School Walks
From December 1957 until September 1972 teacher Frank Mason led the pupils of the Willows School in Marple on regular rambling expeditions in the Peak District and ocasionally further afield, usually aided and accompanied by his good friend Ron Booth. As well as recording the names of the participants, Frank often kept a hand-written record of the group's escapades during these rambles in a series of exercise books. He also took many photographs and in later years even recorded events on film too. This section is grouped into categories loosely based on those exercise books, which have been faithfully typed up by Frank's daughter Ann.
Subcategories
1957 to 1959
1957 to 1959 (and photos from 1960)
Extracted from exercise books I & II these reports run from 7th December 1957 until 19th May 1959, when the account stops, literally mid-word. The rambles clearly continued as photographs were still being taken in 1960 but there have been no written records found. Photographs from other walks are used to break up the text where none can be identified for a specific walk.
1961 to 1962
1961 to 1962 (and photos from 1963)
Frank re-commenced his written reports in October 1961, expressing his regret for the missing records. This category covers the reports from books III & IV from this point onwards until May 1962. No records have been found covering 1963, although photos were taken and they are used throughout the reports to fill gaps where there are no photos.
1964 to 1966
1964 to 1966
The period from 1964 to 1969 was the busiest time for Frank's record keeping and there are so many reports and photographs that we have split it into two categories. This one begins with the new school term in September 1964 and runs until the end of 1966. Most of the photographs taken during this period have been linked to individual walks apart from a few in 1964, which are used to fill gaps.
1967 to 1969
1967 to 1969
This category begins in early January 1967 and runs though until February 1969, when the written reports come to an end half way through an exercise book.
Marple Rambing Club was founded in 1967 and Frank was one of the founder members.
1969 to 1972
1969 to 1972
Reports in this section covering 1969 to 1972 are taken from the ‘name book'. The names are often written in pupils' hand-writing. The text, if any, is written as brief notes.
During this period several pupils helped with ‘working parties' in the Peak District, such as repairing bridges and putting up signposts.
