Historic exercise books detailing life in Bristol in the 1960s rescued from a skip

The schoolbooks have neatly written notes on a whole range of topics, from the Government to how Bristol's council was run. Credit: Charlotte Sellers.

A collection of historic schoolbooks from the 1960s have been salvaged from a skip in Bristol, and have now been viewed by more than a million people online.

Charlotte Sellers was making her way to a pub with friends in Easton when she spotted the books in a skip and decided to take a closer look.

The 25-year-old, who describes herself as "a bit of a scavenger", was first drawn to the skip by a cabinet that had been thrown away, before spotting the schoolbooks.

She said: "What really drew my attention was on the back, there's this map [of Bristol], so we all just thought that looked really nice.

"But I thought I'd have a look through the book, and honestly I'm just really interested in what I found because you have these amazing drawings, excellent penmanship... I'm a bit of a history geek so I thought I'd hang on to it.

The map on the back of the workbook that first caught Charlotte's attention - showing a fifty mile radius around Bristol. Credit: Charlotte Sellers.

"The other thing was, I felt a bit sad they were being thrown out, it was a bit poignant. I just thought it was nice to keep hold of them, because it seemed like a real shame for them to just go into a landfill somewhere."

Charlotte and her friends found several different workbooks, which cover history, politics and governance lessons from the late 1960s. Topics include Harold Wilson's Labour administration, the structure of the government, and the rise of trade unions.

One page highlights the rise of trade unions - something Charlotte found interesting given their decline in the years following the book. Credit: Charlotte Sellers.

The books also have hand-drawn diagrams explaining "how Bristol is governed" and the structure of the Post Office.

A lot of what the books describe has now changed from when it was written by the schoolboy. The Board of Admiralty, Ministry of War and the Air Ministry no longer exist, while one section references telegrams and the state postal system, the General Post Office, which ceased to exist in 1969.

"The Elector - everyone over 21 (except lunatics, peers and criminals)." Credit: Charlotte Sellers

On another page explaining how the British public elects politicians, the schoolboy has written: "The Elector - everyone over 21 (except lunatics, peers and criminals)."

18-year-old's gained the vote in 1969, while those with mental health problems or severe learning disabilities did so in 2006.

Charlotte decided to post a handful of photos of the schoolbook to X, formerly Twitter. But the history graduate did not expect it to be viewed almost 1.5m times and generate hundreds of comments from people remembering their own education or asking for more photos.

She said: "It just absolutely exploded.

"I think its very interesting to think about why people are so compelled by it. On the face of it, it is something quite mundane - everyone has some of their old schoolbooks kicking around. But given a few years pass, it becomes an artefact of it's own right.

One of the many diagrams in the books, which are examples of the rote learning of the 1960s. Credit: Charlotte Sellers.

"I think, from an archives perspective, there's a big interest [in] miscellaneous items. You know, what you can do with leaflets, or pamphlets or schoolbooks.

"But I guess it's interesting, people find it interesting about how they might have learnt, how older people remember learning, younger people - it's a different way to how we teach and learn now.

"The drawings are pretty good frankly, I think that's a big appeal."

The books offer insights into now-defunct organisations, such as the General Post Office. Credit: Charlotte Sellers.

Several of those commenting asked if there were any more books, and the following day Charlotte recovered two more while the rain was "hammering down".

The books also have humorous interactions between the schoolchild and his teacher. In the margin of one piece of homework, the teacher has given the pupil four marks out of 20.

"Why is this unfinished?", the teacher has asked, to which the boy has replied "Because I was away sir!!"

One of the exercise books recovered by Charlotte, who says they contain the full name of their former owner. Credit: Charlotte Sellers.

Charlotte is yet to decide what to do with the schoolbooks, which name the pupil whose work they were.

She has said she is more than happy to return them to the family if they would like them back and thinks the idea of selling them "feels a bit immoral".

She said: "It does feel a bit strange I've got so much attention when they've got nothing to do with me. I just feel like it was a waste to see them go to a landfill."

Charlotte said she might see if she can donate them to an archive, and failing that will keep the books so she can look through them more thoroughly.