IT took a rooftop rescue involving firefighters, council workers and volunteers to get 160 pupils and staff to safety from flooding at a Furness school. The drama took place in 1963 at the old Dalton CE School at Goose Green. It closed six years later and youngsters moved to the new St Mary’s Primary School in Coronation Drive. The Mail, on Thursday, November 21 in 1963, noted that an underground beck, already swollen by heavy rains, became blocked and began to swirl around school walls to a depth of two to three feet. Ladders were used at the back of the school to get youngsters through a gap in an out-building roof before more fire service ladders were laid across the flooded playground as an emergency walkway. The article said: “There was no sign of panic as the children snuggled in the arms of their rescuers. “For many, treading the slippery, muddy boards and ladders seven feet off the ground, it was a piece of real-life adventure.” A fire engine and another pump worked continuously to try to prevent the water level from rising higher but could have little effect before the rain stopped. The floods also caused chaos for traffic on the Dalton end of Abbey Road as a hollow section of carriageway by the school filled with water.