VILLAGERS took a journey back in time to the first days of their primary school- as they prepare to usher in its last.

West Cornforth Primary School held a 1926 day and a history exhibition last week to celebrate the school’s past before lessons move into a new building next month.

Visitors discovered how the community grew from around 1800 on the back of coal mining and ironworks and a post-war baby boom.

They learnt about the first schools in the village, one at the bottom of Station Road and boys and girls schools on the green, and more about the current school building.

It was built for £10,365, with a separate toilet block in the middle of the yard, and catered for children up to 14-years-old until around the 1960s.

Historian Andy Denholm also put together a display about the village’s First World War connections.

His research discovered that five male school staff went to war. One was killed in action and the four survivors, including schoolmaster Allan Summerbell, returned to teach at West Cornforth.

Pupil Jake Ratcliff, ten, said: “Years and years ago this was a secondary school, I cannot imagine that now, being stuck in Doggie until you leave school.

“It’s been good learning how it used to be.”

Megan McWilliam, ten, said: “It is quite special to be the last year sixes ever in this building.”