South Yorkshire Times, May 5th 1933
Education Without Tears
Wombwell Boys’ Happy Cruise
School Trip To Africa
Jack is a boarder at Silcoates. His cousin, Ronnie, is at a school in Cheshire. Together they have had a wonderful holiday. Exactly how many miles they have covered, how many countries they have seen and how many types of people they have hobnobbed with, it would be difficult to say, but they have had a great adventure.
The two boys, Jack Awty and Ronald Sokell, both aged 12, were among the 800 school children who have just returned from the first of a series of organised cruises to the islands and ports of South West Europe and North Africa., They have come back with memories of blue seas, scorching sunshine, sand, bullock wagons, camels, and quaint people. Jack Awty lives at Wombwell. Ronald is a son of the Rev. Frederick Sokell, formerly of Wombwell Main, now a Unitarian minister at Warrington. The two boys went to Liverpool on the 12th April, to embark on the White Star liner “Doric,” which steamed out ofthe Mersey the same day. They were abroad thirteen days, and in that time they crossed and re-crossed the Bay of Biscay, put in at Gibraltar, the Madeiras and Tangiers.
Jack told a “Times” reporter that the trip came as a great surprise, as the arrangements were made only a few days before. The arrangements were made by the Headmasters’ Association of the Midlands, and when the boys reached Liverpool, they found that 150 head teachers were going to look after them. The excursion was splendidly organised, and there was not a dull moment. The first call was at Gibraltar, where the boys inspected the great forts, scaled the giant rocks, and “chummed up” with British soldiers. Then across to Tangiers, where the boys gazed with wondering eyes at the native snake charmers, explored the quarters where the mysterious Moors have their abode, looked over the Sultan’s palace, and saw a native prison. Jack noticed that the palace had its own schoolroom for the Sultan’s children. Then to Madeira, where the boys and girls inspected a wine press, in which men and women were treading the juice from luscious grapes with their feet. They also rode in bullock wagons and went up steep mountain slopes in little trains to view the most gorgeous scenery they have ever cast eyes upon. Here also they saw a small boy, who seemed more like a fish than a human being, diving into the sea for sixpences. Everywhere they were given a warm welcome. Too soon it was all over. They have returned to think about these things all their lives, and to play with their souvenirs. They hope the time will soon come when all boys and girls will be given the opportunity of this pleasant form of instruction. Education without tears? —Not half!