In 1942 The Shaftesbury Society purchased the building and it became the first residential school in the country for physically handicapped boys. By 1956 there were 46 boys, with three teachers.
Sent to us by Fran Forrester, daughter of a member of the staff caring for the boys.
Eileen 'Lee' Curtis was 17 when she worked there from 1945-1947 and the captions on these two photographs were written by her.
Two stories she told us : one was that they had a glut of strawberries one year so they were served at every meal - leaving mum with a lifelong dislike of strawberies. She also mentioned a bad winter and that the farmer had to clear the lanes with his tractor.
l-r: Coach driver is R Riding, boy being carried is Glynn, the man carrying him is Bill Ross, gentleman with glasses is the cook, lady in front of him is Ellaway
(mum - dark haired girl next to her wearing glasses)
Margaret
The photo stamped and dated by photographer: Renfield Studios,
64 Renfield Street, Glasgow.
4th April 1947.
More photographs kept by Eileen:
Photographs of a holiday
We don't know where they went, but they had a good time.