The first school at Mount Coxcomb opened in 1933.
On Friday 27 August 1937 The Government Gazette advertised that one acre and thirty-two perches of land had been resumed for the purpose of a School at Mount CoxComb.
In February 1941 The Hon L O Martin, Minister for Works and Local Government had received communication from the Hon D H Hammond, MLA, Minister for Education that the Government Architect had been instructed to complete plans for the erection of a new school building.
EXTRACTS TAKEN FROM UPPER LANSDOWNE SCHOOL CENTENARY BOOK
MEMORIES OF L GILBERT
EX-PUPIL OF UPPER LANSDOWNE AND MT COXCOMB
Growing up in the Mt Coxcomb valley, I started school in 1927, I had four miles to walk each day. Some children in the top of the valley had ten miles each day. Some rode horses. We did this until 1933, when the Mt Coxcomb school opened.
In 1932-33 Upper Lansdowne School reached an attendance of over one hundred children. That meant they could not cope with two class rooms, so they had to take one of the front rooms in the hall. At that time there were four teachers.
When this happened the people in the Mt Coxcomb valley formed a P & C Association to decide on the prospects of getting a school for the valley. Lloyd Mitchell was elected Secretary. He wrote to the Education Department with the offer of the people building the school at their own expense. At that time there were seventy children of age and under, and they could guarantee thirty-six pupils to commence.
There was a lot of correspondence between the Secretary and Education Department. At last the approval came.
They chose the land Mr Bill Atkins offered as it was more central. Mr Alec Perret gave them a full house which they pulled down. Also Mr E Mitchell of Coopernook gave a lot of timber windows and iron. This was carried by Mr Lloyd Mitchell to the school site on his cream truck.
Soon all the men were working voluntarily on the school building. Lloyd Mitchell planned it, and was in charge, as he knew most about building. They were a great team, working together in their spare time. The women organized house parties to buy such things as tank, nails, paint and all extras.
Finally the building was finished in the middle of 1933 and the Inspector of Schools came to see what the people of Mt Coxcomb had to offer. He was very happy and complimented them on all the work they had done.
The furniture and equipment arrived by rail. Soon everything was ready for the opening, September 1933. There were 36 children enrolled. They organized the opening a week after the first teacher arrived. It was run on the same lines as an Empire Day Picnic. Sports and a great lunch.
The Inspector was invited to open the school. He said he was proud of what the people had done for the children and the Department.
The first Christmas Picnic at the end of 1933 was held near Pott’s Bridge. It was a great day, Fred Stace was Santa Claus. He took his part very well.
The first teacher was Carl Renner. He was a very good teacher. Gardening was his hobby; he planned a Garden of the Rising Sun, where the flowers were grown, which the girls cared for. The boys had another part where they grew vegetables. Mr Renner taught from 1933 until 1936. Then John Redhead came in 1937 until 1940. It was not easy for teachers in a one teacher school. They had to teach six classes.
The school was used once a month for Church. The Methodist Minister, Rev Pill gave the services.
I left Mt Coxcomb at the end of 1939. As far as I can gather, the new school was built in 1941. They built it about four hundred metres down on the flat from the old school. It was a nice little school, built by the Education Department. They had a tennis court at the school, built by the people. There was a team that played competition.
At that time there were about eight tennis courts around the Upper Lansdowne area. The Mt Coxcomb team was George and Amy Brown, John and Ena Unger and Col Stace. Tennis was very competitive in the area then.
There were eight teachers at the school in the twenty-three years it was in use. They were Carl Renner, John Redhead, Athol Townsend, Nicholas Magree, Philip McEwen, Don Perkins, Peter Clancy, Darrel Walker.
When the school closed in May 1956 it was shifted to Dumaresq Island.
The Education Department have no records on the school. I think these dates are correct, going on what I have gathered.
L GILBERT
TEACHERS AT MT COXCOMBE SCHOOL
Carl Renner 6/9/1933
John Redhead 14/1/1937
Athol Townsend 11/1/1940
Nicholas Magree 15/1/1943
Phillip McEwen 15/1/1946
Don Perkins 3/2/1948
Peter Clancy 2/2/1954
Darrel Walker 25/5/1954
Lewis Colman 28/3/1955
MOUNT COXCOMB PUBLIC SCHOOL
In the past the educational needs of the children residing in the Mount Coxcomb locality were met by the Public School at Upper Lansdowne. Early this year it was proposed to make additions to Upper Lansdowne school but the residents of Mount Coxcomb in February last forwarded a petition to the Department of Education protesting against the proposal and asking that a school be established at Mount Coxcomb.
In reporting on the matter, Mr Inspector H Campbell stated that although Upper Lansdowne school was only three miles from the Mount Coxcomb locality, the mountainous nature of the country and the bad road conditions made travelling very difficult, and in some cases, dangerous. He recommended that a school be established at Mount Coxcomb.
In order to facilitate the opening of a school, the parents offered to provide a building at their own expense. It was at first propose to rent a building from Mr Gilkinson at a small rental, but it was thought that a building more centrally situated on a site made available by Mr W A Atkins at a peppercorn rental would be more suitable. These arrangements were approved by the Department on 1st May last, and the school is now to be officially opened.
Mr L V Mitchell, honorary secretary of the Parents’ Committee has taken great interest in the promoting of the school, and personal representations in the matter have been made to the Department by the Hon. L O Martin, Minister for Justice.
MOUNT COXCOMB PROVISIONAL SCHOOL 1948 TO 1953
Reflections of Donald Perkins
There were two school buildings, an old one and a new one about fifty metres apart on the same side of the road. In my time, the old one was moved across the road and converted into a cottage. Two rainwater tanks provided rainwater for the school, and two pit toilets were placed along the rear boundary fence. A tennis court had been built at the school, and provided many hours of pleasure for local families.
Mail was delivered three times a week by the Ungers on horseback. There was a meat delivery twice a week by “Snow” Minett. The two milk companies had milk trucks pick up the milk twice a day from the local dairies. Alex Bartlett and his brother drove one of the trucks, while Howard and Percy Minett drove the other.
Twenty-two children were enrolled at the school in 1948, eleven boys and eleven girls. As time went by, numbers began to fall, and as transport improved it was foreseen that the life of the school would be fairly limited. However, at this time school numbers were boosted by a number of post-primary pupils who submitted work to the correspondence school.
I took up my appointment to Mt Coxcomb Provisional School on 3 February 1948, succeeding Mr Phil McEwen. The Department of Education, in issuing my appointment
notice, indicated that the school was a short taxi trip from the railhead at Taree. I found to my dismay that it was considered to be a very long journey; one which taxi drivers were reluctant to make. Instead, I was dropped off at the stop used by the Saturday night “Picture Bus”, and at midnight set out on a journey to unknown Upper Lansdowne. Thankfully, two helpful locals, Ron and Max Potts were on the bus, and took me home with them. Next morning I completed my journey to my place of board with Mr and Mrs Hec Willis and son Glen. When the Willis family later moved to Cundletown, George and Amy Brown and their children, Gwen, Val and Victor took me in until I transferred to Falls Creek at the end of 1953.
There were two school buildings, an old one and a new one about fifty metres apart on the same side of the road. In my time, the old one was moved across the road and converted into a cottage. Two rainwater tanks provided rainwater for the school, and two pit toilets were placed along the rear boundary fence. A tennis court had been built at the school, and provided many hours of pleasure for local families.
Mail was delivered three times a week by the Ungers on horseback. There was a meat delivery twice a week by “Snow” Minett. The two milk companies had milk trucks pick up the milk twice a day from the local dairies. Alex Bartlett and his brother drove one of the trucks, while Howard and Percy Minett drove the other.
Twenty-two children were enrolled at the school in 1948, eleven boys and eleven girls. As time went by, numbers began to fall, and as transport improved it was foreseen that the life of the school would be fairly limited. However, at this time school numbers were boosted by a number of post-primary pupils who submitted work to the correspondence school.
Although there was no electricity, we had a battery powered radio for school broadcasts. The battery was taken to town for recharging and returned with a minimum of delay by milk truck. Mrs Amy Brown took the girls for needlework twice a week, while the boys had craft and gardening.
The school undertook a number of special activities to extend the social horizons of the pupils. There was a Harrington Christmas Picnic Day where the school forms were placed on the back of Albert Schubert’s truck to provide seating for the parents and pupils. We had sports days at Lansdowne, and inter-school visits with Central Lansdowne with Alex Ray, and to a school on the old highway south of Taree. On another occasion, Betty and Willie Barr, and …. Schubert, our best athletes, competed in the Primary School’s Carnival in Taree.
The School Inspector at this time was Mr P Wolfe, followed by Mr Col Hargraves. Mr Wolfe’s visits were limited as he did not own a car and travelled everywhere by taxi. The driver waited all day to return him to town after the inspection was completed. There was also occasional visits from the clergy, one of whom, Rev. Latham remains firmly in my memory.
Harry and Herb Reeves had their farm at the end of the Mount Coxcomb Road. Their nearest neighbours were the Searle family of Tom, Renee and Zara. Further down the road was old Mrs Atkins and the Turner family whose property was out of sight from the road. Then came George Brown, Bill Atkins, the Fuller boys’ farm near the school, then the Potts, Ungers and Stace’s. Albert Schubert and the Barr family lived over the back towards Coxcomb.
In times of very heavy rain, Mr Bill Atkins would often shout a warning that the river was rising rapidly and the children would immediately be sent home as the low level crossings became very dangerous to cross if covered by water.
There was still petrol rationing in 1948, so when I had a sudden attack of appendicitis, Hec Willis loaded me into his sulky and took me to Mr Potts’ place, as he was one of the very few people who owned a car. A quick phone around various neighbours got sufficient petrol coupons to enable him to take me into town for the operation. One of my very fond memories is of the many people, some almost strangers who visited me while I was in the hospital. Incidentally, the school remained closed until I was fit to return to duty.
The memories which linger are of a community which took me in and made me feel welcome. In particular I have fond recollections of the Willis and Brown families who had me as a boarder, and the Sam Unger family out near the Catholic Church, who were always prepared to welcome me into their home as a member of their family. When I was leaving the school, the P & C Association with President Mr Bill Atkins presented me with a leather bound toilet case, which I still have forty-one years later.
Mount Coxcomb School – 1933 to 1956