavilion had been in fairly good order but by August 105 panes of glass had been broken and inside panelling and a stool damaged. The boys admitted the crime and were bound over for two years and ordered to pay 14s each.
September 16th - Miss Celia Cook, daughter of Mr E. Cook, headmaster of Bletchley Road School, has been awarded on the result of the June entrance exam. A vacancy offered by the Society of Oxford Home Students at Oxford University.
September 30th - Mr E. C. Jones, a master at Bletchley Road Senior School for the last 14 years, leaves on Wednesday to become headmaster of Yardley Gobion School. He gave much help when the Bletchley evacuees arrived and is one of the leaders of the Bletchley ATC.
October 7th - On Wednesday Bletchley Road Infants’ School raised over £4 5s for the PoW Fund. Selling goods given by the children raised the money. Miss Workman, the headmistress, thanked the parents.
November 11th - Children of the Bletchley Road Junior School have invested the sum of £650 in their national savings group, since the start of the scheme in April 1940.
December 9th - Children’s parents of Bletchley Road Infants’ School were invited to a display of handiwork, needle and written work on Wednesday. By selling teas, £2 was raised for the PoW Fund.
December 9th - Infants under the age of five, evacuated from bombed cities, are being cared for in a nursery school opened last week in the Baptist school hall. Miss B. Eden is the organiser and she has been looking after evacuated small children for some time, in addition to her normal duties as headmistress of an evacuated London school. ‘Clean habits, an afternoon sleep; body-building and mentally-exercising games are part of the routine’.
December 16th - Aircraftsman H. Dawe, who was a master at the Bletchley Road Schools, conducted the service at the Bletchley Road Methodist church on Sunday.
December 23rd - At Bletchley Road Nursery, for three to five-year-olds, the room was partly decorated to look like Father Christmas’s cave with a large fairy doll. There was also a puppet show. At the Junior School children living in the villages brought in holly and the school post box had a record 1,100 cards. Evacuated children were given bumper Christmas parties with the expense met by LCC cheques.
In the Baptist School hall on Thursday other evacuated children from St Mary’s Church of England Infant School visited the Ecclesbourne Infants’ School. Carol singing was conducted by Miss B. Eden, headmistress.
Mr W. Clarke, the former caretaker, visited the Bletchley Road Infants’ School Christmas party on Tuesday dressed as Father Christmas. The evacuated senior schools gave a mixed party on Wednesday in the Temperance Hall, about 140 children attending. Mr Duffield performed comic songs and there was also a conjuror.
St Paul’s LCC Junior School gave an entertainment in St Martin’s hall on Wednesday, the play ‘Three Roses’ and carol singing. A London conjuror, a ventriloquist and a Punch & Judy man entertained them. There were ‘heaps of pastries, buns, cakes and sweets for tea’.
December 23rd - The illusionist ‘Guillaume’ of the Magic Circle entertained Bletchley Road Senior Schools on Wednesday. The Parents’ Association made the event possible.
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Extracts from the North Bucks Times, 1942
January 6th - Older schoolchildren helped the Post Office in the Christmas rush. Parents were glad of the extra money.
February 17th - A rumour that all evacuee children were to be removed from the town was contradicted. Mr J. Smith said he had visited some of the council houses and they were in a shocking state. Door panels were nearly out and water was seeping through the roughcast. The Council had overspent the repair fund and the District Auditor them with a surcharge. The Public Health Committee would consider Mr Smith’s comments.
March 10th - The pupils will give a concert at Bletchley Senior School hall from March 17th-19th at 7.15pm. A third of the proceeds will go to Warship Week and the remainder ‘to secure educational amenities not provided for by the County authorities’.
March 17th - BUDC Chairman, F. Bates, said he had received a letter from the Chairman of the LCC about the drifting back of evacuees from reception areas. He expressed appreciation of the fine work done by the reception authorities and billeting officers. He also said an effort should be made to keep children in the countryside.
April 7th - Over the holiday the cinemas were packed and the tennis courts and putting green well used. Children going home from school and evacuees going back to London for the holiday swelled the trains earlier in the week. Otherwise the railways were quiet, due to the policy of putting goods trains first.
The final figure for Warship Week was £78,716. Mrs Hankins for the Bletchley Road Savings Group collected £1000. Bletchley Road schools invested £500 and BUDC collected £505. The selling centres collected £12,629 during the week, £5701 coming from Bletchley Park.
April 21st - A request from BUC for the use of land near Bletchley Road Senior School for allotments went before Bucks Education Committee on Thursday. They recommended it should not be used but as much as possible should be cultivated to produce crops for school canteens.
May 19th - Attention was drawn to the dangerous crossing at Trees Square, Old Bletchley. About 30 children from two schools use the crossing extensively and only a few days ago a 5½-year-old knocked dowar. The police are to be asked to do point duty there at midday and also the periods when the afternoon schools close.
May 26th - S.S. Chelwood was adopted last April, not so much as a wartime adoption but as ‘a means of making textbook geography brighter and more realistic’. Members of the crew have w the pupilsing their work and the places visited. At present they are making coastal trips. Most of the children have their own ‘heroes’ amongst the crew. The pupils supply knitted woollens and collect magazines and books. Two gunners of the Chelwood received official awards for their part in destroying an enemy bomber.
St Mary’s School has raised £12 for the Overseas League Tobacco Fund by holding a social evening and competition on Tuesday. Included were novelty games run by the Scouts and Cubs of Bletchley Group. Miss Bailey, the headmistress, arranged a short musical programme and community singing was lead by the children.
The Captain and crew of SS Chelwood, which Bletchley Road Senior School have adopted, have presented a cup to the pupils to be competed for by the school Houses and the case of a shell, which shot down an enemy aeroplane last December. It was presented on Friday on behalf of the ship by Mr E. Cook, headmaster, and is inscribed ‘To the pupils of Bletchley Road Senior School, from the crew of SS Chelwood’. It will be known as the Chelwood Cup.
June 9th - For the second time in two weeks there was a robbery at the Bletchley Road schools. On Wednesday a handbag containing £22 10s belonging to Miss Burnham, one of the Senior School miswas stolen empty classroom.
A large increase in the membership was reported at the fifth annual meeting of the Bletchley Road School Parents’ Association on Thursday. The Deputy Secretary, Mr H. Jones, said that sincer membershicreased from 45 to 145. Every classroom had now been connected to the radio and a microphone had been installed. Mr W. Crisp, President of the Sports Association, said there was now a balance of £71 and he wanted to continue dances to increase the reserve fund. From the balance at the end of the year £28 15s 3d was to be retained. The Junior School was given £19 3s 6d and the Senior School £37 6s 11d for their funds.
July 7th - Concerts were performed on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday by Bletchley Road Junior School. The school is associated with the British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild. The headmaster Mr W. Crisp Miss E. Cla the plays. The percussion band played a musical selection and there was a PT display. Mr Crisp was given terrific applause and presented with and electric table lamp and a bouquet of flowers. He said he had received the finest training for a teacher, by spending 12 years in a slum school in Birmingham.
Miss D. Robinson, who has been teaching at the Bletchley Road Senior School for some time, is returning to London due to a shortage of teachers there. She specialised in dramatic art.
July 28th - A schoolboy working on Bletchley Road School farm left a new coat on the wall of a pigsty on Wednesday. When he returned he found the pigs had eaten it. His mates pooled together to buy another.
August 4th - Letters were sent to the headmaster and school managers of the London schools about children hanging on the iron supports of shop blinds and rolling balls down the blinds.
Milton House again won the Lady Leon Shield at Bletchley Road Senior School on Thursday in Bletchley Park. Mr S. Taylor, headmaster of the LCC Senior School evacuated to Bletchley, presented the shield to the two captains of Milton House.
August 11th - Local schools close on Friday for five weeks, but the buildings will be open for the children’s use. Games and outdoor activities will take place. Other children will be helping on local farms.
Bletchley Road Senior School will become a temporary home for London boys who are spending their holidays doing farm work.
August 18th - Fifty Finchley Grammar School boys aged between 15 and 18 are using Bletchley Road Senior School as a temporary hostel. For two weeks they are on loan to neighbouring farmers. Each morning they cycle out to farms within a five-mile radius. Twelve boys aged 12-14 is too young to go to the farms and are kept busy in the kitchen. Five masters and a mistress are looking after their welfare aided by local helpers. Games and outings are arranged. The farmers are happy with the boys’ efforts.
September 1st - The evacuees arrived in Bletchley two and a half years ago, 750 in all. Among the teaching staff was Mr S. Taylor, headmaster of the Senior School, who the same day reached retiring age. Instead he came to Bletchley and with four masters was still working for the pupils. The school was housed in the Park Pavilion and the boys did not quarrel as they would in London. The older boys looked after the younger and all the pupils called Mr Taylor ‘Dad’.
The boys now go in the open air more. They were allowed to do 20½ days’ work on local farms during school time and cultivate allotments. Most of the allotments are communal. The boys cultivate the ground and sell the produce to their foster parents. The profits are spent on seeds and plants for the next season. Those who show a special keenness are given a plot of their own.
One lad billeted on a farm keeps rabbits and sells them in the market. His patch is covered with green stuff. The boys are ingenious and a wheelbarrow has been made out of an old car wheel rim found on a rubbish tip and a broken school desk. A scythe for weed cutting has been made from a long curved branch and a rusty but well sharpened piece of metal from the dump.
The school gives a shoe repair service to all evacuees. With machines and tools obtained by public subscription, the boys do all repairs as part of handicrafts. So far 450 pairs have been repaired at a cost to the children from 1s to nothing according to the parents’ means. Many former evacuees now working in London have come back to Bletchley for a summer holiday.
September 1st - Mrs Maria Fry of Church Street, who taught two or three generations over half a century, died at Newport Pagnell on Thursday aged 86. Formerly she taught at Old Bletchley Infants School but many years ago opened her own school in Church Street.
December 22nd A one-day school was held in Bletchley Senior School on Friday for North Bucks teachers and was addressed by three well-known authorities on America. To an audience of 300 they gave personal accounts of America and the American way of life, to help deal with any questions raised by the pupils.
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Extracts from the North Bucks Times 1943
March 9th - On leaving the Church of England School at Old Bletchley, having taught there for 20 years, Mrs Mabel Edwards was presented with a sum of money by the staff and pupils.
April 20th - Mr W. Crisp reporting to the annual meeting of Bletchley School Sports Association on Tuesday said that a great number of members had left Bletchley to join the Forces and it was decided to leave over the election of officers until later, to find out if there were enough to support the Association.
July 13th - Bletchley Schools raised £3 10s during Wings for Victory Week by doing odd jobs.
November 2nd - The Bletchley Senior School Speech Day was held on Thursday afternoon with the Hon. Lionel Berry as chief speaker. Mr E. Cook, the headmaster for nearly 20 years, said the school had provided the RAF with a rubber dinghy, raised £629 17s 9d during Wings Week and made 269 garments for the Merchant Navy and RAF. A polo neck pullover had been sent to every man on the school’s adopted ship, which has been changed.
November 30th - The Bletchley Senior School Choir Concert will be held for one night only on Monday, December 6th in the large hall. Rita Sharpe will be featured on the ’cello and Murray Davies as baritone with Phyllis Spurr on the piano. The choir has been given a BBC audition. Proceeds are for the school welfare fund.
December 7th - The children and staff of Bletchley Road Junior School invite persons to an Exhibition of Work on Friday and Saturday, December 10th and 11th from 2pm until 4pm in the junior school hall. Admission free. Proceeds in aid of the Red Cross.
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Extracts from the North Bucks Times 1944
February 8th - The Educational Puppetry Association appointed Mr W. Crisp, headmaster of Bletchley Junior School, as its chairman.
May 2nd - Miss A. Milsom, who has been teaching in Bletchley Schools for 23 years, retired on Thursday. The children of Bletchley Road Junior School gave her a handbag and an electric kettle. The staff presented her with a silver bowl.
June 27th - Bletchley Senior School presents ‘Merrie England’ in the Senior School hall on July 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28 and 29th. All the parts will be played by the schoolchildren.
October 17th - The Central Council for school broadcasting sent Mr E. C. Cook, headmaster of Bletchley Senior School, a report on the audition given to the school choir by Mr Leslie Woodgate, BBC choirmaster. He said they were excellent and he would have liked to make records but at the present there was no place in the programmes for this type of broadcast.
December 5th - There will be an exhibition of work in the Junior School hall on Friday and Saturday, 8th and 9th December from 2pm to 4.15pm. A collection will be in aid of the Red Cross.
December 12th - Each of the 320 children from Bletchley Road Junior School contributed at least one entry to the exhibition on Friday and Saturday. The 7 to 8-year-olds showed a model farm, calendars, Christmas cards, etc., the 9 to 10-year-olds produced a class magazine and needlework, the 10 to 11-year-olds showed arts and crafts, needlework, embroidery and written work. The headmaster, Mr Crisp, arranged the Exhibition.
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Extracts from the North Bucks Times 1945
February 27th - Miss M. Brown, who had charge of the nursery class at Bletchley Road Infants’ school for the last six years, was presented with Savings Certificates on leaving to take a new appointment at Slough nursery school. Mr W. Brown, the School Managers’ chairman, presided.
Bletchley Road Infants’ school held their Parents’ Day on Wednesday. Springtime decorations made the rooms very bright and a collection for the Red Cross raised 30/-.
March 13th - A moving tribute was paid by the headmistress of Old Bletchley and Yeomanry Hall schools, Mrs Zilpah Bailey, children and parents, to the work of Mr Jackson, the LCC teacher who had just retired from the headship of the evacuated school using Bletchley Park Pavilion as a centre.
March 27th - A jumble sale held by the headmistress, staff and pupils of St Mary’s Church of England school raised £21 to be equally divided between the School Fund and the Overseas League Tobacco Fund for soldiers, sailors and airmen.
July 3rd - Schoolgirls from Bletchley distinguished themselves on the athletics field at Wolverton on Friday when under the captaincy of Joan Cutler they won the championship shield for the senior girls’ school. This was a sports meeting held under the auspices of the North Bucks Schools Athletic Association. There had been no gatherings during the war.
July 17th - Bletchley Primary School will hold their annual sports in Bletchley Park on Wednesday, July 18th at 2pm. Proceeds are for the School Sports Fund. Admission 6d.
July 24th - Bletchley Primary School Sports were held on Bletchley Park rec. on Wednesday. An additional attraction was the inclusion of St Paul’s evacuated school, Islington, who had lately joined the Primary from St Martin’s hall and Spurgeon church hall. Over £20 was made from the sale of adult tickets, which will be used to purchase sports equipment.
September 25th - Everyone is cordially invited to attend the peace celebrations at Bletchley Road Infants’ & Nursery School on Wednesday, September 26th in Leon Rec. From 10-11am there will be a children’s service and thanksgiving; from 11-11.30am a children’s concert and souvenirs; at 2pm the assembly and judging for the fancy dress competition to be held at 2.30pm; from 3-4pm there will be a tea and ‘peace’ cake.
October 2nd - The Thanksgiving, with arrangements made by Miss E. M. Workman and her staff at the Bletchley Infants’ & Nursery on Wednesday, was an enjoyable affair. Mr W. Brown, former chairman of the managers, presented each child with a New Testament and he received a Bible in recognition of his devoted service to the school for many years. Unfortunately, the concert had to be cancelled but a large crowd watched the fancy dress parade in Leon Rec. during the afternoon. Each child received a prize and Miss Workman was presented with a bouquet by one of the children on behalf of the parents.
October 23rd - The Old Bletchley Church of England School, of which Mrs G. Bailey is headmistress, has in the last six months sent 15,000 cigarettes to local men serving abroad in the Forces. In the same period £173 9s has been collected as National Savings, exclusive of special events such as Wings for Victory. During the summer holidays Mrs. Holdom, ‘a born camper’ and Mrs Bailey took a party of pupils camping for a week at Kimble, near Aylesbury. They visited many places of interest and went on 10-mile daily walks. The school harvest festival, conducted by Mr Staniford and Mr Payling, realised 8 gns. Northampton, Aylesbury and Bedford hospitals received 2 gns each and 2 gns went to Bletchley Nursing Association. VJ celebrations were held on October 18th, and RSM Schofield, Intelligence, Corps and SSM Shepheard, RASC gave the 125 children a really hilarious time at the Yeomanry Hall. Mrs Cutler was the teacher in charge. A sumptuous tea then followed at the Old Bletchley schools under the supervision of Mrs Gladwin. A former headmistress of the school, Miss E. Sinfield, now runs the adult section of Bucks County Library, thereby making weekly contact with the old scholars. Mrs Budd of Bletchley Park assists her.
Boys and girls of Bletchley Road primary school contributed £95 to the savings week total.
Approval for Elmer’s School to be used as a temporary home has been given to the Bucks County Council Medical Officer and the public health committee is to recommend to Bletchley Council at the meeting on Tuesday to press for the purchase of the school. It was requisitioned early in the war and will be available in a few days.
Elmer’s is about to be derequisitioned and it has been suggested it should be used as a maternity hospital.
November 27th - Eight children from Bletchley primary schools gave a glove puppet show in front of a critical audience in the College of Preceptors of the Educational Puppetry Association. They performed the ‘Princess and the Swineherd’, earning congratulations for Mr Crisp.
December 4th - An exhibition of work of the Bletchley Road Primary school was shown in the primary school hall on Friday, Saturday and Monday, December 7th, 8th and 10th.
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