Scarinish school, c. 1960s

“I have very happy memories of my time at Scarinish School with the very kind Miss Flora Nisbet. The playground language was English but I think Gaelic was spoken in some of the other school playgrounds. The school had no water so there were Elsans in the huts at the back. Mary Macfadyen known as Mary Cladach, who used to live in one of the houses by the hotel, was the school caretaker and used to lug the Elsans to be emptied in the sea. The school hasd a dreadful stove which smoked very badly and some days we couldn’t go in to school for an hour or more as the smoke was so dense and the classroom was always a bit smoky. School times were flexible and Miss Nisbet was always kind to people who came in very late although she may have spoken to their parents about it. On pleasant days we would spend a lot of time outside practising for the sports and Scarinish won the sports shield on a number of occasions when I was there. Our rivals at that time were Heylipol. We played rounders, skipping and group games like Cockaroustie (a less boisterous British Bulldog) or ones in the shelter on wet days. I don’t think anyone played football and I wonder if anyone owned a football. We used to collect pails of water from the pump which everyone wanted to do. I think there was a toilet and water in the empty school house as the teacher would go in there at lunchtime. Miss Nisbet had very poor health so we had a few relief teachers including my mother, which I found very embarrassing. School dinners were cooked by Margaret Mackinnon, Braeside/Ternfell and brought in at lunchtime.”  by the donor of this photograph and others in this collection at 2025.53 Isabel Beaton.

From a collection of eight photographs 2025.53