Children at School and Play

Dress rehearsals for a children's concert 1912 and these boys are acting out their roles. I like the one at the back taking aim with one eye closed and can imagine the noise of the trumpet. What fun. The village is Wray in the Forest of Bowland  an area designated in present times as an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).  At one time, because it is located by two fast running rivers, it was a local textile centre and there are many old houses in the village, the doorway on this card looks typical of the period.

Children depositing their savings in the Yorkshire Penny Bank at Scotforth School, about 1927. There is a certain air of concentration about the rows as the teacher at the back is checking their work and their fellow pupils line up to deposit their savings.   The blackboard says "Scotforth Schoool Branch. Average Number of Deposits 4500. Average Value £800"  The notice at the end of the table states "Every Monday"

Scotforth was a village in Lancashire but in the 19th Century as the town of Lancaster grew it became a suburb.  The Yorkshire Penny Bank was founded by the textile manufacturer Edward Akroyd of Halifax one of the great Victorian philanthropists.  He was concerned about the social conditions of his workers and tried to improve their living conditions and health, building a model town, and starting a savings bank in 1859.  Individual deposits were restricted to £30 per annum up to a cumulative balance of £150.  The bank was operated on a non-profit basis and in the early days would be only open one evening a week.   The number of banks grew and sub branches were opened in schools and church halls.  In 1865 the first school bank in the world was created, its idea to encourage the idea of saving.

At the time of this photo the bank had been taken over by a consortium of banks in 1911 and I would assume no longer operated on a non profit basis. The bank changed its name in 1959 to become the Yorkshire Bank, you can't buy much with a penny,  and at the present time is now a subsidiary of the National Australian Bank Group. 

Both these postcards are produced by the Lancaster Museum who have a small but interesting selection.


Beth of The Best Heart Are Crunchy,  is our hostess for Postcard Friendship Friday.