A Typical Day
Days on the farm were long for Isabel and her students. Activities were spread between indoors and outdoors. As well as looking after the animals and doing lessons in the daytime, children were involved in housework and mending their own clothes. Isabel’s efforts to sustain her school at Mayortorne Manor were tested during its early years by food rationing during World War One and outbreaks of Spanish Influenza.
In her writings, Isabel describes other challenges as a series of disasterous incidents in the early days of the school. It took time to convince others of what she was trying to achieve and she found that many of the farm manageresses and teachers were unsympathetic to her aims. Eventually, Isabel took on the farm management herself alongside her teaching commitments - a testament to the strength of her personal conviction.
Busy most of the day with farm and children. Up at 6, milking till 8. Then working and supervising out of doors till 10. Teaching English History, Roman History, Economics and Egyptian History till 1. Reading Macbeth to children 2.30–3.30. Twenty minutes to read the paper for myself. Milking etc. till 5.45. Then seeing children etc. till they went to bed. Letter-writing and preparing lessons, and a gossip in the kitchen, Mrs Guy, Harriet, Kellard and myself.