Corley Open Air School

Does anyone have memories of the Corley Open Air School.

Hello Tilly Yes, I knew of its existence, as I knew one of the members of staff who was there in the sixties & seventies.

Hi Philip, an auntie of mine went to that school somewhere in the 1940s, I think, as she had chest problems. Do you think it did the people any good going there for their health purposes.

Hi Tilly, I do not know sufficient about it. My only point of contact was a member of staff. I will see if I can find out anything. A newspaper gives this account of the school.

Thanks so much for that Philip.

Hi Tilly, my cousin went to Corley Open Air School because she was very underweight. I remember visiting her there on a lovely sunny day. The dormitory where she slept was like an open sided veranda. I don't know if staying there did her any good, she remained very slim for the rest of her life.

Hi people, I am assuming this is the school that became Corley Residential School? If not please accept my apologies. I was working as a mechanic for Coventry Council in the early 70's and got sent out to start the school minibus. When I got there the minibus was parked in a small garage at the top of a banked area with prefabricated? classrooms at the bottom of the bank. Because the battery was flat I was unable to drive the minibus out and there was not enough room to reach in with jump leads in order to start it. Please bear in mind I was on my own and I could not see anyone else around so I slid down the side of the van and reached in through the window to release the handbrake to get the van out so I could get to the battery. Unfortunately the garage floor sloped out onto the roadway and the van started to roll quicker than I wanted it to. As the van cleared the garage doors I realised the drivers door was well and truly stuck so dived in (halfway) through the open window to attempt to stop it by pulling the handbrake on. That handbrake was as much use as a bay window on a submarine and did absolutely nothing. The upshot of it was that I ended up careering down the slope and crashing backwards into a classroom that was being used and giving a teacher and a lot of pupils one hell of a shock. Although I went through the wall by sheer chance I ended up between teacher and pupils and to my great relief no one was hurt. One of our council lorries then appeared on the scene and managed to pull the van out of the classroom. I got in a lot of bother over that as you may imagine and if the teacher and any of the pupils from that day ever reads this I can only apologise yet again.

Hi GVB, thanks for sharing that with us, you did your best.

Hi Tricia, thanks for responding. Yes the school was as you described it. I just wondered if it actually helped anyone healthwise in the long term.

Hi Everybody In 1950 when I was 10 years old, I was a patient/pupil at Corley open air school. I was there for about 6 months following a bout of TB, and well remember the open sided dormitory. As I was there in the late winter it was a bit nippy at night. Although I was recovering from a chest complaint, there were others suffering from other complaints. One lad I remember was an eczema sufferer. The school was very good and enjoyable with a good variety of subjects taught. One memory is before the evening meal in the main hall, we were asked if anybody would like to come to the front and sing a song or recite a poem. Many did, including myself. As everybody knew everybody else, there was no embarrassment. I really enjoyed my time at Corley.

Interesting to read that Bakerlea and thanks.

My mum took me to see Tom Jones open something there in the mid 60's. Lots of photos on the mirrorpix website

I spent three years at COAS in the early fifties, it was my first school, so I must have started at five. I have haemophilia A and before I started the headmistress, Miss Caborn, addressed the whole school telling them I was like an egg and could be easily broken so take care! I'm glad I wasn't there to hear it. I have written quite a lot about my years at COAS in my book of childhood memories What Are Yer? Bleeder! Kids ran away regularly but I liked the adventure and notoriety of the open air treatment. I have a lot to thank the school and its staff for.

Scroll down a little on this link there is a picture of the school from the Coventry telegraph. LINK