Reminiscences of Kinmel School by J.B.Jones.
 
The school routine ran smoothly without major troubles, hence the more unusual things that boys did in their free time come more easily to mind.

One highlight was the fire-drill. We assembled in our/dormitories and then on hearing the alarm we made our way to line up at the fire escape chutes. It was great fun to slide down inside the long canvas tubes to the ground below. When I was promoted' to one of the dormitories on the second floor I could not wait to try the really long chute.

Having been brought up in the country I was expert at climbing trees so I joined in pursuits which nowadays are probably illegal, such as' birds nesting. As well as collecting birds eggs from the large variety of birds to be found in the park, I also took up the hobby of obtaining and rearing a young fledgling jackdaw. •these we could keep in a small room known as the 'Game Larder' allocated by the school for keeping pets.

We were allowed to exercise the birds on the terrace in front of the clock tower. We taught them to fly by throwing them up in the air so that they flapped their wings, and when they were getting proficient, their wings were then clipped to prevent them flying away!

We also tried to get these to talk by continually saying 'Jacz, Jack' to them but with very little success. They were fed with a great variety of tit-bits, mostly obtained from the dining room. Eventually all pets which survived, including owls and even grass snakes, were returned to the wild.

On Sunday if you attended 8 am Communion in the school chapel you were allowed to go into the surrounding countryside for the rest of the day, packed lunches being available.

Two rules had to be strictly observed. No towns or villages were to be entered, and you had to be in a group  of no less than three. This was an emergency precaution so that in the case of an accident one boy could stay with the boy in trouble, while the other went for help.

Many Sundays were spent 'caving' with my pals which included:­ D.G.Bennett, .P.L.Caldwell, A.B.Hampton, J.N.U.Hughes, B. Kirkup and A.B.Robinson. the father of one of the boys was a mining engineer and thus we obtained a large-scale geological map of the district on which were marked mine workings mainly for lead, iron, and copper.

In the River Elwy Valley nearby there were several drift mines driven horizontally into solid rock. We left mines with vertical shafts severely alone). W became expert in spotting small spoil heaps, now greatly disguised by nature, which would lead us to a tunnel entrance. these were usually sealed off with tons of rocks which we manually removed until we could get in.    

Unlike coal mines there was no danger of foul air. It was only a bit wet in places.

With a homemade tape measure these tunnels were carefully charted as well as the natural complex of Cefn Caves not far away.

Another free time activity started by Hughes House (which I was in), was the construction of a new tennis court, as the only two existing courts were reserved for senior boys and staff.

Many hours were spent with pick axe and shovel to level the site. Some narrow-gauge rail track and a side-tipping hopper wagon was obtained from the local quarry to convey earth and stones from the higher end of the site to the other. It was great fun riding on this wagon at speed and often jumping off if the brake, in the form of a piece of wood jammed against the wheels, failed to stop it before the end of the track. Again, we became quite expert in applying the law of the lever which we had learnt in class, to deal with the frequent derailments. Regrettably, the school closed before the tennis court was finished. 

Other weekend activities included: - visiting the Territorial Army (Royal Artillery) Camp in a quite separate part of Kinmel Park. Rock Climbing and looking for Fossils in disused quarries. Bathing in the River Elwy where there was a natural water chute in the form of rapids discharging into a deep pool suitable for swimming 

In spite of some pursuits being hazardous, we never once had an accident.

It was with much regret that the school came to an abrupt end in December 1934 for economic reasons.

In the final term there were only 77 boys, in the school which could accommodate about 150.

Kinmel was a modern school specialising in commerce, engineering, and modern languages. It was somewhat ahead of its time, and it lost the struggle to establish itself in a period of economic depression.