Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Here's a photo someone might be interested in. It's the pupils of Antley that never missed school during the year.

The boy holding the chalk-board is Alfred Woods and the girl one to the right (to Alfred's left that is) is his sister, Edith Woods.

Any further information would be much appreciated.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

what a great picture

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

I have never seen this photo. Please ensure that you give a copy to Accrington Local Studies Library. I have a mate who knows a lot about Antley chapel. I will enquire of him. A seach of the 1901 census will reveal where the family lived. It is possible, because they are so well dressed, that this is a Sunday school photo rather than a day school one. Without looking it up, I don't know if Antley had a day school, My suspicion is that they didn't.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Bob, yes I can do that, could you give me details of where to contact the local studies library, is is part of the main library? If you had a named person, that would be helpful. And thanks for the suggestion it may have been a Sunday school, I'm certainly not in possession of any information to contradict that. As for the two children I named, I know a lot about them as individuals, Edith Woods was my mother's grandmother.

Thanks again for the responses.

Alan

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Sorry, it's early, Edith Woods was my wife's grandmother.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

In the library - go upstairs, turn right. At the desk, you will [probably see John or katherine. There is a book by Hargreaves on history of methodism ibn acc,. I cannot find my copy. There was a brochure issued on Antley's centenary or perhaps the rebuiding. It will have some information in.

I am having a search done for their address. They could have lived in Church, Acc or Ossie - or even Clayton as they are all not far away to walk.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

What, do you mean the address of the Woods family? They may have been at 27 Leyland Street in 1900 since that's where they were on the 1901 census. And by the time of the 1911 census, they were at 74 Monk Street.

I'll have to make contact remotely with the library, I'm in Berkshire.

Alan

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Send it to Miss Katherine Walsh, Accrington Central Library, St James St, Accrington.

Retlaw.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Just a few observations about this picture. Look closely at it and you will notice that - with the exception of the girl in the white blouse, all the other 17 kids look roughly the same age - I would say 9 or 10. This suggests they are from the same class (year). Yet the sign they are holding just refers just to the school. Were there several other pictures of different years/classes were the kids had not missed a day off?

They are certainly dressed in their 'Sunday Best' for the occaision - the lads' boots are well shined - but whether this was a sunday school job is somewhat speculative.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Retlaw, thanks for the info. I'll do that.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

This is the only picture we have I'm afraid, it came down through the family. As for the ages of the two children we know about, during 1900 Edith Woods had her 9th birthday, and Alfred his 7th or 8th. So these two at least were close in age.

Alan

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

I have learned that there was a day school at Antley.I am still of the opinion that it is a Sunday School photo rather than one taken on a midweek day after the kids had been told to come in their Sunday best. It is interesting too that there is no teacher or head teacher on the photo. Is there a photographer's name on the photo?

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

No identifying marks of any kind I'm afraid, neither front nor back.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

I really love this photograph and keep coming back for another look. My Nana´s family lived in the area and her older sisters could be on there. She was born in 1899 and was the youngest of eleven. It would be lovely to know their names.

Looking at the two girls dressed in black, right side back row, I reckon they are of the same family. Good luck x

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

I've just sent a copy to the library. If any useful information comes back I'll post it here. Glad you liked the photo. Those two girls could be sisters couldn't they? Looks like they're wearing the same outfits.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

I haven't time to do this but it may bring results in..........Look at the website for the Lancashire Record Office. They may have material relating to Antley Meths which will contain names of pupils. Living in Leyland St, your pair may have attended St Andrew's CofE school and yety attended Antley chapel on Sundays. Look at St Andrew's also. Dont bother with Hyndburn Park School - it wasn't built. I will enquire if the chapel holds their own archive. If your family had attended Oak Street Cong, their names would appear in the anual list of members published as a booklet, so it is possible that Antley did the same.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Being a good Catholic boy, I normally listen to the BBC Sunday service on Radio 4 at 8.10am before leaving my home for the serious business of the day. Yesterday, the broadcast was from a methodist chapel (although from exactly where I do not know - I missed the very beginning and end). About 10 minutes through, the sermon turned to non-conformist sunday schools around the 1900's and medals awarded for good attendance.

Not knowing 'owt about sunday schools - we learnt our religion with 40 Our Fathers and 60 Hail Marys at saturday night confession - something rang a bell with regard to this thread. But not only that - just after the broadcast, a guy from the BBC came on to say a said medal had been added to their 'History of the World' collection. Try a google on the BBC site and then try the same on Ebay (Wesleyan medal)- it's stacked with 'em for sale, all dated around 1890-1905.

All this suggests that this is indeed a Sunday School piccy following the fad of the time. On top of which, I've never heard of an Antley School. I think think this picture was taken at the back of what is now Antley Church.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

I haven´t lived in Accrington since I was nineteen but I seem to remember that they built a new Antley Chapel on Blackburn Road when I was in my early teens.

It looked like a triangle and was well spacious inside............let me know if I´m wrong and if so correct me x

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Thanks, I'll do that. You've got me quite excited about the possibility of the Records Office having some useful information. I'm just having some success at the records office in Records Office at Heverfordwest for a branch of my family. It's incredible how much stuff still exists.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Fascinating. I think it went on all over, my family (as opposed to my wife's with her Accy connections) are from South Wales which is also littered with non-conformist chapels from the same sort of time (late 1800s to early 1900s). There was quite a revival in the valleys at that time.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Aye...very true. There was all sorts of radical stuff going on in the 1890/1900's...birth of the Labour Party, Temperance Movement, origins of the Welfare State (NI, Pensions)..and much of it coming from working class religious non-conformism and catholicism - the C of E still being the Tory Party at Prayer. One underlying theme was the notion of working class discipline and respectability, as seen in these medals and this picture.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Yep..I think you're right. I think I'm a bit younger than you, but I have very vague memories of this chapel being rebuilt around 1960. The triangular shape you are referring to is the front/roof of the chapel. Still surviving at the back and sides of the building is the type of stone work seen in the background of the picture, which icontrasts with the facing stone seen in the schools built around the town circa1900 (Hyndburn Park, Peel Park, Church Kirk, St Andrews).

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

The original Antley school buildings were built following the first stone being laid in 1864. The wall in the photo's background would be of this period.In 1871 the chapel, fronting Blackburn rd, was opened. In 1873 the school buildings were enlarged. In 1875 the chapel caught fire, re-opening later that year after a rebuild. . The Day school, as separate from the Sunday one, was establ;ished in 1864. Additinal rooms for infants were opened in `1881

The chapel lasted until 1960 when it was replaced by the present building, opened in 1961

Another thought - in Manchester there is a Methodist library, whichj petrhaps houses some archived records. There is also a Methodist Historical Society. I am sure they will welcome a copy of this photo. It may be useful to write to the editor of the Methodist newspaper, the name of which escapes me.I feel some shame at that, me being an old boy of Union Street Sunday School, which also had ( as they all did I feel sure) meeting rooms separate from the chapel.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Writing in 1883 about Antley chapel's early days, Hargreaves described the land it was built on as being 'in Antley Lane'. I suspect this was a name of what is now Wesley Street or Tanpits Rd though it just could have been Blackburn Rd. Directly across Blackburn Rd is Antley Old Rd, parallel with Newark St. The land was given by Mr Steiner and the buildings funded with help from John Emannuel Lightfoot, Accrington's first mayor. He was a convert to Methodism from the Anglican church.

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

The methodist newspaper is The Methodist Recorder . I think the Methodist Historical stuff is all in the John Rylands Library at Manchester University

Re: Antley 1900 "Not missed once"
 

Hello again, and apoligies for my absence from this thread. I've just got back from my hols. I'll follow up on some of the suggestions that have been made.

Thanks for all the input.

Alan