Back to school . . .

As the second half of the Summer Term begins, our June Throwback Thursday post on social media features a photograph of two boys at Brecon railway station in 1905.

The photograph was recently chosen by guests on OB Day 2025 as the favourite from a selection of early 20th century photographs taken by boys on their own cameras at school. The often-used Box Brownie camera captures images much like any taken on a camera phone today. The composition feels quite modern in its spontaneity and intention. Seen from this end of a different century, the added joy is the inadvertently evocative snapshot of school life. 

We are so used to cars and buses being the mode of transport at the start and end of term and all the other days between, it's hard to believe that boys (and it was only boys then) would arrive by train. Waved off to school by parents from stations all over England and Wales, they travelled with suitcases and - if they were lucky - a tuck box filled with pies, cakes and jam. 

It’s equally hard to believe that there were three railway stations in Brecon until the 1960s. It was a short walk to school from any of the stations, and luggage – and sometimes small boys – would be delivered to school by horse and cart and later by motorised vans.  

In those days, boarders arriving for the start of term would not go home until the end of term. In fact, the first half-term break (from Saturday to Tuesday) did not take place until the Autumn Term of 1965 and even then it was introduced merely as an experiment, albeit one that lasted until 1997 when the half-term break was first extended to a whole week for all three terms.

Travel to school by train and the length of the term certainly suggests a very different century, but it is the small details that remind us how different it was: the leather suitcases and wicker baskets, the caps and hats, and the ornate wrought iron canopy and the gas lamp .

A closer look at another photograph taken in the same location reveals the same two boys. Caught mid-step as they amble towards the photographer, there is a natural energy in the moment captured. Similarly captured in time is the gathering group of Christ College boys on the platform behind them - identifiable by the 'h' on their caps. 

Perhaps most strikingly, they are all wearing uniform to travel – darks suits for older boys, Eton collars and short trousers for younger boys, and leather boots for all. Caps were worn for reasons of social expectation as well as school expectation, but the ‘h’ on the uniform cap served the same function as it does on blazers and games kit today.

The two photographs are from an album of personal photographs donated to the Archive by the owner in the 1960s. The album is one of several in the Collection. Together they form an extraordinary record of life at school a century ago seen through the eyes of pupils.

Our collection of photographs taken by pupils of different generations is growing but we are keen to add more prints, scans of prints or digitally born photographs. If you have any from your personal archive that you would be willing to donate or loan for scanning, Felicity would love to hear from you.

To experience the last train from Newport to Brecon in 1962, view the film (no sound) from the Screen and Sound Archive at the National Library of Wales of the very last journey into Brecon Station. The link to the film on their Youtube channel is posted here courtesy of the Screen and Sound Archive at the National Library of Wales.