Gwynedd: Ysgol Abersoch shuts despite Welsh language worries

Ysgol Abersoch's six pupils will go to Ysgol Sarn Bach in Pwllheli

A primary school which opened nearly a century ago has closed its doors for the final time.

Ysgol Abersoch, in Gwynedd, which has six pupils, has been at the centre of a row between the council and people living in the popular tourist village.

Council cabinet members decided in September to close the school because it was no longer financially viable.

But residents and school governors said this would have a devastating impact on the area and the Welsh language.

The school's current pupils will go to Ysgol Sarn Bach near Llanengan, which is about 1.2 miles (2km) away.

An open day was held to mark the final days of Ysgol Abersoch, with former pupils and parents invited to share their memories since it first opened 97 years ago.

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"It's an emotional day," said head teacher Linda Jones, as the school prepared to shut on Wednesday.

"But it's also a happy day, a day to share memories, to remember and we hope former pupils will come here to remember the good days we had."

Linda Jones says she has loved being Ysgol Abersoch's head teacher

Ms Jones, herself a pupil in the 1970s, said: "There's not a school like this one anywhere else."

Melissa, who is one of the last six pupils, is preparing for a new start in Ysgol Sarn Bach, but said she would miss playing with her friends in Ysgol Abersoch.

"I'm sad, I don't want to go to another school. I want to stay here at Ysgol Abersoch," she said.

Despite a council committee challenge, Gwynedd council cabinet members' decision to shut the school was certified in November.

Then... Ysgol Abersoch's first pupils smile for a photograph in 1924

And now... Staff and pupils recreate the moment as they posed for one last picture together

Residents and councillors argued that a proposed new housing complex and hotel would bring a new intake of pupils to the school, but the council disputed this.

At the beginning of December, seven governors resigned from their posts saying they were not willing to dismiss staff.

The council thanked the departing governors for their "work and dedication to Ysgol Abersoch".

Former governor of the school Eifiona Wood says the closure is deeply upsetting

Eifiona Wood, who was on the governing body and left her role, said the governors were put in a "difficult place" by the council.

"We were expected to dismiss staff but we felt we had fought so hard to keep this school open, we just felt the process was wrong and not fit for purpose," she said.

As a former pupil too, she said the closure was deeply upsetting.

"At the moment you go past and hear children playing, parents coming to pick them up… all that will just be gone."

Robert Hywel Wyn Williams admits he was in the big black book once or twice

Robert Hywel Wyn Williams, who was a pupil at the school in the mid 1940s, said the school had changed since his days there.

"It was only these two small rooms where we were taught and there were around 30 of us," he said.

"There was a stove in the middle to keep us warm and up on that cupboard there was a big black book where your name went in if you misbehaved."

He also said the closure would be a huge blow to the village - especially so for Welsh speakers.

"It's like cutting the right arm off the community," he said.