Purrett Road Primary School

Purrett Road c.1900. Photo: Greenwich Heritage Centre

Children’s Play at the Purrett Road Primary School. Photo: Barry Gillmore
The class group was leant to me today by Barry Gillmore. He was the year below me. It is taken at Purrett Road School

Lawrie Jupp reminisces:

I  remember Mr Abel well.  He was an inspiring teacher.  We must have had Bunsen burners in the classroom for we heated glass tubes, blew bubbles on the end and made “submarines” in used medicine bottles under his instruction.  Press the cork and the “sub” went down through the water, ease the cork and it rose.

St. Nicholas church being half destroyed and a girl in our class surviving under one of the steel kitchen tables when her house was badly damaged by the same bomb.  I think a V2.  She was back in school after a couple of days.  No PTSD then.

The Head’s name in my time was Mr. Clarke.

A job enjoyed because of the freedom was going to the basement to re-fill ink wells.

 A short cut into the playground was up a plane tree and along its branches to access the wall at the back of the boys toilets.

Girls skipped a lot, dismissed by boys as being girlie.  It was not until I found out that Joe Louis trained for his heavyweight contests by running and skipping that I realised how much fitter the girls were.  Skirts tucked into long knickers.

I left Purret Road in 1946

See also the stories:

Growing Up In The Prefab Village On Winn’s Common by Barbara Biddle.
Growing up in Plumstead in the war years by Jennifer Mellor.
Memories Of A Childhood Stay In Plumstead by Valerie Cunningham.

Valerie as a 11 year old schoolgirl

Valerie at age 13 with her younger brother 11 and older sister aged 16.