Time off for mushroom picking and going to the fair, earth closets for toilets and no electricity. Life was very different for the first pupils at a Welsh village school celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.
A scan down the log books of Bancyfelin School in Carmarthenshire shows it had no electricity until 1949, no canteen until 1967 and earth closet toilets until 1955. Children, at what is now a proudly Welsh medium school, were also told to speak English until 1903.
Life at the tiny school has changed beyond recognition since it opened in 1872. But one thing that has not changed is that it was and remains at the heart of village life and history, said headteacher Trefina Jones.
