South Street School

by Coventry Kid "Liz" (edited from a tape recording) 

At the school we had the boot box, the boot fund for the poor kids. Every week there was a tallish box, made of wood, ever such a funny shape it was. A kiddy used to bring it round to all the class rooms for a ha'penny you'd put in, that was the boot fund box. And when they got enough money, they'd buy boots for the poor kids, and you'd have to go to a special place, I think it was Hamilton's, I'm not sure, in the town. 

I don't know whether it was a ticket they used to give the parents. Anyway you'd get a pair of boots if you was poor, and they'd be button, lace up boots. And you'd be crippled sometimes, but you daren't say anything because you knew they were given away, so you daren't say anything! That was what they called the boot fund at school. Oh, kids they were poor then, and I remember we had a good netball team in our school, and they were always winning the shield, we used to play Folly Lane. We were playing for the shield one time down on the Butts. I think it was Frederick Birds we were playing for this shield and the bus came to our school to take us to the Butts. And I said to my Mum, "Can I have tuppence", and she said "No you can't have tuppence." I says, "Well I'm going to see them play the netball match" She says, "I don't care, you can't have tuppence". So of course, I stood there, and I watched all the kids getting on the bus with the tuppence to the Butts Stadium. And I always remember I ran as fast as I could at the side of the bus, all the way to the bloomin' Butts, cause I couldn't have tuppence. I run at the side of the bus till I was puffed out and I couldn't get over the road. But, when we used to win the shield, it used to be great. Gangs of us used to march all in line, and we'd have the shield held up, and they'd carry the girls high. We'd sing along the road;

"We're the South Street Girls
We never make no noise
We know our manners
We spend our tanners
We are respected wherever we go!
And when we're marching around Old South Street,
Doors and Windows open wide
We're the girls who played the game, 
Now, we're on the road to fame!
We are the South Street girls.

We used to sing all along the street, the people used to wave to us and shout. When you look back now, you laugh at it. You know, you think, well what crazy kids we were. 

Reproduced with kind permission of the Hillfields History Group. This story was first published in a publication by the group called Hillfields in their Own Words, volume 5, Looking Back at School days.

This page was last updated 24/05/06

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This page was last updated 24/05/06