There follows reminiscences from various Rye residents:

1. Herbert William Wright. b. 1879

 There were four schools in Watchbell Street: Miss Pink's; Miss Greenaway's, Mrs. Seliman's
 and Miss Albins' (Mr. Hobb's niece).

The first school I went to was Miss Albin's in Hobb's Pawn Shop. It just had one class. In those days we had no desks, only stools. The cane was used a lot. I remember a girl called Maudy Washbourne was always in trouble and she used to run away. The teacher could do nothing with her.

Another thing that sticks out in my memory is my brother Moss (Amos). I took him to that
school ( Miss Albin's ) for the first time. He would not go in. There was me and Miss Albin pulling him in. Miss Russell, who had a shop opposite, came over and filled his mouth with sweets, but we never succeeded in getting him into school.

Another school I went to was Mrs. Kinnett's School. It was a mixed school run by Mrs. Kinnett and her daughter and we had to pay 2d a week. There was no free schooling in those days.

I remember we had no desks, but we had to sit on boxes on each side of the room. The sanitary arrangements were very bad - we had to walk up the garden! Mrs. Kinnett was a very old lady - her lunch as brought to her every morning - brandy and natty fingers with bread! We had to stand by her table and read by pointing our finger on the letter. If we made a mistake she used to jab her needle into our finger, as she would be
darning stockings!

We had one afternoon of knitting and all the boys had to learn how to crochet.
There was no playtime. The Congregational Chapel was next door and there was a cherry
apple tree in the garden, which we used to sample!

After school Mrs. Kennett's daughter used to take us for a walk and we had to pick up all the sheep wool to put in the old lady's ear. Our mother and father were at this school too!

I was there in 1887 when it was Queen Victoria's Jubilee. All schools marched to the salts to receive a three-penny piece and a medal -I still have mine. Mr. Vidler was Mayor of Rye.