Taken around 1959, the picture shows the playground of St Aidan's Infant School Longhill. On the right wearing glasses is the headmistress Miss Molly Pattison who later went on to Oxford Street School.The other two adults are Reta Campbell and Jean Bluckert. Behind the wall on the right was Windermere Road and behind the school were the Steelworks cooling towers. Just out of sight is Seaton High Light which has now been moved to the Marina.
The infants' school moved to St Aidan's Loyalty Road in 1960-1.
Date (of image) : 1959
Donor : Frances Wilson
Location
This school opened in August 1874 for the children of Longhill or Wagga estate built by Thomas Richardson.
In 1887, there were 340 children on role and in by 1906 there were 548. In 1899, a new extension was built for infant children. This was opened in 1902 and the mayor and mayoress were unable to reach the school because of the poor road to it.
Eventually the school was an infants' school only as part of St Aidan's School and the young children finally were relocated to the 'big school' in Loyalty Road in 1960. The school building which was surrounded by steel works buildings was for many years afterwards used a garage for a haulage company. The school was affectionately known as 'Wagga College' or 'The Little School'.
More detail »This school opened in 1926. See also notes and images for St Aidan's Longhill.
More detail »'Wagga' was a local nickname for the area officially called Longhill. It was an area originally built by Thomas Richardson to the west of his steelworks comprising Florence Street, Hill Street and Portland Street and these remote streets, named after the Australian Wagga Wagga, were remote from the rest of the town and without drainage or paving. The whole area around Sydenham Road eventually was given this nickname.
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