St Wilfrid's in the 1930s

St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic Primary School was opened in August 1936 by the Right Reverend J. Thorman, Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle. The school could cater for 960 pupils. There were three assembly halls and a central hall fitted as a theatre.

The school was built to replace a dilapidated building on nearby Park Lane. Log books from this school complain of its state of disrepair from the 1890s. In 1894 a School Inspector wrote that:
"One end of the room is insufficiently lighted and ventilated, the stove gives out very little heat, the apparatus for flushing the closets is out of order, and there is no satisfactory way of disposing of the children's cloaks and hats".

Allhusen's Factory, which was close to St Wilfrid's school - pupils used to play on the disused site once it had closed

The new school was paid for by parishioners, at a cost of one penny per brick. The building was finally completely paid for in the 1950s. Originally St Wilfrid's was an all through Infant, Junior and Secondary School. There were two head teachers. It was the community school for the local area - until the 1980s non-Catholic pupils from the attended also.

Mr Killen, an ex pupil of the school in the 1930s came to talk to Class 4 about St Wilfrid's at that time. Class 4 learned that at that time the toilets of the school were outside! Teachers were quite strict, but also fair. Pupils used to play in the disused site of Allhusen's Chemical Works. Old chemical remains could still be dug up. For days out, the church would organise trips out to the coast, to Whitley Bay. Pupils would catch the train from Felling station - now the site of a Metro station. Packed lunches consisted of such treats as sugar sandwiches. Mr Killen was rather famously the tallest boy in the school - a subject that the local papers picked up on - this picture shows him with James Burnett, the shortest boy in the year. Both boys are aged 13 but one was 5ft 10in and the other four foot!

Another ex-pupil, Catherine Bell came to talk to the school about what it was like to attend St Wilfrid's in the 1930s and what the area was like at that time. Click here to read her story.

Gas Explosion

Pupils also found out about the gas explosion in Carville Street that Catherine Bell mentions in her letter. In 1933, before the school opened, there was a major gas explosion in which six people were killed, the youngest a girl of just four years old. Newspaper reports of the time described the following:

"Two houses of flats collapsed like a pack of cards, burying the occupants in the debris. The air was filled with brick dust and flying glass, and the screams of women and children were heard as far away as Allhusen's works, from which men poured to assist in the rescue work."

One woman lost her husband and son in the tragedy. William and Thomas Devonport were both crushed. William Devonport died sheltering his grandson from injury.

An appeal was set up by the Mayor of Gateshead to help those injured and the distressed families of those killed. In addition to money, furniture and bedding was donated as many were made homeless.