National Camps Corporation

"In the 1930s, government ministers were worried about working class children living in cramped accommodation in polluted industrial cities." "The original purpose of these camps was to provide holiday accommodation for city children, who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to experience the countryside and nature." In the context of preparations for war, "in February, 1939, the then Home Secretary announced that the Government had decided to proceed with the erection of a number of camps and would entrust the work to two non-profit earning companies, one for England and Wales and the other for Scotland, and that the companies would be set up and financed by the Government.” As a result, the Camps Act. "They were built for school camps in which to give the children a fortnight's holiday, but they are being used now during the period of the war, and the Prime Minister himself indicated that we may still be fighting in the war in 1945." In March 1939, Lord Portal was announced as the chairman of the company for England and Wales. In England and Wales, "Thirty-one camps have been erected; one of these is occupied by an evacuated orphanage, the others, with one exception, are occupied by local education authorities of vulnerable areas for occupation by school children, together with the necessary teachers and staff." ==Construction of the camps==

The government's expectation was that the corporation would construct fifty camps, but in reality, only 31 were built in England and Wales, with a further five in Scotland. The cessation of the construction of new camps was mainly due to the increased costs as a result of war, and the realisation that such camps were not a completely adequate solution to the problem of evacuation. The Corporation "considered 155 sites for camps, all of which have been personally inspected by either the chairman or the managing director" of the National Camps Corporation. "Each camp has been designed to accommodate about 350 children and 13 teachers in peacetime, but the camps are so laid out that they can be doubled if necessary in an emergency." "With the arrival of war, certain of the expenses increased. The cost of materials and of labour has been much heavier for the later camps than for the camps which were started before the war. Again, with the arrival of war, we had to reconsider the use to which these camps would be put. When the decision was taken that they should become residential schools, and be occupied by school children throughout the year, we had to add extra class rooms, a sick bay, and make other provisions for caring for the children during the winter months. For these reasons, the capital cost has increased." The average cost of each camp was in the region of £25,000. ==Wartime and post-war use==

During the World War II, these camps were used as schools for evacuated children, run by local education authorities. and even Lord Haw Haw; the German propaganda broadcaster got wind of the camp, making remarks about the poor quality of the fish the children were eating there. The school ran extremely well over the war years, and even much past that. On 12 June 1945, a further Camps Act was enacted so that “the powers and duties of the Minister of Health under the Camps Act, 1939, shall be transferred to the Minister of Education.” In the decades following the war, most of these camps were sold to county councils and education authorities for use as schools. In 1948, it was reported that "30 out of 31 [camps] are being used by school children, and being used for 11 months of the year." On 22 September 1955, the Ministry of Education appointed a Receiver for the National Camp Corporation Ltd, when it went into liquidation. Of special interest is Amber Valley Camp in Derbyshire, used by Derby School, starting in June 1940 on completion. The boys and masters having previously been located at Overton Hall, near Ashover, where they were all moved on Saturday, 2 September by Derby Corporation petrol engine buses. Amber Valley Camp was used for several years by Derby Corporation for children/pupils living in Derby to enjoy the freedom of a very rural countryside for one month at a time. The valley where most of the dormitories, toilet facilities, meeting room, classrooms, laboratories, accommodation for the site warden and one master and his family had to be demolished when Severn Trent Water Authority flooded the whole valley to create Ogston Reservoir. The one remaining large building at the top of the valley is now occupied by the Ogston Sailing Club, where they have their clubroom, changing facilities, kitchen and bar. This large building had been used from 1940 to 1945 as the main school dining room, 'tuck shop' and masters' (teachers) common room. Built of cedarwood in 1940, the building is still as sound as originally. Most years it hosts a special school reunion of former school pupils who attended Derby School during the years of World War II. Also, in 2007, English Heritage listed Sayers Croft's dining hall and kitchen block as Grade II listed buildings for their exceptional level of survival, as of the nine camps that still exist today, only the plan of Sayers Croft reflects Thomas Smith Tait's original intentions. == List of 31 National Camps Corporation sites ==