AN open evening is being held at Cartmel Priory Church of England School on Tuesday so we are taking a look at how the education base has developed in the past 60 years.

The official opening, by Princess Margaret, was recorded in The Mail on October 15 in 1958.

Then it was a secondary modern school costing £100,000 and in 2011 it became an academy.

The current staff and governors have invited the community to tour the school until 9pm, following a presentation in the hall at 7pm.

Back in 1958 The Mail noted: "It was an enthusiastic greeting that the princess received - a greeting that began at Cark and Cartmel station and was taken up a few minutes later when the princess drove slowly into Cartmel.

"Hundreds of local residents lined the route to the historic Priory Church where the princess attended a short service before her official engagement at the school.

"Children were given pride of place, of course, in the gardens by the roadside."

The princess was given a guided tour of the school buildings and was particularly interested in a stitched picture being worked by Mavis Scales, of Stott Park.

The princess was presented with a picture painted by Sydney Buckley, a bouquet and an album of Lake District views.

Thirty years ago the school faced its greatest challenge when it was selected as a closure candidate as part of a county-wide programme to reduced the number of surplus secondary school places.

The Mail, on Wednesday, April 27 in 1988, noted: "The message to the politicians and bureaucrats of Cumbria County Council rang loud and clear last night.

"More than 2,000 people crammed into three schools, Cartmel Church of England, John Ruskin at Coniston and Ulverston Victoria, to say 'no way' to the controversial Way Ahead report.

"It was standing room only in the Cartmel school's corridors after the hall filled to overflowing.

"Mrs Gloria Wallis told an audience of 1,500 that part of South Cumbria from Bouth to Lindale would become a 'geriatric ghetto' with young families forced out if Cartmel lost its secondary school."

Pupils spoke at the public meeting about their love for the school with its 'family atmosphere'.

Governor and county councillor Hugh Cavendish said there was no case for closure and chairman of governors Miss Alex Taylor said the county should nurture its local communities.