There were very few schools in the countryside and so children would walk miles to get to school. They used to tie their shoelaces together and hang the shoes around their necks to keep them clean. They were certainly not going to wear their precious shoes in mud to be whacked by the teacher inspecting the state of their teeth, nails, uniform, hair and punctuality after the bell had gone. 

They would walk through mud and wade through water and when they got to Roseau they would use a standpipe to wash their feet.

Children in those days had much more responsibilities than children these days. They felt that they were contributing to the household. So if their mother had a fowl and it had chicks she would give each child a chick to mind. The mother would take eggs from their children’s fowl to market to sell and that money would have to come back home and ensemble to buy something important for that child, like school books or uniforms.

The child would probably even have a little plot, where they could plant something like chives. They did not dare feel that they should have the money from the sale of their crops. They felt that they were helping their mother. If they found a halfpenny on the road, it came home to the mother to help to do something.