It’s been a tad drab here lately. The weather hasn’t been living up to my Western Australian standards, in fact it’s been slightly bi-polar which is frustrating (constant rain, wind and bitter cold, speckled with short bursts of sunshine) and I’ve been feeling particularly lethargic and lacking in energy. Instead of wanting to get outdoors and explore, I’ve felt like hiding beneath my bed covers and not surfacing until late afternoon.
This lack of motivation has prevented me from finding any inspiration in which to base a blog post on. And I’ve struggled to see the ongoing appeal that Marvel Loch has. However, and I say this with pure unadulterated glee, today, I saw sunshine for what felt like the first time in a long time. With the welcoming rays of glorious warmth beating down on my window pane I bolted out of bed and took myself off for a run.
Being out in the fresh air and feeling the heat on my back was exhilarating and just what I needed after what has felt like a year in the uncomely wilderness. So much in abundance was my new found positivity (Vitamin D, I thank you) that I made the time to go for an inquisitive wander around the grounds of the old Marvel Loch Primary School.
Marvel Loch Primary School closed its doors for the final time in 2005, not long after it was gifted with a grant to purchase a new state of the art bus, and only two years after its Head Teacher won the WA Young Person of The Year award. With only 11 pupils attending the school it made sense to send them to nearby Southern Cross where they would benefit from larger classroom sizes and a more rounded curriculum.
Since its closure, the old school building has remained relatively in tact and untouched, and my Tuesday afternoon snooping led me to discover that aside from the removal of all desks and equipment, the rooms and the offices appeared to be in a good condition. Save for a sizeable proportion of weeds and a few overgrown hedges, the grounds of the school also appeared pretty much well kept. The play areas still existed and the school welcome sign showed no signs of vandalism or damage either.
Why then was it still there? Surely the residents of Marvel Loch could’ve come to some sort of agreement regarding its future use? I’m surprised it hasn’t been pulled down by now, or at best, turned into something resembling a site of commemoration or remembrance. Whatever the reason for its current state, I’ve decided to make it my mission to find out. I hope to begin by enquiring in the General Store and seeing what knowledge the locals can feed me. For a town with a population of (and I found this out today too) less than 50 permanent residents (Wikipedia, you need to update your info), there has to be someone who knows the history. Maybe old Harry will have the answers. I saw him again today. I think I’ll buy him a can of Fanta and see what he has to say. Watch this space.
Chasing Amy-Lou 
I was a student here at marvel loch, looking forward heavily to going to see the old school. Loving this blog.
I was a student at MLPS from pre primary to year 5, 1983 – 1988. I mainly remember Mr (Richard) Mader as the school principal and Mrs Mader who took care of jnr primary ( I distictly remember her doing backward ticks when she marked out work haha) There was also a Mrs Courtney (we planted a memorial garden for her near the old tennis cout, as she sadly passed away due to cancer), Miss Gianni, Mrs Stott and Miss Cowan throughout my time. there along with some others that i dont quite recall at the moment. I am still friends with 2 previous students from similar period, Kate & Jimmy (:
Oh wow, Shelly! Thanks for sharing that. I really enjoyed my short time in ML; albeit in the middle of nowhere. And it’s nice to hear you are still in touch with some former students.
My brother-in-law, Alec Scott, was the teacher up there in 1977 and I was sent up there for 4 months from Perth to make up the numbers! I was in year 6. My sister, Sue Scott, worked as a teacher in Southern Cross.
It was a culture shock for a young girl from Perth. I discovered Countdown when I was up there and had the obligatory crush on Lief Garrett! I discovered comic books and enjoyed reading about Jughead, Betty etc.
I was friends with a local girl, Carol Johnstone. We were as thick as thieves. Her dad built a pool in their backyard which we utilised during the long hot summer days! She also had an old car with no roof and a piece of steel for the gear stick. We would drive around the bush around ML looking for old mining humpies! We would find beautiful teacups and saucers and old bottles but never considered them as valuable and would quite often break them. Another girl we hung around with (Christine I think) lived at the pub with her dad and her brother would chase us around the slag dumps while riding his motorbike. We had so much fun.
The school was an all-in style of teaching and all year levels were taught together! The main classroom looks almost the same as it did nearly 43 years ago. We lived in the school house adjacent to the school and I’d go home each day for lunch and by the end, called my brother Mr Scott instead of his actual name. It was very odd and I was conflicted – it took me a couple of months to revert to calling him Alec on my return to Perth!
Sadly, Carole passed away years later in the Bali bombs but her memory stays with me as some of my favourite childhood adventures were in her company.