Childhood

Pair of boots and mug from Underlea Open Air School

1930s

This mug and pair of clogs came from Underlea Open Air School in Aigburth. This was one of several schools for children with tuberculosis (TB) and other serious illnesses, in 1930s Liverpool. They record a time when going to school in England was, for some children, very different from today.

The school was first situated in a converted mansion set in beautiful grounds. In the grounds were chalet style classrooms, with removable walls. With just one wall in place to give shelter from the wind the children would have lessons in the ‘open air’ throughout the year. This was thought at the time to be the best treatment for children with TB. Temperatures often dropped so low that the ink would freeze in the inkwells.

At first the school gave the clogs to the children to wear all the time, but the parents were so poor they would pawn the clogs for money. The school decided it was better to issue the clogs in the morning and collect them at the end of the school day.

The children were given mugs of tea made with milk rather than water, to give them extra strength. All the children had three regular meals a day. Each child had regular medical checks and was weighed weekly. There was also a full time nurse on hand to treat ailments and issue medicine.

The school did have a positive effect on the pupils with many showing healthy weight gains. However, it is hard to say whether this was a result of the freezing ‘open air’ classrooms or the regular food and care that each child received.

Underlea went through many changes in its seventy-year history, but it still cares for children with special needs under its new name of Ashfield School today.

The clogs and mug are part of the social history collection of the former Museum of Liverpool Life but are not currently on display.

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