As mentioned in December’s Gallivanting post, we spent Christmas in The Old School, a cottage in Howick in Northumberland. The village school was originally in the building next door with the children having lessons downstairs and the master and his family living above. The built-on Victorian school room was just that: one large room where both infants and juniors studied (approximately ages 5-11). Today it is a comfortable cottage with the living quarters downstairs and a mezzanine floor added for the bedroom.

At the other side of the cottage from the view above there is a plaque to the last headteacher, Ena Taylor, who worked there from 1940 until the school closed in 1960.

Back door up the ramp with plaque alongside

Plaque to Ena Taylor

The plaque is almost illegible these days, but there is an active heritage group in the village and a selection of their publications was left out for us to peruse. I found information about Ena in one of them, including a photograph of her with a class. I love stumbling across these little snippets of women’s history.

Cover

The Schoolmistress

Ena Taylor with class

If visiting in the summer we would have been able to visit the gardens at Howick Hall whose most famous resident was Charles, 2nd Earl Grey (1764-1845), Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834. His government enacted the Reform Acts of 1832, which expanded the electorate in the United Kingdom, and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, which abolished slavery in the British Empire. He also gave his name to Earl Grey Tea which was originally blended for him with bergamot extract to offset the lime in the local Howick water. Another fabulous piece of history to be living in!

Almost all the houses in the village still belong to the Howick Estate. It’s a pretty little place, although we never saw any of the resident hedgehogs, slow or otherwise.

Cottages and post box

Slow hedgehogs

For six days we walked around this lovely area – more to follow. It’s definitely somewhere I’d like to go back to, not least to visit those gardens.