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Tickhill and District Local History Society was
very fortunate that Ronald (Ron) Hill, then aged 92, offered to
meet a group of the Society’s members in the autumn of 2007 to
record his memories of Tickhill, especially his schooldays. The
timing of the interview was all the more poignant because Ron’s
health deteriorated soon after and he sadly died on
25 January
2008.
This Paper is published in his memory with the Society’s
appreciation both for the effort he made in recording his
memories and also for the subsequent help given by his family in
preparing the transcript of his interview and this paper for
publication.
  Ron,
pictured right, attended the Infants’ School in Tithes Lane from
1920 before transferring to the Mixed or Senior School in Back
Lane, now called St Mary’s Road. Both these schools were
departments of Tickhill Church of England School, also known as
the National School. Ron remained at the Senior School until,
aged eleven, he won a County Minor scholarship to Doncaster
Grammar School. In many ways Ron’s school life in Tickhill was
different from that in the present, from the style of the school
buildings with their high windows blocking pupils’ views of the
world beyond, to the types of lessons studied and even
playground games.
Photo
courtesy © Mrs Betty Hill
Ron’s memories of schooldays not only reveal
contrasts with today, but also a continuing reality: the hugely
beneficial impact of good teachers on youngsters. Ron’s tributes
to individual teachers and indeed his whole experience at school
in Tickhill show how much he was inspired and his subsequent
interests awakened. For example, two teachers in Tickhill
fostered his abiding enthusiasm for the classical world, which
later saw him succeed in classics at secondary school and become
a classics scholar at Oxford University. Ron won several
scholarships including a Senior Scholarship tenable at Merton
College.
Living memories, sometimes called oral history,
provide an important personal perspective on the past. Ron’s
account gives us a whole range of insights into schooldays and
life in general in Tickhill. Learning poems, sections of plays
and Biblical texts by heart was common-place in Ron’s childhood,
so that it was not seen as in any way remarkable for labouring
people to be able to quote them from memory. Although people
were aware of differences in the status of local inhabitants,
‘nobody was better than anybody else’ according to Ron. At
school, most pupils thought twice about stepping out of line,
the threat of their parents being told of any misdemeanour
usually being sufficient deterrent. The cane was used very
occasionally, although Ron never suffered this punishment. Ron
was an avid reader and recalled which books from school stayed
in his memory. He remembered playground diversions, special
events, and, like so many pupils, he remembered the walk home
from school with his friends with particular pleasure.
Remarkably, Ron remembered clearly many events in
his schooldays, more than eighty years previously. Sometimes,
though, memories may not contain much detail or can fade and
this is where other sources of information can be useful. For
instance, Ron mentioned celebrating Empire Day. The specific
details of the celebrations in Tickhill were recorded in the
local press. Ron had no recollection of inspections, although
they took place annually as mentioned in School Log Books and
parish magazines. Ron enjoyed cricket but he thought physical
education may not have had much place, if any, in the timetable.
Sport certainly featured in some pupils’ lives, reflecting the
enthusiasm of the Head Teacher, Mr Shaw, a keen athlete in his
youth. Various extra-curricular activities took place. Although
there were no Nativity Plays, the
Senior
School staged concerts towards the end of the
Autumn Term most years. Perhaps the most ambitious out-of-school
activity was a three-day visit by 52 pupils to see the British
Empire Exhibition at Wembley in August 1924. Possibly Ron was
just too young to take part in this visit.
 Ron’s
widow, Betty, who also grew up in Tickhill as a member of the
well-known Rawson family, has kindly added a few extra details
to Ron’s memories. For example, Betty remembered seeing the
six-years old Ron, with dark curly hair she admired, acting as a
crown-bearer to the May Queen. Betty’s schooldays were spent at
the private school on Northgate run by the Misses Goodwin. The
photograph to the right shows Ron and Betty on the occasion of
their Seventieth Wedding Anniversary in 2006.
Photo courtesy © Mrs Betty
Hill
In his retirement from the Civil Service (it was
for his work as a civil servant that he was awarded the Imperial
Service Order), Ron did much research into Tickhill’s history,
especially the Middle Ages, where his knowledge of Latin enabled
him to read many documents. In the acknowledgements to Tom
Beastall’s book Tickhill: Portrait of an English Country Town,
Tom wrote that Ron’s knowledge of Tickhill’s topography and
Medieval background had no equal, and that without Ron’s work,
the Tickhill book would not have been attempted. Ron also delved
into records of his old school in Tickhill, looking especially
at the School Log Books. Information he gleaned about schooldays
before the 1920s features occasionally in some of his memories.
Recognising his commitment to local history, the Society is
proud to note that Ron accepted its Honorary Membership.
This Paper begins with an edited transcript of
Ron’s recollections. It then draws on other information,
including that in School Log Books, notes of School Managers’
meetings, parish magazines and local newspapers to find out more
about 1920s schooldays in Tickhill’s National School, especially
the teaching staff, pupils and selected events. These records
also give a few more details about Ron’s own experiences. He
was, for example, too modest to mention that he was the first
winner of the Robinson Shield for ‘constant effort’ in 1
Copies of the full text of this paper
are on sale in KSM Dry Cleaners priced £1.50 or
click here to read the article on line
(Large file which may take a while to download)
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