SOME years, it would have been too cold for children to swim in their outdoor pool in autumn.

But 1965 was an exception. Pupils at Cutteslowe Primary School in North Oxford were happy to splash around, with no sign of a shiver.

The weather that day in late September was described by the Oxford Mail as a ‘scorcher’.

However, the temperature was in the 60s Fahrenheit, far below the heights of 80-plus we reached during the heatwave earlier this summer.

Despite what we might today describe as ‘shivery conditions’, the pupils of 1965 were clearly a hardy bunch and were happy to take a dip.

The pool, which had been largely provided by the efforts of the school’s parent-teacher association, had been recently improved with a covered changing area.

The association had bought the materials and during the summer holidays, three parents and two members of staff erected it.

Headmaster Gordon Buswell said: “We couldn’t resist a fine day like today and letting the children into the pool. We are grateful to the parent-teacher association for all they have done.”

Cutteslowe School opened in December 1939, just three months after war was declared.

For the first 20 years of its life, parents and pupils had to cope with the difficulties created by the Cutteslowe Walls, which divided private and council homes on the Cutteslowe estate.

The 7ft high brick walls, dividing Wentworth Road from Aldrich Road and Carlton Road from Wolsey Road, stood from 1934 to 1959, causing inconvenience to many families.

The row re-erupted recently when the road in the ‘posh’ part was resurfaced and the other wasn’t.

The school in Wren Road has rarely featured in Memory Lane, but has had extensive coverage over the years in the news pages of the Oxford Mail.

Pupils celebrated the 50th anniversary of the school in 1989 with a golden birthday party.

Gold-coloured jelly, cakes and sausage rolls were quickly polished off at a special lunch, which was followed by a thanksgiving service and entertainment from a magician.

All 163 children at the school were given commemorative bookmarks.

Other happy stories have included the opening of an adventure playground at the school, the setting up of the Jolly Lolly company to sell ice creams, a Book Week fancy dress parade and a successful fundraising event to help starving children in Ethiopia.