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There
have been primary schools in Collieston and
the surrounding parish of Slains since the mid
nineteenth century. The village school finally
closed in 1949 and the Collieston children now
travel some three miles, by bus, inland to Slains
School. The older children attend secondary
school in Ellon. In both instances the local
authority provides free bus transport. |
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(Geordie
– Education) Jock Ritchie talks
about Geordie Tough’s School Colvid0002 |
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Education
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Mabel
Esson (a former teacher) talks about
school life. |
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Education
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Mabel
Esson talks about a serious blizzard
and how school children came to be snowbound
in her farmhouse.
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Education |
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The
pupils and teacher of Collieston School in 1913.
The school roll was dramatically affected by
the decline of the fishing industry in the early
years of the 20th Century when many of the fishing
families left the village to work in Torry,
Aberdeen.
As a result, the school had to close in May
1922 and the few remaining pupils continued
to be educated at Slains School, some three
miles distant. However, due to overcrowding
at Slains School, Collieston School was re-opened
ten years later in 1932.
This was only to be a relatively short-term
reprieve for the school and it finally and permanently
closed its doors as a teaching establishment
on 1st July, 1949. The last Head Teacher was
Mrs Gladys Robertson.
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Education |
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A
copy of the Day School Certificate awarded to
John (Jack) Ingram in 1926. Jack left Slains
School when he was 14 years old. Born at No
22 Collieston in 1912, Jack was the second youngest
of eleven children born to Charles Ingram, a
salmon fisherman, and his wife Margaret.
The Ingram family moved to Cluny Cottages, one
of the former Coastguard Cottages, in 1929.
After leaving school Jack was ‘fee’d’
at several local farms before studying to become
a psychiatric nurse.
Jack and his wife, Jessie, also a psychiatric
nurse, worked at a hospital in Perthshire until
retiring in 1970 and moving back to Collieston.
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Slains
Schoolhouse, viewed from the south, near the
main Newburgh-Cruden Bay road circa 1920. The
house was home to the Head Teachers of Slains
School until the 1980’s, when it was sold
as a private dwelling, soon after the retirement
of Mr Emslie.
Slains School is clearly visible to the rear
of the schoolhouse. In the 1960’s a new
school was built to cater for the growing number
of children living in the area and the old school
was demolished in 1968. The land occupied by
the old school was subsequently turned into
a playground for the pupils.
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Education |
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Mrs
McLeod and her class at Collieston School in
1932. The school, which opened in 1877, closed
in 1922 and the children from the village had
to travel some three miles to the nearest school
at Slains for their education.
Due to overcrowding at Slains School, Collieston
School was re-opened in 1932. It finally ceased
to be a school on July 1, 1949. The last Head
Teacher was Gladys Robertson.
The building is now used as the Collieston Community
Centre and many local organisations such as
the Children’s Playgroup, Over 60’s
Club and Women’s Rural Institute, meet
in the Centre on a regular basis.
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Pupils
of Slains Public School in 1937. Most of the
children who attended the school at this time
came from families who either worked on the
farms in the Parish of Slains or on the nearby
Auchmacoy Estate with only a few children from
Collieston attending the school at this time.
The population in Collieston had not yet recovered
from the exodus of families to Torry, Aberdeen,
following the decline in the fishing industry
some thirty years earlier. The fishing families
still owned their houses in the village but
many of them were rented out or lay empty for
most of the year until they were used by the
families who came back to the village during
the summer months.
The school building, visible behind the group
of children, was subsequently demolished in
1968 and replaced by a modern school building.
Where the original school building was situated
has now been transformed into a playground for
the children.
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Education |
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Pupils
and Head Teacher of Collieston School in 1949.
The school originally opened in 1877 but had
to close temporarily in 1922 due to falling
numbers in the school roll. The remaining children
from the village were then required to travel
some three miles to the nearest school at Slains
to continue with their education.
However, due to subsequent overcrowding at Slains
School, the school in Collieston was re-opened
in 1932. Sadly its reprieve was not to be permanent
and it eventually closed for the last time on
July 1, 1949.
The school building is now the Collieston Community
Centre and many local organisations such as
the Children’s Playgroup, Over 60’s
Club and Women’s Rural Institute, meet
in the Centre on a regular basis.
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Education |
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Teacher
and pupils of Slains School in 1955. The children
who went to Slains School lived in Slains, Auchmacoy
or Collieston. The building, visible behind
the children, was demolished in 1968 and replaced
by a new one.
Most of the pupils who lived in Slains came
from local farming families, while those from
Auchmacoy were from families who worked on the
Auchmacoy Estate. The Collieston children came
from a variety of family backgrounds with many
of their parents working in and around Aberdeen.
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Education |
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Pupils
of Slains School in 1961. The catchment area
of the school at that time was the Parish of
Slains, including Auchmacoy, Slains and Collieston.
Many of the children from Slains and Auchmacoy
came from farming families or from those families
who worked on the Auchmacoy Estate.
The Collieston children came from a variety
of family backgrounds with many of their parents
working in and around Aberdeen. The school building,
visible behind the group of children, was demolished
in 1968 and replaced by a modern school building.
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Pupils of Slains School
in 1961. The school had a staff of three full
time teachers and some 60-70 pupils whose families
were resident in Slains, Auchmacoy and Collieston.
Many of the children belonged to the local farming
community, while some of them were the children
of families who lived and worked on the nearby
Auchmacoy Estate.
The Collieston children came from a variety
of family backgrounds with many of their parents
working in and around Aberdeen.
The school building, visible behind the group
of children, was demolished in 1968 and replaced
by a more modern school building.
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Old
Slains School was demolished in 1968. Clearly
visible behind the rubble of the old building
is the new school. The land occupied by the
old school eventually became a playground for
the pupils.
Already fully operational by the time the old
school was demolished, the school had a staff
of three teachers and some 60-70 pupils whose
families were resident in Slains, Auchmacoy
and Collieston.
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Water
Supply |
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Pupils
from Mrs Mabel Esson’s class at Perthudden,
a bay south of Collieston, in 1970. Mrs Esson
was a member of staff at Slains School from
1967-1982 when there were some seventy pupils
on the school roll and a complement of three
full-time teachers.
The steep, wooden, steps led down to Perthudden
and the Pumping Station, clearly visible behind
the line of children. Water, which provided
the residents of Collieston with their supply
of mains water, was pumped from an underground
stream up to a header tank at the top of Perthudden.
The wooden steps were subsequently dismantled
and removed in the 1990’s after the closure
of the Pumping Station.
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Education |
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Pupils
are gathered in the playground of Slains School
in 1970. At the time the school had a staff
of three full time teachers and some 60-70 pupils
whose families were resident in Slains, Auchmacoy
and Collieston. The majority of the pupils travelled
to school by bus. Those pupils who either walked
or cycled were in a minority.
Lunches were provided by the School Meals Service.
Cooked at nearby Cruden Bay School, the meals
were packed and transported to Slains on a daily
basis and eaten by both pupils and teachers
in the dining area of the hall.
The new school building visible behind the children
and opened on 21st September 1967 by Sir Douglas
Ritchie, was built to replace the old school
building which was eventually demolished in
1968.
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Education |
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Pupils
and Teachers of Slains School in 1988. Front
Row (L to R) William Fuerst, Ian Crawford, Gavin
Wilkie, Matthew ?, Peter Hunter, Angus Page.
Second Row (L to R) Oskar ?, Jenny Robinson,
Claire Hague, Elaine Cowie, Diane Irvine, Elaine
Irvine, Karen Sim, Keri Wilkie, Neil Ritchie.
Third Row (L to R) Mr Connel, Kevin Harper,
Susan Coutts, Stuart Sim, Ewan Cowie, Claire
Harper, Miss Presley.
Back Row (L to R) Christopher Hunter, Heather
Bruce, Christopher Robinson, Helen Sim, Aaron
Crump, Stuart Smith.
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Education |
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Collieston
Community Centre was originally built as the
village school and opened as such in 1877. After
a temporary closure in 1922, due to a decrease
in the school roll, the school was finally closed
on July 1, 1949.
As was common practice in small rural communities
in the latter part of the 20th Century the building
was altered internally to enable it to function
as an important focal point of village life
and toilets and a kitchen area were installed.
The house attached to the original school building,
formerly lived in by the headmaster and his
family, is now used as storage space for the
various organisations which use the building
on a regular basis. These are many and varied
and include the Children’s Playgroup,
Over 60’s Club and Women’s Rural
Institute.
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....copyright
collieston's century 2003 |
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