THE STORY OF WYREFARM CAMP SCHOOL 1940 - 1982 - INTRODUCTION

Arial view of the school 1967

In 2011 I created a webpage for the City of Coventry Boarding School formerly known as Wyrefarm Camp School supported by two Facebook pages. (See below).

Collectively many of the former pupils, staff and their offspring shared many photographs, press cuttings, memories and other documents.

We discussed, we argued, we dug deep and did some sleuthing in newspapers and other archives, solving many issues and finally developed an historical perspective none of us knew back in the day when we were pupils there.

Furthermore we have discovered that this seemingly obscure municipal boarding school had a national wartime significance beyond anyone's knowledge.

The purpose of this new website is to build those insights into a new historical narrative, and there are many surprises here for former pupils!

Wyrefarm Camp School was part of the wider National Camps Corporation initiative 1939, receiving Royal Assent on the eve of WW2. It functioned initially as an evacuation camp for Coventry, evolving into a municipal boarding school and, in the summer holidays, offering a holiday / activity camp experience in the countryside for Coventry school children.

The camp school lasted 40 years from 1940 to 1982 after which it evolved into being an activity camp - currently known as The Pioneer Centre, and although independent, it still fulfils  some of those early ideals of the National Camps Corporation, in terms of providing quality outdoor activities and instruction. 

WHERE IS IT?

Wyrefarm Camp School (later known as The City of Coventry Boarding School) was located off the B4201 outside Cleobury Mortimer, near Kidderminster. Shropshire. 

It's one of 31 identical camps schools around the country and mazingly some of the old buildings, now reconditioned and re-purposed, are still standing and in use by the Pioneer Centre.

EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF ITS HISTORY

Back in the day, at the school during the 1950's, 60's and 70's, most of us had only vague notion of the camp's history. The camp had been created by the National Camps Corporation (NCC) in 1939 and they ran it with the Coventry Local Education Authority providing the educational facilities. No one questioned why something called the National Camps Corporation would only have one camp (apparently) or why this was unique to Coventry! Those notions have now been swept away - it wasn't unique to Coventry and the NCC had around 31 identical camps.

We knew it originally functioned as an evacuation camp in WW2 and the stories of wartime pupils (who were there 24/7 - no school holidays) witnessing the Coventry blitz on the evening of 14 November 1940 from 50 miles away. We can only imagine what was going through their minds, knowing that their friends and family were amongst the devastation!

RESDISCOVERING THE HISTORY 

In 2011, on one the school Facebook pages, Rosemary Webb Rehill, daughter of the former school bursar, told me that her brother Stan had heard there was an identical camp school in Yorkshire. I Googled it and found Bewerley Park Camp School near Hebdon Bridge. Howerver they said this wasn't the one. I tried again and found Linton Residential Camp school - Grassington, North Yorkshire. This was the one - but hey - now there were three identical camp schools! It wasn't long before the internet offered up a fuller history of the National Camps Corporation history that will form part of this site.

This project has quietly evolved from nostalgia into genuine local historical research, no longer just recording memories—but reconstructing a forgotten piece of Coventry's educational and wartime history.

Along the way we will look some of the ideas for alternative or camp school education during the interwar years, the evolution of the National Camps Corporation, the location of the camps, a newly emerging narrative of the earliest Coventry Camp School located at Town Thorns, to the wartime experiences of pupils at the Cleobury Mortimer site, to the re-branding of Wyrefarm Camp School as the City of Coventry Secondary Boarding School (simplified to The City of Coventry School) in 1955 and beyond until it's closure in 1982.

 

Enjoy - Trev Teasdel - admin / creator of the blog.

The school in the 1950's

The original school website here is wider reaching with over 300 posts of photos, memories more of the cultural or sporting history of the school - Take a look through if you haven't already https://wyrefarmed.blogspot.com/

And join the Wyrefarm / City of Coventry Boarding School Pages where we chat and post -

I Survived Wyre Farm Camp School

https://www.facebook.com/groups/wyrefarmsurvivor

And

City of Coventry School

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CityOfCoventrySchool/

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION (NCC)

Those who attended Wyre Farm Camp School or The City of Coventry Boarding school

between 1940 and 1982, would only know that the camp school was created by the National Camps Corporation in1939 and served initially as an evacuation camp for Coventry boys during WW2 before becoming a Coventry boarding school run by Coventry Education Authority.

No one seemed to wonder why an organisation that was known as The National Camps Corporation only had one camp school or why only Coventry had a such a distinctive boarding school / evacuation camp. 

In 2009, on our Facebook page, Rosemary Webb Rehill - daughter of the school bursar, posted that her brother Steve Webb, thought there was another similar camp school somewhere in Yorkshire! I googled around and found the Bewerley Park Camp School at Pateley Bridge. That wasn't the one apparently. I then found Linton Camp School at Grassington. Spot on! So now we knew there were three almost identical camp schools in the UK that had been owned by the NCC! Could there be more? The search began....

SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES IN THE INTERWAR YEARS.

The interwar years in the UK, saw the establishment of various educational initiatives aimed at providing alternative learning environments for children.  For example, it saw the emergence of progressive educational institutions that deviated from conventional schooling methods.

One notable example is Summerhill School, founded by A.S. Neill in 1921. Located in Suffolk. Summerhill was established to provide a space where children could grow in a 'free-range' environment, emphasizing self-directed learning and democratic principles. Neill's philosophy centered on fitting the school to the child, rather than forcing pupils to conform to traditional educational expectations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerhill_School

Additionally, the interwar period saw the rise of work camp movements in Britain. These camps were often part of broader critiques of urban living and industrial society, promoting rural ideals and communal living as alternatives. Such movements provided opportunities for individuals, particularly the unemployed, to engage in productive labour in rural settings, reflecting a desire to counter the socializing influences of city life. 

While some progressive schools and communal living experiments during this era may have been associated with specific ideological or religious groups, detailed information about such institutions is less readily available. The period was marked by a diversity of educational experiments, each with unique philosophies and practices, contributing to the rich tapestry of alternative education in the UK.

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION

The National Camps Corporation (NCC) was formed in late 1939 with assistance from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), and was given 1.2 million pounds; half grant, half loan; by the government to build fifty camps in remote areas initially to enable children from towns and cities to be able to experience something the countryside and animal life. According to Sir Clifford Morris FRPS

That's fifty camps, not one or even three! So clearly it was a much bigger undertaking than just Wyre Farm Camp School. In actual fact. it appears that the money ran out after thirty one had been built. The cessation of the construction of new camps was mainly due to the increased costs as a result of war, and the realisation that such camps were not a completely adequate solution to the problem of evacuation. I think they also had had  stiff competition from the RAF for suitable land in the build up to WW2.

There seems to have been 3 precepts involved - 

• The idea of creating summer holiday activity camps for children in some of the biggest and smokiest cities in the UK to experience the fresh air and countryside and animal life.
• To develop what they called 'Camp Consciousness' probably in the build up to WW2.
• and  the possibility of the camps being used for evacuation in the event of another war - which of course transpired.

The  idea of the camps becoming boarding schools seems to have been a later idea - post war. In fact an early role for the Wyre Farm Camp School was to be a work camp for agricultural workers!

Nonetheless, the House of Commons passed ‘The Camps Act’ which was given the Royal Assent in May 1939. Each camp was designed to accommodate approximately 350 children. The average cost of each camp was £25,000. 

The government appointed chairman was Lord Wyndham Portal of Laverstoke who had risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel during the First World War and was awarded the Distinguish Service Order (DSO) and was a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO). After the first war he was a Director of the Great Western Railway before entering politics. After the Second World War he was to become Chairman of the GWR up until nationalization. Lord Portal and members of his board visited 155 possible sites for camps which were to be built as residential schools, each for around 400 children."

Although originally designed as camps for schools or for holidaymakers, their role was dramatically redefined with the onset of war in 1939, and the camps were used as evacuation centres for some of the thousands of children who were moved out of urban areas. In the post-war era the camps became sites for an education experiment in living and learning of course.

The camps also offered children from poorer, urban backgrounds a unique living experience in rural environments. Consequently, the health benefits of these environments were strongly promoted.

The number of evacuees housed at such camps came to under 9000 nationally. In November 1940 the Minister of Health Malcolm MacDonald described the camps as "one of the most significant pieces of work that Parliament has lent its hand to in recent times". 

Under the Articles of Association the National Camps Corporation was set up under the Camps Act, 1939, and managed by a Council. The members at the time were:

Lord Portal, D.S.O., M.V.O. (Chairman).

Patrick Abercrombie, Esq., F.R.I.B. A.

Sir Samuel Gurney-Dixon, J.P.

George Hicks, Esq., M.P.

Sir Edward Howarth, K.B.E., C.B.

Dame Florence Simpson, D.B.E. Percy Thomas, Esq., O.B.E., P.P.R.I.B.A.The members are unpaid apart from Sir Edward Howarth, who receives a salary of £2,200 per annum as managing director. The cost of the central organisation of the Corporation was approximately £7,700 for the year ended 31st March, 1943, which represents just over 3½d. in the £ on the total sum dealt with in the period.

Thirty one identical camps were set up in the end. Two camps were given to the corporation, and the others purchased.

The Architect - A Coventry Connection.

The camps were built of standardised units which were designed by Mr. Tait, of Messrs. Sir John Burnet Tait and Lone, consulting architects to the corporation. All the buildings are of Canadian cedar with cedar shingle roofs. Each camp laid out on the site by an architect chosen from a panel drawn up in conjunction with the Royal Institute of British Architects. The contracts for making the woodwork for 30 camps were let on 22nd May 1939 to four different firms. 

THOMAS S. TAIT 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_S._Tait

Thomas Smith Tait (18 June 1882 – 18 July 1954) was a Scottish modernist architect. He designed a number of buildings around the world in Art Deco and Streamline Modern styles, notably St. Andrew's House (the headquarters of the Scottish Government) on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and the pylons for Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Tait also worked with Sir Basil Spence who designed Coventry Cathedral - 

Tait's Tower
Tait is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the design and master planning for the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938, held in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Tait was appointed as head of a team of nine architects, which included Basil Spence and Jack Coia. Tait's vision was of a modernist, utopian future, and the Empire Exhibition was the largest collection of modern architecture built in United Kingdom in the first half of the 20th century. Dominating the whole exhibition was "The Tower of Empire", designed by Tait himself. The 300-feet-high tower was erected on the summit of the hill in the centre of the park and had three observation balconies, each capable of carrying 200 people.

Tait's distinguished career seemed to come to an end with the outbreak of the 2nd World War - the cut his career short. The building of the camps was his final project - he died in 1941.

Canadian Cedarwood

The huts at the camps were all very similar and were designed for the purpose by Tait. Tait sourced the best Canadian cedarwood for the camps - 

"Cedar’s unique properties and characteristics have been recognized and appreciated throughout history. The Western Red Cedar has great cultural, economic, and spiritual significance to the Native American peoples of the Pacific Northwest. They used every part of the tree in every aspect of their life. The continuing popularity of cedar is due to its striking natural beauty, durability in an exterior environment and its extremely low maintenance, and affordable price.

Western Red Cedar is found in coastal forests along the upper Pacific coast of North America, from southern Alaska to northern California. The principal supplying region is the coastal forest area of British Columbia (where the Western Red Cedar is the official tree). Cedar naturally grows in mixed softwood forests intermingled with other species such as Douglas Fir, Pacific Coast Hemlock, and Sitka Spruce. Western Red Cedar forests are largely managed forests. In a managed forest environment, natural regeneration, controlled harvests, and a planned reforestation program try to ensure a perpetual harvest with good forest conservancy practices.

Western Red Cedar grows in low to mid elevations, along the coast and in a wet belt of the interior. It prefers cool, moist locations, and a slightly acidic soil. A mature tree can attain a height of 180 feet with a trunk diameter of 8 feet. The Western Red Cedar is slow-growing and long-lived. A specimen can live upwards of 1000 years, and has one of the longest lifespans of any North American softwood. Cedar has a low density of 22 lbs. per cubic foot, with a low specific gravity of 0.33. This makes it one of the lightest softwoods available, but also soft, and prone to indentation. The low density also gives cedar it’s excellent thermal insulation properties."

In the next post below we look at the some of the other lookalike camps built by the National Camps Corporation.

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATIONS - 31 Camp Schools

 THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATIONS - 

31 Camp Schools

"In any of these camps, you could be forgiven for thinking you were at Wyre Farm Camp School, but would maybe notice the location was unfamiliar!"

This is a Government Video put out in 1950 after the evacuation camp era had ended and the camps had become local authority schools - the video focusses on Sheephatch Camp School Tilford Surry. However it won't let me link the video directly - you will have to click the link here and watch it on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeybfB0KIT4

RESEARCH - For further research check out the National Archives https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

The National Archives at Kew houses collections dating 1939-1962 which relate to the National Camps Corporation. The National Archives' database is searchable online.

And Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Camps_Corporation

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION REMIT

The National Camps Corporation's remit was to build 50 camp Schools in 1939, in remote areas around the country, initially to enable children from towns and cities to be able to experience something the countryside and animal life. The money ran out after thirty one had been built. in all the Corporation considered 155 sites for camps. it was thought that some 30 to 40 camps would be constructed in England and Wales - the rest in Scotland.

The camps seemingly varied in capacity, from 350 to to under 200 in the case of Wyre Farm Camp school. Although located in the country, they were attached to an urban area and their location in the country was also idea for their use as evacuation camps. Some camps had boys and girls - others just one sex - it perhaps varied according to decisions by the local Education Authorities and the needs and resources of the area.  The average cost of the camps, including land purchase, construction and fitting out was £25000 in the money of the day.

So, where were these 31 camp schools located? Here they are listed by county. They are correct as far as I can determine. If anyone can correct any of the information, please do.

NORTHUMBRIA

1 Brownrigg Camp School, Bellingham, Nr Hexham, B6320 Northumberland. For Newcastle.

2 Dukeshouse Wood Camp School, Hexham, Northumbria.

LANCASHIRE

3  White Acre Lane Camp School Clitheroe Nr  Walley Lancs A59 Served Manchester

 YORKSHIRE

4 Bewerley Park Camp School near Pateley between Hebden Bridge and Ripon AB6265.

5 Linton Residential Camp school - Grassington, North Yorkshire - serving Bradford. B6265

6 Cottage Pasture Camp School Etton North Yorkshire Nr Beverley, West Riding York

DERBYSHIRE

7  Amber Valley Camp, Woolley Moor, Alfreton, Near Ashover Derbyshire 

CHESHIRE

8 Marton Camp school, ,Northwich Cheshire

DENBIGHSHIRE

9 Colomendy Hall Camp School, Loggerheads Denbighshire -  Mold Cheshire between Ruthin and Chester A541 - For Liverpool and Colomendy Wood.

STAFFORDSHIRE

10 Pipewood Camp School, (for Girls) Blithbury, Rugeley Staffordshire. Between Stafford and Litchfield A513

11 Shooting Butts Camp School, Penkridge Bank Road, Rugeley, Staffordshire.

SHROPSHIRE

12 Wyre Farm Camp School / City of Coventry Boarding School. Cleob ury Mortimer. Between Ludlow and Kidderminster. A411

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

13 Hurley Buckinghamshire (No further information on this)

14 Horsely Green Camp School, Stokenchurch, Horsleys Green Buckinghamshire or High Wycombe.

15 Finnamore Wood Camp Marlow Buckinghamshire Redbridge Greater London.

HERTFORDSHIRE

16 St. Margaret's Farm Camp school, Great Gaddesden, Berkhamsted, Nr Hemel Hempstead. Herts.

17 Overton. Herts (No further information on this)

OXFORDSHIRE

18 Oxford: Henley (No further information on this)

BERKSHIRE

19 Cockpole Green Camp School Berkshire

20 Kennylands Camp School, Kidmore End, Near Sonning, Reading, Berkshire B 418

21 Bishopswood Farm Camp School, Sonning Common, Near Reading, Berkshire.

HAMPSHIRE

22 West Mark Camp School, Sheet Common Hampshire or Petersfield (sometimes called Dell)

SURRY

23 Sayers Croft Camp School Cranleigh or Ewhurst Catford Surrey B2127

24 Elmbridge Camp School, Cranleigh Surrey between Guilford and Horsham off B218

25 Merstham Surrey (No further information on this)

26 Merchant's Hill Camp Nr Hindhead and Haslemere, Surrey

27 Sheephatch Camp School Tilford Layton Surrey. Between Farnham and Haslemere off B3001.

28 Coopers Farm Camp Sussex (West) Itchingfield near Horsham Surrey A264

29 Wedges Farm Camp School West Itchingfield near Horsham Surrey

SUSSEX

30 Wrens Warren Camp School  Coleman's Hatch, Hartfield East Sussex. B2026

31 Hydon Heath Camp school, Essex ? No further information on this)

 

PHOTOS OF SOME OF THE OTHER CAMP SCHOOLS

BEWERLEY PARK CAMP SCHOOL - PATELEY BRIDGE

Bewerley Park Camp School, Pateley Bridge

Bewerley Park Dorm 1940

HRH the Duke of Edinburgh visits Bewerley Park in 1967

Bewerley Park Book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bewerley-Park-School-Outdoor-1940-

1974/dp/0954417003

Bewerley Park has a long history. It was first built as a Camp School as a result of the Camps Act of 1939 and was finished in March 1940. The 18 acres of land required for Bewerley Park was purchased in Jun 1939 from the Agricultural Society for £1,900. Before the Camp School could be used as originally intended the 2nd World War broke out and about 200 evacuees, from Leeds, stayed at Bewerley Park between August 1940 and June 1945.

Kennylands Camp School, near Reading.

This was the first camp school to be used as an evacuation camp.

"Kennylands was the first camp to be finished and occupied. There were five dormitories, each 90 feet long by about 15 feet wide with a large covered veranda at the far end. Inside there was a small partitioned room at each corner. Two of these were occupied by masters"

Read more about this camp here on this PDF EVACUEES https://merl.reading.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/B19317-MERL-LR-03-Evacuee-1-Terry-5.pdf

King and Queen at Kennylands British Pathe News Video

The Entrance to Kennyland

Evacuees at Kennylands Camp School, near Sonning

More of the above via this link https://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/09/08/evac_feature.shtml

Colomendy - North Wales 2 Sites

"Colomendy was built in 1939 by the National Camps Corporation as a wartime refuge for Liverpool schoolchildren. The first children arrived in April 1940 from Dingle."

According to the BBC Liverpool site "Since 1939 generations of Liverpool schoolkids have stayed at Colomendy, Liverpool City Council's outdoor pursuit camp in North Wales. Originally developed as a safe haven in North Wales for Scouse wartime evacuees, Colomendy at Loggerheads has become woven into the legend of Liverpool schools, since it's inception over 350,000 children have visited the camp. Now 65 years old the original camp structure is to be replaced and refurbished as part of a £20 million redevelopment scheme." Colomendy Loggerheads, Denbighshire.

Colomendy

Colomendy from the air

Brownrigg Camp School,

Bellingham, Northumberland,

I

http://brownriggschool.co.uk/aboutus.html

"Brown Rigg School was constructed in 1938, one of a series of identical settlements built by the National camps Corporation, with the object of bringing children out of the polluted urban areas for a couple of weeks fresh air in the country. Unfortunately, Hitlers European Tour meant this never happened and the schools first function was to house evacuees from Newcastle, all girls , who were fleeing the bombing taking place in the city."

Brownrigg dining hall

Sheephatch Camp School

Tilford, Surrey, Stokenchurch Camp School, Horsleys Green, Buckinghamshire.

Linton Residential Camp School

Yorkshire Dales (serving evacuees from Bradford) http://www.lintoncampschool.uk/

Merchant's Hill Camp Hindhead Surrey

Wrens Warren Camp School

in Coleman's Hatch, East Sussex

http://www2.westsussex.gov.uk/learning-resources/LR/wrens_warren_evacueess_camp_ashdown_forest7d94.pdf?docid=00105d84-bdd4-4dc5-b8b1-f448275471ce&version=-1

Pathe News 1

St. Margaret's Farm Camp School, Nr Hemel Hempstead. 1939 - 1984

From this site http://www.hemelatwar.org/imagedbresultsfull8502.html?productID=145"Geoff

Leggett, an evacuee who spent some time in the "camp" wrote " During the war a huge mass of wooden huts was built in a field adjacent to the local village of St Margaret's which was situated up on the hill above Great Gaddesden. It was known locally as The Evacuee Camp. This was constructed to house a huge number of evacuees from London and other cities out in the country and away from the threat of German bombs being dropped during the war. It was also a London County Council school. There were an enormous number of children in the camp who were regularly marched around the area in large groups. As far as he was concerned, the primary attraction of the camp was its internal cinema which was available, free of charge, to local citizens. Geoff made good use of this attraction and saw many popular and good quality films over a period of several years whilst it continued.

Another memory of St Margarets Evacuee Camp - LCC School -
"My third evacuation was to be my last - I was sent to the Nettleden LCC School, St Margaret's Camp, Great Gaddesden (near Hemel Hempstead), Hertfordshire. This to me was the beginning of my becoming a man before my time. The school was strictly regimented. We lived in dormitories named Shaftesbury, Lister, Wren, Gordon and Shelley. There were two women called 'Sisters' (like Matrons), who inspected our beds for tidiness and cleanliness. We were given points, which were added to the points gained for our classroom behaviour, and a pendant was given to the dormitory that had the most points - all the dormitories competed against each other.
The school and classrooms were in the compound at the camp. We were allowed to see a film on a Saturday evening at the camp, and we had our own kitchen there. During the summer we had school in the morning and evening, and the afternoons were for sport and recreation - like looking for golf balls that one schoolmaster, Mr Wade, had knocked all over the grounds! We also worked on the local farms during the school holidays.
Each night we had to have vitamin tablets, given to us when we had gone to bed. In the dormitories we had double bunks. To give some idea of the type of school, which was full of evacuees - we had 30 (average) in the classrooms. The last term at school I came 27th out of 30 for arithmetic, but overall I came third in the class, and despite all the trauma that we went through, we all went on to earn a living in one way or another. While we were there we had to join the Boys Brigade or Scouts. I joined the Scouts, and played the fife (or tried to) in the band." In 1939, the site was purchased from a private seller by the National Camp Schools Corporation and it became known as ‘St.Margaret's Camp School’. After the war, apparently, children could still be sent by their parents to St. Margaret's for a month, to enjoy the country and outdoor life, as well as receiving formal education. In 1957 the site became a residential school for E.S.N. children, under the auspices of the Bedfordshire County Council Education Department. The school was very basic. Four long dormitories raised from the ground by concrete pillars, wooden steps up to each dormitory and a passageway at the end of each dormitory giving access to teachers’ quarters at the end of the building. There was also a wooden building housing a big hall, a workshop for the boys to practice woodwork etc., a kitchen, dining room and a staff room – all buildings raised up from the ground on pillars. Most of the staff – teaching and domestic – lived in separate premises on the campus."

Sussex (West) Itchingfield: Coopers Farm Camp 1939-1945

"One such camp in Itchingfield was called Cooper’s Camp – named after the farmland on which it stood. It was built by James Longley & Co, from Crawley, under contract to the National Camps Corporation. The camp was occupied by 200 boys from Tom Hood Central School, Leytonstone – and they brought all the school’s equipment with them. The lads were looked after by headmaster Mr AE Hunt and the other teachers." https://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/home-home-world-war-two-evacuees-1218530

Elmbridge Camp School, Cranleigh Surrey

White Acre Lane Camp School Clitheroe Nr Walley Lancs

Sayers Croft Camp School Cranleigh / Ewhurst Catford Surrey

Amber Valley Camp, Woolley Moor, Alfreton, Near Ashover Derby

https://issuu.com/greenparkcourt/docs/the_history_of_green_park_court

Dukeshouse Wood Camp School, Hexham, Northumbria

Video https://www.yfanefa.com/record/66736

Pipeswood Camp School, (for Girls) Blithbury, Rugeley Staffordshire.

video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qQhMiMO2sY

The Mystery of the "Ghost Rail" at Wyre Farm Camp School

Photo showing the 'ghost rail- by Toby Kirkby of the Pioneer Centre.

                    "And what about the ghost train on the frosted playground" Paul Starling 

The Midlands Daily Telegraph 23rd May1940 reported that Wyre farm Camp had "water from the Birmingham supply and modern sanitation"

The Mystery of the "Ghost Rail" at Wyre Farm Camp School

Visitors to Wyre Farm Camp School (Pioneer Centre) during frosty mornings may notice an unusual phenomenon on the playground—lines resembling railway tracks appear faintly, outlined in frost. This curious sight has sparked considerable speculation among former pupils, users and historians alike. While there is no evidence of a permanent railway line through the school grounds, the most likely explanation connects this "ghost rail" to the construction of the Elan Valley water pipeline, a monumental engineering project that began in the late 19th century.

The Elan Valley Aqueduct

The Elan Valley Aqueduct was built to transport water from reservoirs in Wales to Birmingham, covering over 70 miles and completed in 1904. The pipeline's route passes directly through the Wyre Farm Camp School grounds, as confirmed by historical maps and local accounts. During its construction, temporary narrow-gauge railways were commonly used to transport materials and workers. It is likely that one such railway was laid across the site to facilitate the construction of the aqueduct and possibly to build infrastructure for the school’s water supply system.

Evidence of the "Ghost Rail"

Several observations and historical details support this theory:

Alignment with the Pipeline: The frost lines on the playground closely follow the documented route of the Elan Valley pipeline through the school grounds. Former pupils recall hearing that the visible lines represent the path of the pipeline, which continues toward Birmingham.

Temporary Railway Use: Temporary railways were standard practice during large-scale construction projects like the Elan Valley Aqueduct. These railways were used to transport thousands of tonnes of building materials and equipment daily. After the project’s completion, the tracks would have been removed, but the compacted soil or residual materials could still influence frost formation.

Thermal Properties: The pipeline itself or remnants of buried sleepers from the railway may retain heat differently from the surrounding ground, leading to frost melting more quickly along these lines. This phenomenon creates the "ghost rail" effect visible during frosts.

Local Infrastructure: A chamber with valves located in a nearby field (Skellerns Field) and tanks near the school’s boiler house suggest that the pipeline provided water to the camp. These facilities may also have required railway access during their construction.

Dispelling Other Theories - While some have speculated that the frost lines might be connected to the Ditton Priors or Catherton Colliery railway lines, these were located miles away from the school. There is no evidence to suggest any permanent railway infrastructure ever existed on the school site beyond the temporary tracks used for pipeline construction.
Conclusion

The "ghost rail" of Wyre Farm Camp School is a fascinating remnant of history, likely tied to the construction of the Elan Valley Aqueduct. Though the tracks themselves have long since disappeared, their legacy lingers, etched faintly into the frosty mornings of the playground. This connection to one of the 20th century's great engineering projects adds another layer to the rich history of Wyre Farm Camp School, linking it to the vital lifeline that brought water to Birmingham and beyond.

This is from a map that shows the route of the Elan Valley pipes as they pass through Wyre Farm Camp School. Tony Booton, longstanding groundsman at the camp says the map is an approximation and that the pipes passed under the playground.

Elan Valley Water Pipes passing by River Rea Cleobury

The above photo shows the water tanks behind the dining room at Wyre Farm Camp School

Elan Valley Reservoir 

THE ELAN VALLEY RESERVOIR
Every day, 320 million liters of water travels 73 miles (117 km) from Wales to Birmingham, thanks to the Elan Valley Aqueduct. Built in response to 19th-century cholera and typhoid outbreaks in the rapidly growing city, it was an ambitious solution for clean water.

In 1873, under Mayor Joseph Chamberlain, Birmingham's waterworks were nationalized, and surveyors identified Wales' Elan Valley—with its high rainfall and elevation—as the ideal source. Construction began in 1893, involving 5,000 workers, a new railway, and the creation of reservoirs by damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers. Completed after 12 years, the aqueduct transports water entirely by gravity, dropping 52 meters over its length, making pumping unnecessary. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-37472263