Last days of historic Black Country school

It shows St Mary's Church of England School, at Hurst Hill, Coseley, where the 200 pupils were in 1986 working on a commemorative booklet to mark its impending closure, bringing the curtain down on 154 years of history.

They were tracing its roots to the Victorian era, and also planning an exhibition of their work before the school chalked up its final term.

The photo, taken in March 1986 – the school closed a few months later – shows pupils and staff with the head, Michael Harvey, in the playground of the 90-year-old building which had been the school's home for the previous 22 years, having moved there from elsewhere in the town.

St Mary's School was not the only Coseley school closing at the time. In what was described as a merger, the end was nigh also for Mount Pleasant Primary School, Roseville, with pupils from both schools moving to the brand new Hurst Hill Primary School in Paul Street, which opened in November 1986 with Mr Harvey as its first head.

The departures from St Mary's, in Horace Street, and also from the Mount Pleasant school, were followed by a big controversy about which of the two now vacant sites would be the best spot for a proposed new community centre.

Hurst Hill-Coseley Community Association wanted to convert St Mary's and complained that the plan was being blocked by a local Labour councillor, Jack Wilson, who represented Coseley East, who instead championed the Mount Pleasant site.

In August 1987 over 100 people staged a banner-waving demonstration outside the former St Mary's calling on the council to press ahead with the community centre idea for that location. Meanwhile, over 700 people signed a petition calling for the centre to be at Mount Pleasant.

So which one "won" – St Mary's or Mount Pleasant?

The answer is neither.

The residents' group became increasingly worried about how long negotiations were taking between Dudley Council and the Church of England. Amid comments that the Church was being "mean," and "acting like Scrooges" there were even calls for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, to be called in to try to speed things up.

The Church wanted £45,000 for the building and doing it up would take another £50,000.

Clearly the negotiations did not bear fruit because in September 1989 Dudley planning and architecture committee gave planning permission to build 18 two-bedroom homes on the site of the former St Mary's school.

The building in Horace Street was either already demolished by that time, or knocked down as part of the redevelopment.

Similarly the buildings which had been occupied by Mount Pleasant Primary School were demolished in January 1991, according to the Sedgley Local History Society website.

Controversy also hit the official opening in March 1987 of the school which replaced them.

As the then Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, arrived at Hurst Hill Primary School to perform the ceremony he was met by a group of placard-waving local Conservatives.

"This school was planned by the Tories, financed by the Tories and built by the Tories. Labour councillors did not want to know anything about it at the time, but suddenly they have invited Neil Kinnock to open it,'' said John Corns, treasurer of Dudley West Conservative Association.

But Mr Kinnock laughed off the protest saying: "I do not care, and I do not think the parents, pupils or teachers care whose concept the school was."