Basingstoke, Board School, Council Road 1898

Photo ref: 42063

I went to Fairfields Infants in the years 1951-53, and can remember hearing of the death of King George VI in February 1952. My sister (a year older) was there too. We each received the book "Elizabeth Our Queen" soon after the Coronation in 1953. I remember the teachers well - Mrs Griffiths, Mrs Norsworthy, Mrs Croft, Mrs Webb and two terms under Miss Hole. In contrast to another posting here, I did not ...see more

I attended Fairfields "school", and I use that term loosely, in the early 1960s. I have nothing but bad memories that have haunted me for 50 years! The only pleasurable memory I have of the school is hearing a new singing band being played in the schoolyard on a portable record player by a few girls, it was 1964 and it was the Beatles. The girls were immediately taken to the headmasters office and their record player confiscated! Fond memories indeed.

I went to Fairfields in 1956 until 1961 and it was a Secondary Modern school then, and the infants were at the bottom end. I believe it was turned into a junior/infants school after that as most went to Charles Chute School which was brand new.

I suspect either caption "Basingstoke Boarding School" or "Fairfields School" is correct, depending on your time period. I attended this school in the 1960s & 70s when it was aan ordinary (non-boarding) Infants & Junior school called Fairfields, and yes I remember Mr. Thomas, the headmaster, as an authority to be feared. But the building was much older than that, and I remember seeing a keystone with "1898" written on it. Quite likely it was a boarding school in its early days.