Arlesey Silver Jubilee Open Air Service 1935

The picture is owned by Arlesey Town Council Archive Group and Clive Lombari, who sent it in, attended the school himself, albeit a decade or so later. However, it had probably changed little in the interim.

He recalled: “The dining room was heated by gas heaters and in winter by the time you had eaten your first course they were choking you to death.

“ The boys played in the front playground and the girls behind the main building.

“Infants were allowed to share the same back playground with non-teaching staff supervising them. Mrs Brown was one, Mrs Camp and Gillian Steptoe’s grandmother others.

“Major and Mrs Camp shared Beverly House Manor with the Steptoes. I was a frequent visitor there as Gill and I were good friends.”

Do you remember the 1935 Silver Jubilee celebrations in your village? Please contact us.