Eye - 25 October 2019

From unseen sights to welcome explorations

Unseen sights

Film of a Quaker initiative during the second world war appeared for the first time in seventy-five years in a recent BBC programme, Lost Films of WWII. The programme explores unique films shot by ordinary people, as 1935 had seen the introduction of cine film aimed at amateur film-makers.

In the first episode, which aired on 5 September and is available on BBC iPlayer for another four months, images from everyday life in the years leading up to the second world war, from peaceful punts along a river to amateur footage of the evacuation of Dunkirk were broadcast publicly for the first time.

A ten-minute segment of the programme focuses on Yealand Manor – ‘a completely unique private school for evacuees… organised by a group of Quakers’. Films of life at the school were shot by headmaster Percy Foulds, whose daughter, Robin Greaves, is interviewed in the programme.

Peter Moore, an evacuee who appears in the home movies, is also interviewed about his experience.

The ‘Yealand Manor School Evacuation Experiment’ was set-up by Friends, initially for Quaker children but later for any families that wanted to apply, and was intended to test new social and educational ideas, under the leadership of Percy Foulds and headmistress Elfrida Vipont Foulds.

The school was run along Quaker lines, with a an emphasis on equality, a deep ethos of service, and the importance of sitting quietly and listening – in Meeting for Worship, to listen to music or to stories, which was described by Robin Greaves as an ‘important and calming influence’.

Over the course of the war Yealand took in 198 children, including fifteen refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe. In the moving segment, Robin and Peter reminisce about life at the school and the stories of those who found sanctuary there.

Friendly connections

Are you a hoarder? Do you save old copies of the Friend?

Jill Allum, of Beccles Meeting, reflects: ‘It’s amazing when someone turns up at your Meeting, who has links with you, going way back, and through the Friend.

‘In August I met Sylvia Frith, recently arrived at Beccles Meeting, and we both linked with the Friend of 22 March 2013. The front cover shows a bronze cast of a man and a woman, kneeling and hugging tenderly (see photo). It is very well known and is in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral. The statue was made by Josefina de Vasconcellos.

‘I had a story on the Eye page of 7 February 2014… about 1982, when I was staying at Glenthorne and went to a lecture by Richard Wordsworth, William Wordsworth’s grandson. I sat next to Josefina. A sketch of one of her sculptures was included in my article.

‘Imagine my joy when Sylvia dips into her bag and brings out a small statue made by Josefina. “Oh!” I gasped and cradled it.’

Welcome explorations

Friends from Abingdon had a warm welcome at Woodbrooke, in a departure from their usual summer outing.

Local Friend Roger Bush told Eye that: ‘The annual summer outing from Abingdon Meeting has usually been to somewhere in the Thames Valley or the Vale of the White Horse in the past, but this year’s was different.

‘With some assistance from a fund which was the legacy of the late Cecillie Swaisland, for many years a member of the Meeting, a more ambitious day visit to Woodbrooke was planned and turned out to be a great success.

‘A mixed-age group of twenty-one, including children, travelled by minibus or car, and were made very welcome by Woodbrooke staff.

‘A short workshop, expertly led by Betty Hagglund [Woodbrooke’s learning resources manager], was based on a reading of an illustrated book In God’s Name and considered everyone’s personal idea of God.’

Friends also had a tour of the historic part of Woodbrooke, which was once the Cadbury family home, had lunch, and visited the library, where they viewed seventeenth and eighteenth century Quaker pamphlets.

Roger reflected: ‘Altogether this day trip is something which should be considered by every Meeting within driving distance of Birmingham.’

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