In the 1930s, pupils at Blaydon Intermediate School produced and bound their own hardback books under the guidance of their teachers. Their work attracted praise from the poet Walter de la Mare and other notable figures, placing a small Tyneside school in the national spotlight.
A Printing Shop on Shibdon Bank
Blaydon Intermediate School stood overlooking the River Tyne at the junction of Shibdon Road and Shibdon Bank. The building has since been demolished and a housing development now occupies the site. According to an archived local history account compiled by Jim Hollingsworth, the school press began in 1933 under the direction of English teacher Mr V. H. Elliott and art teacher Mr Boyce. Their aim was to give pupils practical experience in printing, binding, writing, and editing.
From Pamphlet to Hardback
The press's first publication, An Anthology of Verse for School Use, appeared in 1933 as a fifteen-page pamphlet. Typesetting was supervised by Mr Elliott, and the printing was carried out by pupils Thomas Henry and Robert Hall. The project quickly grew in ambition.
In 1935 the press produced Songs of Enchantment, a 158-page volume measuring six by four inches and bound in navy blue buckram with endpapers bearing the school initials. The book included an introduction by the poet Walter de la Mare, who initially hesitated but agreed after recognising the pupils' seriousness. In his introduction he praised their teamwork and described the book as a "labour of love." The anthology was exhibited at Oxford in 1935.
A further volume, Progress, followed in 1936. This anthology collected writing by the children themselves, including their predictions of life in the year 2000, and featured an introduction by Sir Charles Trevelyan, then Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland. After a visit to Wallington Hall, which Trevelyan hosted, the pupils produced Wallington, bound in board with a gold-blocked title, hand-coloured drawings, and black-and-white photographs. Other titles included Shakespeare's songs, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and an anthology of narrative verse.
National Recognition for Pupil Work
The Blaydon School Press was favourably compared with flourishing private presses such as the Nonesuch and the Gregynog. Local academics Dr Ballard and Professor Stanley are also recorded as having expressed favourable impressions of the books. The involvement of figures such as de la Mare and Trevelyan suggests the quality of the pupils' work was recognised well beyond the school gates.
What Became of the Press?
The press continued into the early 1940s, with a final publication noted in 1941. Copies of the books survive as a memorial to the enterprise, and the collection includes bound correspondence with both Sir Charles Trevelyan and Walter de la Mare. The project remains a remarkable example of practical education in inter-war Blaydon.