Pressure and Planning for a New Building

The biggest change at the Miller Institution came in 1937 with the opening of the present main building.  As with the 1900 building the architect was again Sinclair MacDonald.  This time the cost was £16,000 which is about one fifth of the estimated cost of renovating the rather small dining centre in session 1999-2000!  The building comprised ten classrooms and a gymnasium with support facilities - two offices, one for the Head Teacher and another for the Secretary, gym changing rooms, and cloakroom accommodation.  The original placement of this building was to have been close to Princes Street but the Rector at the time, Thomas Greig Ironside, requested that the building be sited in its present and more suitable location.  Above the front door the initials ‘MA’ are to be seen carved within a decorative slab.  This work was carried out by Mr Scott Sutherland who is better known for the Commando Memorial near Spean Bridge.

In the early 1930s, there were classes in the original Miller Institution building including 1892 extension, the 1900 building, Mina Villa and, of course, the West Public annex.  The area where the present building was to be opened in 1937 appears to have been in the Mina Villa property to the north of the Villa garden.  The small playground part of this was in poor condition being rather muddy while the rest had many trees and bushes.  There were apple trees and gooseberry bushes amongst the vegetation and local boys were known to go there for the forbidden fruit.  There were toilets roughly between the north end of the 1937 building and the wall behind Bain and Gibson’s premises on Princes Street.

Initial discussions regarding the need for new accommodation took place at a School Management Committee meeting in spring of 1930 and at a joint meeting between this committee and the Council Works Committee in August.  As can be seen, it was seven years before the full process was completed and the new Miller Academy opened. 

In the early stages of the search for a solution to the need for more teaching space and toilet accommodation consideration was given to the purchase of property adjacent to the original building.   In February 1930 the Education Committee considered at some length a recommendation from the Council’s Works Committee that the adjoining property to Miller Academy, known as Munro’s Buildings, be bought for a fee of £700.  I am told by James Wilson of the well known business family who owned various properties and businesses, including the Royal and Station Hotels and Dunnet’s Garage, that Munro’s buildings was known to him as Munro’s property.  It was the building which is presently the site of Bain and Gibson’s electrical shop.  The Wilson family purchased this property and along with the Station Hotel and the intervening ground they planned to develop a large hotel on the whole site.  The plan did not come to fruition.

Discussion was at times jocular and occasionally argumentative but in the main the recommendation was given thorough, if over long, consideration by the councillors.  The Rev. D. Carmichael from Reay ventured to ask if the council were to buy the whole of Thurso.  The Chairman replied in equally jocular vain, ‘I don’t know.  We are dealing with one item at a time’.  He continued to point out that the recommendation to purchase had been carried by seven votes to two and that it was claimed that the purchase of the property would be a great benefit in facilitating the proposed changes at Miller Academy.

Unfortunately, though it would appear all considered the property worthwhile and the price attractive, the actual use to which  the building and ground would be put had not been properly considered.  It was unclear to councillors whether they were discussing a building to be used in its present condition, one that was to be adapted or simply knocked down.  There was even some discussion as to the usefulness of the building material if Munro’s Buildings was to be demolished. 

Councillor Miller was strongly opposed to the purchase on the grounds that he had already presented a motion requesting a new school in Thurso and it was only with reluctance that he had agreed to the purchase of Mina Villa.  He was totally against the Authority buying old, obsolete property and in any event they already had a field where they could build ‘latrines’.  He added, it is said with a smile,  ‘ In his opinion, the only way in which it would be a good speculative investment was if they applied for a licence for the property.’

The arguments for and against purchase outlined in the John O’ Groat Journal of 21^st February 1930 takes up too much space to be reproduced here.  Suffice to say, the argument for toilets on the ground in question, the likely profit to the council or its use for school accommodation did not, in the end, carry the day and the motion was defeated by seven votes to six with two abstentions.

Since the protracted and then abandoned plans to purchase the building and land adjacent to the Miller Academy still left the school without the required gymnasium and new toilets the matter was further discussed at an Education Committee meeting in August 1930.  The discussion appears to have been precipitated by a letter from the Education Department enquiring whether any decision had been made regarding a new gymnasium for Miller Institution.  The result of the consideration by the Council was a meeting on the school site which one councillor described as being big enough for ten schools.

By the end of 1930, the pressure was on for the Caithness Education Committee and the Education Department to make progress with new accommodation for Miller Academy and also to provide new schools at Lybster and Wick North.  The local press carried a report of the visit of Mr McKechnie, Secretary of the Education Department, in which ‘ordinary business’ was conducted and then the new schools requirement examined.  No final decision was made at this time and the matter was to be considered at the next meeting of the Caithness Education Committee but it was quite clear that a picture of severe need was arising.  Mr McKechnie advised that an ambitious building scheme be proceeded with whereby a new school in Thurso could serve the whole district.  He said that two badly lit and poorly ventilated rooms in Miller Academy would have to be vacated and permission to use the classrooms in Mina Villa could only be given for a limited period of time.  Five new rooms were needed immediately it was ascertained.

The article below, amply emphasising the need, was produced on one page in three columns  in the John O’ Groat Journal of 17^th October 1930.  The bold type is reproduced in a similar fashion to the way it headed the article.  Though the article covers Lybster and Wick North Schools as well as Miller Academy it is worth reproducing it in its entirety to give some impression of the quality of educational building provision in the county in the first third of the 20^th century.

 Three New Schools Needed.

Dilapidated Buildings Which Require

to be Replaced.

Miller Academy, Wick North and Lybster Schools.

Suggestions by Secretary of Education

Department

‘Miller Institution is a magnificent wreck but is on a desirable site; Lybster School is an absolute wreck, minus the magnificence; Wick North School has outlived its usefulness and is one of the worst school buildings in Scotland.’

These were the impressions gained at a meeting of Caithness Education Committee held on Tuesday, when Mr M’Kechnie, Secretary for the Education Department, was present, along with other officials.  Suggestions for building of new schools to replace these three were put forward, and are to be considered at the next meeting.

REASON FOR VISIT

A whole day was spent in the delibera­tions, during which Lybster and Thurso schools were visited and inspected.  Ordinary business was disposed of in the forenoon, and at two o’clock in the after­noon the Committee met in the Town Hall, Wick, with Mr M’Kechnie, Secretary of the Department; Mr J. A. Macdonald, M.M. District Chief Inspector of Schools, and Mr Barron, District Inspector.

Bailie Harper introduced the visitors at the afternoon meeting. Mr Barren and Mr Macdonald, he said, came to see them regularly in the course of their duties, and they were pleased to see them on that occasion. (Applause)  Mr  M’Kechnie was also no stranger to the North.  At one period he used to visit the county as Inspector of Schools.  He (the speaker) once had the pleasure of meeting Mr M’Kechnie, and one man had said at that time that Mr M’Kechnie was the coming force in Scottish education. That forecast had come true. (Applause) They congratu­lated Mr M’Kechnie, but they could also congratulate themselves because the very fact that he had come up there to see them indicated that he was the right man in the right place. (Applause)

Speaking of the chief reason for the visit - the state of Lybster School- Bailie Harper said that the late Authority had given the matter very serious considera­tion and had decided, by the casting vote of the chairman, to go on with a recon­struction scheme. They now had,. however, new members who were not familiar with the school, so perhaps they could visit Lybster  - and Thurso, where Miller Acad­emy had to be examined - before discussing the matter.

Bailie Harper concluded by extending to the visitors, on behalf of the Committee, an invitation to join them at dinner in Thurso.

Mr M’Kechnie’s Remarks

Mr M’Kechnie said he could not vie with the chairman in felicity of expression or richness, of reminiscence, but he could vie with him in his interest in the matter with which they had to deal that after­noon. (Applause.)

Continuing, he gave the reason why he had come North. At a conference on the Lybster School question held in - Edin­burgh with representatives from Caithness, Mr Georgeson had suggested that it would be better if some competent person would come from the Department ‘and examine the school.  Mr Georgeson showed a preference for the architect, but it was not always possible for a part-time man - as their architect was - to come North at a rate of remuneration fixed by a stingy Treasury - (laughter) - so he came up him­self.  He had great pleasure, on behalf of his friends and himself, in accepting the invitation to dinner.  As to the business, they already had examined and made up their minds, regarding - Lybster School, but he would not discuss it until they went to see it.

Mr Alex. Bruce, solicitor -Is there to be no discussion on Lybster?

The Chairman - After we have seen the school we can have a discussion.

Mr Bruce said he was very sorry be could not accompany them to Lybster, but he wished to express his views. He was not aware of the Department’s views regarding recon­struction.

Mr M’Kechnie - The Department, at the conference I referred to, were quite clear that reconstruction was inadvisable.

Antiquated and Insanitary

Mr Bruce, continuing, said that if the matter was to he tackled at all there was no use in speaking about reconstruction.  The school was antiquated, out of date and insanitary, and could not he converted into a sanitary building.   Next to Wick and Thurso, he said, Lybster was the most important educational centre in the county.  It had produced many brilliant scholars and, in addition, was a valuable feeder to the High School.  They had no industries in Caithness, and they should do all in their power to support education. Having no industries, all they could do for their boys and girls was to give them a good education.  Without it they would be seriously handicapped.  So far as the population of Lybster was concerned the numbers were at the same average which they had been for some years.  The fishing also was better than it had been twenty years ago.  From the financial point of view he considered that it was not a very serious consideration to build a new school.  If a loan was spread over a period of forty years the annual charge was in­finitesimal.’  The people of Lybster were not in favour of reconstruction.  They were looking for a new school, and he did ‘not see why there should be any hesita­tion on the part of the Committee.  Look­ing at the buildings they would see that it was impossible to have them recon­structed.  There was not a classroom that looked south, the rooms were dark and cold, the offices were insanitary, and there was no cloak-room accommodation.  He appealed to them to give most favourable consideration to his proposal.  It was a very important matter for the parish of Latheron, and he submitted that they had no alternative but to build a new school.

The Chairman thanked Mr Bruce for his statement, and no further discussion took place.

At Lybster School

The party then motored to Lybster, and were shown over the school premises by Mr Campbell, headmaster. Those who had not already seen the school were surprised at its dilapidated and insanitary state and ill-conceived construction, and the general opinion seemed to be that a new school was the only remedy.

Following the inspection the company ‘proceeded to Thurso where, along with Mr Ironside, Rector, they looked over Miller Academy, Mina Villa and grounds.

Mr M’Keehnie strongly advised the Committee to proceed with an ambitious building scheme whereby a complete new school to serve the whole district could be erected.  Two small, badly lit and poorly ventilated rooms in Miller Academy would have to be vacated, and permission to use the class-rooms in Mina Villa would be given only for a limited period.  Five new rooms were said to be required immedi­ately.

The Committee had already agreed to build a gymnasium and new offices, and the party looked over the proposed sites.  Mr M’Kechnie advised them to get a shadow plan of a school in which the gymnasium would form an integral part, and to build seven or eight rooms in such a manner that the building could be ex­tended when required, and would ulti­mately replace Miller Academy and Mina Villa.  He congratulated them on the pur­chase of Mina Villa because of its site, which was the most suitable they could have secured for a new school.

At a later stage, during the discussion of Lybster and Thurso schools, reference was made to Wick North School, which was described by Messrs M’Kechnie and Macdonald as being the worst school building in Scotland. The Committee were also urged to build a school to replace the North School.  No decision was reached regarding any of the schools, and the members are to consider the matter at their next meeting.

After a daintily-served dinner in the Royal Hotel an informal conversation took place during which Bailie Harper proposed the health of the visitors.

In the log entries for the early and mid-1930s, Mr Ironside makes frequent reference to the shortage of teaching space and despite his best efforts he is still a classroom short at the start of each new session.  To alleviate the problem, at least in the short term, he had, in 1936, to arrange for 50 of the younger infants to be taught in one classroom.  

The fact that the committee was already more or less committed to building a gymnasium, toilets and new offices meant that the Secretary to the Education Department was able to advise that a better scheme would be to have plans prepared for an integrated new building with all those facilities included.  With Mina Villa and its grounds, an excellent acquisition as Mr McKechnie observed, already purchased there was to hand an area that gave a most suitable site for the new school.

The decision of the Caithness Education Committee to further consider the building of a new school in Thurso at their next meeting resulted in the matter being on the agenda for the committee’s November meeting.  It was decided at that meeting to consider each of the three new schools separately.  The position regarding the Miller Institution, it was proposed, should be remitted for consideration and report and the Works Committee should make suggestions as to the site and nature of the school and the approximate cost.  This suggestion, in the form of a motion, was carried and it was said at that meeting that Mr McKechnie had indicated the best type of school would be one built like a bungalow type with separate buildings.  It would appear that the motion was acted upon with reasonable haste as the January meeting of the Education Committee heard that the County Council had approved the appointment of Mr MacDonald, architect, to prepare sketch plans and estimates of the probable cost.  At this meeting it was also decided that the Education Department must be asked the financial position which would arise in the event of the Education Committee, with the approval of the Council, resolving to proceed with the proposals.

Two photographs taken at the Miller Institution about 1930.  The first has the original Miller Building, now the town library as the back drop and the second is taken towards the rear of the area where the present main building stands.  In the background can be seen the rear of Bain and Gibson’s and the gable end of a house on Princes Street.  The teacher in the second picture is Annie Sinclair.