Holyhead's Ysgol y Parc celebrates 40 years since rebuild

Oct 8 2008 By Jamie Smith

A SCHOOL took a trip down memory lane last week when former pupils helped celebrate a special anniversary.

Ysgol y Parc, in Holyhead, was marking the 40th anniversary since it was rebuilt in 1968, but before that the school’s roots go back to the early 1800s.

Headteacher Glenda Hughes said: "We have been absolutely inundated with photos people have sent in, which is fantastic.

"We had an old fashioned party for the kids and some old fashioned lessons. Everyone has got into the spirit of it.

"The children are getting to look at photos of their parents at school."

Former pupil Dr Ken Roberts, joined the school in 1938 and was there during the war years.

He said: "My mother came here before me in 1913, so we have long Holyhead roots.

"It’s great fun coming back. I haven’t really been here since I left, and of course it’s a new and different school to what was here before.

"The biggest difference now is that there isn’t the cane and the bombs, and I don’t miss either of them!"

John Cave joined the school in 1939, and said: "I remember the bombs dropping. We were taught to go beneath the desks.

"We all had a tin with biscuits and sweets in incase we had to spend a long time in the school from a bomb raid or something.

"When the siren went we had to empty the school, and I remember once I didn’t know which house I was meant to go to so I tried to run for home.

"I saw the bomber come flying in and bullets started flying. My mam came running down the street for me but a neighbour grabbed her and pulled her under some steps."

The photos will be on display in the school library for the next week.