Delabole Slate Feb 2018

Article from Angela Cooper
We spend a long time anticipating Christmas and then it
seems to be over in a flash and now, as I write this in early
January, there are already hot cross buns and Easter eggs
in the shops! By the time you read this in February,
Christmas will no doubt seem far, far away. ‘Hurry up!
Rush on’, the world seems to say, ‘on to the next thing,
no time to stop!’
This morning, on one of the few still, sunny days of the
year so far, rabbits were running across the lanes, the
gorse was coming into bloom and I saw the first celandine
of the year: It is easy, at least today while the sun shines,
to think of spring, even though realistically, we know that
much of the winter is still to come.
We have seen and experienced a number of surprises
and sadly many losses and tragedies in the past year. Life
can change so quickly, so unexpectedly, in the blink of an
eye, whether for good or for bad. It is so important then to
‘seize the day’, to appreciate one another and what we
have right now, rather than to be always rushing on to the
next thing. We need to take time to say what needs to be
said, to make that phone call, or visit; to express our love
and appreciation and to enjoy today and one another. Let’s
slow down and give thanks for God’s grace in the good
times and his strength in the bad - and be there for
one-another through both.
Angela Cooper
Priest in Charge of the Camel-Allen Churches:
Lanteglos & St Thomas, Camelford, Advent, St Teath, St
John’s Delabole.
Telephone: 01840 214706
CLOSED
Memories of Delabole – Part Four
Our next instalment of memories of the late Mr. Jack Stephens, born in 1921.
My school days began in Miss Smith’s class and my only memory of this time was the sand trays in which we formed
our letters. They were small, individual trays of wood in which there was a small amount of sand. We were given a stick
and made our letters by drawing in the sand with it. As soon as we had got it right, we could tap or shake the wooden
tray, the sand would cover the letter and we could start with another one.
From there I moved to Miss Griffiths’ class. She later became Mrs. Lugg and moved to the farm next to the school. I was
also taught by Miss Cory, Miss Frayn, who married Mr. Goodman (who later became the headmaster at Delabole under
whom I taught). Also Mr. Holmes and finally I reached the head teacher’s class, Mr. Popplestone. At that time, I am sure
that I had no idea that he would later become my father-in-law.
There were about three hundred children in the school then, it being an all-age school, dealing with children from 5 years
through to 14 years, which was the school leaving age at that time. The classes were quite large, 40 children being
average. We sat in rows in iron-framed desks, the smallest of which contained 4 children sitting side by side. Some desks
in the top class were long enough to contain 6 or maybe 8 children.
The cane was always in evidence, discipline was strict and we sat at our desks and worked all day except for a drill
lesson every week. At play times, the boys would go to the front playground and the girls to the back. No balls were
allowed and the games we played were ‘jump-backs’ (leap frog) or with two or three boys making a ‘back’ against a wall
with others jumping on the top to see how many could stay in place before the back collapsed. Marbles was another
popular game, spinning tops and hoop rolling (an iron hoop propelled with an iron crook). There were no school meals
and no school transport, some children having to walk several miles each day in all weathers. When I was about 9 or
10 years old, we used to have a hot drink of Horlicks during the morning break time for which we brought a halfpenny a
day.
On November 11 th each year, we went to the War Memorial to remember the dead of the First World War. Exactly at
11am there was dead silence for two minutes, all work stopped, traffic in the street halted, only the birds chirped and
even they seemed subdued. I also remember on one occasion being taken into the playground to see the Airship R101
fly past.
We had no football at Delabole Council School but most of the boys were keen footballers. Someone had contacted
Camelford Council School, which had a regular football team that played in the County school competitions. We were
to play on the town pitch at Camelford. I was one of the team and only ten years old, most of the team being made up
of thirteen and fourteen year olds. We walked to Camelford, four miles, boots slung around our necks with little other
gear and played the match. We lost 16-0, and rather ashamed we decided to walk home across the fields so that we
could avoid meeting people – another four miles.