Rushden school that suffered fire and WW2 bombing turns 150

A staff photo taken to mark Alfred Street School moving into its new building in 1887

A school that has survived through "two disasters" is preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

Alfred Street Junior School, in Rushden, Northamptonshire, was badly damaged by fire in 1901 - and bombed during World War Two.

Seven pupils lost their lives when it was hit on 3 October, 1940, during the Battle of Britain.

Commemorations of the lives of the children lost and the achievements of the school will be held on 31 March.

A local parade taking place beside the General School, which was on the site of the British Women's Temperance Association building

Boys from Alfred Street Junior School in 1900

First known as the General School, it opened in the Women's Temperance Hall, on the corner of Park Road and Newton Road, on 8 April, 1872.

It was for both boys and girls aged five to 14, but most left at aged 10, according to Lynne Baker, a former pupil, school governor and event organiser.

On 10 October, 1879, it moved to its current premises, Alfred Street, when it became known as The Board School. In 1914 it was renamed Alfred Street Mixed School.

Snapshot in time: A young class and teacher photographed at the school in 1912

The school offered education to boys and girls aged five to 14. In 1887 there were 182 girls registered

"It's a brilliant school that has been through two disasters," Mrs Baker said.

In October 1940, during a bombing raid over Rushden, seven children lost their lives.

They were Dennis Felce, Roy Odell, Joyce Dodd, Muriel Moye, Donald Scrivens, Lorna Payne, and Cecilia Chase. Three had been young evacuees from Colchester.

Pupils of Alfred Street School, in the Lower Hall, celebrating Christmas in the 1950s

Mrs L Nirles teaching a class at Alfred Street School in 1972

Madeleine Sturgen (nee Cox), who died in 2018, was a nine-year-old pupil at the time of the bombing.

She wrote that it happened at about 10:30 in the morning, when "suddenly the ceiling just cracked and dropped down upon us".

They ran into the air raid shelter where "Mrs Levy [a teacher] was walking up and down singing 'Roll out the barrel'".

"My aunty came into the shelter looking for her son," she wrote.

"As she walked by me I was so numb with shock I couldn't put out my hand to reach her or call her name."

She was eventually taken home by another aunt and said they "just had to get on with things".

Former pupils returned in 2010 when a Blue Plaque was installed. Madeleine Sturgen is pictured second right

Every year a service is held to remember the children who died when the school was bombed in 1940

Mrs Baker, a former teacher, said: "It's seen a whole gamut of things, from the 11-plus and a time when girls were not seen to be educated.

"It's come full circle, it's such an important part of our history.

"It's loved by the town, it's the heart and soul of the town, it really is".

A consultation into the future of the school is currently under way that could see it closed, merged with a new school and a new building built or remain the same.

The school has a memorial garden to remember the pupils who lost their life when it was bombed in 1940

The school will turn 150 on 8 April but will hold its celebrations on 31 March before the school closes for the Easter break