Elsie Tomes (nee Surface) allowed the Swanage Railway Publicity Department and the Museum to interview her. The interview was to recall her school days as a daughter of a clay miner. 

Elsie lived at Goathorn with her parents. Her father was Fred Surface and her grandfather was William Tubb the manager who lived out at Goathorn Pier. Elsie lived in a group of cottages between the pier and the Newton Clay pits. Her mother had 10 children and Elsie being the second oldest looked after them. Originally there had been a local school, but as the mining was being wound down the school closed and was turned into a church. The children were then expected to walk to Studland School. In 1934 the children had not attended school for over a year as the walk across the heathland was too much for them.  The education authority decided the children should be encouraged to attend and approached the clay company and asked if they would transport the children to Arfleet. (At the time children at Bushey and Norden also had poor attendance records and buses were laid on for them.) The Clay company converted a clay wagon by adding benches and a shed roof. As there was only one window up high, the sliding doors on the front were left open and a chain was placed across the gap to keep the children in by Frank Tubb, the engine driver and uncle to the Surface children (Elsie, June (attending Corfe Senior School), Joyce, Philip and Poppy (attending the Corfe Junior School) Also on the School Train was Pam Richards, another clay workers daughter. They used all meet at the engine shed at Goathorn and then the train would travel non stop to Arfleet where the wagon would be left for the day ready for the return trip. Both Elsie and the School log books recall that they had to leave early before the other school children in order to catch the train. Elsie could not remember why and the school log books did not record why. When the train finished in 1937 the children were told to report to Studland School again. Elsie's mother argued with the authorities until it was arranged for the children to be collected by taxi and taken to Studland every day. Elsie remembers that a Sir Edmund Ball (a banker) used to holiday in one of the disused clay workers cottages. Elsie said that to ice "pretend cakes" they used ball clay after it had rained. Click here to hear Elsie talking in 2007 about those times.

Uncle Frank Tubb mentioned above by Elsie died on the footplate on 11^th July 1955.
Here is the Newspaper cutting covering his death. 

If you have memories of the Purbeck clay industry email us Click here