Wigan Album

This photo brings back memories of my time at Ormskirk Secondary..the Domestic Science ( yes ladies that was it was called !) room was very similar right down to the wooden table. The table had to be scrubbed when the lesson had finished as well as the wooden draining boards, tea towels were washed & put on the ceiling maiden to dry, everything had to be left spic & span. We only started Domestic Science in the 2nd year, the first year was spent sewing your apron & cap...by hand, no machine work ! At Ormskirk we even had a furnished flat where we learnt the gentle art of dusting, bed making & using a carpet sweeper etc.....I suppose today all this would be labelled sexist but it stood me in good stead !

This is really nostalgic. Was just as Helen has written. Our lessons started with Miss Bray calculating what would be needed for each lesson with regard to ingredients. A list was made by her and a small group of girls (was only girls then) would be sent to the local shop to purchase what was on the list. Then the teacher would share out what each girl would need for the recipe. No need to bring ingredients from home. As Helen says after cooking everything had to be scrubbed clean and washing had to be done. Our aprons and hats were made in our sewing class too. Really did stand us in good stead to learn the basics. An idea for today perhaps??

Just looking at the picture brought back the smell of soap that we used to scrub the tables after we completed our tasks. I also remember sewing a pinny and cap in class,the good sewers had theirs ready to wear in no time, mine was very grubby when I finally finished it from constant unpicking! During D.S I learned how to make mincemeat the first Christmas I was there, that was after a term of learning how to wash clothes and iron them: then in the second year I made a passable Christmas pudding.
I remember the Year 4 girls bringing their iced Christmas cakes around to show to each class and thinking that I would never be able to do all that complicated icing. The skills I learned then have stayed with me all my life and I still enjoy cooking and baking.
I went to a Brownie meeting recently where the Brownies had to make toast, not one of them could put the butter on, or handle a knife correctly. I had to tell them the first rule of cooking was to wash your hands before you start. The leader said, Oh we don't bother with all that! I don't think I shall be asked back!

Miss Bray was not very nice to me ,a typical old maid

If memory serves me right I think Miss Bray married someone connected to a bakery firm based on Market Street Hindley.
Think it was near or next to the old Conservative Club. Could it be Wilcocks or Excel??

My sister Maureen Graham must have been at that school then aged about 13....I think her friend was Margaret Balmer?