The Central Training School, Yarnfield – 1956

In the years following the Second World War, the General Post Office transformed a group of former Ministry of Supply hostels near Stone, Staffordshire, into a thriving centre of learning. The Central Training School at Yarnfield, officially opened in 1946, became home to thousands of engineers from across Britain and beyond — men and women trained in the fast-changing world of telecommunications.

This 1956 booklet, The Post Office Engineering Department’s Central Training School, was published for staff, students, and visitors. It captures a moment in time when the school was already world-famous for its scale and spirit — a community complete with classrooms, workshops, homes, gardens, and a lively social life centred around the four “Admiral” sites: Duncan, Howard, Beatty, and Raleigh Halls.

Within its pages are glimpses of mid-century optimism: photographs of students at work and play, details of the welfare fund (“two-pence a week”), and the pride of a staff who believed they were building not just a school, but a lasting family.