History

The School at Huyton, Liverpool (1926 – 1939)

Information About the early years of the school and many pictures can be found by following the link given below:

Huyton Hill 1926-1939

The school was originally established in September 1926 with 6 pupils at Victoria Road in Huyton near to Liverpool, England. (Co-ordinates: 53.412218N, -2.833303E). It is listed in the Liverpool Schools directory[1] together with the headmaster, Hubert D. Butler[2]. (Note that the school had its entance on the north side of the site onto Victoria Road, whereas the present school has its entrance on the south side of the site off Seel Road).
The school is listed in the Liverpool & S.W. Lancashire telephone directory 1931, page 27 as:
“Butler Hubert D,Boys Prep Schl,Huyton hill.Huyton 105”

The school motto was “I will with a good will”, which set the tone for the ethos of the school and the way it was run.

It was the first school in the country to host its own aircraft landing strip as reported in Flight Magazine[3]. Hubert Butler had previously served in the Flying Corps in World War I as 2nd Lieutenant Flying Officer.

Here is an extract from the ‘Lost Villages of Liverpool – Part 3 by Derek Whale:
“The Headmaster of Huyton Hill Preparatory School was responsible for an exciting pre-war development in Huyton…he constructed an airfield there. The airfield or landing strip as it was then occupied the 25 acre field adjoining the school, where it stood in Victoria Road. The idea was conceived by Mr. Hubert Butler so that his pupils might gather an early knowledge of aircraft.. For its inauguration on 1st July 1932 the name Huyton Hill was laid out in concrete. Although the airfield was private, the Luftwaffe considered it important enough to have it marked on their maps as GB 10 833 Landplatz Huyton Hill. St. Aiden’s Church situated on what would have been the northern boundary of the airfield incorporates steel girders in its structure which were once part of the hangar at Huyton Hill.”

Hubert Desramaux Butler became a member of the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS) in November 1929, as listed in “Preparatory Schools Review”, No. 104, Vol. X.[4]
His name also appears in the “List of Members and Articles of Association”, IAPS, January 1930, p.5.[5]
In the IAPS List of Members and Articles of Association, May 1951, p.7.[6], the names of both Butler brothers are listed and Gerald V Butler became a member in 1950.

The School in the Lake District (1939 – 1969)
In September 1939 at the outbreak of World War II the school was moved to the Lake District where Pull Wood House, at the north west corner of Windermere just south of Pull Wyke (Co-ordinates: 54.408984N, -2.975546E), was rented to accommodate the school. During the war in 1940 the headmaster, Hubert Butler, purchased the house and grounds and continued to run the school until 1969.
The address was:
Huyton Hill School
Near Ambleside
Westmorland
Tel: Ambleside 333 (later changed to 3333)

In the 1949 telephone directory, page 22, before Ambleside numbers were extended to four digits, Hubert Butler is listed as follows:
“Butler Hubert D, Schoolmaster, Huyton Hill Preparatory school, Ambleside 333”.

The joint headmasters were Mr. Hubert Desramaux Butler and his brother Major Gerald Villers Butler, who joined the school in 1949 after serving as Leinster Housemaster at Portora Royal School at Enniskillin in Northern Ireland from 1926 to 1949. Together the Butler brothers ran the school very successfully for the next 20 years.
After the war the number of pupils averaged 60, and peaked at 74 pupils in 1965 which was near to the capacity of the accommodation, the number reduced to 61 by 1967.
The pupils belonged to Alfred or Arthur houses which created a sense of healthy rivalry and competition amongst the pupils.
Brigadier Gordon H. Osmaston joined the school as the Mathematics teacher in 1948 after serving in the army in Iraq during World War II. Before that he distingushed himself by spending three years (1936–1938) surveying and mapping the Himalayas with sherpa Tenzing[7].

School Fees
Hubert Butler aimed to keep the fees below £100 per term, although the extras added up to make the total more than this.
Here is an invoice from August 1959:

School Closure
Major Gerald Butler died in 1967 and school continued until 1969 when it was closed.
Hubert Butler converted the house into holiday flats. He died in 1971 whilst working for UNICEF in Swizerland and the ownership passed over to his son.
The house and grounds were purchased by Pullwood Bay Estate in 2002 and it is now named Pullwood House, it is still rented as holiday flats.