Roy Kift - Alderminster School Pupil
My family moved from Devon to Alderminster in 1946/7 and my father was the owner of the Post Office and Stores as it was then known, until 1955 when we moved to Bournemouth. I recall how my father used to sell sugar and flour out of sacks, weighing them in paper bags: but best of all was the fact that he also sold the papers because I could get down early everyday and read the comics (the Beano, Dandy, Eagle, and "Roy of the Rovers" in the Tiger) free of charge, before folding them up neatly for sale. Behind it was a privately owned tennis court where I learnt to play tennis. Next door lived farmers - Harris and Meadows. Mrs Meadows taught me the piano. The old post office is now a private house. I attended Alderminster C of E primary school (two rooms, two classes, 5 to 8s and 8s to 11s and a "Cider with Rosie atmosphere"). The head was Mrs Randall and her assistant, Mrs Noyce. The playgrounds were segregated, separated by outside toilets. The favourite boys' games were Germans v. English, and cowboys and indians, and the favourite illicit activity was trying to pee up and over the boys' toilet wall into the girls' playground. To achieve this feat you had to save up until your bladder was absolutely bursting! I remember the village policeman coming round to give us a talk about politics in England, where he made it very clear that the Conservative party was the only true party worth voting for, and Labour was little more than a bunch of communists. I particularly remember the social gatherings in the old village hall (the Bell Inn was a place for "the working-class from the council estate") and the craze for "beetle" drives at the time, where we kids used to cheat like mad by gathering the dice up before adults had a chance to check what numbers we had really thrown. Up at the Stratford end of the village there was a path down to the River Stour with a stone ford where we used to swim. One particular memory stands out in particular: the Coronation of the Queen in 1953 when the village celebrated with lots of bunting and a fete. As I remember, only one person in the village owned a television - a black and white 12 inch screen box model with wobbly pictures. I seem to recall that the village hired a communal television for the rest of the inhabitants to watch. The major Saturday activity was to catch the bus into distant Stratford to go to the Saturday kid's matinée in the "picture house": a main picture, usually a Western, a newsreel, and a serial thriller to follow. During all my time in Alderminster I never once saw a Shakespeare play in Stratford. We did however have two family outings to the "Shakespeare Memorial Theatre": to see "Swan Lake" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma". The big Xmas treat was to go to Birmingham and see Father Christmas in one of the main stores. My dad also took me once to see Aston Villa play Arsenal. Holidays were next to nonexistent (with relatives in Devon) but we did have the occasional day-trip to Weston-super-Mare.
It was "Aunty Mabel" Meadows who taught me the piano. Brenda Harris, of course lived next door. And wasn't one of the Lockwoods head carpenter at the theatre in Stratford? The other thing I remember clearly was that around 1951 or 52 the village got running water. Up until then my mother/father used to have to pour all our effluent into pits in the garden. Bath-time was boiled up water poured into a tin bath in front of the fire in the living room. Needless to say there was no heating in any of the bedrooms and the windows used to frost up thickly on the inside during the winter. I returned to Stratford around ten years ago and called in at our old house. Could not believe how tiny it was. In my childhood memory it was huge. I'll try and look out a few old photos.
If you are interested in learning what Roy has got up to since he left Alderminster School, then visit his website which can be found at
http://www.roy-kift.com/
Mrs. Ceretha Randle - Former Headmistress of Alderminster School and resident of Alderminster.
Mrs. Randle was the Headmistress when the school closed and lived in the Schoolhouse. When the school closed she moved to Sture House, New Road and lived there with her husband until her death. She was also the organist at the Church from 1933-1986. After her death a poem was found, which had been written by Mrs. Randle, about her view of the village as it was before her death. It is reproduced and can be downloaded by clicking on the link at the right hand side of this page.
Mr Bates Headmaster of Alderminster School
 |  | | Alderminster School Photo c.1885 | |
This lovely old photograph taken at Alderminster School c.1885 was sent to us all the way from Australia by Margaret Davies from New South Wales. It shows Mr. Bates and probably his wife and servant who in 1891 were Anne E Bates and Emily King. In 1891 Mr. Bates was 29yrs old, his wife 30yrs old and Emily a mere 14 and listed as a domestic servant.
Margaret Davies can trace her ancesters back to Alderminster and tells us her her Great Grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Garrett is someone on this photo. Some of her family are buried in St. Mary's Church Whitchurch and she would be interested to hear from anyone who is related to her with the family names of Richardson, Taylor or Garrett from the Alderminster/Whitchurch area.
Her email is steveandmargaretdavies@yahoo.com.au.
More Information about Mr. Bates can be found by downloading the documents on the right hand side of this page which is the obituary which appeared in the Stratford upon Avon Herald on 17th April 1942 and the Evesham Journal of 18th April 1942.
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