Mrs. Holbrook remembers her schooldays. She attended the same school as Cecil Rhodes and has similar memories of her schooldays. This account is reproduced from ‘Look! This was Timsbury’ by kind permission of the Cheshire Home.
She started school at three and a half years of age and left at thirteen years, and like Mr. Rhodes her first master was Mr. Arnold. She remembers about seven classes with twenty to thirty in each class, with the school day starting at nine until four in the afternoon with one hour for dinner. The holidays were two weeks at Easter and Christmas, a full month for Summer and one week for Whitsun. One day was also allowed for church on Ascension Day.
Each classroom had its own oil stove for heating and lamps supplied the lighting.
As Mr. Rhodes mentioned she remembers playing whip hoops, hopscotch, and skipping with her friend.
She said some children would stay away from school because they had no shoes to wear. If punishment was necessary the cane was used but if we worked well we had books given to us as rewards. Most subjects were useful in later life and by today’s standards I consider it a very good school.
The bell was taken away when the school closed and is now used in the Church as the five minute bell.