Alfreton High School

[IAN FINN 808]

I travelled from Nuthall to Alfreton High School it was twelve miles each way either MGO B3 or C5 bus both which went through Brinsley it was one shilling and threpence return or ninepence a single ticket.

[LizzieM 9,510]

3 hours ago, IAN FINN said:

I travelled from Nuthall to Alfreton High School it was twelve miles each way either MGO B3 or C5 bus both which went through Brinsley it was one shilling and threpence return or ninepence a single ticket.

I’m surprised you had to pay a bus fare Ian, I recall that if a pupil was at least 3 miles from school they had a free bus pass.  I just managed the free travel, living in Arnold and catching a Trent bus to Gedling. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

My thoughts, exactly, Lizzie.  I wasn't eligible as I lived under two miles distant from the dreaded place but girls who lived in Bulwell or Mapperley had a bus pass.

 

I'm also slightly intrigued as to where Alfreton High School was. The only secondary school I know of in Alfreton was Mortimer Wilson, later known as Alfreton Arts Academy and now David Nieper Academy. A school named after a lingerie factory!  

[IAN FINN 808]

That was way back in 1958 i never had a bus pass may be i should try for a refund.

[IAN FINN 808]

The High School was on Flowery Leys Lane the head master was a Mr Walker. i looked it up on the map does not look like its there anymore.

[mary1947 2,083]

Was it a boys only school or was it mixed?

[IAN FINN 808]

It was a mixed school.

[mary1947 2,083]

Not sure if thats good or bad as I went to a girls only school, which at the time in the areawe had 3 girls only schools and 2 boys only schools  Nottingham High school when you went Infants juniors it was mixed then seniors was a Boys only High school and a Girls only High school'.

 

Going to a Girls only school i am sure I missed out on some important education.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

On 6/30/2023 at 11:19 PM, IAN FINN said:

The High School was on Flowery Leys Lane the head master was a Mr Walker. i looked it up on the map does not look like its there anymore.

@IAN FINN I'm still intrigued. The only school I know of on Flowery Leys Lane was known as Polly Penrice's (no idea how that name is spelled). I know of several people who went there and it wasn't a state school. I'd love to know more about this place which disappeared years ago.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

@IAN FINNI've been doing a bit of digging into the school you attended. It was referred to as the Polly Penrice Academy by those I know who went there. Polly Penrice was born in 1894 in Chesterfield. She married a Leslie Walker in 1929 (possibly the head teacher you referred to). They had no children of their own. Polly died in 1969.

 

Do you remember a lad named John Sowter who would have been there around the same time as you? He was the son of a farming family.

 

I'd love to hear your memories of the school as no one seems to know much about it. You could PM me, if you'd rather.

[katyjay 5,091]

If you Google Alfreton High School, absolutely nothing comes up. It is on Facebook though but only 20 members.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

@katyjayI'm told it was a very small school. Perhaps only a couple of dozen pupils at times. I tried googling it and found nowt, the same as you. The only school in that vicinity now is a junior school but I suspect it's not on the same site. I'm sure Ian will answer our questions. The place has always intrigued me but I've never heard it referred to as Alfreton High School.

 

I think the Facebook group you found is Alfreton Park School which is a school for children with disabilities.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Thanks, CT, for giving this establishment it's own thread. It's outside Nottingham, I know, but it looks as though Notts pupils went there.  I first heard it mentioned around fifteen years ago but have never been able to track down any information. Actually, the few people I've encountered (all males) who were pupils seem very reluctant to talk about it which, to a nosey old bat like me, just makes it more compelling!

[katyjay 5,091]

Jill it is definitely Alfreton High School, Flowery Leys Lane, Derbyshire is the title.

[Stuart.C 491]

Jill
You need to have attended or had some connection with the school to register,
I wonder where you'd find someone who qualifies ???

https://www.facebook.com/groups/269821633666784

 

[Cliff Ton 10,468]

I don't know the area at all, but this map is from the 1940s and shows a school near - but not on - Flowery Leys Lane. It seems to be on Birchwood Road.

 

 

That same school (and no other in the area) is still marked on a map from the early 1960s.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

The photo looks like an ex army-type camp. Certainly not there now.  I'm told there was no sport on this school's curriculum so it might have suited me. 

[IAN FINN 808]

Thankyou everyone who researched into AHS yes that is the place Polly and Trot Walker were the Head Mistress and the Head Master Trot was of the old school carried the cane and lots of discipline. It was a mixed school a few more boys than girls they came from far a field Chesterfield,Pinxton Sth.Normanton Brinsley,Jacksdale,Eastwood. Yes i do remember a John Sowter fom there some names were Leslie Bentley,Philip Bannister,Ann Leatherland,Diana Wilson,Alan Hill. The building on the left of the photo was the dinner room,the school itself was at the very end of Flowery Leys Road beyond that it was farm land. The school on Birchwood Rd. was a prep school where students prepared to go to the main school.If anyone remembers anyone or names from there let me know please.Some teachers there were a Miss Buxton who married a Mr Machin of the Machin and Hartwell hardware shop at Eastwood, Miss Holmes,Miss Ford,Miss Higham and a Miss Guery a dutch lady who taught French.

[The Pianoman 1,535]

Now I have had time to think about this, I used to tune a piano for someone on Flowery Leys Lane. This was a good few years ago now. To turn my car around I would drive to the bottom of the lane and into the 'L' shape that can be seen on the map CliffTon provided. The school was then smack in front of you in the 'toe' of the L shape. I am probably going back to 1990 or earlier. Am I right?

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

That's fascinating, Ian.  Which end of Flowery Leys Lane was the school? Nottingham Road end or the other end? Just trying to work out where it stood. It sounds almost Dickensian: Polly and Master Trot.

 

I know John Sowter. He's still farming.  I know a couple of others who would have been quite a bit older than yourself but you and John, I think,  would be contemporaries. Thanks for all the information. Small world, is it not?

[IAN FINN 808]

Nottingham rd. is where i got off the bus the Post Office was on the corner you walked down Flowery Leys Lane past the houses and into the countryside the school was the last thing before the farmland. The photo of the school does look quite military and so was Trot. Another teacher i remember was a Miss Hillsden.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Looking at the lie of the land today, it seems that Leys Junior School now occupies the site of Alfreton High School.  A couple of the people I know who went there did so because they could not cope with the other secondary school in Alfreton, Mortimer Wilson's on Grange Street. They were both severely dyslexic which, in their day, would not have been picked up. The smaller numbers with Polly Penrice suited them better.

 

It's nice to have found someone who can give information about the place. I've wondered about it for years.

[IAN FINN 808]

Thanks for everything Jill i often think about the place.