LAST week we looked back on the days of village life in Portesham.
Phil Dennis wished to share his wonderful collection of postcards from the village, which he collected because he married a 'Portesham girl.'
The postcards this week picture the children of the village.
According to the book Under Black Down The Story of Portesham, a Dorset Village, school rooms were cold, books were few and badly written - and attendance was poor and seasonal.
On 17th July, 1891 a teacher logged the average attendance of the boys class was 3 and several girls were gathering fruit instead of attending school.
The children were kept at home 'for the garden work, then the fishing, and now haymaking and fruit picking.'
When the children of Portesham were not working, illnesses played their part.
Mumps, ringworm, whooping cough and scarlet fever were all rife.
The times Portesham children would enjoy the most were when they were chosen to go to the station to collect library books and when they were allowed to make Christmas pudding.
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