Scotland Road Free School

The Scotland Road Free School was a short-lived example of democratic education and free-schooling started in the UK in 1970 by two Liverpool teachers, John Ord[1] and Bill Murphy.

Bill Murphy moved on to concentrate on Liverpool Community Transport, which he established in nearby Leeds Street; but John Ord stayed with the school throughout.

In 1971, John Walmsley, a photographer who specialises in education photos, captured a series of images which record the early days of the Free School.

Having set up the Free School with John Ord, Bill Murphy went on to establish and concentrate on a new venture, Liverpool Community Transport.

Most notably, a double-decker took a busload of activists across the Snake Pass in the Pennines to support the Clay Cross councillors who were refusing to implement the rate-capping provisions of the Conservative government's Housing Finance Act.