Previous
Holmston Pages

December 2000 Update

School Used to be Different

School used to be quite different to today. When the building was opened in 1884, there were separate doors for boys and girls to use. Boys and girls were in separate classes, like the girls' class of 1912 shown in our oldest class photo, and the photo from 1915.

Other things have changed, too -

Breaks - Mid morn - 10 minutes. McCall the Baker's van (a horse and cart) used to come to the school. The driver perched up on the top like "Wells Fargo" and sold us iced buns. The cheapest buns cost an old halfpenny each (a quarter of one of today's pennies). - Jim Fairlie, 1935-41.

Punishment - All the teachers had "Kelty" straps, and used them, but severe breaches of discipline were dealt with by the Headmaster. I can well remember six of us, in a half circle, taking our "medicine" for daring to go down to the "Nether Mill" at the foot of the Mill Brae to watch the breaking up of the ice on the River Ayr, after he had expressly forbade anyone to go near the Dam. Unfortunately we were "cliped" by the "Janny". He was quite right, of course, but we never spoke to the "Janny" for weeks. - Jim Fairlie, 1935-41.

Funerals - Mr Ballantyne also enforced the standing to attention by all pupils whenever a funeral cortege passed, and was fond of going round the classes with letters of thanks from relatives concerned. - Jim Fairlie, 1935-41.

A school trip - I can only recall one school outing and it was massive.

Round about the summer of 1939, the whole school marched down to the local railway station, and then conveyed to Cassilis Station, and then on to the farm owned by Mr Murray, an ex-Provost, of Murray's Ice Factory in Mill Street. He was an ex-pupil and I can remember him at school presenting the Murray "Dux".

Anyway the walk to the field was longer than the train journey, but it was a great day, us with our "tinnies" for the free milk and given a bag of buns. Being one of the back markers it took us a long time to get into the field, but that didn't prevent my brother, two years younger, from falling in the burn. He was still drying out when we reached the farm. - Jim Fairlie, 1935-41.

Another school trip - Norman Faulds sent us some photos from two 1955 school trips to Largs and Loch Lomond, here.

© Friends of Holmston, 1999 and 2000

 Contacts & Links 

 Sponsors 

 Current issue 

 Legal 

 Next page