August 1939, Tom Higdon's funeral

For twenty five years, from 1914 - 1939 the parents of Burston enjoyed the luxury of choice. By 1930 equal numbers of children were attending the Strike and the Council Schools.

Friendly rivalry obtained between the two, particularly in sports. Charles Tucker Eland left Burston in 1920, his successor Francis Smith proved a more enlightened man. He enjoyed harmonious relations with the Higdons and the Strike School, regularly giving religious instruction and talking to the children. In the 1920s two members of the Russian Trade Delegation in London arranged to have their children educated at Burston. During the General Strike children from six Nottinghamshire miner's families were boarded and educated at the school without charge. The Strike School continued to function until the beginning of the Second World War. Tom Higdon died on 17 August 1939 and the school closed a few months later. Kitty, then in her seventies, was unable carry on alone, and the remaining eleven pupils transferred to the Council School. Kitty died on 24 April 1946 and was buried near her husband in Burston churchyard.

Tom and Kitty Higdon in
later life

The Higdon's headstones in the nearby Churchyard

The future of the school was secured through means of a new Trust Deed, based on the original documents of 1914. A series of publications and television programmes in the 1970s revived interest in this example of rural solidarity in the face of injustice. The Trustees now maintain and preserve the School building as a museum, open to visitors all the year round and have revived the annual Strike School Rally. (see Burston Now on the Home page)