WHEN a girls’ woodwork class began at Cheney School in Oxford, there were plenty of unkind remarks.

The editor of the school magazine wrote: “Mr Harding and Mr Blatchford are trying to teach girls woodwork. They have our sympathy!”

Even the teachers seemed to have doubts that the girls would succeed.

One pupil, Myrna Hartley, wrote: “Mr Harding kept making references to the first aid box, as if he expected us to have accidents!

“I really can’t see why we should be treated as though we were more dangerous with the tools than the boys.

“We did have a few small cuts with chisels, but nothing serious.”

In fact, the girls appeared to have done very well in the after-school classes, which ran from 4 to 5.30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Myrna reported: “In the first week, we were shown how to make a halving joint, and there was great excitement when we started to make the joints ourselves. By the second week, we nearly all had finished the joint. Some were a little loose, but we were told it wasn’t too bad for a first try.

“There were a few complimentary remarks paid to us. We then started to make another joint, called a bridle joint. However, by the time we had finished, it was the Christmas holidays and we spent them thinking of the days when we would be making useful pieces of furniture for the home.

“Since Christmas, small tables, book stands and clothes horses are beginning to take shape.

“One day, fairly soon, there will be a proud exodus from the school gate of their various owners, bearing home the fruits of their labours!”

Her comments are included in the first edition of the Cheney School Magazine, published in May 1955 and sent to Memory Lane by Phil Spurrett, of Brasenose Road, Didcot.

Any more memories of Cheney School to share with readers? Write in and let me know.