Life in lockdown trapped in time at Hadfield school

Pupils at a Hadfield school have posted letters to themselves in a time capsule, hoping to get a reply in 10 years time.

But it all depends if the next crop of teachers and pupils at St. Andrew’s Juniors remember to dig it up.

If they do and sift through the objects, they will also find face masks and hand sanitisers.

For the silver cylinder buried before the Easter break is packed with items that show a snapshot of school and community life during the lockdown.

Assistant head and Year Four teacher Russ Hyde, who is the time capsule project lead, said: “It is to do with the National Census and will be opened in 10 years when the next census will take place.

“All the school has been involved in the project. The children who have written letters, have put their names and addresses on the envelopes and it’s hoped they will receive replies when the cylinder is dug up.

“Then they will be between 17 and 21-years-old.”

The project is part of a scheme organised by the Office of National Statistics to get school children more involved in the census process.

Russ said all classes had taken part in what he described as a ‘unit of work’ that included researching Hadfield’s local history, how the area had changed over the years and prospects for the future.

St. Andrew’s Junior School is big on the environment and conservation and among the letters, family photographs and pieces about Hadfield in the capsule is an image of the front page of last week’s Glossop Chronicle (pictured below) of pupils holding posters asking for an end to building homes on Hadfield’s greenbelt. It is an issue they highlight in their letters.

Also in the cylinder are badges publicising the ‘Save Roughfields’ group’s campaign to stop the piece of land between Hadfield and Padfield being residentially developed, something the children at St. Andrew’s are passionate about.

The capsule may look back on the past and show the present, but there’s also young hopes for the future.

Images by Nigel Wood

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