School In The 1960's

A Memory of Bodelwyddan.

My father was in the army so we moved in to the army houses - Coronation Road, having just left Hong Kong. I started at the infant's school which was very local to our house. Then at age 7, I went to the primary school. This was a detached stone building made out of the stone from the building of the marble church. There were only 2 classrooms, so each class had 2 years of pupils. It was quite a walk to get to school (in the eyes of a 7 year old!). There were outside toilets at the back of the building and a kitchen/dining room, I think. The playground was at the front of the school. Our teacher was Mr Lloyd. We had to learn Welsh as part of the curriculum as you had to be able to speak Welsh when you went on to the Grammar school.
I remember one winter it was very very cold and lots of snow. My elder brother and I used to walk home for dinner and on this day we were walking back to school for the afternoon lessons. It got colder and colder and really heavy snow. I was freezing and it was a long haul to reach the school. When we did arrive, I was shivering so much I had to stand in front of the big range heater.....which was in the other classroom (with the older pupils). I was there for over an hour. Very embarrassing!
On the army camp there was a cinema and Elvis Presley films were often being shown. I loved to watch them, so was often to be seen sitting amongst the young soldiers watching the latest releases. I don't suppose a young girl would be allowed to do this now.

As part of a school project, we did some brass rubbing in the Marble church opposite the school. I loved the peace and quiet of the church and would go there on a Saturday and try and draw the angels.

We left Bodelwyydan 3 years later. I have been back there once about 5 years ago. The school building hasn't changed much at all - other than that it is not a school any more.