John, Susan, Graham and I all started school in England. Schools in England were segregated by gender from about age 6 or 7 on. The first school John and I went to was a private day school, Westwood House Girls School. John transferred to another private day school, Stamford Boys School. Mom and Dad were not impressed with the private school, and I transferred to the local “county school” (publicly funded), called Cromwell Road School. Susan and Graham both started school there. Each school had it's own uniform. For girls it was a box pleated tunic, cream coloured shirt, tie, socks, a blazer with the school crest, and beret, again with the school crest. The first school I went to the uniform was green, and at the grammar school it was brown. Older girls could wear a skirt. For boys it was grey flannel shorts for younger boys and long pants for older, shirt, school tie, and blazer.
We have terrible memories of “school dinners”. Lunch was provided at school. The original intent of the program was to ensure all school children had at least one nutritious meal a day. I remember we lined up in a dark and gloomy cafeteria style room, staffed by overweight women in dirty white aprons and hairnets, who slopped what was optimistically called “food” on our plates. I remember “Gristle stew”, a thick grey glutinous mass of tough gristle and fat with a few mushy carrots, potatoes and peas, and “blancmange”, a thick, lumpy bright pink concoction of a cornstarch (heavy on the cornstarch) pudding. A teacher sat at each table, and we had to stay there until it was all gone. I begged Mom to let me take sandwiches and eat in the park, but to no avail. To this day neither Susan nor I will eat beef stew.
There were happy times at school though. The music education we received in school far surpassed what we came to in Bienfait. At Cromwell Road we learned to read music, and to sing in parts. We took part in musical productions and plays every year. I was fortunate in being able to memorize and so usually had a lead role. Mom probably did not share my enthusiasm, as she had to contrive the costumes. She managed with the assistance of Mrs. Masterman. I remember a role as a princess with green hair. I also got to sing a few solos, though I was not one of the strongest singers. Mom used to come to these productions with the neighbor, Mrs. Masterman, and found them highly amusing, but we were proud of our achievements.
We also had lessons in scripture, and a daily Morning Prayer service. Mom and Dad were not religious, and we did not attend church as a family, so they were a little embarrassed when I won the prize for scripture studies at one of the annual prize days.
I passed an exam called the 11 Plus, to which every child in England at the time was subjected. It is no longer required, but at age 11, we were tested, and the results were used to stream students into the type of education they would receive. Those who passed went on to receive an academic education at a grammar school, which would lead a favoured few to a university education. Those who failed, about 75%, were streamed to technical schools.
The Grammar School http://www.thesoggylettuce.plus.com/county-school/pcgs_frameset.htm
At the Grammar School we had a subject called Greek Dancing. I think the idea was modeled on the dance methods of Isadora Duncan. Anyway, for this, Mom had to have made for me a saffron yellow silky tunic. I was red haired, freckled, pink skinned and somewhat chubby as a child. Something less flattering probably could not be found. Anyway, in this thing we had to waft around the gym pretending to be falling leaves and the like. I was not a very graceful leaf if I remember correctly.
The Greek Dance Tunic
I was also not very good at sewing or knitting, two other areas of study. Our knitting and embroidery were kept in our desks for idle time, if we were finished our work ahead of the others, for example. I will never forget Miss Purser, and “Your stitches are too big, Rip it out”. I was always last to complete my projects and they were grey and worn with handling by the time I was done.
At Grammar school the uniform regulations were very strict. The underwear was heavy scratchy dark brown bloomer like knickers (panties). Some of the older girls apparently flaunted the rule and wore frilly lacy under things in, horror of horrors, Black! The headmistress, Miss Mathews, discovered this by wandering in the locker room while the senior girls were showering. She spoke about it at morning assembly. That night, some one climbed up the school flag pole and attached a pair of black bra and panties. The story made the papers.
Our favourite time was holiday time when we would go camping. Mom and Dad loved camping. It was a relatively inexpensive holiday to take with children, and we were a large family by British standards. As the family grew, the tents grew. The first tent was a small white “pup tent”, large enough for Mom and Dad alone, and John and I slept in the car. The next one was a green heavy canvas tent. I remember when we were in that one everything looked green. Then Mom and Dad bought a fancy orange tent with and overhanging canvas top for shade. It was the latest thing back then. Mom and Dad and Kathryn used that one, and the kids slept in the green one. John used to “sleep roll”, and was often found far outside the tent in the morning. The floor of the tent was not sewn in, and we spread a groundsheet inside the tent. A trench was dug around the outside so the water would not come in when it rained; which, being England, it often did.
Camping in England during the 1950’s was very different from camping in Canada now. Campgrounds were a corner of a farmer’s field that he would rent out. There were no groomed campsites, we just found a patch of relatively level and hopefully rock free ground and put up the tents. Sometimes there would be a washroom with running water one could walk to; sometimes Dad dug a pit which we used for a bathroom. We walked to a tap or a pump for water. There were no barbeque pits.
The lamb
Dad made a camp stove, and once I remember him building a fire and a spit over it and patiently roasting a leg of lamb. He said he hunched over that lamb for three hours in the pouring rain, but it was delicious. The fridge was a porous stone box, over which a glass of water would be upended. The water would gradually seep into the rock, and that kept the milk and butter fresh. We purchased groceries daily. I remember in Wales walking daily to the farm for fresh farm milk, through fields of sheep. We explored, often hiking several miles up and down mountains and hills, and usually camped near the coast so we could go swimming every day.
Going for a walk
The train we missed
We camped in Wales, at a place called St. David’s Head. It was there that we took a little train up a mountain, and went for a walk. Unfortunately we missed the last train down the mountain and had to walk back. I think Dad estimated we hiked about 20 miles up and down the Welsh mountains that day. He said he had a map, but it was hard to judge distances from the scale. At St David’s Head we swam at a river mouth, in some wonderful rock pools. We explored medieval castles and cathedrals.
Pictures of St. Davids
Beach Scenes
Then for a few years we went to a place called Sheringham on the Norfolk coast. We swam there in the ocean. The beach was quite shingly. One year there was a Boy Scout camp nearby and they invited us to their nightly campfire.
Scenes from Sheringham
At Sheringham there was a wonderful bakery where we went daily for fresh bread. Mom and Dad used to put this bread in the back seat, and it never made it back to the campground intact. They used to say the “Meeces” nibbled it. This past May I went on an Alaska cruise. I got talking to a woman from England while we were waiting at the Lifeboat Drill. She was from Norfolk and knew Sheringham. She told me the bakery was famous in those parts. It was called "Lushers" It was a family owned business. It closed down a few years ago.
Camping in the Woods
At first we had a larger car, a Singer, but then Dad purchased a smaller Austin Minor car they named Baby Jiles. Mom and Dad would carefully pack this car to the gills with camping gear and necessities for the holiday. Then us kids would lie flat across the top of it all for the whole journey to Sheringham.
We went camping from an early age
Baby Jiles
I remember also several trips to Whipsnade Zoo. Mom liked Whipsnade Zoo because the animals roamed in large enclosures, not in small cramped cages. I remember a large bird aviary where budgies and other small birds flew free. I can also remember Dad holding a larger bird, a parrot I think, that bit off a button from his shirt.
We used to go every summer to visit Garandma Wraysbury. She lived in a little house named Aramis on the River Thames.
Grandma's House
Playing in Grandma's boat. That's Graham
Grandma's house was right on the river Thames. We used to take the boat up the river for picnics, and sometimes on trips down the river through the locks. We swam and fished from the bottom of her garden. The white column in the background is one of the columns from Waterloo Bridge, designed by the Ancestor. She had a punt, the kayak which Dad had built, and a small motor boat, all of which we had a lot of fun using. Swans used to nest at the bottom of her garden. They could be quite mean and we were always taught to stay away from them when they were nesting as those wings could break a man's arm.
She had a sloppy old golden Labrador named Bruce. He was a wonderful dog. We used to ride him. He was a Labrador retriever, bred for retrieving birds shot by hunters. Bruce could not swim. I remember him falling in the water one day and Uncle Edward had to dive in and rescue him.
Bruce with baby John
No comments:
Post a Comment