Queen Square School 1857 1969.

A Memory of Luton.

Of course l did'nt realise how picturesque the building was when l was a pupil there 1955-1958. Fortunately, Edward Callum did and his painting is "normally" displayed in Wardown Museum. (Hopefully in its entirety cos little more than the janitors cottage is shown on my ph??
On that sunny day in 1969, he managed to capture the colours of the masonry handsomely.
This junior boys school sat squarely at the foot of Albert Rd and had been financed from the bottomless coffers of the C. of E. (and showed it). With ornate stone framed windows and portals, steep gabled roof and wooden bell tower, it looked for all the world a village church. I'd say the bell (at one time) wud have summoned the local kids to school?
In those days of free milk and pen nibs etc, it was discovered that connecting a nib to a straw produced a fairly effective dart, resulting in the high ceiling timbers being peppered with them! I presume the janitor was'nt too keen to make the climb? Nonetheless, Q. S. S. was no male St Trinians. The slightest infractions were met by the sting of the heads cane, which l earned nearly every day!
I recall the periodic visits of "Nora" (sent by the health dept to check us out for headlice) were especially disconcerting. It wud av bin a little bit orrable if it got around that a kid was host to any livestock, so the search was carried out one by one in the headmasters office. I, for one, did'nt know exactly what she was looking for, prob on account of her nickname, "nitty Nora the flea explorer"! Anyway, l wud 've already drowned any freeloaders in Brylcream... or the Waller St pool?
There was a "School Walk" which meandered down past the playground gate to "Harmans Boys Outfitters" in Park St. Having shod my three elder bros, Dad was well aware that no one on earth can destroy a pair of shoes quicker than an 7yr old boy. I recall that it took all my powers of persuasion (i.e. tantrum) to convince Pa that while boots were tre`s chic in 1916, they were strictly passe` in 1956 and if l had to wear them l'd clomp away from home!!
I wud be amiss at this stage if l did'nt mention the fact that there was a horrific incident one day when after getting them soaking wet l (quietly) put a brand new pair of shoes in the oven to dry out!
Still! even boots wud have came out looking like something out of Arabian Nights!!
On the other side of the alley was a stratigically placed sweetshop, where 1 penny wud buy u a gobstopper big enough to choke a horse. Alas, having elder bro and a young sister sorta put me at the bottom of the pocket money chain. Of course the little princess (well on track to becoming the only toothless 5yr old in town) cud usually be found in transit, to or from our local sweetshop, with a coin (or bag) clutched in a vice like claw. Dont miss the next episode- THE TEACHERS.