Hengoed School Burning Down
A Memory of Hengoed.
Unless the school burned down twice, it definitely happened in half term of 1980. I was on the school pitch behind my house at the time. I was well-chuffed because I had reached the top class with Mr Thomas and was allowed to use a fountain pen. Then one day - so we heard - workmen in the school dropped a gas cannister. I can still remember standing there watching smoke pour out of the roof of the main building, while all the neighbours were shouting "ring the fire brigade!". Our class and year 5 (was standard 3) underneath us had to go to Tiryberth primary for 2 weeks while they sorted out portakabins for us, which they placed on the top yard and on the school pitch.
I spent the rest of the school year in that Portakabin. The rest of the school were housed in the corrugated canteen building and the original separate school room building.
We have photos of the school, photos of the school as burnt timbers, but none of it burning because it was the one and only time we didn't have any film!
It was a lovely old school. After they'd pulled it down, I walked around on the original floors, remembering where each classroom had stood
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Comments & Feedback
Going to tiryberth school was mad, turf war scraps was a daily occurrence. Then back to the old school in the terrapin/porta cabins on the back field behind Ashgrove.
Hengoed boys had this tradition of clapping or slapping the top of the school yard while chanting Zulu Zulu Zulu. Then off to raid the standard 3 yard to give the boys a roughing up. A right of passage if you like, a passing of the yard to the next lot.
I can talk for hours about the canteen, food monitors, mr Morris always wearing brown suits to watching the space launch.
Sadly I don’t have any photos of the school, but I remember old place in detail. My mother still lives in the village, in the same house I grew up in. It’s all different now.