Objects of Substance- The Gymnastics Wall Bars

decades, students, using water from a tap, had to wet hessian bags which were then pulled across

the floor before each class to wipe off the soot from passing trains. In a photograph from c1912,

Josephine Bancroft’s face betrays nothing of the chore of wiping soot from the floor, but she does

seem to be enjoying herself as she hangs on the rings in the gymnasium, with the parallel bars,

ladder, and fellow classmates in the background.

1912 A very flexible Josephine Bancroft.

During the first half of the 20 th century, students of Gymnastics and Physical Education enjoyed a

greater range of activities. Several sports, including running, swimming, netball, and tennis appeared

alongside traditional movement and exercises and, even though it retained its place at the centre of

Physical Education, the aging gymnasium was now woefully inadequate.