THE former National School at the Ellers in Ulverston was 160 years old in 1994 and provided the perfect excuse for a reunion of ex-pupils and a history project which included a book called Capsule.

By then, the building was the base of arts group Welfare State International and it brought together around 30 pupils for a picnic tea and a chance to see how their old school had changed.

Among those to return was Margaret Athersmith, nee Atkinson, who left the school when it closed in 1933.

She said: "Girls were upstairs and the boys downstairs. There used to be a high wall across the yard. Boys played on one side and the girls on the other.

"We were never allowed to mix.

"We used to climb up the wall to peep over but the teachers used to patrol the yard with a cane and rap our knuckles as our hands appeared on top."

The history project created a book of photographs, memories and extracts from log books.