…there’s certainly enough of it.

Cookery classes were introduced quite early at the school, but initially were an extra-curricular activity. Instruction in sewing was also given, and articles made could be bought by paying the cost of the materials.

We think the main photo is from 1974 in the ‘Cookery Block’ at the Annexe on Duddingston Park (now Cherrytrees Nursery). Mr Baggaley the headmaster is in the centre.

The umbrella subject incorporating cookery around that time would have been ‘Home Economics’. In the 1960s the term ‘Homecraft’ was used, with exams like “Homecraft, Lower Grade – Group I (Cookery and Needlework) – Practical Test – Needlework [1961]”.

A sample exam question: “Plan a well balanced two course evening meal for schoolboys who have returned from a day’s climbing and have had only a packed lunch.”

‘Domestic Science’ was the subject title used from the 1930s, as was ‘Housewifery’.

In 1941 Dr Birrell, the headmaster, announced that in September of that year he hoped to open a ‘Housewifery Centre’ at 1 Hamilton Terrace. This was still active in the late 1950s. Subjects ‘taught’ to senior girls included “how to bath a baby” and “how to blacken a grate”.

The second image is from 1949, possibly taken in Hamilton Terrace.