SOWENA
1943-1944
Sowena (Cornish for success) was the magazine of Penzance Grammar School written in a time when contact with the outside world was mainly through censored radio and press. Shortage of paper governed its size but this remarkable publication stands out because of the very time it was published and the way the war was affecting those girls’ lives. Most leavers went into the services, nursing or worked for the government. After 30 years at the school, which took in two world wars, tributes were paid to Miss Lake, the retiring headmistress. Mr Abraham the School Inspector had died and was held in such fond esteem that it was hoped to raise a memorial to his memory. Two ex-pupils had been killed in air raids and many girls had lost close ones. But the overwhelming feeling is that of optimism. The D-Day landings had given hope that the war WOULD be won. Perhaps this poem sums it up:
HITLER AND NAPOLEON DISCUSS INVASION
They stood upon the craggy peaks
Of France’s untamed shore.
A spectre and a man were they
Linked by the bond of war.
They peered across the troubled sea
Through mists that met their gaze.
To where fair England’s shores
Were gleaming through the haze.
The man he laughed and loudly cried,
“They shall surrender yet.
They’ll bow their heads to Nazidom.
For them the sun has set.
They’ll die beneath the Nazi’s whip.
For mercy they shall plead.”
The spectre gave a bitter smile
And said, “I paid for greed
A century agone, I stood
Upon this self-same shore;
I vowed that England should be mine;
This to the sea I swore.
I tried to conquer, but I failed;
They bent me to their will.
The English conquered me and lo!
The wound is unhealed still.”
“Ah” cried the man. “I have more strength
My Nazi war-machine
Has crushed the French, the Poles, the Czechs,
As all the world has seen.”
The spectre smiled and sadly said,
“I made the same mistake.
The English never lose the fight
When Freedom is at stake.”
Helen Prior Form V Upper A
The Foreword was written by a teacher who had been evacuated to the school for a year. As she sits at her desk she can see girls sitting on benches outside doing their work and they are happy! At her home school she would look out finding it difficult to see anything beyond the mill chimneys and the pollution. She writes:
“As this edition of “Sowena” goes to press, we are, as a nation, engaged in the most daring and terrible adventure that history has ever known – the invasion of the Continent. From the tranquil waters of the bay, we wonder that such superhuman struggles can be going on comparatively few miles away. But we must do our part in this great undertaking by doing our daily tasks cheerfully and without grumbling, by facing and overcoming our own difficulties and, above all, by remembering in our prayers what is happening over the sea.
To the school leavers she writes, “My wishes and prayers go with you and you will always be sure of a welcome when you climb the hill. It is worth it, you know, that steady pull up from the bottom – and at the summit, what a view there is! The sparkling sea, the magic castle of the Mount – and the granite dignity of our school! Let the school – so strong with its thick granite walls that “it looks on tempests and is never shaken,” so bright within, the afternoon sun flooding the southern classrooms, - be to us all a reminder to go on our way through this most difficult and anxious time with strength of purpose, but with joyousness of spirit, believing that from the suffering of this most inhuman of all wars, will spring to life the flower of an abiding peace.
In March 1943 the Parent-Teacher Association met after a lapse of two years.
Two students gained University places and seven girls gained places at teacher training colleges and the girls gained a day’s holiday to celebrate!
War-time restrictions on travel allowed less opportunity for sports matches but the school played against other team in Penzance.
The 4th Penzance Guide Company continued to meet on Tuesdays. They enjoyed a Christmas Party, a walk to Carn Galver and an unfortunate hike in the mist!
During the previous 18 months, 171 members of the National Savings Effort raised over £466 towards the “Salute the Soldier” campaign to raise funds for tanks and planes for the British Army. The Lower IVth form organised a Garden party where £22 13s 6d was raised towards the Projector Fund.
In September 1943 girls from the VIth form combined some of their lessons with boys from the neighbouring Grammar School. This gave them a greater choice of subjects and apparently had a sobering effect on the boys! The discussion groups which followed brought in many people who told them about their own careers from the Police to Pottery, Welfare Work and Town and Country Planning.
Back in the school, meals were made cheaper and waiting times were reduced as a revolutionary canteen style of delivery was introduced.
After Easter a three-day “United Nations” course was organised for students from Devonport to St Clare. Speakers came from Holland, America, India and Belgium, the aim being to show the affect the war had worldwide and to discuss the aftermath. The students decided that compulsory National Service should stay alongside the setting up of a Youth Parliament, local Youth Councils and Youth Trade Unions. The range of subjects discussed was staggering and it was hoped that a similar course would be arranged in the near future.
Perhaps this poem sums up the feelings of a soon to be ‘old’ girl:
SCHOOL IN AUTUMN
Coming back in mid-September
To the school upon the hill,
Last term’s easy to remember.
This term feels unreal still.
Blackberries along the netting,
Red leaves on the building’s side,
Blue mists, when the sun is setting,
Rising from the salt sea-tide.
Wing beats of the birds at morning,
Whilst the shivering branches bare,
Black against the pearly dawning,
Make us think of winter spare.
These are thing that we’ll remember
When from school-life we are free.
Mem’ries of school in September
Fresh and green will always be.
Patricia Wareham, Form V Lower
Pauline Hope
October 2025
1070 words
Penwith Local History Group
Edited by
Sally Corbet
price £10
plus p&p