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AYTON SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHIC |
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Staff |
EDITH CARR |
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We came to Ayton in August 1940 when every week brought fresh horrors of war. The air raids near some or your homes had been so intense that about forty children with some members of staff, were left at school for the holidays and we felt that our responsibilities began from the moment we arrived. I shall always remember Miss Naylor being at the front door to welcome us. Her quiet charm made me feel a little more confident. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis had held the fort until we arrived and had only left that morning, so cleaning and decorating were all to be started. The only habitable room was the headmaster's study which was our general living room and I seem to remember sleeping in a dormitory for a night or two. On the evening of that first day I found a dejected little figure gazing through his tears on to the village green. "What's the matter Olie?" I said rather shakily. "I'm homesick" he replied. I am sure many of you will have heard Stanley describe how he had three "homesickers" on his hands that night. But there is nothing like having plenty to do for that kind of thing and there were some hectic days before we got the house "fettled up" What a help Mr. Clayton was with his practical skill in a multitude of difficulties and his never‑ending fund of stories to cheer even the most harassed newcomers. One of the biggest difficulties during those first weeks was lack of sleep. Almost every night we had the red warning followed by the wailing sirens and the drone of 'planes. As we looked out over the peaceful moonlit village it seemed fantastic that bombs might drop on us. Probably many of you never knew that some members of the School Committee were anxious that the school should evacuate to a safer area. We were always thankful that this did not happen. Now how did I feel when the actual beginning of term came ? Very nervous I assure you and like a fish out of water. On the day the children arrived I felt I could be helpful and I have happy memories of gatherings of boys' parents in the staff dining room when we chatted over cups of tea and I kept going to Stanley's study to remind him that Mrs. X had really had her ration of time and could he see Mrs. Y who had a bus to catch. How few unhappy new boys and girls there were and this was surely a. great tribute to the staff as a whole and especially to the matrons, Miss Storey and Miss Patton. When the school got into its working stride I was rather lonely during that first term. Everybody seemed so busy with real jobs of work to do and I hadn't yet found much justification for my existence. Then gradually I came to find that my title " Mistress of the Family " didn't just mean someone who arranged the flowers and welcomed and entertained the school's visitors. The friendship of the staff was a real and heart-warming experience. On the one hand the younger members often came to me for motherly advice and help and on the other hand - well, there are some in this room tonight who do, I hope, realise something of what their loyalty and devotion meant to us, especially in our darkest days, and the children again and again brought the human touch. Listen to them. A long queue at my elbow for staff coffee at breakfast time. When the last small boy reached me he smiled and said; "Busy woman this morning, Mrs. Carr" The meeting between tall Freda Stickney, the gym mistress and Charles Cooksley, the Junior Former on the doorstep near the Green‑time 9.15 a.m. "What are you doing here Charles?" "I was just going over to Worthy's to buy a birthday card" "But you should be in class now" "Well," said Charles, handing her the money, "you pop over and get it for me." I had been chatting with a boy who was ill in the San. As I left him he said rather wistfully, "Thank you for calling me John and not my last name." Again in the San. one Sunday morning I found a small girl very tearful and upset. A passage in a film the school had seen on the Saturday evening had been too realistic for her. She snuggled up and told me all about it and then smiled through her tears and said; "There, I feel better now." I enjoyed my daily visits to the San for they brought me into closer touch with you, not so much as scholars of the school, but as children. I hoped that being a mother myself, I could help you and reassure your mothers when I wrote to them. There were of course occasions, mercifully few, of serious illness and deep anxiety. At these times Sister's devoted attention and skilful care are beyond words to express and Dr. Waldie's loyalty to us, shown in so many different ways, is unforgettable. Our friendships with parents were made not only in fair weather but as we went through difficult times together. We were reminded of this last summer when Mrs. Kirk called to see us at Brow Foot and we talked of Jacob and his happy time at school followed by his tragic illness and death in the San. It was at times like this when Ayton was drawn very close with a family affection. Another occasion of a different nature when we had this feeling of "togetherness" was when the whole school celebrated the Centenary with an excursion by train to Danby. Everybody went, including our helpers from the kitchen, the laundry and the grounds. In the surging mass on Ayton's little platform I can hear Mrs. Bradley saying she had never been up to the station since the 1914-18 war, twenty years before. Mrs. Bradley, by the way, was one of the school's many daily helpers and in holiday times when the maids were away she used to come in and “do for us." When she retired Alice proved an equally good "doer." Some of you may remember how well you were fed and cared for when a work party of present scholars. old scholars and some staff stayed at school for a week one Easter holiday and did the clearing work on the Terrace preliminary to .planting it with flowering shrubs and to the building of the rock gardens. During our married life we had always enjoyed a lovely garden of our own and one of the penalties of Ayton's headship (and I am sure Mary Reader will agree) is to be surrounded by asphalt. But I came to love the grounds at Ayton and watched with pride the developments that were carried out in them. Stanley and I walked down by the beck on the evening of the day he was appointed Headmaster. What a lot of water went under the Teacher's Bridge between that time and our final plod round the snow‑covered grounds before we left at Christmas 1952 and not all the water was smooth‑flowing and tranquil. The big kitchen and store rooms have some mixed memories for me. I think there were six different occasions during our time at Ayton when, for some reason or another, we were without a Housekeeper and I had to try and fill the gap The first two or three of these deputising were difficult as we had young cooks and we were all trying to learn together. Later on with Mrs. Ruone and Ivy as cooks I almost enjoyed my spells in the domestic realm. Before I leave these I must tell you of the time Stanley and I had a weekend in Edinburgh (and how difficult it was to get time to take a weekend off). When we got back this was what greeted us. "The housekeeper has run away and the typewriter has been stolen out of the office." Once more I donned my overall and wended my way to the kitchen but I couldn't replace the typewriter and the mystery was never solved. And now I recall a few incidents more or less at random. Stanley and I having a cup of tea on the terrace with a Ministry of Health official at the time of the worst raids on Teeside. "If Middlesbrough is blitzed," he said, " we shall send out civilian patients to you at Ayton School and you will be in charge of the general organisation of the nursing and hospital arrangements." A notice " Emergency Civilian Hospital " was on our front door for months and one of the rooms at the San was stacked from floor to ceiling with blankets, sheets and pillows. You may well say "What was to happen to the children?" Stanley and Evelyn were to find billets for them in the neighbourhood and they were to be taught in any odd corners not taken over by the hospital. Some of you may remember a grand rehearsal we had one Sunday, when we practised moving beds, stretchers and patients and had a soup kitchen on the Boys' Playground providing hot drinks at very short notice. One of the boys from Germany who was with us during the war was very ill for a time. His mother, who was in England too, came to see him and stayed with us in the house until there was no need for further anxiety. She was full of appreciation and in her desire to cover every detail she said to me, as we came downstairs on the morning she left. "And now where can I pay for eats and sleeps?" An almost certain question at my table at tea time every alternate Thursday was: "Well Mrs. Carr, how are the babies today?" That was the day when I event to weigh the babies at the clinic and it was one of my happiest associations with the village. What lovely babies we had and what care and devotion Nurse Norton gave to them and to their mothers. Sunday evening Reading and Stanley was taking it. In that stillness just before the first hymn was announced a loud whisper from dear Mrs. Arundel who always sat next to me : "Is he going to read or talk, I like it better when he talks." Mention of the Meeting House brings many scenes to my mind. Morning Assemblies which I never liked to miss because they made such a good start to the day. Sunday morning meetings when, at times, I felt inspired and helped both by silence and spoken message. Sometimes my thoughts wandered and one of my favourite occupations was to test myself to see if I knew the names, Christian and surname, of every child in the Meeting House. I always enjoyed First Meeting when it was started for the younger children and can think of happy times. I had with my group when it was our turn to choose a theme and prepare the hymns and readings. And now I am an attender
at the Friends' Meeting at Colthouse near Hawkshead and once more I
feel a little bit of an outsider. But there are nine children connected
with the Meeting and this last year we have started a Childrens' Meeting.
I am hoping that by helping with this the children will make me feel
that I really "belong," just as years ago you drew me into
the Ayton family. The Old Scholars' Association is a very vital part
of that family and I am honoured to be one of its Presidents. Return to - Profile
of Edith Carr |
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AYTON
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVES |
Fellow
Old Scholars, I am proud to be your President but I am sure you will
understand my apprehension about this address when you remember that my
predecessor, Walter Ballantyne, was a scholar over sixty years ago. He,
and almost all previous Presidents were members of the Old Scholars'
Association and could speak to you from minds steeped in Ayton
traditions. You see, I am rather an outsider. Not an O.S, not a member
of the Society of Friends, not even a member of staff. A nondescript
just a headmaster's wife. I will be quite frank with you and tell you
that I wasn't very happy when I became a headmaster's wife, for it meant
giving up my own home and the kind of life I had enjoyed so much
cooking, planning and doing the hundred-and-one jobs that a mother has
when there is little help in the house.