A FURNESS railway station platform was the scene for songs and vintage costumes as pupils found out about life as Second World War evacuees - seeking refuge with families out of reach of bombing.

The 33 pupils from Roose County Primary School had been studying the war years and headed to the station 30 years ago with name labels and gas mask boxes to make their lessons come alive.

Youngsters stood on the platform at Roose with no idea where they might be going.

It turned out to be Holme Primary School, near Kendal - reached by a rail trip to Arnside and then a vintage bus to Holme.

The Mail, on Friday, April 21 in 1989, noted: "Everyone dressed in period costume for the occasion, the boys in borrowed caps and knee-length trousers and the girls in berets and ankle socks.

"The children carried cardboard gas mask cases which they had made themselves and identity labels on their lapels.

"They all carried identity cards with strict instructions not to lose them and produce them when asked.

"They clutched teddies, tiny cases and pillowcases filled with belongings.

"Even parents dressed in clothing from the 1940s to see the children off at the station."

There was more dressing up in June 1989 as 30 Roose pupils became monks for a day and strolled the grounds of Furness Abbey.

They sang in Latin, spun wool, carved stones and illuminated scripts - although the toughest task was probably keeping silent at lunchtime.

Headteacher David Fellows wanted pupils to find out more about the once-powerful abbey and said: "It was the centre of wealth, learning and power and it is historically very significant in the development of Furness."

In June 1994 the school was visited by Sid and Hazel Westwell, who introduced pupils to life at the time of the English Civil War in the middle of the 17th century.

The experience was backed up by a visit to Dalton's historic castle in October - which has many relics from the conflict between Parliament and King Charles I.