OS map of Padiham, 1948
Ordnance Survey
In the interwar years, the school held several lectures with an international flavour. In 1924 Rev. Fletcher lectured on the West Indies and in 1926 Major Kershaw spoke on Palestine. Captain Brass, MP for Clitheroe, gave an illustrated talk on his world tour in 1928 and the Headteacher’s class wrote essays on an Empire Tour. These were supplemented by visits to the cinema in 1924 to see ‘5000 Miles Through Central Africa’ and in 1926 to see ‘Safeguarding the Nation.’
Remembrance Day was commemorated every year. In 1921, pupils planted a shrub in the memorial enclosure and one of the girls ‘scattered some soil brought from a soldier’s grave in France.’ Four years later, the wreath was carried by two scholars who had lost their fathers. By 1935, the service was held at the Cenotaph. Empire Day was also important to the school. Special lessons were held in 1922 and 14 pupils visited the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. The top class won second prize in the Padiham Carnival, in 1926, for a ‘junior tableau’ representing the British Empire.
References/Further Reading:
Hapton Bridge National School Logbook, 1920-42. Archive ref: SMHP 1/2, Lancashire Archives.