Pupils at Allithwaite CE Primary School were busy preparing for a visit by a group of children from Holland in 1989.

Fifteen Dutch pupils, aged nine to 12, from Francesco School, Alblasserdam, near Rotterdam, were due to spend five days in South Lakeland.

The link between the two schools was forged earlier that year. Allithwaite School head Robin Govier explained: "Following a BBC Schools programme, Zig Zag, last year, about winter festivals in Sweden, Holland and France, I wrote asking to be linked to a school in Holland."

The school was twinned with Francesco School. "Since January we have been writing letters, exchanging telephone calls, pictures, maps and cassette tapes," said Mr Govier.

Francesco School submitted a project about the link to Dutch Television and won first prize a trip to Allithwaite for pupils and a teacher.

"The children will be staying with their penfriends at Allithwaite, their teacher with me," said Mr Govier. "It will be a good European friendship exercise.

In 1991 a mysterious water-hole was uncovered in the playground of Allithwaite Primary School by workmen preparing the foundations of a new classroom.

The builders thought the cube-shaped hole was an air raid shelter at first, said Robin Govier, head teacher.

But they now believe this was the school's old water supply. It was probably used in the previous century to collect rain water from the school and school house for use in the buildings.

In the past a hand-pump would have been somewhere above the tank, said Mr Govier.

The discovery delayed work on the 30-seater classroom while builders worked out the best way to empty the tank.

Back in 1976 Mr Govier was planning to write a book about the history of the school and was appealing to former pupils for their memories of life at the school in bygone days.

In 1997 pupils competed at sports day at another local school St Pius X Catholic Primary School in Barrow.