Childhood

Having a day out on Biggar Bank was special for many people, and free swings were an added bonus for the children. There were few green spaces for working people near to the town, making the beach on Walney very much a 'go to' place.

Although there were ferry services for many it was a trudge across Walney Bridge (even though there was a toll to pay for a number of years) and then more walking to get to the beach. Then, of course, the tiring return journey, followed no doubt by an early night, and happy dreams of the fun times had that day.

A small town, best known for its brickworks, Askam lacked the attractions and entertainments of Barrow. For these children, who look to be living in a down-at-heel part of town, the days could feel long and boring when all there was to do was play on the street, in nearby fields or on the same strip of beach.

The photographer's request that they pose for a picture, with a nattily dressed man sporting a boater hat, cane and a chain across his waistcoat, would certainly have provided an exciting distraction.

Gosforth is a village in a rural part of what was then Cumberland. The children of the time of this photograph lived in what appeared to be a pastoral idyll, judging by this image. They have clean clothes and everyone is wearing shoes. The school and playground are well maintained, and the background indicates an equally well looked after village. Education would have helped some escape hard work, maybe enough to get an office job, but some would also leave to work factories. A few would become farm workers and remain in the Gosforth area.

Who could blame them for not wanting to leave their homes, their families and their friends.

We see two girls and a small boy on an empty street in a small Lakeland village; the corner of the local pub, the White Hart Inn, sticks out into the road in the background. There’s nothing remarkable as such about what we see, but it is a good reminder of the broad scope of the Sankeys’ interest in day to day life. Of how, when they had the time and money, they would stop and take an image with little commercial value.

Yet for those who lived there, and for current residents for whom this view is now quite diffirent, this moment captured in the life of the village is an invaluable curio; an irreplacable piece of its heritage.

Flookburgh, a small community in Furness, and many of the village children are lined up in the playground of the old village school. The hope was every parent could clearly see their child when the image was published; although some of the little ones are not taking much notice of the camera. It might seem tedious to see yet another photo of children posed, but in a time of few photographs, pictures like these of the local children were very important – there were no smart phones, no selfies. Think of the pride of the families, seeing little Jimmy or young Claire, in a photograph.

Such images captured the youngsters who would be vital to the area’s future, who would contribute to the village; people who would go on to be part of our collective heritage.

St Bees School, around 1910; established in 1583 by an Archbishop, it was regarded as a place where boys excelled in academic learning. This clever shot, however, presents a different view of the strict discipline expected in the school’s classrooms. Seemingly informal, it is in fact a well thought out image; showing a class full of boys, but with none of the staged (and staid) arrangement of pupils seen in similar photographs. Here there is movement: some of the faces are slightly blurred, some of the boys look at the camera; others are turned away. No one is sitting to attention. The teacher is in the background, not front and centre stage.

It would be interesting to know what the headmaster made of this picture.

One of the most uncomplicated and informal evocations of childhood in the whole Sankey collection. The line of the shore curves away to a distance point; just off the end of the spit of land is what looks like a beacon.

Is this image an allegory for what awaits at the end of a of long day; one with enough warmth for a last spell of paddling for the todllers at the water's edge - and then back to the beacon, the family, that signals to the children: 'time to come home'? Or are we mistaken about what time of day it is? Is the sense of an afternoon coming to an end real, or an effect of the camera technique used? We cannot know.

A fairly typical exercise lesson for girls of this period; how to dance, daintly, around a Maypole! This traditional dance was usually done in Spring, and small troupes of girls often performed it at local fetes. This building, constructed in 1877, was the second local school in the Hawcoat and Newbarns area; it replaced the original, which sat on Abbey Road.

It was constructed at a time when Barrow was rapidly expanding, and bigger houses for the families of managers in local industries were been built - away from the noise and pollution of the town. Children attending this school were very lucky, compared to many other youngsters in the area. The building, now up for sale, served for many years as the hall for St Paul's Church which stands on the corner of Abbey Road and Hawcoat Lane. A new school is sited almost midway between the hall and the church, on Hawcoat Lane.

Another event on Biggar Bank, this time the celebration marking the first trams to travel there; a relief for the thousands who went to the beach every year, but had to get there mainly by walking. The inauguration was a big occasion, and the Sankeys took a number of photographs of the ceremony and dignatories who attended. Here, though, we see what looks like the end of the day’s events. The marquee is looking a little forelorn, no one is sitting on the row of chairs lined up outside.

There are few people about and the garlanded trams look to be moving off, back to Barrow town.

It’s the girl in the middle of this image, holding a child in her arms, and looking watchfully at the camerman, who is the focus of this piece. About eleven years old, this girl is on the cusp of becoming a teenager. The image illustrates what most likely lies before her. To her right there’s a shop with its staff. She might work in such a place, or in a factory, when she leaves school at 14. On her left are women and children, representing another anticipated stage in her story – marriage and motherhood. As she faced significant changes, so too did her world.

Transformation and challenge would come through wars, women getting the vote, a financial crises, a pandemic, better medicines and great scientific discoveries. Over her lifetime these things will have an impact globally, or at a personal level. Perhaps, then, she will take a very different path from the ones envisaged for her?Whatever her future overall holds, some things will surely happen. She will know the affection of family and friends and, hopefully, find a true love. She will meet with sorrow and loss, will have hopes and dreams. Like so many females before and after her, she will employ ingenuity and resourcefulness, and demonstrate strength and courage. This girl is the ‘Every Woman’ who has lived throughout the ages of humankind: she is why we celebrate International Women’s Day.

For anyone who knows Biggar Bank this is an all too familar reminder of how cold and windy it can be. Children of all ages, and the adults too, are well wrapped up. What the draw might be to this place in inhospitable weather is glimpsed much further off, in the background: the sailing ship Creek Fisher, which ran aground in 1909.

Given the number of people shown in the picture, the beached ship was obviously a big attraction; giving many ordinary people the chance to see one of these amazing vessels close up.

Built 1890, the imposing Higher Grade School, which subsequently became known as Alfred Barrow School after its founder, is shown here with well-dressed pupils at its gate. The school had great expectations for its students, who were to keep their heads down and their ambitions high. Yet there is another aspect to this particular school which is worth noting; its situation in the middle of what was one of Barrow’s busiest areas.

From their classrooms the boys could see the daily goings-on in the surrounding streets, docks and railways – enough to distract even the most ardent scholar. It was all there: sailing ships and naval destroyers; trams, horses and carriages, and a small number of motor vehicles; and freight trains, lots of them. This window onto a moving, working world must have given many of the pupils’ ideas of what they might do in the future.

Scales is still a small hamlet, one that has been involved with agriculture since Norse times. At the time this photograph was taken, around 1910, it was a thriving farming community, serving a relatively wide area. Among the many small family businesses located in the village were a grocery shop, a blacksmith's forge, a maltser and a tailor. The families had enough offspring to make the school a going concern for children of all ages.

Since the early 20th, the population of the area has changed significantly, but Scales, an important link to an age long gone, still remains.

The Young Men's Christian Association, which started in England, is now an international movement. It was well known for helping younger people gain skills for later life. Here we see an example of young boys getting a taste of the hardier kind of lifestyle they might have to get used to.

Under the watchful eye of a nurse, the little ones and older boys are put through their paces. All of them had to do the exercises outdoor, without shirts; a perfect way to toughen up young scamps. Ignore the temperature, lads; if you keep moving you won't feel the cold. Or perhaps it was a warm day, and not so cold as it looks!

Hold it right there....We know the instructions of photographers of the day 'smile, but don't move', no doubt kindly delivered to the little ones by Mr Sankey. All dressed up for a May Day or Easter event, some of the children look serious, others manage a shy smile; waiting for a photograph to be taken is no laughing matter.

Their faces show trepidation - and anticipation, because there'd been mention of treats later. What kind of treats? Cake? Cake and lemonade? Cake, lemonade and sweets? It's really hard not to fidget when thinking about such things! Our treat is this image – the 25 children of Harley Street School, captured in a moment, for us to enjoy a century later.