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County High School for 
Shaftesbury 


L\i\AGAZINE 


DECE.mlER 1957

VOL. 20 

Editorial 
Magazine Committee 
In Memoriarn 
The Closure of the School 
StaffNo!es 
Gifts to the School 
Leaving Girls. 1956-57 
New Girls. 1957 
Prefects and Sub.Prefects 
Parents' Day, 1957 
Speech Day 
Prize·winners 
REPORTS : 

School Council 
Social Service 
Boarders 
Games 
Flo\ver Guild 
Dramatic and Literary 
Musical Activities 
Debating Society 

CONTENTS 

LECTURES AND VISITS : 
Puppet Sho,,,, 
Lecture on J\Io.dagascar 
Greek Play at Bryanston 
Th. Opening of th. Arts Club 

Theatre 

SIXTH FORl! ACTIVITIES: 
Dance \"'ith Grammar School 
Tnlka on Christian Denominations 
Our First Harvest Festival 

EXPEDITION TO DENMARK 

HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES: 

T. S. " English Rose II If 
Windsor 'Vorld Camp, 1957 
Camping in Guernsey 
A Holiday in France 
The Last Night of the Proms 
Travelling Up.Country 
POE)IS 

PARENTS' SECTION 
OLD GIRLS' SECTION 


Printed by the 
FROME NEWSPAPER Co•• Ltd 
Stoke House. 
Chrhtchurch Street WHt. Frome 



EDITORIAL 

Another edition of the School magazine is in your possession, 
and we hope that you will enjoy it. As 'you turn over the pages, 
I wonder if you realise just how much work it entails t I should 
like to thank the committee and everyone who has helped. 

This year has, as usual, been a busy one. Some people 
have been watching Latin plays in the pouring rain, others have 
been singing in concerts, while a few have been arguing with 
each other in the newly-formed Debating Society. Nearlyforty people went on an expedition ~o Denmark, where they 
met the Prime Minister himself. We have had some interesting 
lectures and have seen the film of "Richard IH". It did not 
min on Sports Day, and the standard of games is gradually 
getting higher. . 

It was unfortunate that we could not hold Speech Day this 
year, owing to the 'flu epidemic; but, as Miss Dunford said, 
we have made history. Never before has our School had an 
informal Prize Day in the Stalbridge Hut. 

One last word-If, after reading the magazine, your comment 
is that it is not as good as it should be, or not as good as 
it !las been, we should be glad to have your contribution for its 
improvement! 

* • * 

Magazine Committee 

Editress: SARA HENDERSON 

Sub-Editress: JENNY STAGG 

Oommittee: FRANCES POLLARD 

RATE OOLES 

HEATHER SWANN 

ROSEMARY WAGNER 

PAULINE FISHER 

2 

! 



IN MEMORIAM 

We arc a' Dorset School but, as we arc on the borders of 
Wiltshire, wc also scrve the Wiltshire Authority, so that it was 
with a scnse of pers.onal loss that wc heard of the dcath of 
:ilIiss Scott Baker. 

Miss Scott Baker's first visit to the School was in 1950 
when she came to present the prizes on Spcech Day. She was 
thcn the Deputy'Dircctor of Education. On the retirement of 
Mr. lnncs, lIIiss Scott Baker became the Chief Education Officcr 
for Wiltshire and so won the proud distinction of being the first 
woman in England to hold such a position. Wc dceply rcgret 
that she held it for so short a time and wc shall miss her kccn 
intercst in the School and hcr quick rcsponsc to any appcal foi' 
IlClp. 

• * 

THE CLOSURE OF THE SCHOOL 

For the first time in its history as It Dlaintaincd School, Olll' 
School had to be closed on account of illness from October 10th14th. 
Wc had hoped to escape the influenza epidemic but by 
Wedncsday, October 9th, there were 79 girls absent, and, with. 
six members of Staff incapacitated, and only onc IIouse lIIistrcss 
in each boarding·house left to copc with both the sick and the 
well, it was impossible for us to carry on. We were allowed to 
close the school and all the boarders who could travel, and 'for 
wliom the necessary nITangements could be made, were sent 
home. The surviving teaching staff then helpcd to look after 
the boarders who had to rcmain here, while the IIouse Staff 
lookcd aftcr the sick ones. 

The time of closure was hardly long enough for real recovery, 
and it was not until after half·term that wc could feel that wc 
were once morc working under normal conditions. 

It 'was a special disappointmen~ that we had to. cancel 
Speech Day this year when DIiss lIIann, former Principal of 
St. IIilda's Collcge, Oxford, was coming to prcscnt the prizes, 
and when there was so much of importance to report to our 

, 

fdends, particularly the ncws of the best G.C.E. results wc have 
ever had, and the highly suCcessful expedition to Denmark. 

The three weeks of the emergcney "iere, as always, a time 
of testing. We cannot pay too high a tribute to Miss Woods. 
who carried on the school in my absencc, and to lIIiss Langton, 

3 


Miss Maddick at Barton Hill, and )Iiss Abbott at Sunridge, 
steadfastly carried a Ileavy burden aud tile remaining members 
of tile Staff willingly undertook unfamiliar duties. Tile older 
girls, witll very few exceptions, gave all tile Ilelp tlley could, 
taking tile younger girls for preparation periods, dancing and 
walks, and, in addition, laying tables and waslling-up in tile 
Canteen. We Ilad many pleasant surprises wllen slly girls, wllo 
usually prefer to remain in tile background, volunteered for the 
less congenial jobs and gave all tile service they could. 

Once more we give tlla nks for the "close uuity of good 
purpose and of love onc toward another" wllich is om' strength, 
and we Ilope tllat tile younger members of our scllool, in tlleir 
tm'n, will learn from the older ones " to give and not to count 
tile cost." 

~r. lL DUNFORD• 

* • * 

STAFF NOTES 

We were very sony tllat Miss Brewington Ilad to be away 
from us so 19n9 last year. We were fortunate to l,ave sucll-a 
congenial substitute as ~Iiss J oscelyne and we were most grateful 
to Iler for making a break in her retirement. We were also glad 
that ~Iiss Towell could stay witll us during tile _Spdng and 
Smnmer terms and we sllall long remember Iler energy. We 
welcomed ~Iiss Tofield tllis term as P.E. mistress and as the 
l'esident mistrcss at Bm·ton Hill. At Sunridge, Miss Abbott, an 
Old Girl, joined us in May as Assistant House ~Iistress. 

Miss McGill was married in February to Alan Rickard. We 
were very glad tllat slle was able to continue teaching here for 
a while and very sorry that she has Ilad to give up her work 
in this part of Dorset. Her enthusiasm and friendlinness meant 
much to us. We have been glad to see fiIiss Sharp in her place. 

Miss Williams is llaving a term's lioliday and Miss Hayward 
is taking her place. 

Miss Drake enjoyed a Ministry Course in Music held at 
Reading in July and returned with new ideas. Miss Watkins 
went 'to Oxford'in August for a Course iu Classics. 

M.E.W. 
4 

" 

.. 



GIFTS TO THE SCHOOL 

Of money : GilIian Hann 
o;rennlfer Harding 
Barbara Horloek-J ones 
Bible for the Hall : Betty Jones 
Hilary J ones 
Library Books: Jane Brayford (E. Fellowes, "English 
)Iadrigal Composers") 
Susan Broadhouse (G.)I. Dm-rant, "Journey 
into Roman Britain ") 
Heather Cheater (L. E. Harris, "Vermuyden 
and the Fens ") . 
Wendy Colyer (A. de Musset, "Lorenzaeeio"; 

J. Anouilh," Pieces Roses" 
J euuifer Harding ()L )Iahood, "Shakespeare's 
Wordplay"; 
Edward Thomas "Collecte,l 

Poems ") 
Hilary J ones (T. Lever, "The House of 

Pitt ") 

LEAVING GIRLS, 1956-57 

Autumn Term 1956 
Spring Term 1957 

Fonn U. VI. J. Salisbury Form L. VI. H. )!oody 
Form L. VI. G. H8IUl 

J. Priddlo Form L. V. J. Booth 
Form U. V. S. Gmy 
S. Howell Form L. IV. )f. Cocks 
Form L. V. P. Bailey V. Drew 
H. Ridcout 
N. Grioyo 
J. Wyllie 
J. Wyma.n 
Summer Term, 1957 

Form U. VI. P. Colycr, A. Godescth, S. Gray, J. Harding, S. Hiscock, R. Phillips, 

B. Salisbury. 
Form L. VI. J. AlluUl, S. Broadhouse. H. Chc..'ltcr, A. Gibbons. H. Jones, 
, 
M. Jones, S. l\IcLeod, l\f. Padfiold. 
FormU. V. J. B:own,;r. Brain. S. Brooks, C. Filor. )1. ffrcnch. Y. Humphrics, 

S. Pallister; A~ <Morris. M, Rose, H. SnHsbury, J. Warchant. 
FormL. V. C. Harding, R. Hedges. H. Hunt., J. Jay, n,. PhiUips. 
Form U. IV. V. Griffiths. -
Form L. IV. J. Garrctt, J. Woodman. 
Form Ill. J. )IarshaIl. . 

NEW GIR!-Sj 1957 

Present l'orm 

R. Hedges 
C. Sergcan U.V. 
n. Sergcnn L.Y. 
1), Day _ 

U.IV. 
O. Jackson U.IV. 
s. ~rl1rphy L.\'. 
A. Perkins U.IV. 
p.lnshcr Ill. 
O. Fooks L.V. 
D. Clifton U.IV. 
R. Lillie U.IV: 
J. Floyd_ L.l\T. 
J. Powcll L.IV. 
J. Clarkc Ill. 
E.Colo _ Ill. 
J.Day _ Ill. 

C. Edcrlc Ill. 
C. Emery Ill, 
J. Feltluun Ill. 
S. Goddard Ill. 
S. Hnrcourt.Drooks Ill. 
E. Hughes Ill. 
D. Keo'lil IU. 
S. Lowjs_ Ill. 
L. 10litehell IU. 
S. Mitchell Ill. 
S. Pile Ill. 
J. Priddlo Ill. 
A. Read Ill. 
Hazel Rcid Ill. 
Heather Rcid IlL 
J. Richards IU. 
R. Riggs Ill. 
:M. Ruttcr Ill. 
J. Scammell Ill. 
J. Squire Ill. 
A. Stainer Ill. 
J. TnlStrnm IU. 
D. Waters Ill. 
E. Wood Ill. 
S. 'Yoolridgo Ill. 
Spring Term, 1957 

Previous School 

Basingstokc High School 
St: Christopher, Lctchworth 
St,. Christopbcr. Lctchworth 
Lord Dighy's, Shcrborno 
Parkstono Grammar School 


•, 
Summer Term. 1957 
Fromo Grammar School 
Portsmouth Southern Grammar Schoof 
St. Joscph's Com'cnt., Nicosia, Cyprus 


Autumn Term. 1957 

Trowbridge High School 
Government School, Stanley, Falkland 

Islands 
'I'he Park School, Y CO\'i1 
Shaftesbury County Modern 8('hool 
St. Cyprian's School, Cape'1'own 
Shafiesbury C. of E. Primary School 
Cann C. 9£ E. Primary School 
Fisherton Anger Primary School, Salisbury-
Hindon V.C. School • 
Mnud Road Primary School, Dorchcster 
'l'isbury V.C. Mixed School 
Highbury A\'cnuo County Junior nnd. 

Infants' School, Salisbury 
Shaftcsbury C. ofE. Primary School 
Bemcrton C. ofE. School . 
St. :Mark's Junior Mixed School, SaHsbu!)" 
Mnnston C. ofE. Primary School 
Cnnn C. of E. Primary School 
Lee·on.Solent County Primary S(,hool 
Clinrlton House School, Gillingham 
Ebbcsboume 'Vako C. ·ofE. School 
St. Leonard's School. Motcombo 
Iweme ~Iinster Primary C. 'of E. School 
Iweme 1\[inster Primary C. of E. School 
St. Joseph's Convcnt" Dc\'izes 
Fovant C. of E. School 
St. Aldhem's Voluntary Primary School 
Berwick St. John'School 
Ludwell County School 
St: Lconard's School, Motcombe 
Shillingstono-C;' of E. Voluntary Aided

-

School 
Fisherton Anger Primary School, Salisbury" 
St. Peter's Primary Sch~l, Parkstono ' 
Ashmore County PrimarY School 

~ 

6 


SCHOOL OFFICIALS.. 1957-58 


HcadGirl _ Clare Hams 

Deputy Head Girl 
Prefects _ 
Christinc Burwn 
JiIl Daigent, Jenny Burridge, Daphne Woodmnn, 
Ann Parham. Catherine Richmond ~ 
Sub·Prefects Ann Hall,: Sara. Henderson, Rose Napper, Shirloy 
l\Iitchcll, Christine Harrison, Cclia. Layzell . 
• • 
PARENTS' DAY, 1957 

May the twenty-second dawned blight and clear. It was 
Parents' Day and my birthday, too. When we got to school we 
had prayers, in which )Iiss Dnnford showed us her log-book, 
which had all the previous Parents' Days described in it. We 
had the normal three lessons before break, but after break was 
over there was the form-room to be made beautiful. Several 
girls helped with this and the girls who had nothing else to do, 
went into the garden and became the "Scavenger Squad," 
which had to pick up all the bits of litter that were lying around. 

At quarter past twelve the Lo,ver School trooped over to 
the Canteen at Sunridge for a hui·ried dinner, which ended about 
twenty-five minutes to one. By half past one all the competitors 
had to change and then we went, in our Houses, up to the field 
for the School sports. 

The Sports wcre very interesting and in the hundred yards 
it was amazing to see some people streak away from the rest. 
The Parents' race was the funny event that afternoon. To sce 
some of the men trying to hurdle was 80 funny-and to sce tho 
fathers or mothers and their daughters trying to skip together 
was amusing. The Athletics Cup went to Barnes' Honse who 
had ninety-eight points, Wren Imd ninety-sb: points, and Hardy 
had thirty -six points. 

After the Sports, the Third Form and their parents had tea 
at Barton Hill. We all sat on the lawn with our food and ate and 
ate. When we had finished tea most of us took our parents to 
see the Upper Fourth's Form-room, and the Art Room. 

Then we went down to the Main part of the School and 
looked round the form-rooms. I think, out of the many rooms 
that we saw; that our form-room and the Third's, looked best 
of all. We had so many. beautiful flowers. Then we went to the 
Hall and looked at the many varieties of hobbies in the Hobbies 
Exhibition. This finished Parents' Day for my Parents and me. 

The next day.Wss Dunford told us that it really had been 
a Red Letter Day. 

ROSIDIARY WAGNER, LOlom· IV. 

7 


SPEECH DAY 

Speech Day had been the cause of mueh anxiety for a long 
time ever since we had learned that we could no longer use the 
Savoy Cinema platform for P,ize-giving_ We had just planned 
how to use the space in front of the seats and' arranged for extra' 
lighting, when so many members of the Staff and of the School 
were stricken with influenza or with colds that the School was 
dosed for a few days and Speech Day cancelled for this year_ 

On Friday, October 25th, Mrs. Bradford joined us in the 
Stalbridge Hut for a short but very happy prize-giving. After 
introductory remarks from :Miss Dunford, lIIrs. Bradford gave 
away the prizes and then spoke to the girls about letting their 
parents share in their lives by telling them about the small as 

" 

well as tllO big things that happened every day. 

OJare Harris, our Head Girl, pre,sentcd lIIrs. Bradford with 
some red and white carnations, a token of our appreciation of 
1101' very real interest and affection for our School. .As lIIiss,Dunford 
said in her opening remarks, ilIrs. Bradford is never too 
busy to help us when we need advice or to be with us on all 
kinds of formal and informal occasions. 

We endcd Prize-giving with the'~rassed Song, one of the 
songs from "The Good Earth" that the Choir had sung last 
term. The composer, Trevor Widdicombe, has given us llis 
permission to use it as a School song. 

Although we were disappointed that we ha!! had to cancel 
Speech Day, we did enjoy this unusual prize,-giving. 

• * * 

PRIZE-WINNERS 

Subject Prizes 

English _ Ruth PhillipsReligious Knowledge Sylvia Hiscock 
History Hilary JODes 
French Pcnroso Colycr

Latin Ruth Phillips

i.\Inthcmatics Jenny BurridgoScicnco Aslaug Godcscth 

Art; _ 

i.\Iary Noms 

Speech Training Jenny Harding 

Hilary JODes 

Accompanist _ _ Ann Hall 

Dom Summcrhays Prize for Literature Bomh Jordan 

Dora Surumcrbays Prize for Painting Ann Hall 

8 


Good Work Prizes 
Upl"'r VI. Jenny Harding 
Upl"'r V. Sara Henderson 
. Rosemary Lawrenco 
Annn Lazarides 
Mary Norris . 
Jenny Stagg 
Daphno Woodman 
LO\ver V. Patricia. Ridout 
Upl"'rIV. Ann Milroy 
Vicki Pitcher 
,Gillian Ralph 
Diane Rowbottom 
Lower!V Coral Hutchings 
Rosalind Jackson 
Form Ill. Michelle Emery 

Rosemary 'Vaguer 

Prizes for Special Progress 

LowerV. B. Lesley Millar 
Upl"'rIV. Jean Upton 
Lower!V. Sally Church 

Rim Parsons 
Form III Elizabeth Hardy 
Christine Hayter 

Cambridge General Certificate of -Education 
.Adt'anccd and Scholarship Let'cl: P. Colyer, A. Godeseth, J. Hording, S. Hiscock,._ 

R. l'hillips. 
General Certificate of Education 
OrdinanJ Level: J. AlDer, J. Bown, J. Brain, :M. ffrench, C. Filor, C. Harrison, 

S. Henderson, Y. Humphrics, R. Lawrence, A. Lazaridcs, S. ~litehell, A. Morris, 
R. Nappcr, M. Norris, S. PalIister. P. Potter, C. Richmond, M. Rose, D. Shcp· 
pard, J. Stagg, J. 'Vareham, J. White, D. Woodman. 
Champion House Cup: BARNES 

Head Girl's Award: Jenny Harding, 

* 

SCHOOL COUNCIL ACTIVITIES 

This year it was decided that we must improve our ~·efreshments 
at matches, so some money was allotted from the Activities 
Fund for the Games Secretary to buy what she thought suitable. 
This arrangement is now working out very well. 

For our Christmas tree, this year, Miss· Drake gave us a 
box of brightly coloured balls and a box of crackers was also 
bought. 

9 


The School has its own Christmas card now, which, we hope, 
will be on sale for the first time this Christmas. After much 
discussion, it was decided that it should be kept plain, in black 
and white, with the School crest on tIle front, aud, if wanted, a 
twistcd silk cord round it in the School colours. 

We still have some money in hand from thc Fete last ycar, 
and it has becn suggcsted that we put it towards somcthing to 
l·eplace the radiogram which, after nearly tcn years' hard work, 

is worll out! 

SARA HENDERSON, Secretary. 

SOCIAL SERVICE. REPORT 

DlIling the past year, we have supported many different 
appeals including those of the British Epilcpsy Association, 
Inter-Church Aid and Refugee Service, Oxford Famine Relief 
Association and the R.S.P.C.A. We also helped at the time of 
the Hungatian Revolntion by supporting the Lord :l\Iayor's 
Appeal and collecting clothes for the British Legion who sent 
them to the Rcd Cross. 

As usual, we sold seals at Christmas, but this time for the 
Cancer Researcll, Spastics and Tubcreul.osis Appeals. 

"re have received information about a young Jamaican girl 

who has obtained a place for herself in a secondary scho~1 in 
Ji\maiea, but who has not had enough money to complctc her 
studies. We intcnd to have a collection caeh term to help her. 

CHRISTINE CROUCH, Secretary. 

THE BOARDERS' REPORT 

~rany changes have oceurrcd in the boarding houses during 
this last year. Miss Brewington, aftcr her long illne~ss, has given 
up her position as assistant house-mistress at Barton Ifill House. 
We thank her for all she has done to make Bm·ton Hill a happy 
house. In 1101' place we welcome Miss Tofield, and hope that she 
will enjoy boarding-house life. At Sunridge, we had to say 
goodbye to Miss Robson, and we welcome ilIiss Abbott. We 
t)lank Miss Robson for the help she hl's given, both at.~uuridgeand Bm·toll Ifill. ~ 

10 


At the cnd of the Slllmner Term, :Miss Dunford had.a great 
shock for tllC boarders. O,ving to the l\Iinister of Educntion's 
refusal to allow nnother house to be built nt Barton Hill, the 
boarding system was to be rearranged. All seniors from Lower V 
llpwards were in future, to live at Sunridge, While the juniors 
"Would hnye the benefit of the garden nt Barton Hill. There 
would be two headboarders at Sunridge, nnd two nt Bm-ton 
Hill. Although many were dubious nbont the success of the 
scheme, itis now obvions that itis an asset to all concerned. Each 
form, with the exception of Forms III and .Lower IV, have a 
Common-room of their own. As all the seniors are now in one 
house, we have decided not to ~ontinue.thc Senior Boarders' 
Club, although the Juniors wish to continue. . 

The Uoarders' picnic this year was rather' different from 
usual, mainly because of the weather. SUlII'idge ,vere to have gone 
to Swan age for the day, and Bm·ton lIiIl to Stuillaud, but 
finally both houses went to Bournemouth. MtCl' bathing or 
shopping in the morning, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the 
performance of "Ruddigore," by the D'Oyley Carte Oper" 
Company, at the P"vilion. The Boarders' party, as IIsual, waS 
an outstanding success, "nd the skit, "The Olel GMs' Return," 
acted by the Staff, was as hllmorous as ever. 

The bOlm]ers won the boarders v. day girls hockey match 
3-0. Unfortunately the tennis m"tch had to be c<'\Ilcelled. 

Regular schools' services are now well-established, and we 
also have Corporate' pon.lIl}lInion. on the first and last 'Sunday of 
every term. This year also, the senior girls h"ve attended 

Parish COIDlnunion. 

We lost eight'seniors at the end of the Summer Term, and in 
their stem] we welcome ten new girls. We hope they will be 
happy amongst liS, and that they will aid the boarders towards 
another successful year, 

JILT~ V. BAIGENT, 

DAPll:<E 'YoormAN. 

Hca,lboaJ·dcI'8. 

BARNES HOUSE REI'ORT, .1956-57 

H 01(8C ..llIi8tl'C88 Miss Watkins 

Hou8c Captain ...... Aslaug Godeseth 
Vicc-Housc Captain (i) Hilary )[oody (September-Apl'il) 


(ii) Christine Burton (April-July) 
House Gamcs Captain Heatlier Cheater 
11. 

What a succcssful year! Barnes was Top House, aud this 
fact may bc attributcd,to tlw bard work and enthusiasm put in 
by Aslaug Godescth, thc Housc Captain. Keeping' up thc 
tradition of being a very sporting House, Barnes walked or 
ran (but not Swam unfortunat~ly) away with all thc cups. Wren 
just managcd to beat us for the,Swimming Shield, but that will 
not happen again this year! 

At the beginning of the year, every House was given a 
charity towards which it should contribute, and some Bm'nes' 
members knitted somc very colourful squares which were made 
into a blanket and sent to a refugee abroad. 

A new idea was introduced last year, whieh was that cvery 
Housc should take lIIorning Praycrs on one of thc last threc days 
of term. Barnes thoroughly enjoyed doing this, and as most 
of thc Sehool appreciated thc Praycrs, wc hope the arrangement 
will be continued. 

Everyonc waS very amused at the Housc Party when 
trying to guess which baby photogmph belonged to whiclL 
member of the Staff or VI f9rm. The House Party was yet 
another great success. 

The members of Bm'ncs Honse arc now aiming at trying to 
makc this new year as sncccssful and enjoyable as thc last. ' 
'CImISTINE BURToN, House Oaptain • 

• 

WREN HOUSE REPORT, 1956·57 

House :Mis/rcss ..".. lIIiss 1IIatthews 
House Oaptain """ ".... Shirley MeLeod 
l'ice-House Oall/ai?1-"'''' Ruth Phillips 
ROJ/sc flames.Oap/ail!, -~"",-JiIl-Baigcnt 

Last year, the New Girls were welcomcd into thc Housc by 
thc Housc Mistress, who, for the first time, presented the girdles_ 

The House Party was a very suc~essful and happy occasion, 
and ,,11 thosc who attc!,ded seemed to be enjoying themselves, 
and thc Housc is most 'grateful to,all those who helped. 

During the Easter'Term there were"Housc Collections fOl" 
charity. Thc responsc to the appeal for milk-bottle tops was good, 
and the Captain was able to send off a worthwhile quantity. 

Last year, saw a noticeable improvemeut in the games. 
'Wren came second in netball, hockey and athletics, last in tennis 
and top in swimming. Of thcsc, the athletics and s"imming 
WCre notably thc best, and Wrcn should maintain its position 
this year. Wren came second in the competition for the 
'York Cup, and so was finally placed second house. By a real 

I~ 


effort by everyone, Wren might once again mauage to be 
champion house tIlls year. JENNY BURRIDGE 

House Oaptain 

* • • 

HARDY HOUSE REPORT, 1956·57 

Last year the standard of Hardy House increased considerably, 
both in work and sport, compared with' the previous year. 
However, a great deal of hard work is needed by all the members 
to raise the standard even highcr. I am very pleased to say that 
enthusiasm and support of the House is steadily in-creasing, and 
I hope it will continue to do so. 

Hardy during :).957-58 will, as last year, be a young House, 
with only two members in the Sixth Form after Christmas. 

I,ast term wc said goodbye to 1\[01'ri1 Foulkes J ones, the 
Captain, Shirley Gray, the vice-Captain. Clare HalTis, the 
Games Captain, is now Head Girl. Wc-also welcome back 
:Miss Brcwington as House_ :Mistress for -thc present year, a.nd 
]lOpe that ller health is now fully restored, to enable I1Cr to take 
partin all the House-activities. 

This year is already well on "tile way. Hardy, let us be Top 
1I0use at the end of it ! 
CAT1IERINE RICIDlO~D• 

GAMES REPORT 

Hockey Report, 1956-57 

Results 

Oct. 6th IstXI 

v. Blnndford ._ Home Drew 3-3 
Oct. 20th ._ 1st XI v. Lord Dighy's Away I.ost 2-8 
No\', lOth _ 1st XI v. Old Girls _ Home Lost 3-8 
Xov. 17th _ Ist.xI v. Shcrborne • B ' Away Lost 0-5 
Dec. 1st. 1st XI v. St. Antony's Away Lost 0-2 

Dec. 8th Uudcr 15 v.-Gil1inghnOl :\\100. Home Lost 0-2 
Dec. IGth 1st XI 

v. ])orchcstcr _ Home J.ost 0-10 
Jan. 19th 1st XI v. GiIlingham Gminmar Away 'Von 2-0 
Jan. 26th 1st XI v. Blnndford _ Away 'Von 3-0 
Feb. 2nd 1st XI v. St. :llnry's; Cancelled 

Cancelled

Feb. 9th 15 and Under v. Wimbornc 

Home Won 2-1

ltfnr. 2nd 1st XI . v. La.Rctmitc 
]orar. 16th __ 15 and Under v. Wimborne Away Won 3-2 
., Scrateh Senior Team tJ. Bhuulford ,_ 

Away I..ost 0-2 
.:lInr. 26th 1st XI 

v. St. :Mary's __ Away J..ost 0-6 
v. Lord Digby's __ Hqme Won 4-2 
Won 2-1
.lIar. 30th 1st XI 

.April 6th _ 1st XI • p. Gillingham Grammar Home 
\Vbn 6'; Drawn 1; IM3t 8. 

13 


Intcr·Sc1lOol J.lIatc1iu 

December 19th.-Boarders 3. Day Girls O~ 

HOllse Alatchu 

:March 26th-Winning House, Darncs; ·Ruimer..up, Wren. 

Six·a·side Tournament 

Oct. 13th. Winning l'eam-S. Hcnderson (Capt.), 1\1. ffrench, R. Phillips,.
J 'YyJlie, A. Milroy, J._ Gatchol'tso. 


The team which started the season was inevitably in')
Xperienced, and the result was a very disappointing first term_ 
Refusing, however, to be discouraged, the same team were on the 
whole successful for the rest of the season, beating several 
redoubtable opponents who hhd before beaten us by a large


margin. . 

On March 9th a number of girls were able to visit 'Yembley 
to watch, 'enjoy and learn a great deal from the England v. 
Ireland Hockey International. 

Because of her father's illness Miss Beer was unable to be 
with us for much of the Autumn Term, and Miss Towell verykindly" stepped into the breach." Whenllfiss Beer had finally 
to leave, wc were very please!!. indeed that Miss Towell was able 
to stay on with us. 'Ye were truly, sorry whe,! she too left us at 
the cnd of the school year. This term wc welcome Miss Tofield 
to Shaftesbl1l'Y. . 

1st XI, f956C57 

Goalkuper: S. Broadhol1se (Sce.) Right n'ill!l: H. Cheater (Vice.Capt.) 

Right Back: C. Harris· (Capt.) Rigllt Inside: A. Gibbons 

uft Back: M. ffrench Centre Forward: A. Godcscth 

R'9ht Half: S. Mitchcll Left Inside: S. Henderson 

Centre Half: C. Caso Left n'in!l: J. Harding*

uft lIalf: E. Harding 

____. __*_:p-iln_ol.~ C91otlf!> .f\.t~.1cJ! w~n. 
Colours, 195G-5i.-H. Cheater, A. Godeseth, S. Henderson, E. Hardiug. 


CLARE HARms (Hockey Oaptain, 1956-57)_ 
UppCI" VI. 

Athletics Report, 1957 
This year has been yet another successful one in the field of 
sport. Our results in the North Dorset Sports were the best 
they have ever been, for we won two trophies and sllared the 
third. They were held at Gillingham Grammar and County 
Modern Schools on lIIay 25tll, and the results were as follows :-

In nU 16 records wcre broken, three of which were broken by:-

C. Burton High Jump 
H. Cheater _ 100 yards 
C. Hutchings _ Long Jump 
t 

14 


Junior Girls : 
100 yards P. Cornish, 3rd. 
150 yards R. Jackson, 1st. 
Hurdles C. Head, 3rd. 
Long Jump C.l!utehings, 1st. 

Relay Team, 2nd. F. Cornish, R. Jaekson, C. Head and 

C. Hutehings. 
Team plncings: Sho.ftcsbury High School tie for'lst place witlt 
Blandford Modem. 

SerondaT1J Girls: 
100 yards P. Ridout, 3rd. 
150 yards C. Case. 1st; P. Collis, 2nd. 
Hurdles P. Barfoot, 1st; J. Mnrsden, 2nd. 
Long Jump ~I. Breeds, 1st. 

Relay Team, fst. P. Barfoot, P. Ridout, J. Upton, M. Breeds. 
Team plncings: Sho.ftesbury High School 1st. 

Intennediale Girls 100 yards H. Cheater, 1st. 
High Jump C. Burton. 1st; J. Burridge, 2nd. 
Javelin S. MitehelI, 2nd; D. Shcppard, 3rd 
Long Jump A. Parham, 3rd. 
Hurdles A. Lazarides, 1st; S. Brooks, 2nd. 

Relay Team, 2nd: H. Cheater, S. Mitchell, J. Burridgo, A. 
J..a.zarides. 
Team pJncings: Shaftesbury High School 1st. 

The results of the Dorset Sports held at the Modern School; 
Shaftesbury, on June 22nd:-

Junior Girls : 
100 yards R. Jackson 
Long Jump C. Hutchings 

8erondary G(rls : 
150 yards C. Case, 3rd ;, P. Collis 
Hurdles P. Barfoot, 4th; J. Marsden 
Long Jump M. Breeds, 2nd. 

Relay Team, 3ed. J. Upton, C. Case. P. Ridout. 

Intermediate Girls 100 yards H. Cheater, 4th. 
High Jump C. Burton. 1st. 
Javelin S. Mitehell, 4th. 
Hurdlcs A. Lazarides, 2nd j S. Brooks, 3rd. 

Relay Team, 2nd. H. Cheater. 

Senior Girls : 
150 yards J. Harding, 1st. 
Discus H. Jones, 1st; ],1. ffrench, 2nd. 

Relay Team, 1st. 
J. Bnigent, J. Harding, S. Grey, A. Godcscth. 

SCHOOL SPORTS 
These were held at om' own field on Wednesday,.i\Iay 22nda 
little earlier than usual, 4lthough there was such little time 
to practise, the standard was quite high, especia!ly in the Middle 
School, Barnes retained the House Cup by a very narrow margin 
after a tough fight }vith Wren. 

10 


Mrs. Bradford very kindly presented the cups to the 
following :-
Lower Sc1l.Ool : Winner: Coral Hutchings 

Runners.up: Penny Cornish, Betty Bush_ 

JUddl< School: 
Winners: :lIargaret Breeds, ~Patricia Ridout 
Runners·up: Pat .Barfoot. Jean Uptou 

Upper School : 
Winner: Heather Cheater 
Runners·up: Jenny Harding 


" e 

Lastly, "I should like to say" thank you" to ~Iiss Towell 
for all the hard work she did, and to the girls who really did 
their best and raised the standard of <1ur athletics, which I hope 
will continue. 

HEATHEIt OUEATEIt, Captain. .. 

Tennis Report, 1957 

This season's tennis was considerably below the standard of 
the previous year's. There was no set team throughout the 
season aud Om" laek of ability and expmience was proved when 
we were utterly defeated by the Hall School aud St. i\Iary's, both 
of whom had a very high standard of play. In spite of all this, we 
had· our victoties. 

We were very disappointed when we were nnable to play 
the Old Girls whom we were firmly convinced we could beat ! 

For the first time an " Under Fifteen" team was formed. 
Their experience will prove very valuable in the futm"e of the 
School's tennis, and with continual practice we hope they will be 
able to raise the standard. 

Malch.. 

0ppolltnu S.II.S. Place R.."U 

Blandford 1st VI Away Won 52-47 
Gillinghsm 1st VI Away Won 47-40 
The lion School 1st VI Homo Lost 18-63 
GilIinghnm 1st VI Home Won 53-16 
St. Monica's 1st VI Home \Von 51-20 
St. :\Ionica's 2nd VI Home Won 57-18 
Blandford Scratch' team Home Lost 21--42 
'nlandford _ Under 15's Homo Won 33-30 
St. Mary's Convent 1st VI A'....ay Lost 14-67 
St. }'fury's Convent 2nd VI Away Lost 22-59 

1st VI 

1st Couple: S. Pn-lliater (Capt.) nnd C. Case 
2nd Couple: J. Harding and S. McLcod. or A. Welford and J. Burridge 
ard Couple: J. Allum and S. Grey, or A. Gibbons and P. Potter 

Under 15 Team 

1st Couple: P. Barfoot and A. Milroy 

2nd Couple: E. Hnrding and K. Godwin 

3rd Couple: S. Welch and J. Cobloy 

Sus~, PALLISTER, Captai,,·. 

16 


Swimming Report, 1957 

It is very noticeable that the standard of swimming in the 
SCh901 has risen since last season. It is also plain that there is 
more enthnsiasm for swimming 1I0W, although it comes mainly 
from the Middle and Lower School. 

The School retained, as in previous years, the nse of the 
baths for an hour 011 Monday evenings, and an hour for the 
boarders on Saturday mornings. The time~was made good nse of 
and lIIiss Towell devoted much of her free 'time to coaching 
enthusiastic l?eginners. As a I'esult there was a record number of 
entries for the Swimming Gala, which was held on July 23rd. 

~ The whole afternooll weut smoothly, due to lIIiss Towell's 
organisation, and elided with Wren Honse sW'prising everyone 
by gaining enough points to win the Swimming Shield. Barnes 
came a close second, with Hardy in third place. 

The Sellior Championship was won by .A.nlla Lazarides, with 
Sally Brooks as runner·up, Vieki Pitcher ~easily WOII the lIIiddle 
School Cup with .Alison Grallt as runner· up, while Gilliap. Jackson 
won the Junior School Cup with Carolyn Head as I'illlner-up. 

I sincerely hope that the enthusiasm for swimming will 
continue to grow, and so gradually raise the already high 

standard. 

A,'\'N GIBBONS, Swimming Captain. 

* • • 

FLOWER GUILD REPORT 

During the past year, although the number of Flower Guild 
members ~has somewhat dwiudled, those who came were very 
enthusiastic aud some very good I'esults were achieved. 

Thc highlights of the year were the Christmas Exhibition 
aud the Parents' Day Exhibition, The former was thoroughly 
enjoyed by the School and was also a great success financially. 
The Parents' Day Exhihition inclnded some 'very charming 
arrangements, which many of the parents appreciated. 

By the end of the year, although ~ix new members were 
added from Upper IV and J enllY Bunidge was welcomed from 
the VI form, the funds were greatly diminished. The members 
of the Flower Guild have begun this year hoping that funds, will 
be increased, alld that all the activities will be as successful as 
those of the previous two years. ' 

</HRISTINE BURTON, SeC1'etm·y. 

17 


DRAMATIC AND LITERARY SOCIETY REPORT 

In the Autumn Term we enjoyed several play-readings, and 
a talk on stage make-up from Miss Woods. At Easter,c we 
prepared, and produced, with the help of Miss 'Voods and 
llliss llIoore, "The Rehearsal." This short play was performed 
in the School Hall, and as we gave two _performanees, all the 
gids were able to see it. No meetings were held during the 
Summer Term, but by the Society's requests and financial help, 
a representative from Yardley's was invited to give the senior 
girls a talk on Good Groommg. 

In this new school year we Ilave recently begun casting 
" As You Like It," which we hope to perform at the end of the 
Spring Term. 

;TILL V. BAIGENT, Secretary. 

MUSICAL ACTIVITI ES 

Apart from the choir'S packed programme, there have been 
several other musical activities this year. 

During the Spring Term, Dr. ;Tolmson arranged an informal 
concert for us. He brought-two friends to the School, llIrs. Dora 
WilIner, well-known singer, who has now retired, and llIiss Lucy 
Vineent, renowned oboe-player, who has played in most of the 
principal orchestras in the land. i\Irs. Willner, accompanied by 
Dr. ;Tohnson on the piano, and i\Iiss Vincent on the oboe, sang 
some Bach compositions, which enthralled us, although some of 
us found them It little difficult to understaud fully at the first 
hearing. The musicianship of all three performers was of a very 
high standard, aud we all felt that we had greatly enriched our 
musical experience by hearipg them. 

As usual there were mauy entrants in the North Dorset 
llIusic Festival, both in the iudividual and group elasses. Hard 
work and enthusiasm resulted in several cups and eertificates 
being awarded to our girls. Lower V, in particular, distinguished 
themselves with a fine pieee of singing. We wish, however, that 
there had been more entrants in many of the classes, so that the 
eompetition would have been keener. Nevertheless, we greatly 
enjoyed and benefited from this opportunity of joining with 
other schools to make music together, and next year we hope to 
attain even higher standards. 

Although we were forced to cut our musical programme on 
Prize Day, nevertheless the School sang" The Sower's Song," 
18 

,., 



:from "The Good Earth," by Trevor Widdicombe, which the 
Clioir performed last "May. )11'. Camoron accompanied ns ably 
on the piano, and wc thank him for IlClping us so willingly at 
such short notice. 

Finally, in " The Sleeping Monk," which the new Shaftesbury 
Arts Centre is pOl'iorming, six of om' girls arc playing 1'ecorders; 
under )Iiss Drake's guidance, and thrce of our old girls are 

singing in " The N!111S' Chorus/' 

J. $TAGG, L"olOer 1'1. 
The School Orchestra 

Throughout the past yca1' the School Orchestra has carried 
on with its normal weekly practice. 

The main event of the year was onrentering the North 
Dorset )1nsic Festival during the Spring Term. The piece of 
music wc played was "Andante," by :tI[ozart, which won us 
second place with the result that wc performed in the evening 
concert. 

Unfortunately Mrs, Riekard had to leave us at the end of 
the year, which was a verygre.at loss to the orchcstra, as we were 
'Vcry fond of hcr and she was a great inspiration to us all, 'Vc 
110>,' welcome :tIIiss Sharp in her plaee. 

FRANCES POy,y"mD, Upper 1' . 

* • • 

The Choir 

At the beginning of the year, the Choir knew that they hall 
a gl'eat deal of hard work before them, and after the Carol 
Sel'"ice, held early in December, the time seemed "ClOY short, 

After returning to School on January 10th, six members 
of the Choir were chosen to represent the School at the Concerti 
:for the Blind, in the Town Hall on Febmary 1st and 2nd. 

School examinations begun on February 7th and on the 
same evening a party of twel"e from the Choir travellcd to 
Rlalldford by 'bus, accompaliied by:tlIiss Dl'llke, to take part in 
a concert arranged by Dr. Reginald J olmson, They sang a group 
of foul' )[ozart Canons. 

Preparation then went ahead atfull speed for the concert we 
were to give at the end of )1ay. The works which were to be 
performe<l were "The Good' Earth," a new choral work, for 
.solo and female voice choir, with string accompaniment, written 
by Trevor 'Viddecombe, and "The Liebeslieder" (Songs of Love)', 
by Rrahms. 

19 


Rehearsals were very difficult to arrange, and there was 
only one complete practi£e, on' the morning of the first performance, 
with the composer and the orchestra. 

Both the School'S pcrformance, and the pnblie performance 
the following evening were a great success. We were very 
honoured to have the composer to 'coudnct his new work, and 
Mr. Joseph Saxby with Dr. Reginald·Johnson playing the due~ 
accompaniment for the" Liebeslieder," and also performing the 
Sonata in C by lIfozart between the two works. The soloist in 
the" Good Earth" was a member of the choir, an,l gave a very 
pleasing performance, although she had not sung before in a work 
of this kind. 

'Ve thoroughly enjoyed the concert and felt that the hard 
work beforehanclhacI been fully justifiecI. 

After a rest in the Sumlner Term, during which we built 
up our repertoire, we are looking forwarcI to thc Carol Service 
with enthusiasm. 

J. STAGG, 
C. RICIDIOND, L. TT.I. 
* • 

THE CAROL SERVICE 

The Carol Service took place on December 7th in Holy 
Tlinity Church. The service was taken by the Reverend G. K. 
Horloek·Jones. The combinecI choirs of the Grammar and High 
Schools led the singing of the hymns, and also contributed many 
bcautiful carols. Together they sang, "Carol, Sirs, the blessecI 
birth," " I saw a maicIen," " Angels from the realms of glory," 
i\llcI "We three Kings." The girls' choir sang" Dormi Jesu," 
" The Holly ancI the Ivy," ancI " 0 little one, sweet." The readers 
from the Grammar Sol1001 were David Roberts and David Pound, 
ancI from the High School were' Penrose Colyor and i\fichelle 
Emery. The church was packed to capacity with fricnds of both 
schools, many of whom, aftcrwards said that it had been a 
thoroughly succcssful and enjoyable service. 

CLARE HARms, Upper TTI. 

• ' .. 
THE DEBATING SOCIETY 

Before this ycar, there has been little or ;10 opportunity for 
those intereste,l in public spe~king to develop 'their abilities'. 
Although Debating Societies' are more usually connectc"d with 
boys' schools, a group of seniors decidcd to launch one ancI sce 
if sufficicnt enthusiasm could be aroused to make it a success. 

20 

• 



Upper Fifth and Sixth Form girls were in~ted to become 

members, the only stipnlation being. that;. they should be Williug 

to speak at a debate-wllen called upon by the organiser. TI\Q 

aim of the Society was. t";9,-fold~.: to give practice and exp~riencQ 

in public-speaking, and to provide an opportunity for free 

exchange of opinion and ideas on varied topics. 

Ten Sixth Form and seven Upper Fifth girls joined. The 

organiser appointed different chairmen and speakers each time, 

meetings being held fortnightly, Subjects for debate ranged from 

"English blood sports should be abolished," to " The eleven plus 

examination in its prcsent form is an nnsatisfaetory method of 

selecting cbildrenfor Grammar School Education." There were 

also several meetings l·eserved for spontaneons speaking, whCl~ 

members were called upon to speak for two minutes on an 

unprepared subject. 

The Society ha~ continued with undimiuished support, and 

we hope that it will grow in experience aJ)d quality as it becomes 

longer established. 

)fERRIL F. JOKES• 

THE PUPP~T .THEATRE 

We sat still, the room busbed, and the lights went out. Aglow 

·came from the stage as tbe small curtains lifted. The first 
scene of " Beauty and the Beast" had begun, with the setting 
of a pretty room, and Beauty's sisters discussing theirmisfortulles 
as their father's ships had been sunk. 

The rest of P~rt TWO shpws how ~heir father, the merchant, 
discovers that his creditors hnve seized the goods from his only 
returning ship. On his way home he gCtI\ lost in n dense forest 
and comes upon the Beast's eh1\tenu. The next morning, after a 
night in the chateau, the mercluwt foolishly picks a rose to give 
to Beauty on bis return. The Beast pounces on him, promising to 
spare his life if he sends Benuty to live nt the chateau. Beauty 
goes, against her father's wish nnd finally arrives there safely. 

Mter the Intel"Val, Part Three opens on a room in the 
chateau wlIere Beautypersuades the Beast to allow her home for 
a week. Her sisters then plot to make the Beast devour her for 
overstaying ber time~ but in the Opera Box, n rabbit warns the 
gid that the Beast is dying, .A:iter many adventures she finally 
an·ives in time, kisses the Beast, wbo changes into a Prince, and 
promises to be bis wife. The woo\llan\l animals are discussing 
this, when you see the Prince ~l~d 11is I?ride sitting in n glade on 
the evening after tl)ei,r we\lding, 

21 


The tiny marionettes were beantifully dressed and moved 
so well; the lighting and seene.s were very good, so were the 
voices, mnsic, sound and effects. I enjoyc.t!'it,yery much, and 
hope to see the theatre again one day;' 

nIICIIELLE EMERY, Lower 11'. 

THE LECTURE ON MADAGASCAR 

Last Spring Term, we were very fortunate ill having a lecture 
on nladagasear from someone who has spent a great deal of her 
life there. Shc was Miss nL Hunt, the Headmistress of a girls' 
school. . 

nlost of us had preyiously known very little about 
Madagascar but after the lecture wc found that wc had learned 
a great deal. The lecturer spoke of the French and British 
influence in Madagascar, and of the nlalagary people themselves_ 
She also told ns a great deal about her school, which was 
extremely interesting, as school life there is a great contrast to 
English school life, with boys and girls walking many miles to 
school at the beginning of each term, carrying .their belongings. 
Most of us, if faced with such conditions as they contend with, 
would be shocked. 

. During the lecture wc were shmvn many bcautifnl examples 
of nlalagary handwork, including a onc-piece garment such as is 

worn by the l\Ialagary women. 

After question-time, a vote of thanks to Miss Hunt was 
proposed by Hilary Jones (Lower VI) and the lecture was 
officially ended. nlany girls, however, stayed behin(l to examine 
the ltandwork and literature which Miss Hnnt had brought, the 
lecture being given under the auspices of the S.P.G, . 

We hope that sometime in the not too distant future, wc 
may be fortunate enough to have another, equally intercsting 
!ecture on :ilIadagascar. 

CELlA L. LAYZELL, Upper 1' . 

EXPEDITION TO THE LATIN PLAY AT BRYANSTON 

On July 19th, 1957, a small party of Vlth and Upper Vtlt 
Form girls went with nIiss Watkins to see a performance of the 
" Troades ". I still wonder that We managed to enjoy it qniteas much as we did, for the cqnditions were not jdeal! There 
was a 'bus strike and the journey was ratluir uncomfortable 

22 

,. 


• 

• 



owing to tho fact that we only had one car. The rain which llad 

poured down all tho way ceascd when we arrived at Bryanston 

and thc play began in the open-air Greek thcatre. 

With the help of' a synopsis of the story, we were able to 
follow the play. We all appreciatcd the clearncss of the words 
and the fact that the actors obviously understood very well 
what thcy wore saying. The. II\ain women's parts were played 
convincingly by boys, and the chorus of Grcek women' sang aud 
dauced very eff!)ctively. In spite of intcrmittent rain, we were 
enjoying the dramatic atmosphere of Sencea's tragedy, when the 
lights fused and 1,'ere so long being l'epaired that we had to leave 
some time before the end. ;rust how infuriating this was, you 
will realise-if you have ever passed something beautiful on a 
fast train journey and wished you could have seen more. 

M,\RY NORltIs, Lower VI. 

* • 

THE OPENING OF THE SHAFTESBURY ARTS CENTRE 

We were very privileged to be invited to represent the 
School at the opening of the new Arts Centre on Friday, 1st 
November. This is thc seventh Arts Centre to biJ opened in the 
South-West of England. There was in the charming little theatre 
a feeling of real pride in Shaftesbury's historic achievement. 
The. proceedings of the inaugural mceting were opened by the 
Chairman, who paid tribute to the loyalty and enthusiasm of the 
voluntary workers who have given of their time and labour to . 
make the new centre what it is. The Honorary Secretary read 
out the many telegrams of congratulation and encouragement 
received. JlIr. Cyril Wood, the Director of the South Wcstern 
Arts Council, spoke about the duties and responsibilitics of the 
Arts Club towards the community, and challengcd thc Club to 
become the centre of an ever increasing circle of culturc. Dr. Wyn 
Griffith, Vicc-Prcsident of the Arts Council of Great Britain, then 
formally opencd the Centre. 

There followcd a concert in which Christopher Hassal, the 
well-known broadcaster, gave some enthralling poetry readings, 
and .Alan Bailey-accompanied by JlIaric Phillips-sang a 
delightful group of songs. 

* * * 

"THE SLEEPING MONK" 

To celebrate the opening of the .Arts Centre this November, 
Laura Sydenham wrote a pagcant of Shaftesbury from the time 
of King .Alfrcd to the salc of Shaftcsbury in 1919. ~his was 

23· 


produced by Barrington Benson and aeted by a large east. The 

first six performauces were given in aid of St. Peter's RestoratiOn 

Fund and the last two for the Arts Olub. 

'The play was most enjoyable and gave a good pietureof the 
history of our town. The !ink between scenes was the narrative 
of the," sleeping monk," the weather-worn figul'e on the north; 
west corner of St. Peter's. A clever piece of stage-craft plaecd 
the monk in a niche high up on the side of the stage. Most of 
the scenes were naturally serious but the humorous pictures 
were much appreciated, especially the One of the mock election. 

It was a lovely idea to begin activities in this new theatre 
with such a play, acted mainly by Shastonians. 

* • * 

THE SIXTH FORM DANCE 

,The sixth Form Dance was held this year on 8th December 
in tlle'Grammar SChool )Iemorial Hall. This now annual event 
was looked forward to by all concel1led. The boys made eh:)rming 
and conscientious hosts and the girls after many ):tours of preparation 
were alllooldng their very best. 

The evening went with a swing: this year we di~ not have 
any games but there was a good selection of dances, ranging from 
waltzes to encourage the poorer dancers to energetie jiving by ~ 
few of the more keen members of the party. There was also :the 
inevitable elimination dance and the snowball started heroically 
by Shirley )IcLeod and John Evans, but one of the most enjoyed 
of all the dances was the Conga through the passages and round, 
the dining-room ! After this we adjourned to the library for the 
buffet supper, where, although most of the female daneers did 
not feel like eating much, the boys certainly took the opportunity 
of pal:taking wllOleheartedly of the refreshment before going 
baek to dance with renewed vigour. 

Soon it was ten o'clock and when we said our " thank you's " 
they were said with true sincerity for !t very enjoyable (}vening. 

TALKS ON CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS 

.At the end of the Summer Term the VI Form enjoyed a 
series of talks about Christian Denominations. Various local 
speakers eame to School during the last week and talked about 
their beliofs, Father J eanneau gave the first talk on Roman 
Catholicism, ;llld told us about the Early Church. ~he following 

24 


day the Rev. E. R. Micklem talked to us about Cougregationalism, 
giving us a brief historical summary of it. The next speaker was 
Mr. F. Ward, who spoke to us about the Society of Friends and 
how it was formcd. The fourth talk was given by the Rev. K. 
Laws on the subject of Auglicauism, which gave us a backgrouud 
of the Church of England. The final talk was from the Rev. N. 
Harrison on Methodism, who pointed out, amongst other thiugs, o 
the afthii\;y of Methodism and the Church of England. The VI 
Form fO)lnd these talks very intercsting and informative and 
look forward to a similm: series in the future. 

JILL y. BAIGENT, 

ANNE C. PARILUI. 

* • * 

THE FIRST HARVEST FESTIVAL 

What were the Sixth Form doing Y Ever morning they 
aITived with ,parcels, small, large, rOJ!.nd, long, and knobbly, 
cleverly (as they thought) concealed behind bulging satchels, 01" 
in inconspicuous carricr·bags. Youngcr sisters we.re sternly 

informed, "Wait and scc," or" Never mind. You'll soon learn." 

But at last on Friday morning the sccret was out! It was 
a Harvest Festival, a thing which had never been held before. 
The platform was decorated with everything imaginable from 
coal and water to tinned fruit and vegetables, and home·made 
cakes, 

It had been decidcd that the things were to be taken to the 
old folk of Shaftesbury, so that afternoon, the hall was dismantled 
and seven of us set off with :Miss Woods. It was wonderfnl to 
see the pleasure in their faces at the unexpected surprise. I hope 
that the Harvest Festival will become a Sixth Form tradition. 

SARA HENDERSON, Lower VI. 

* * * 

EXPEDITION TO DENMARK 

When I told my friends that I was going to Denmark in 
the holidays, they were interested and envious but when I added, 
" with thirty-nirle girls "; they became sympathetic and respectfnl 
of my courage . .And certainly, when I saw most of the party 
on Gillingham Station, with their parents, I wished I hadn't 
been so rash. To anticipate; perhaps the most wonderful moment 

25 


of the adventure was on the same station two weeks later, when 
I was able to hand over a daughter to ·every parent there-not 
one lost! 

I was, of cOUI'se, not aloue and this I know accounts for most 
of the success of the expedition. With Miss l\[addick to organise 
OUI' bathing and look after our healt!>, l\Iiss Tilstone to cope most 
ably with distinguished visitors and Miss Langton to be our 
memories, I was wcll supported, And, of course, thcre were 
thirty-nine girls to look after us, 

Oddly enough, when I think of them, the first word that 

comes to me is "shops".. "Wberever we werc, Denmark or 

Sweden, Copenhagen or Luud, most' of them wanted to see the 
shops, The amount of thought and searching that went into 
buying presents for parents would have touched the latter very 
much, I hope they were pleased with some of the curious objccts 
they were given,. 

Food, of course, played an important part in our enjoyment, 
We had enormous meals but never managed to eat enough to 
please Mr, Lennings, except perhaps layer-eake_ .We, had 
regretfully to leave uneaten a great many doughnuts, om' 
individuall'ecord being eight, whereas a legehdary figure, a boy 
undoubtedly, had consumed twenty-seven, 

There werc many more serious pleasures and more treasm'ed 
memories, In the following articles, we have tried to describe 
some of them, One' of the scenes I feel I shall never forget was 
the tea-party in the wonderful reception-room of the Department 
for Foreign Affairs in the Christiansborg Palace, I can still see 
the groups of blue-frocked girls sitting so upright that evcry one 
descrvcd a Deportment Star, eating pastries with the aid of a 
fork and drinking tea from the finest of white, gold-rimmed 
porcelain cups, and then standing up to shake hands with the 
very plcasant, well-dressed Prime Minister. 

The Staff rcally did enjoy the holiday very much despite the 
anticipated auxieties which, as it happened, proved to be few, and 

we arc all eager to go back one day to Elsinore, to see again its 

green copper spires and roofs, busy ship-yards and quiet bathingbeaches, 
and to talk with Mr. Lennings and Jette at theu' delightful 
manor-house, Vapnagaard, 

The People of· Denmark, the Hotel and Helsingor 

When we mTived at Copenllagen station, wc were greeted by 
a smiling friendly girl in a smart uniform, who turned out to be 

26 


J,ette Lennings, the danght!)r of the Irotel proplietor, and from 
then oni to the end'!>'f 'our'stay, our hosts were most fliendly and 
]\()lpful. "re were very tired, alid didn't take in our slllToundings 
very much that night, But the next morning we awoke to find 
that the Hotel, Vapnagaard was a delightfnl little farmhouse, 
built on a " U " construction, round an eal·thy courtyard, which 
1Uld presumably once bccn the farmyard, 

'Ve had delightful'little bcdrooms, which accommodated 
from two to twelve people, and wc slept in somewhat hard bunks. 
The dining-room was a bright cheerful room, with a small ante1'
00m to ~akc the overflow. There was a very gmcious hall, and 
a lounge which was very comfortable, though rather cramped. 
The rest of the ground floor was the plivate property of the 

Lcnnings. 

The hotel stood in lovely grounds, with lawns sloping down 
to a small lake, On which ducks were swimming. The hotel was 
situated on onc of'the, only hills in Denmark! This meant that 
when we went into Helsingor we had to go down a two mile 
slope, and when We retul'lled, usually tired, we had to walk up the 
never·cnding drag to the hotel. Helsingor Was a delightfullit~l<l 
town with narrow streets, quaint little shops, and the green 
towers of the impressive Hamlet's Castle in the background. Wc 
spent hours looking in the shop-windows, many of which were 
filled with thc most lovely leather goods, at amazingly cheap 
prices, bllt the shop in Heisingor which I kllow wc all appreciated 
most, was a little shop in a side street, where for fifty ore (about 
6d.) onc eould buy an icecream about th~ size that olle can get 
for 2/6d. ill England. Fh'st, an enormous dollop of icecream was 
put into a lovely, crisp, brown cornet. On top of that a very 
generous allowm!ce of real Danish cream, and 011 top of that a 
spoonful of bright red jam. It was delicious ! Lastly, there was 
l1 lovely bathing beach; from whieh wc could sec Swedcn quite 
clearly. 'Vc bathed a lot, althongh the water was rather cold. 

As for the pcoplc, cverywhere we went we met with nothing 
butfriendliness and helpfuhless. The conductors, shop assistants, 
guides and everyone. else we came ill, contact with, from the 
Plime :ilIinister downwards, did their best to help us, to make 
things easy for us, all(l to welcome us to their country. 

The people at the hotel were the same. There waS ;rette, 
who chaperonC!1 uS on many of our expeditions, acting as 
interpreter (she could speak five languages fluently), andgreatly 
adding to our enjoyment of them. Wc could always go 
to Iler if we wanted to know anything, and she even invited four 

27 


- 

. \ c--,-:'I!i·..·""'-"7]7 "".. . . 


.5'" 

i

-



~·il


I,:r. 

.., 



oi' five of uS into her iuxririous bed-sitter in the evening, and wc 
listenea to her records (of which she had about two hundred), 
and talked abont 11er experiences in America, where she had 
studied for 'eight months, and her American fiance. .Altogether 
wc felt that she was an old friend by the time we left, and we 
,,'ere very sorry to say goodbye to her. 

:illr. and :illrs. Lennings were kindness itself. :ilI,·. Lennings 
,vas a small white-Iiaired Swede, who always wore plus-fonrs, and 
a little beret. He arranged many interesting expeditions for ns, 
and even invited an old frien() of his to come and give ns an 
excellent piano recital. Later, another friend gave a very 
interesting leetnre on Denmark, He was always willing to help, 
and did his best to make ns welcome. 1\Irs, Lcnnings was a plnmp, 
jovial woman, who presided over the kitchen, mu) fed us 
excellently, always giving us more than we conld eat. 

The kitchen staff were all very friendly, especially Audrey, 
a yonng English girl, who had come to w:or1{ in Denmark for a 
year. The last, but eertainlYI\ot the ',Iciuit, member of the 
Lennings family, was ,Jette's "shadow," a large, amiable black 

and tan Alsatian, named Angus, whos~ two l>ussions in life were 

11is mistress, and cheese, in that order. 

Altogether, I think wc c.~me away with It very favourabl!> 

impression of the Danes, and of onr reception at the Hotel ilt 

particular. . 

ROSE)fARY BRAYFORD, Upper V. 

Our Meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Hansen 

. This was onc of the most memorable days of onr visit t() 
Denmark and took place on the afternoon of onr last Friday. 

Wc spent theiirst part of the afternoon tonring CopenhageJt' 
by coach, with a very charming and most Iniowledgeable guide, 
a melllber of the Prqss department of the Foreign Office. W!> 
discovered many of the quaint cn,stoms of the Danes, such as 
the tllcory that yon arc not.a trne stndent-until yon have danced 
three times ronnd the equestrian statim in the main squar!>. 
Another idea was that the East End of Copenhagen, unlik!> 
London, is considered the better end of ' the city beeHnse it is 
nearer.the sea. 

. :Dnring this. tonr,we \vere able to ·see the fisher· women in 
'Copenhagen's famous fish-market,'aud the Chnreh erected to the 
memory of Grnndtvig, which, ,,;e all'agreed, was onc of the most 
beautiful and inspiring ellllrehes.'l'e had ever seen. The front was 

28 

" ! 


built iu the style of Dauish village churches but represented 
an organ, and the whole was constructed. with pale yellow bricks, 
each hand-finished. 

We left tIle 'bus at Christiansborg Castle in which the 
:Parliament buildings are sitnated. 'Vc were, received in the cool 
reception hall, and a guide showed us ronnd the bnilding. Many 
of us had never seen inside the English Parliamentary buildings, 
.and had not dreamed of this visit. The rooms ,,;ere not large 
but were comfortably furnished, and the whole place Iiad ,;, 
pleasant, peaceful atmospllCre. 

We entered another wing of the :Palace for tea. Here were 
·the reception rooms of the Foreign Office, adjoining the royal 
part of the Palace. We had tea in. the resplimdent white and gold 
reception room. Dnring the conrse of this ~Ir. Hansen, the 
l'rime Minister, joined us, and aftel· shaking:hilllds with all in tlie 
room, talked with the Staff at the centre ,table. We were all 
impressed by his great charm. Before he .left us, he spoke a few 
words of welcome and llOped that wc_ \v!)re· enjoying ourselveS". 
He added, however, that he hoped th)tt, when we returned to 
England, we should not tell other schools to expect such a visit, 
.as it was an honour, arising from his friendship with Mr. Haynes. 

Alter tea, we were shown round the royal part of the palace, 
'whieh is usually only open to the public on special occasions. 
-The floors of all the rooms, of which the banquet hall in which the 
·Queen was entertained was one, were especially beautiful, being 
laid with differently-coloured woods. The many chandeliers we 
.saw were also a sight never to be forgotten whether alight or not. 

In fact, the whole visit was' a unique one, and impressedeven more strongly upon us what an important part propaganda; 
in the form of parties abroad, can play in the forming of friendly 
:relations between countries. 

.ANN i\lITROY, Lower Y: 

Expedition to Fredensborg and Fredcriksborg Castles 

Alter lunch, one day, we packed into a blue coach and set 
·off for Fredensborg Castle, the summer residence of the' Royal 
family. We were unable to sce the interior, of .the palace; but, 
we were allowed to walk round the building and to view the 
,garden. It is a yery homely palace "vith white walls and a green 
roof. No one seemed ill the least disturhed by the miniature 
invasion of forty schoolgirls. Near wjwre our 'bus was 
-parked there was a kiosk where we bought postcards' of the 
palace. 

29 


." ",, 


We were then taken to Fl'cderiksborg Castle, which is 
sitnated twenty-five miles from Copen.!Jugen. Onr first view of 
the castle was over an expanse of water through a gap between 
some trees. This, I think was·the best view of all. 


It was an .cnormons place. In the courtyard there was a 
fountain. The interior was dcstroyed by fire, but it was rcstored 
by the family who owned the CarIsberg breweries. Now it is a 
snperb museum, with very many paintings and furniture of 
former times. Among the many portraits are ones of: Prince 
GCOl'ge of Denmark .(Prince Consort of Queen Anne), William, 
Duke of Gionster (son of Queen Anne and Prince George), and 
Queen Caroline Mathilde by Sturz. 


At last, after secing room after room of the castle, wc found 

..

our way ·rather thankfully to the ground floor. There we could 

obtain postcards. Thcn wc all found, and climbed into the coacll, 

and drove off once more. 

DAWN HITCIlINGS, Upper Y. 

Danish Friends 

If I had been asked what country I sIiould have chosen to 
go to first! should probably have said Dcnmark. Lastycar rread 
the life of Hans Christian Andcrs.en and was determined to go to 
Odense to the museum and his birth-place. r also wanted to 
stay with Bome Danish friends whose children I had never seen. 

Although wc could not stop at Odense I was able to stay 
with Merete and her family for two days.' 

They live about thirty miles from HeIsingor, on a fiord in a 
typical white-washed, one-storeyed honse thatched with a kind 
of recd. The garden scattered with statues by Mercte's husband, 
UIf, who is a sculptor. 

The children are Ingeborg, twelve; Haus Christian, ten, and 
Bodil, five. Ingeborg had been lcarning English a year but only 
said a couple of phrascs to me and only when absolutely nccessary. 

We spent Sunday morning on the inevitable bicycle riding 
round the harbour. On the way back we stopped to watch a 
football match and then some archery, wIiich is fascinating to 
watch. Wc also went to a pottery belonging to onc of their 
friends. This was very small but rather interesting. ~ 

That afternoon wc went for a long walk over very marshy 
land and sometimes actually in the sea, to collect mnshrooms. 

There was a brilliant sunset when I left on a bicycle that 
evening to catch a bus at Frederiksund. 

30 


Although Io fouud it a bit of a strain I am v;.ery glad I made 
the effort to go, aud look baek on it as one of the most Danish 
parts of Il!y stay in Denmark. 

L:U,NET ALLARDYCE, Upper V. 

Our Evening at the Tivoli 

At last the day we had all been waiting for arrived, 
when we were to pay a visit to the world-famous Tivoli funfair 
and pleasure gardens in Copenhagen. Just after mid-day we 
piled into the luxurious blue coaches, and glided off on our 
journey. . 

On our way we went to see a "Folke·l\Iuseum," an open


air village made up of houses of all ages from all over Scandinavia, 
which had been pulled down, brought to the site, and rebuilt 
stone by stone. 

We then had a very interesting boat trip round the harbour 
and canals of Copenhagen, in the excellent hands of a Danish 
student who had studied in England, and who had a great sense 
of humour. There were icecrcams to be bought on board and we 
even had Our photograph taken, developcd, and given back to 
us at the cnd of the trip. We passed close to the Royal Yacht, 
a Danish training ship, and many othcrs. We had a close view of 
the Little Mermaid, and then we turned out of .the harbour into 
the network of canals cutting Copenhagen. We saw many 
famous buildings from the back. We also saw qnite a bit of the 
poorer part of Copenhagen. So, after an enjoyable and instructive 
trip we arrivcd baek at the landing stage. 

Next we had an enormous supper. Then at last the moment 
arrived. As we went through the gates we seemed to go into 
another world, a world of glittering fantasy. The whole fair was 
glittering with brilliant coloured lights. The shouts of the stallvendors 
mingled with the screams of the people on the scenic 
railway, and the uproarous applause of the crowds watching the 
artists on the two open-air stages. 

We spent about three and a half hours there, and it seemed 
to go in a minute. We watehed two performances at the gay 

. Peacock Pavilion. The first was a dclightful Harlcquinade 01· 
Italian Pantomime, with the original mime and music. The 
second was a very lively piece of ballet about sailors ashore. The 
colours of the costumes and of the backcloth were fresh andgay, 
and the comedy and the vigorous dancing made up for the lack 
of graceful finish. 

31 


In between we dashed from place to place, trying to see and, 
do everything-a nearly impossible task.' There were whole 
streets of stalls, about twenty different eating places, and the 
attractions of the scenic railway and the big wheel, which seemed 
to dominate the whole scene towering over the fair· ground. 
Both of these were terrifying, but wonderfully exhilarating. On 
the scenic railway we were plunged vertically downwards through 
a black hole, and as qnickly pulled screaming upwards again . 
.As for the big wheel, if we could forget that we were hanging 
in the sky in a tiny swinging basket, about one hundred feet 
above the show-ground, and that we were about to swoop down, 
from the stars, to the ground far below, at breathless speed, it 
was a marvellous experience, as from the top of the wheel we, 
could see the whole of thc fair-grou,nd, and a great deal of 
Copenhagen stretched out beneath us. 

Then came the grand climax of ,the evening, the fireworks, 
There was an ornamented lake in the middle of the fair ground" 
and men went out in boats, and set waterproof fireworks alight 
on the surface of the lake. In a few minutes a gaL'1xy of fairy 
stars, fountains and coloured balls shot skywards, turning the 
scene into a sort of fairyland. The display was short, but it was a 
fitting end to a marvellous evening, and we went away with 

wonderful memories of our evening in Copenhagen. 

ROSE.'IARY BRAYFORD, Upper V. 

A Visit to Sweden 

One of our major excursions in Denmark was that of going 
to Sweden. To cross the narrow stretch of water separating the 
two countries, wc caught an early ferry and after twenty minutes 
arrived in Helsingborg, and caught our coach immediately after 
we had dealt with our passports and money, 

The countryside was very much like that of Denmark, but 
unfortunately we did not sec it to advantage as it was i'aining 
miserably, a change from the lovely weather we had been having 
so far. 

At Lund, we saw a museum filled with tapestries, and 
national costumes which had actually been used. In the grounds 
of the museum were a collection of old houses, a windmill and 
a church, making a small village dating from medieval times. 
The village was very realistic and from some of the stables goats 
and sheep wcrc bleating. 

We werc at L)lnd Cathedral justbefore 12 o'clock, for inside 
stood a medieval clock which was rather like that of Wells 

32 


Cathedral. At noon two horsemen elashed their swords twelv'l 
times and figures appeared from one of two doors, passing a, 
figure of the virgin and child, bowing, and disappearing throngh 
the other door to the sound of " Good Christian men rejoice" 
played by two small,soldiers on their bngles. 

After shopping we had lunch in a most amusing way, in a. 

restaurant mainly for students. Plates and bread an!l butter 
were collected first and with these we reserved our tables. Then 
we went to another table and helped ourselves to the salad course, 
taking what we liked and as much as we liked. After we had. 
eaten this course we helped ourselves from another table to the 
hot course, drinking it with milk, and having second helpings i~ 
we desired. 

After lunch, we passed the twin towered cathedral, and 
cnught our coach to Malmii, the third largest town·in Sweden. 
There we went into a large modern building, built by trade 
unions, which contained reading and social rooms, Iibrarics and. 
n library and theatre for small childrcn. Thcn we travelled on to 
a theatre, large and modern again, from which the design of the 
Royal Fcstival Hall was copied. 

We then moved to the hcart of Maimii to shop and became 
so absorbed in it that our coach was late starting the return 
journey to Helsingborg. We just misscd our fenoyso had to wait 
patiently for the next one, which came after twenty minutes. 
Although we had had an cnjoyable day, we welcomcd' the sight 
of the dark silhonctte of Hamlet's Castle rising from the shores 
Helsingor. ' 

AUDREY HORLocK-JoNEs, Upper V. 

The Farms we Visited in Denmark 

A st.~y in Denmark would not be complete without a visit to 
one of the farms for which Denmark is so famous. In fact, we 
visitcd two. 

While we were in Copenhagen the fh·st time, after seeing 
some of the sights, and having ten with the Prime Mip,ister, some 
of us had the chance to visit an experimental farm, a few nilles 
out of Copenhagen. 

When the coach drew up in the yard, we wOl!dered whether 
we had come to the wrong place, bccause what we could see of 
the farm secmed too clcan. But we were'soon taken round the 
back whcre it was more like an English farm. . 

We went into the pig shcd first of all. The pigs thcre were of 
all shapes and sizcs from little piglets to huge sows. At t):t~ 

33 


entrance to each pen was a cllart on which the food given to the 
occupants was recorded. The pigs were given different foods so 
that the farmers could find out which one produced the best 
bacon for as little money as possible. 

Next we passed on to more likeable animals-cows. Iu the 
next shed there were some calves which were being fattened np 
with the same methods. There were all kinds of breeds, bnt the 
Jersey calves liked ns best. 

We had a brief look at the very nice White Leghorn hens in 
a pen nearby, and then went on to the most interesting part of 
the farm-the mink section. I was sID"prised that they kept 
mink in Denmark, bnt apparently they are just as common there 

..

as ponltry on English farms. 

The friendly Dane who took .us round spoke very good 
English. He showed us some silver foxes first. Their fur is very 
valuable but they were soon going to be killed, because it appeared 
that ladies do not like the coats made from this fnr as they are 
too heavy. We then walked up and down rows and rOWS of mink 
in their cages. When we had seen them one of the farm children 
showed us an albino mink which had been made a pet. It was 
:really quite tame and did not bite at all as mink usually do. 

Next we were taken into the rOom where the food for these 
animals is prepared. There were stacks of smelly fish boxes and 
even cows' stomachs hanging from hooks on the ceiliug. Our' 
guide told us that all the food had to be ground up together before 
the animals ate it. This must have been a very uupleasant job. 

Hanging on the wall in the next room were several dried 
skins. We were shown which were the best and also the worthless 
ones and shown pictures of models wearing the various fur 

coats. 

It was time for us to go, so our guide brought out the 
Gastebud (Guest Book) and Christine Burton signed on behalf 
of all of us. On looking through this book we found that people 
from many countries had visited this farm, to which the President 
of Finland waS coming the next day. 

N caring thecnd of our stay, "fr. Lennings, thehotel proprietor, 
took us to a local farm near Helsingor. The farm yard here again 
was immaculate, the farm buildings were all painted white and '?$ 
the farm house was one of the most beautiful houses in Denmark, 
with its creepers and lovely garden. 

WlICreas the first farm wc had visited was concerned with 
animals, this was a general farm. The first thing we saw was a 

3! 


trailer full of lucerne being unloaded into shafts taking it into 
two huge silos to be rotted down and used as fodder for the cattle 
fh the winter. 

Next to tllis was the biggest threshing machine I l,ave ever 
seen. It worked like an ordinary one except that the corn did 
not go into sacks; it went down a hole in the floor, through a 
pipe and up a shaft to be stored. There were platforms at various 
stages up the machine and we climbed up these only to find 
ouselves surrounded by more dusty parts. 

After inspecting the cow stall we walked home a roundabout 
way through the farm fields. We walked through different 
fields of fodder beet and kale and then wc came to a field where 
some Danes were gathering in the corn. After Mr. Lennings had 
spoken to the farmer and Iris wife, we learnt that owing to the 
wet weather the corn had been left in stooks in the field till it was 
practically ruined. What a pity thcy did not use combine 
llllrvcsters. 

Fl'om the two farms we visited we saw many different aspeets 
of Danish farms and I think we gained a vmy good idea of what 

Danish farming is like. 

PATRICIA RIDOUT, Upper Y. 

At Home in Denmark 

Besides the many interesting and exciting things 
arranged for us, some of us werc lueky enough to have the 
opportunity of meeting some of the Danes themselves and seeing 
IIOW they lived. This was for me a vmy worthwhile experience. 

Three of my friends and myself were out for a walk one 
evening. 'Whilst we were walking we were singing softly to' 
ourselves. As we passed a chattering group of boys and girls, 
thcy stopped talking and listeneu and then one small boy piped' 
up with, "Sing us a little English song." 'Vc were absolutely 
flabbergasted for the idea of such a'small boy speaking English 
was quite astounding. We obliged them with a song, and then 
began to ask them questions about Denmark, and they us 
concerning England or l'llther the British Isles. 

Amongst this group were four girls with wllOm we became 
vcry fricudly and we are now writing to them as pen·friends. 
One of them c.~lled Vibeke, nicknamed" Vips," asked us if we 
would all go m,ld have tea with her at her house, which had at 
one time becn an old monastmy, and she said thatshe would like 
to introduce us'to her family and show us around the monastery. 

35 


On the appointed day we arrived at her house in good time 
and to our surprise we saw already awaiting us a delicious tca of 
different Danish pastries. The girls explaincd to us that they 
always have an early tea (about 3 o'clock) in Denmark if they 
bave tea at all. We were duly introduced to Vips' family, who 
were rcally charming people and Vips' mother who turncd out to 
be a real blessing, she spoke beautiful fluent English, because 
aftCl' about an hour's talking our limited conversation was 
becomiug somewhat more limited and had it not been for her 
thcre would have been a few awkward silences; but, as it was, 
we did thoroughly cnjoy ourselves. 

After this wc met Vips, Annie, Connle all(f Birte quite 
frequcntly, and they asked us to come to their school for a little 
wllile during one morning. They informed us they "'anted us 
especially to come to their English lessOli, as their English master 
for" but" insisted on saying" bert" and wc were to inform him of 
the correct pronunciation of the word which we said wc would 
try to do tactfully. That morniug was really great fun; we had 
the task of taking the lesson, corrccting their pronunciation 
mistakes and their spelling and then just talking to them ill 
English, about the British Isles, our school and where welh·ed. 
The discipline in the SCllOOI seemed to me to be very slack 
compared with that in an English school. They were allowed to 
make more noise aIHI speak quite freely in class. The pupils did 
not, of course, weal' uniform, no Danish schools did dress so ; 
in fact quite a few of the girls were wearing slacks . 

. Annie then asked us to have tca with her, and we wel"(} 
exceptionally pleased to receive this invitation because Annie 
lived in a modern Danish housc, 9ne equivalent to our council 
houses I suppose, only far more. attractive. They looked very 
small from the exterior, and we thought, before seeing the interior, 
that they would be rather crampcd for some of the large familics 
living in them. The house was. divided 'into two halvcs, which 
were on different levels, one haiJ' eontainjng the kitchen, a very 
large living room and another sIilall room, and the other half 
the bedrooms, bathroom and a basemen);. 

We had a similm' tea with Annie to the one with Vips, there 
were delicious Danish pastries and weak tea without milk. 

These are just a few of the private doings of thl'ee of my 
personal fricnds and myself. But some other girls also went out 
to tea with some Danish people. Some saw Danish television 
which is still in its early stages, quite a few years behind the 
British televiSion, and they llad many interesting experiences. 

36 


One evening a cel'tainDr.Peter Nanniche came to the hotel 
and very kindly gave !ls a talk on Danish Folk Schools, which we 
found most interesting. 

The meeting with some Danish people and seeing how they 
lived, was for me and I'm sure for my friends, and all the girls 
. 'who were as fortunate as us, an addition which added extra' 

perfeetion to a wonderful and never-to-be forgotten holiday. 
FRANCES POLLARD, Upper V. 

Reminiscences of the Voyages to and from Denmark 

Forty-four of us boarded the Kronprinsesse Ingrid at 
Harwicb. When we had been at sea for several hours the greater 
part of the party disappearcd down below and wero not seen 
until land was sigbted and the sea became calmer. I am leaving 
it to the reader's imagination as to what that part of the·party 
were doing down below. 

There were four cabins which opened on to a central space 
where we ate. There were ten bunks in the cabin that I was in . 
.At the head of each bunk there was a little metal basin. The 
bunks themselves were Vel'Y comfortable. .At the foot of each 
bunk there was a chcerful red blanket, neatly folded, which we 
wrapped round ourselves in the most comfortable way we could. 

The food on the ship was delicious. Everyone had supper; 
some of us Imd breakfast. The supper was set out on three long 
tables. There were large plates of Jettuce, tomatoes, some pink 
jellyish meat and other vegetables and meat. There were various 
types of bread: black, white and Ryvita. We ate our food like 
a salad and ate the bread separately, much to the amusement 
and slight concern of one of the ship's boys. We should have 
piled the meat, lcttuce and tomatocs on to brcad and eaten the 
whole lot with our knives and forks. Following that we had some 
s~w with new potatoes floating in it, which wo had to eat off 
the samc plate as the salad. 

In the evening, we sang songs with some German boys from 
college. 

For breakfast we had brcad rolls, tea or coffee as desired and 
some pastries with cream inside them if we wanted them. Only 
one and a llaif tables were nc~dcd for brcakfast. 

We docked at ESbjerg 'on time. I, for onc, enjoyed the 
voyage but I don't claim to spcak for the whole party. 
Our rcturn journey was much more spectacular. The wind 
was Gale Force Six, so someone told us before we went to bed. 

37 


P~rl}aps it wO)lld hIlY.Q beOl} beptQr i.f tl!oy h!,dn't. It wa~ quitorough in the night. ,To ,qnote.ono Of,th~ party, tho ship didn't 
pitch 01' roll-it just went round in ,circles. ' ':' ,: 

1\Iiss Woods and I had 'breakfast, and s~vornl otlicrs I;ad 
coffee or tea, TI!c re~t or,tile p'~rtywere'~tjll in', thch: bunks, 
I'spent,J:1lost of ~he morning looking at,tll'iwa:v.es, bllt as I havQ 
been told nott~~~rito'tllreopages dc?crioing ~ho,vaves hyo\i't'say' 
any more abQut them. , . , 

At about oloven o'clock wc were told that the ship would 
not bo docking,uIltil four o'clock, three and a half hours late, We 
broke the'newl; as'gcntly as PQssible t~',the,suff~rel'~, " 

,Later a few of us had luncl}, and enjoyed it, in spite of what 

some people'said: ".. . 

Wnen,we eY!lntually.arrived,at Harwich I felt glad to be 

home in E,ngland, and I can safcly say;'tliat tho rest of ~ho p,:irty

felt the same. ,. '. " . . . 

, .' '. 

DrAKE, Rtnvilo:rTo~[! 

" 

* 

HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES 

T.S. " English Rose 11 '! 
'"~ 

. 

Last Whitsun holidays .Tane Crouch,and I wenpon!\ sailing 
holiday for a week On board ~, English Rose IT." She is a trail}ing 
ship for girls,·and is run by. Commander \Voollard. 

We went by train to Poole, and were' taken aboard by. 
'Harvey's Fci'l'Y:' ," E,nglish Rose" was.moqi·cd in Poole:Uarbour. 
She is .a'ketch; ,,1th a' bL'tck hull, ',md is designcd to sleep eleven 
peQple:' On b<ia,;d w.e J:1let tlie Commander, Chief Officer, Second 
O~CCl; arid' the ~thCr 'Sil' gp:is. ' .'" ' . 

. ,rhe!l f~llowed an' exciting 'veek of sailing to llear]>y placessuch as Studland B'ay and Swaiihge, bathing' frot1'! thc' ship, 
rowing ashorc in ,crcws, drinking tea, getting' lip ;ind scrl\bbing 
decks and polishing' brass' at 07.00; peeling potatoes, having 
instruction and so ou. . -' 

. ,Thc Commander ',as takcn, ashore in the evcnings by 
"'Chiefie" and on() Of'the crew,' (wlio "vas' called thc ballast); 
and he came on board again at :10.00 in the 'mornings, aftcr we 
had 'done the chores, had breakfasp, ;md, ha.d eqlours, 'rhich 
was, the hoisting of tllC Bm'gee mid'Ship's:Ensign;; , 

,When he!came on lioard, he usually. gave, u,s some kind of 
instruction on for -instance; 'charts and cOJ:1lpasses" the" riggipg 

38 


of. the ship, (for this he demonstrated on a beantiful model of 
the, ",E,nglish Rose" which' had completely .collapsil?le: nggingj 
or on ho.~v:: to enter and leave'harbour·thl·Ough !moys, ~ndwhat 
different colow:.;.d and shaped' buoys signifieli. Wc also'learnt 
morse code and' thE). International Code, and 'how to Jind our 
bearings from landmarks, chart and compass. " 

On board, somebody ":a~.,,,hl:ays Qua~t,er-.i\I~~~Qr, ;tnq. someone 
Galley-slave. The Quarter-Mast,er ~ad to, Write up the ~og 
with all the bappenings of the day mid th~ir exact ~jmes, , ~he 
had to write in anything, for ex~mpl!l' frqm " 14:23-':6ne meml)er 
of the crew overboard when SCl'aping barl)~clesfr~il). 'sid.~ of ~h.ip ~' 
to "10.000-Commander re~ei:v.ed on boapV'. Q.uarter'Master 
also has the Bos)ln's Whistle WhiC!1 she blows for meal!!. . 

The unfortunate Galley-slaye's job is to hclp Second Officer 
in the galley, drying up, peeling potatoes, cooking and 'any other 
odd·job 'that needs ,doing. The rest, of tllC'crmv'is divided into' 
Port and Starboard watch, and they do the ora~s polishing and 
deck scrubbi!1g in the mornings, and the manoeuvring 9£ ~he 
ship when we go for a sail. .. 

Everyo,ne wpre a navy-blue 'fo,olly cap, nltvy j~r~ey; anqslacks, and white plimsols on board ship. When we went on shore 
leave, O!' had any visitors, however, we wore sril!~rt sailor-c.:,ps, 
with a tally-band saying" T.S: English Rose Il" on i~. . 

At every meal the Commander would relate amusingincidents which had happened during his naval career; which 
lie enjoyed telling us, and which wc loved to hear. 

After supper, we would all have a mug of cocoa, and finally 
be packed off to sleep by Chiefie. Five girls slept in tho:fo'c'sle, 
onc on'top 'of the other in hammocks, and threo amidship .. ' . 

We really ·enjoyedonr.'stiiy; 'ori board, but" any;one :~vJio 
thinks it is just a lazY'lioliilay;, ShOliId go 11Ild stay; for a week or 

two on' the" English R'ose "!' ,. ,. ,.' 

, . '." 

HEATHER COLYER:an,l·JANE.CnOUOIf, 
. "" ", , Lower V'.",· 

Windsor World Camp, 1957 

,.." 

The camp was held as part of thc celebrations commemorating 
the centenary of the birth of Robert Baden-Powell, founder 
of the Guide and Scout movements. The Scouts had their camp 
in Sutton Coldfield and the GUides ,had theirs'in'Winds'or Great 
Park by gracious permission' of'He~ Majesty, tile' Queeri.. Guides 
came 'to tlie.camp froni~ illl'overt!i\l world; 'nii>st'of"them'from 
Western eountries,bnt tl).ere wert)' many 'from; South Africa arid 

-• -.' '.:., I".. : •••.• I.,: . ", 

39 


the Antipodes, some from the free Eastern countries and some 
exiles from behind the Iron Curtain. There were four thousand 
of us altogether, so preparations had to begin at least two years 
previously. The menus, I know from first hand, were ready by 
the end of last year. 

The British Guides arrived three days before the overseas 
Guides. The word" foreign" was completely taboo in the whole 
camp. When we arrived, all we found on the site were three 
enormous marquees: the largest, a hundred yards long, was used 
mainly for Church of England services, the other two beingused 
for Roman~Catholic and Nonconformist services. Besides these 
we found a branch of the Westminster Bank, a Post Office 
complete with two telephone boxes and a stamp machine; a 
market which sold practically everything, a laundry, a coffee bar 
and several Wall's Icecream and Coco·Cola stalls. There was 
also a· branch of the Headquarter's shop and a Press tent where 
the reporters from various newspapers had to report before they 
conld enter the camp. 

The first thing to be done was to pitch all the tents in our 
Group and generally make the site habitable: The camp was 
divided into· ten sections which were sub-divided into eight 
groups, each group being composed of fifty campers, approximately 
half of whom were British and half overseas. The groups 
were all named after places connected with the founder. Ours 
was called Transvaal where B.-P. spent some time during the 
Boer War. In our group there were twenty-two British Guides, 
six Guiders and twenty-two overseas Guides. The British 
Guides came from all parts of the country, from Somerset to 
Durham, as well as sL, from Scotland and two from Wales. The 
overseas Guides came from all over the world: four from 1Iexico, 
five from Canada, four from Germany, three from Sweden, two 
from Malaya and three from Australia. All of them could speak 
at least some English with the exception of one Mexican who had 

not even mastered " yes" or " no ". Four of our Guiders came 

from LancaShire, one from the Isle of 1Ian and one from Sweden. 
The Swedish Guider was the Deputy Chief Commissioner of 
Sweden and was the leader of the Swedish Contingent, which was 
the la:rgest there, comprising a hundred and sixteen members 
altogether. 

The day before the overseas Guides came, some of us were 
'allowed to go and watch' a Polo match on the Windsor Park 
Ground. Prince Philip was playing and the Queen was watching. 
We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as Polo is always a game 
worth watching, bnt we did have a four mile walk there and 

40 


back. It never seems so long, however, when there are plenty 
of people to talk to and one doesn't have to hurry. 

Practically every evening during the camp, we lmd camp· 
fires; these were, I think, the highlights of the camp. Sometimes 
we had one just in our own group with only fifty of us. The 
Germans always sang beautiful songs, accompanied by a gnitar 
which one of them had heroically carried with her, half-way 
across Europe. .All the Germans in the eamp were very fond of 
singing, especially those in the group next to us, so we usually 
did everything to the aeeompaniment of their songs. A few times 
we had eamp fires in our seetions with two hundred of us. Here 
the Phillipinos, arrayed in exqnisite national dresses, did some 
very skilful daneing over moving poles. They had two long poles 
which two people kept moving rhythmieally, while the daneers 
did intrieate steps amongst them. Some of us tried it afterwards, 
but found it very painful as we kept getting our feet caught 
between the poles. The Malayans did what they called a "Saucer 
Danee". They each had two saueers, one balaneed flat on each 
hand with a lighted candle in the middle of it. They kept the 
saueers moving continuously in time ·to a primitive drum In the 
form of one of the cooking pots. Later they managed to find the 
eorreet sort of drum. They kept the candles alight the whole 
time even when they twisted both saucers right round themselves_ 

We also had thrce combincd camp-fires at whieh the most 
beautiful danees were performed. The most interesting were, 
I thought, the Indian dances, the Italian Tarentella and an Irish 
Jig. Those who have never seen Indians daneing cannot possibly 
imagine what it is like. They are capable of making the most 
extraordinary movements, using museles which no European 
seems to possess. They can apparently disloeate their necks 
sideways and perform other odd movements. Their music is also 
qnite different· from ours as it incorporates quarter-tones giving 
it the most eerie effect, which I find most attraetive, though 
manY'people dislike it intensely. The Italian Tarentella is very 
pretty, gay and lively, completely different from the Indian. 
Danees. The Jig would be difficult to appreciate unless you had 
previously tried to do it yourself. The speed and deftness with 
which,those girls exccuted the very difficult and intricate m()vements
·was qnite.out of the ordinary. 

There were many other dances, songs and sketches which 
are far too many to enumcrate here. The Trinidad Gnides did, 
I believe, compose a camp calypso which unfortunately I never 

.' heard. 
There were two very important official funetions: the 
opening of the eamp on Tuesday, 30th July, by the World Chief 

41 


Gnide, and the i:rnit~d'Service en,Simday, 4th August whi~lqvasattended ):Jy Her ¥ajesty, the Qu~en. The 13ishop of Ce"):Qntry 
prea~li~d, ~il ~xe~llent s~i'ino~ on ~he quali~y of kip.qness and t)lecontribntion ~vhlch Guides could make to Internationa1.Peace. 
W1i~n the 'Cliief 'Gu\~~ o~eA~a '~h~ c~inp she spoke to u~ al?out 
the ,purpose of .the ~amp,and received the money frem many 
countries for a ne,. Guide 'Hostel in :London. 'Her spe~ch was 
b~o~a~?s~, a~jl til!jYised. ~:{ ~Iio <il)d o{.ttic camp, we, had 
become so' use'd, to television ·ltnd newsreel cameras and the 
cou~t)e~S:p'~eS.s:'p4p~~gi:~'pI,e~i,'t'I!at,we hegan'to f~er like ~i1m 
stars, Qve.n q~~!l ~~~~aItle~ ~y f1~sJlhgl!t pI).OtOgrap,lI~, .' 

, ,?:,hese werQ speeific eve!lts, but by far the mo~t,impprtant 
, event,' 'Yps the nnmbQ~·ef, friends we made, both in om' own 
countries, and .in ethers. Nowhere· else ceuld one have get to. 
knew" such It variety ef.people se quic/dy. There was p.e Internatienal 
tensien and ne, cololU' bar.; we accepted.ene 'lnether 
as we ,~ere, taking ne ac~eunt ef differences in colour er creed. 
This'was easy fer.U!l British, but f9r. the Seuth Mrica!ls living 
with apartllCid and. ethers it must have been very difficult. But 
newl!.ere in th\, whele :camp \lid I Ilear ef any political er International 
quarrel. 'If ~nylI\ore people.teday c<\uld have similar 
epportunities ef,meeting people.frem etllCr count~ies, I am s.ure 
it' would greatly foster International understan,ding. , . 

Th~ 'e~mp ;"us a gr~at, su~~~ss. and thOl'OUgWy eiijey'~jl, ):Jy 
all; a" ~~d,letter " camp if sue).1 a thing. is possible, and.it ~vill 
be.reme)llP.ered with ,great joy and IIappiness by all thos~ who 
attended it. . ." 

. J~NNY'BURRIDGE, Upper VI. 

c Camping in Guernsey 

. .' 

Tliis sUnrinel' I ,vent to c;tmp' with the Guides in GUCl'nsey.
It wasIi.'t rainiJig 'when we set Off in the train to Weymeuth, but 
later it pourea ! We 'had quite a pleasant jourriey to Weymouth, 
where 1ve meb'the Fontmell :]\fagnn; aiId Shaftesbury Guides who. 
came do,viI in'a'I~ITY.· We'b'oarded the boat, ' St. Helier,' oi,'wholo 
l!our b'efore it'liift'Weymouth, put thiit ho'ur passed very quickly, 
and we were soon leaving England for twelve days: 

, .Kt .illst', ·.we were all so fasei!Iated by the enormous' green 
waves 1;lie"~' St!.;'Helier" ealised, 'that"we hung over"thil 'rail, 
gazing at them:j'ii.wondei'. BU~~O<iD:'YC bClOan to feel the s).iglitest 
bit dizzy, thii 'tiniest bit siek, and very cold and numb, s'o 'wo' 
rushed down,the s'v.aying .sbepS,. and snuggled under warni'i'ugs 
and blankets'siipplied ,by. the, hont;;. We' spent mest, oNhe ,tinlC 
,mder 1;hCse rugs,reading and ~alking, but all the saine, the 

42 

t) 

~ 

f4 

$ 


, 


j<i)li'ncy' (ll:~ggcd. :At 'l!\st) 'l:1nd' ,vas ,sigh1cd. I' crawl9d ont of 
my rugs to havc a,lo'lk. "At last !" I thought, " GuernseY' !" 
:qu't ItlIearby pel's9li !m,id, ",It's ~oo smilll fol' Iillierilsey, it must'be 
Al(lerllcY':' 3[y,hCart,sallk;ii!i~!.snuggl~d'~~lIdel; ~he rugs~~a,in. 

, ,\t last; a~tcr"lliuch !lUmblle~~ll:nd ag~ny,:'~ve ~rrived' ,a~ 
St~' Pctei' Poj,t. I,put"my'Joot 011" GuernseY' soil, aud'thought 
priHidly, " No,,; I can say I've beClt-to,Guerllsey '!" But just as we set oilt iil 10rI'ies for Havilland Hall Farm,it'started to rain! 
We" ai'rive(lnt 'tM field whcn ~hc hlill ,vas,feeming down, alld wc 
had to strugglc to gct the tents up in that, ,! Everything was 
'sbtlden ,! But at last wc had, them up and were hI. thc drY"7or so 
wc',thought !' In 'bed at last, ;tlld wa,t'ming,up, we told each other 
fUlllly'stories lilit's'ooil foulld .. that ,tllO',tellt, was le~khlg.

. 

' 

, For thc first fOI!1' day's ,of 'camp jt railled cpllti;l\,mlly and,wc 
hardly ~vent out, at all, ,but had sing songs and games, inJihe m~s~ 
tcnt. But afterwards it cleared up, rilld wc xisiped local b~aches 
alld bea\lty spots., Onc particular plaec I cJ).joyed visiting wils 
tli~ lit"tlc 'chapel of " Les' V~u:,,~lielets,"; Itis very, very small 
alld it is alleged that ollly t\lr~e,peo'plc can 'get in: 'Actually, all 
of the Guides managed to get in, 'but there you 'are . .. This 
10velS-chapel h~dlittle pieces of' broken coloured china arrangcd 
in beautiful patterns all over the walls, inside and out. It was 
really the most beautiful:cluipel tlu(I;;I'havc cver seen. 

Thcn a·.fc",·days·latcr, I. accompanied ,my flicnd l\Il\I'Y on 
lier first-class hiJ(e to 'Cobo. beilCh, at thc end, of which l\Ia~Jmd 
to cook bur, dillner, assisted liy 'Sylvia, another ' Guide, and.me. 
Oh;· it was s.o fUllny! Mary coul~II't light the ,fire, and tllen 
,Sylvia' lighted ·it with only olle match ,!" Nc>;t the sausages were 
ill' flames because the rat;.h\ld.c;tugl\t alight; andwerc all landed 
~vitli aplatefill 'of flames and burllt sausages !, Sylvia andl were 
11~IJllcss with, laughter, but'Mury ,,'as f)lrious !,' She thre,y,b,he 
)mi'ning sausages Oil to the pebblcs,.managed to put. the flames 
out;. singc(l,her.slecvc an;d ,pi~ked up the sausages ,agaiJl' Thc 
sausages were-black.a~,q~oJ:,'bllt wc, didn't dare ,say,anything, for 
pOol",)Iary 'cbul<lll't; help .it. ~he bneoIT caught alight, too,. so 
"ftCl' tliitt cpisode, M~decided that w.e ,vould.eat tlietomato~s 
and breadTaW'! ,;Blit whelL we~d finisjlCd,Syhtia all(1 I deClared 
jt.tllC;hCst·9,iIll,lel' evcr, 'to pacify.' her,!. " .. ', .: 

••. -.~ -~ •••• "-", .••.•••;.. '. " . ' I'.. . 

: '.. ~~\~I'C aj:E(nia!iy othcr "thi!)gs )ve,did whi!st:"rcwe~e at.'cal)lPI 
f~)1' i1ist.:nce, tlui " Grand l\Iidhighp,~~a~t,~'.ml!J.,tli~AayL walked 
SW)!~.!ll,l,les" ~Il~,;r,Ca!l:p, t?1l yo~ \,,boJlu;all' that h~re, s.o I must 
JU~~.\!\I,l.y,/II, il\J,Ollt ~he, day w\, ,wellt ~.o Herm, .."little, Island off 

GIi:~i;Jiscy.. ,: . ,,' " , . 

43 


We set off in a fairly small ~otor boat, that just held us and 
a ·few other people. It only took about twenty minutes to get 
there, but some Guides were looking considerably green when 
they did get there ! Only a few families live at Herm, and there 
is only one shop there, a gift shop. It was full of many interesting 
gifts, but the point was, they were very expensive, too expensive 
in faet! We had dinner in the middle of the island, and afterwards 
several of us played erieket with some boys from Lancashire 
whom we saw there. Later we went on to the beaches, and 
wandered all round them looking for shells. But the day passed 
quickly and we were soon back at camp • 

.All too soon camp was practically over and the camp awards 
were given out, and miraculously, our tent won the tent prize, 
so each of us received a lovely leather purse with the Guernsey 
crest on it. The next day, when we were travelling home, passed 
fairly quickly, and I found it very difficult to believe that I was 
home already, distributing presents, and turning out piles of 
dirty clothes from my kit bag. 


That night in bed was lovely,-,! For,tiie'first-time in my life, 
I really appreciated the soft lumps'in my bed, the warin'blankets, 
and the luxury of a proper pillow! 

ROSEUARY WAGNER, Lower IV. 

A Holiday in France 

What promised to be the most wonderful holiday of mylife began on April 8th, 1957, when I boarded the "Normannia" 
at Southampton to go to France for three weeks. I like to 
remember little about that journeY-1 am not a good sailor at 
the best of times-and when I set foot in France the next morning 
my spirits were anything but high. I had not been there many 
hours, however, before life began to be so wonderful and exciting 
that I completely forgot my tiredness. The Freneh family I stayed 
with lives with a eomfortable distanee of Paris, and the evening 
after my arrival we rushed into the eapital to sec, as the French 
people said to me, " your so bea-utiful Queen." I have never felt 
so proud to be one of Her Majesty's subjects as when I saw the 
Queen herself, driving through the cheering crowds, lookiiigwell, 
just "beautiful". Then there were fireworks, the best 
I have ever seen, and all the time the ero,vd was becoming more 
and more excited, the kind of irresistible excitement that seems ii~ 
to sweep you along like an enormous wave. We went to bed that "Ill 
night at a quarter-past-twelve. 

This is uot to 'be a day-to-day account of my adventures in t' 
Franee. It is better to describe things as they seemed to happen-.~ 

, .' 

44 


in an exhilarating rush of beantiful places, interesting people 
and strange words. I visited the Louvre, Versailles and Fontaine· 
bleau, spent many happy hours wandering in Paris, saw 
s.everal French films and "Les i\Iiserables" at the Comedie 
Fran9aise, attended a French church, wcnt for a few days to a 
French school and had great fun doing my hair.in a different 
style nearly every day!' The more I remember, the more there 
is to think about. My holiday. was indeed proving a wonderful 

experience. 

No less interesting, but rather less pleasant, was the third 
week of my visit, which I spent in hospital. On the Wednesday 
after Easter, it was decided that I had appendicitis, and I had 
an operation the 'same day. It sounds rather a ftightening 
expetienee but fortunately I don't think I was very worried at 
the time, only a little concerned about the inadequacy of my 
French vocabulary on such an occasion. 

People still say to me, "Did you enjoy your holiday in 
France?" followed by, "Oh, but of course ..." and then, 
"What is a French hospital like '" I suppgse it is very much 
like ap. English hospital, although I llave never stayed in one, 

so cannot re~lly say. The nmsos, however, Wore not as smart or


efficient as English nurses. 

. 

~' 

My holiday was extended until May 11th, when it was 
judged safe for me to travel home, so I spent my last ten days in 
Franc~ quietly, going for walks in the woods to pick IiIy-.of-theyalley, 
'I!laking an occasional visit to the village, and trying to 
nnprove ''!ly knowledge of the French language-by that time 
I ImrdIy spoke English at all. I knew later just how valuable 
those ten days were to me, for I saw life in France in a way that 
no amount of sight·seeing could have shown it to me. It is true 
I did not, after all, climb the Eiffel Tower, but I learnt to gointo any shop with confidence, and come out with the article 
I wanted-and the right amount of cllange. All that is why 
I stilI think my holiday was onc of the most wonderful anyone 
could possibly have. 

MARY NORRIS, Lower VI. 

The ~ast Night of the Proms 

The Last Night of the Proms ! I had always wanted to go, 
especially when Sir Malcolm Sargent was chief conductor, and, 
this was to be his final Prom. 

I entered my name in the ballot for " last night" tickets, 
but was unsuccessful. However, I waS determined that I would 
do,my best to get in somehow. 

45 


• •• _;t, • hI' , ",' ,,: ... 

011 the Thursday evening before.tlie concert on the Saturday, 

~ 
I travelled up to 'London by ti'uin, intending ~o queue.on Friday 
night' ~nd all day Saturday.i(necessary, so 1 \vent,preparcd with 
mY'stool and some books to l·cad. ., .. 

. On Friday morning my Aunt, with whoin I·w.is staying, and 
1, went ·to the Albert Hall to sce· iUlieie wcre retu1'1led tickets. 
There were not, and 1 ,vas also told ... ·not· informed, in>,a very 
straightforward mauner, that queuing had been stopped for 
the ·first ·time this year, as all the, spare ticlwts 11\ ,~he ar~J1a had 
been balloted.! :lfy hop.e,s faded, but,l\ot entirely. as by l)<,stroke 
of good.luck, ·there ~vere .t)VO ;spa~e ticlrllts fOI' the Friday night, 
which my Allnt,and I,oagerly .•took advantage ..of, IjOt·disputing 
the price ! But,somello,v,1 .(lidmot feel as disappojilted as 1 shonld 
have donc, especially,aftcr,the PJ'Qm...that eyening ... 1 felt sure 
something was going to come my· ~way,. an\l L h9Pcd !\1ld hopc!l 

thaHt ~vollld~. . . . .. ....~. 

. The ~Saturday morning .came .and 1 was. s.till dQtcrmil~e.d to 
.try ,to get in, so I.set..off.with my IU!lc.l! and te~, and my stool, 
for the Alberli Hall. , . . '., . '., 

1 reached,there at 10.45 mul there ;before my eyes was a 
queue of about thirty people, sixteen of .whom had slept out all 
night.! 1 ,did not,kno,,: )vh~t,to tltink, .wl,lOt)Ie,r'tq Ji.c angry with 
tlte..l:!g;< office clerk ~r. ~o 1)'l Jlle~scfl, tll~t I I,l~d. cpil,t.~ whet) ~ did, 
while·the, qneue 'yas.s.tjl\ s1)1all. .' '. . .. . ",.. . ~ ... 

,r queued from. this ·time until ,the .!loors . .we~C .op~ned,. at 
·7.:00~ p.m. for admission" having, l:eccive9-'.one .of; the returned 
tieket~, 'which were·not issued until 6.45 I,.,n,,;, .:, " 

, ~ There was""'ol\e mad rush " when the door~(opened, to 
try to be first in' order' to get a scat, and as my'ticket was for the 
gallery;·1 had many· stairs to: climb at speed i1 Being fairly· near 
the'ironti bHhe queue,'1,was 'able'to get'a sent in,the, ve.ry front 
row, and thei'cfore' could sce and, hear'wondorfullyfrom,where 

I 
,vas. '. " . " •.,', " • ,. :.

10, 

1 have seen" TI,IO Last: Night" for the 'P1i'st thi'ee yeriI:s on 
television, wllicli' enables you to capture a certain amount of 
enthusiasm and atmosp!lCre) but you really have to go personally 

to appreciate it fully:~'I' }.<,:.."lo lit. 'i'J' " f; ~ ') i~ 

~ '.' ItjS.,o! ,!,o, .us~,~;v. t,'y,illg t.,!..d.es~1'!!>7 i~,..as J ~\'o?ld unde!'. 
~S~!l1l\!~jl,lt..fa; tq? .~u_ell), b1},~ 1:,:111 ~u~n,!trup!)jY.S,\YI'1" tlJat It 
was one of We most wonderful alld' StI~l'llIg !\VCllt~ .1 shall' ever 
IIope to attend during my whole Jife-tiin'e; .the fa'kHiinry Wood 

, Promehade:collcer6 of 'the' Season, \vith 'Sir'~falcolm' Sargent as 
chief'cOIidtict'or,"ml.d Inc as a' true Promenader'! . , " ' 

'" ' ,-, ~ ~ I • ~ , 

OATlIERlliE 'RIClDIOliD, Lower 1'1. 

46 

, 


" 

~ 



--: >. :'-' 

'Travelling Upcountry

'; ,; ~ , 

Wc started out early in ~he, mOl'ning While the air was still 
cool from the previons night, hoping to,,reaeh ~he plateau before 
the heat of the day. Small gronpso( plttiv:es; appeared along the 
stony, bumpy road. The Umbu!lldo" WOmen carricd fat, black 
babics on theu' hips and bitlapc,ed, cm~tben\vare:pots or baskets 
of food, brim full, on their heads, ·Out, of. ,both the men and 
women's moutlls stuck dirty.,blaCk pipe~. or, long, cheap cigars . 
.All the women wore brightly .colqurcd cott<l!lS, smi-fashion like 
the Indians; round, dried ~udnecklaces.aq9rned their necks and 
they wore bangles and beads:wherev:er. else.possible. The neck 
bands were studded with cololl!'ed. beads and ,bottle tops and 
whatever else they could.find ,that attracted them, They wore 
their hair piled at the back of thcir hcads, mixed with mud and 
cow manure and c,ombed into a fan shape, These small signs of 
vanity wore all these people showed in the way of self-indulgence, 
for tlwy were a poor ,people, ;who )l~d not yet learned what 
civilisation was. . -, 

The stillncss 'of biish,wqs ,i"teiT\lpt~d by: tlie,cackling of the 
green pm:rot froll1 tll.e Q;tyobqli,trec !W,W~ jOJ!l'llCyed on. We often 
came across lion alld Jeopai:~ tr!,~);:,~ an()., 9,cc~~ionally a leopard 
strollcd placidly from one si().p 9f,tliQ ti'qqk t.o t!!e other, apparently 
unafraid of human bcings. Herds of antclope and koutous 
boundcd and IC,apc(l jn, ,tM di~t?~ce am<.>ngst the prickly 
shrubbery. ',' , " . , 

Wherever w,e·.£ound.l·ivm!s which' 'i:cl:e'too dcep to drive 
through, we had to cross ,!if,tlie "'"ferry'l': This consistcd of 
canoes or petrol drums ,,,itli planks-IasllCd on top. The car was 
driven 0!1 and we wHr!l, "1.'0le~,~',!\~fOSS l'~ ~eycral boot-br?wn 
bush natIvcs. Once sa!.ely as1!ore from ti,e curi'cnts and crocodiles, 
weI contined ~ur j0j1rh,eY,,11~W.'·a;~ .Ias,} we, reached the mission 
~W~ ':" 

--' .~ , .' ," .,,, .. ~ " :" .-.."" 

These fricndly people"iif"dillci:e{it' natio',ialities live ouly to 

teach the Word of God and true civilisation to .Africans from the 

. surrounding villages, Ih 'tliemidill'e of 'tHis' c'ommunity lay a 

. small school borde~'cd:by.lllue jlic.~raii.'iias and: eucalyptus trces, 
This was our destinition 'uiilroitrJiome'il.ntil:tlie holidays, whcn 
we would return 'again 00. oU:i':cliil1e'ton th'c colist, ' 

, '" .::•• ,.~.. y 

,,' .' AUSON GANT, Upper V. 

'" 

47 


POEMS 

The Leaf 

A brown, withered stem, 
That holds a dying leaf, 
Fallen in Autumn. 
A sweet life and brief, 
With a birth of green 
And a death of red 
That fades lito yellow 
And curls at the head. 
A sudden crunching. of footsteps, 
And a final swift dart--
Of pain, as a foot falls, 
And tIle leaf, falls apart. 


ANN MlLROY, Lower V. 

Mountain Call 

Our challenge rises sheer and high, 
To touch an ever azure sky; 
And fall, to small green fields below, 
Where rivers gently meander through 
The pleasant valley-side. 


It beckons to our searching souls, 
And urges us to find footholds 
On granite rocks and shifting snow, 
Where icy wind-storms, cut and blow, 
And freeze your very blood. 


Life hangs, suspended on a rope, 
Swaying gently, the only hope, 
Yet here's the call, the thrill and awe 
Of sheer rock above, and the world's distant floor, 
Two .thousand feet below: 


And nowhere happier am I ; 
Than far above the skylark's cry, 
Ever reaching to a mountain's crest, 
:i\fy purpose fnlfilled, my sonl at rest, 
Here would I rather die. 


ANN MILROY, Lower V_ 

48 


The Pear Tree 

Do you remember a pear tree in'the spring, 
Lacy and slender as a young bride, with its mist of white blossoms Y 
Do you remember the soft petals as they fell, ' 
Tossed on the breeze, heltcr skelter in the cool grass, 
Or as a snowflake caresses your cheek-
Touched your, hair Y 
Do you remember later, when the warm lazy days of June came on, 
When sun and earth were atune, 
The young fruit first hard as stone, with promise of good harvest Y 
Do you remember the fruit reaching perfection, a warm golden 


brown-
As though sapping its strength from the parched grass Y 
Or have you forgotten the joys of your childhood of seeing all 

these tbings Y 

A. HALL, Upper VI. 
" Enter these enchanted woods, You who dare" 

Enter these enchanted, woods, 
Fairy hills and valcs; 
Unknown to man's fearful eyes, 
Here an ancient treasure lies' 
In misty glens and dales. 


Enter this forbidden land, 
:Mortal, if you dare; 
Where the lake doth lap thc shore, 
Silver shining, evermore 
Whispering, babbling, crystal clear. 


Moonbeams lace the water side, 
Stars the Heavens light, 
Weird, twisted, gnarled old trees 
Groaning, sway upon the breeze; 
And softly calls the voiee of Night. 


Sweet Paradise, immortal dream 
Of weary, sinful man; , 
No tongue, can speak thy loveliness, 
No pen can write thy happiness, 
Enter, mortal, enter, if you can. 


S. JORDAN, Upper IV. 
49 


An Apple Tree by Moonlight 

.An mvl upon his way flew softly byWJlite 
ghos.t.agaiost It silver spectre tree; 
.A drift of phantom moths, o!er-lwad a'sky 
Haunted with cheatiog stars, 'a I!lilky sea. 


, .'

. . 

The moon has draincd all colour from·the scene,. 
Its borrowed glory alien and cold. 
The'liqnil!·light lias blanched ·t!ie rust and· green, 
The tawny-buff, the red, tllC liche!l's gold. 

" . 

The owl's great agate eyes ·two moonstones· are, 
Milkwhite, with shifting opaleseent gleams; 
TI\e tree's gnarl~il trunk isg~ey, and·sha!101vs mar 


'The grey on grey,· scarred with' deep·rifts and seams. 


" 

Where br~l'cl)cs have bccn loppcd, the gardener's lad 
Has trcated with white paint the oozing scars; 
These, stripped ofleaves with which they once were clad, 
Reflect th' ether~aJ.llliI!lp;~r !)Hhe ~tars. 


.A night wiod rnstles throngh the autumn leavcs, 
Dense shadows waited on' by seeond selves, 
Casting a dappled tapestry, as waves . 
Frettiog the sea'shore, rib the sand with sllClves. 


The moon Ims dimmed' and dnskcdthe lnstrcd fruit, 
Stone-carver apples, statue-tree, as in 
Old Eden such a tree st'ood' mute; 
Waiting for Eve to touch and taste and sin . 


.' . 

CLARE HARRIS, Upper VI. 

Ca~t1e~ 

Of all romantic buildings )!l!!»,'this, ()nr ancient earth, 

I thiok that lordly castles 'vh~rEl gay noblcs once made mirth, 

If they were given human 'tongJIe, ~hey'd tell us tale on tale 

Of feasts, and jousts, and battles fought across the rich green dale. 

Some castles are, 'tis sad to say, a'Qrumbling to~the dust; 
.And if we don't t!)kl)'c,!!e of;thl))ll; tl.>ey'll:mL~ with Old Earth's 
crust, .,' '.' .,."

.And such a treasure .vonjd .be·!9~t as we ~ould scarce bclieve-
The ~omanceof tl.>~ go~dold days-our heal'ts would sorely grieve_ ''r 

50 


But Windsor Castle, where our Kings nsed many ti!lles to stay, 
Is strong and bol4 and beautiftil'as any Snmmer's day; 
And 'though the wrills'16'ok'fail" and'new; tho'I'casons in the stone, 
For 'tis so strong and stout and good, the wind can'twCflr itdown. 


, , "," ". , '. . , ;' . 
The castle, with the'land around, 'especially in Spring, 
IIolds one in wonder at, the place lived in by many a King. 
The Park, the trces, mid,e'en the'flowers to it theil,:bcauties lend, 
So little doubt that royal'inen tIIGre'lmpPY'days ,lid spend. 

And other castlcs, all of'which,' though often,half-decayed, 
Still hold tho I'omanco of tho past 'as if 'it wero' delayed, 
And when the men wero dead and gono, tho wondrous buildings 


old, .' " ' 
Had held the feeling 'of the'past as misers guard: theil' gold. 

They'li novel' loso their I'OmntlCe now, or their mysterious ail', 
Until there's nothing left of them but stones and old wood there; 
The, buil4il'gs ne'er ,yill be forgot by beauty-loving men, 
Who have the power to pass on talcs of castles with theil' pen, 


'.' .. .GILLUN RALPH, Lower V, 

Horses.of the New For~st 

There go the horses ! I wish one wm:e mine; 
Sce all the ponics 'in It 19n9'line, 
There are the skcwbalds,'brown and white; 
There is a piebald, a jolly fine sight. 

A strawberry roan, wit!) little ~nes three, 
She guards them so closely, !Lw,ay 'from me ; 
Tails stream behind, mancs'fly in the wind, 
And the thuJlder of hooves is echoed behind. 

I wish ~d a:pony,one 'Qlack as the night, 
Fou):,little wh,ite socks, !lIId fI s~ar so white; 
With a pony the're wonderful things to do, 
Treat him well,; he may win a pri~~ for you. 
, JQ,}!" TltUSTRIDf,III. 

$choolgirI's 'Lllment .' 

A line, H line,~o.llowed the Sack" . 
I come and g~iIi n:~vy blu~ ninc. '. , 


" '.' .1,' ,I 

Hail, plunging, nccklmes' a~d:~yaists that nip, 
Whcre's thilclla!'!li iil my plniil' gym' slip , 

, . .. 

.1 


Coiffures that are shaped It la razor, 
A plain bob looms over my blazer! 

FloweqlOt hats trimmed with fur and tnlle, 
A cap with a badge I wcar to school. 

Diamond chokers the eye arouses, 
:MascuJine tie adorns my )llouses. 

Six iuchheels can cause quite a scandalBut 
I'm still wearing my tan sandal. 

Faces transformed by pots of make up, 
Soap and water are all I rake up. 

Dior and Hartnell fashions reform, 
But who can change a scllo.o1 uniform 1 

H. SWANN, Upper IV. 
Asian 'Flu 

The headlines in the papers 
Are all on Asian 'Flu, 
The B.B.C. and I.T.V. 
They're on about it too. 


So many people have it, 
We're left with very few, 
To close the school completely, 
Seems the only thing to do. 


But have we really got it 
Or is it just sub·think, 
When we've got a common cold, 
And our tongues are not quite pink t 


Some people are so silly, 
They really cannot tell, 
And kill themselves with worry 
Just by wondering if they're well. 


Build up your self·resistance, 
Put sub·thinking out of mind, 
And if you're one that's lucky 
.Asian 'Flu you'll leave behind. 


HELEN BROWN, Upper lV. 

52 

'-I 



PARENTS' ASSOCIATION SECTION 
Committee, 1957 

Ohairman nIiss Dunford 

Secretary ...... ~Irs. Welch 

Treasurer Mr. Parham 

(Until July) 
Staff Representatives ~ss Woods 

Miss Piggott 

~ss TUstone 
P{(rents' Representatives Mrs. Rowbottom 
Mr. Harding 
~Irs. Norris 
~Ir. Corp 
Rev. H. Rrayford 

Rep>'esentative 0)1 Goveming Bolly Rev. G. K. HorlockJones 


In Memoriam 

The success of our Parents' Association depends very largely 
upon the interest and activity of its Committee. Wc I,ave had. 
1).0 keener or more faithful member of it than Mr. T. N. Corp. 
He was elected as the Wiltshire representative in 1954. He never 
missed a meeting if he could possible help it and was always 
Cheerful and full of nseful ideas. We are grateful for all that he 
did to help to make our Association so worthwhile and we shall 
miss his supp~rt and unfailing loyalty . 

There was a record numbcr of parents at the General.Annual 
llIeeting on November 21st, 1956. New members of parents and 
staff were welcomed before the minutes were rcad and business 
arising from them discussed. Then followed the reports of the 
Secretary and Treasurer for the past year, and that of the 
Rcpresentative on the Governing Body. 

Miss Dunford next referred to the Constitution and pointed. 
out the number of membcrs in each group: Shaftesbury, 
Dorset villages, Wiltshire ·villages, and Boarders' parents. 

. In Iler remarks as Chairman, ~ss Dunford mentioncd her 
" .At Homes" on Wednesday afternoous and then spoke of the 
Magazine. As far as she was aware, our Parents' Section was 
unique in School Magazines. She wondered whether a Parent 
would like to be the Editor of . this Section and asked for 
,olunteers. 

53 


:ilIiss Dunford went on to comment on the continual difficulty 
of keeping girls in the correct uniform in all its details. She told 
parents about second-hand uniform and summer dresses. 

Future meetings wete then discussed and it was decided to 
have a speaker in the Spring Term as usual and something like 
a Brains Trust in the Summer. It was suggested that the 
Summer Meeting should be held at Iwerne lIIinster, bnt members 
felt that pleasant as this would be, they preferred to be "at 
home" in school. 

Eleetions took place in the usual rooms and were followed 
by tea and talk. 

On lIIarch 20th, the Association nlet to heal' a talk by 
Anthony Brown, .Art lIIaster of Crichel School, .on " Children and 
Criticism." This proved to be most interesting and provocative 
and was followed by some questions which showed with what 
keenness the talk had been heard. 

The meeting on July 3rd began with thc sad news of 
1111'. Corp's death. 

A new Treasurer, lIlJ:. Head was appointed to take the 
place of Th .. Pm·ham, until the General Annual Meeting. The 
Chairman pointed out the new reading desk and the new cups 
that were on the shelf. . . 

A most successful Brains Trust followed. The members 
were l\Iiss Berwick, H.N.I., Miss Ebbs-Kanavan, Hcadmistress 
of Asllmoro Primary School; lIIr. N ewsom, Headmaster of 
Blandford Modern School; and liD-. ·Webster, Headmaster of 
Gillingham Grammar School. 

Questions selected from a number sent in by parents and 
touching on a vmiety of different aspects of education, were 
answered very skilfully by the panel and it was a very enjoyable 
hour. 

OUR SCHOOLDAYS 

Schooldays in a Rather Primitive School 

When I was nine the entire family had whooping cough. 
What a business it must have becn, six children and two adults 
whooping madly. No wonder the doctor advised a"change of 
air. lily father was away on some engineering project and we 

54 

• 



joined l!im, far off in the country, just when my brother shonld 
have been returning to sehool, and I to lessons with a governess .. 
Six weeks' bliss followed while wc ran wild in the woods and on 
the beaches. Evidently not so biissful for the family for at the 
end of that time wc were sent to the village school. It was three 
miles away by the dusty road and slightly farther by the woods. 
Wc went by the woods! 

The school was a one storied wooden building in a field, with 
a snake "ience around it to kccp animals out. We used it as a 
vaulting .horse, seat or balan~e stand, according to the game of 
the moment. The windows were set high to prevent idle children 
watching village activity. Being an idle ehild, I soon discovered 
that by standing to ask :)-question I could always see the cause 
of any unusual sound. There were two class rooms with a small 
room between. This was the teachers' sanctum. At noon the 
school doors opened to let us out, then closed till one o'clock. 
The teachers disappeared and we ate our dinners. Wc all brought 
them in "lunch cans". These were empty Swift's Premium 
Lard pails in which lard waS sold, four pounds at a time. There 
were no wrapped one pound paekets then. They had lids with our 
names painted on them and woe to any ehild who departed from 
the conventional" can". ~Iyfirst, an ornate biscuit tin, found its 
way to the bottom of the well. When wc were set free we broke 
into groups and the swopping began. Sandwiches were laid in 
rowS on the fenee or benehes in the big open-fronted shed, and 
traded for more tasty morsels. Mine bought almost anything 
I wished, not because they were better than the others' but 
beeause the Chinese eook made Venetian loaves and my sandwiches 
were round. The erusts made fine bracelets in our games 
and daisies and other flowers could be threaded through them. 
Most people made their own bread and the loaves were any old 
size. Granny MeKay's oat eakes were my favourite swop so 
I had to nip round the corner to the boys and bargain with her 
grandsons, or swop on the way to sehool. The boys went off on 
their own and our meal was soon dispatehed. Afterwards wc 
played, all together, in the woods near the fence with some{
me on guard to warn us if a teacher appeared . 

.As the weather grew warmer most of the children went 
barefoot, for ehoiee not necessity. As soon as we were out of 
sight in the wood we hung our large straw sailor hats on a friendly 
tree, took off our high laced boots and long black stockings, tied 
the shoes together to sling round our neeks and off we went 
through the woods. It was usually Indian file, toes pointing 
straight in front, eyes alert for tracks. There was an Indian 
:Reserve nearby so wc knew how it should be done. The sehool 

55 


bell would be ringiug as we reached the snake fence. There was a 
mad rnsh to get iuto shoes and stockings, leap the fence and join 
the straggling lines filing into school. A. few boys would be round. 
the pump having a last drink. It had a tin mug chained to it 
which one used, while the others pumped and put their heads 
under to drink as the water spurted forth. There was usually at 
least one boy with dripping hair as we filed in. 

There was no Assembly. The two classes went to their 
rooms and the register was called. A.t least you said if you were 
there. That may sound odd but the teacher said" Register," the 
child whose name was first said, ".One", the next" Two" and. 
so on till wc reached 35. I was 35 and last. Missing numbers 
were marked" a" and that ended it. "The Lord's Prayer," 
said the teacher. We rose put our hands stiffly at our sides 
bowed om' heads and said it. "Amen, Arithmetic" and we sat 
to the day's work. Think of 35 children aged 6 to 13 or more, in 
those days promotion was on attainment not age, and one teacher l 
Arithmetic, endless columns of figures to be added down, 
subtracted across and divided or multiplied by set numbers. 
You did it on a slate, showed it, rubbed it out and began again. 
Once a wcck you did it·in a book and it was shown to the Head. 
Ifit was not good you did it again after school on Friday. I stayed. 
regula!'ly on Fridays. Spelling 20 words a day, and I never could 
spell, until in desperation I stopped trying and found I could. 
We were supposed to be too young for History or Geography but 
I listened to the older ehildren'when I was supposed to bereading. 
The Reader was a good one but I'd read it so often I was sick of 
it. The History was not alive like the stories my mother had. 
told me of the first Canadian settlers, their struggles with the 
weather, Indians and wild beasts, and the stupidity of their. 
governments at home. No inkling of their lives aud thoughts or 
their amusements on the long, dark, winter evenings ever filtered. 
through a History lesson. Geography was worse, just definitions 
of islands, isthmus, peninsula etc., nothing of the wonders among 
which we lived; the mountains, seas and rivers· that were at om' 
very doors. Nature l I wonder who devised· the catechism of 
question and answer which we learned by heart and recited to 
each other. "Whatis a clock Y" asked number onc. Two replied, 
"A. clock is a time piece which hang~ on the wall to mark the 
time of day. What are .the d.iseases of wheat Y" Three replied 
" The diseases of wheat are, rust blight ..." (And in my case 
stuck there. There were five listed.)· There was a wash bowl full 
of tadpoles, pollywogs we called them, and. I remember we 
were told to write a poem about a frog. I don't know what I wrote 
but a little S,vedish girl who sat beside me wrote .this on the: 

56 

.. 



cover of my exerciso book and my mother kept it. I don't know 
if it was original 

" W'bat a funny little thing a frog are, 

Hc ain't got no tail at all almost liardly, 

W'bcn he hop, he jump, 

W'ben.he jump he sit down on the little tail 

What he ain't got at a11, almost hardly." 

I'found it years afterwards among some papers and memoriscd it., 

Walks to and from school were pure joy. The hot dust 
welled up between our toes. Thimbleberrics (wild raspberries), 
blackberries aud huekleberries grew by the road-side and wild 
strawberries in the woods. Meadow larks whistled on fence 
}losts and the woods crcpt to the road edge, sheltering the boys 
who leapt out and ambushed ns. .At the bottom of the hill lay 
the sea and home. Only the ~IcKays and their Alexander cousins 
went with us to the sea. They, to wait for their uncle and his 
boat to take thcm across the inlet and wc, to l'Ush indoors to 
find mother; then away to the beach and boats; our homework 
crowded in at the last momcnt before bed on the veranda, 
with the pines whispering in the breeze, the sea murmuring 
round the rocks and !L vesper sparrow singing through the 
darkness. 

The morning fresh and cool woke us to the new day. Prep to 
finish by the big grate where the logs blazed and Cl'aclded, 
breakfast and seuny, nurse's voice chiding, "The Alexanders 
are at the bend in the mad. You'll be late," They never were, 
though they lived ten miles away and walked most of them. 
" G90dbye!" "Rave you got yom' lunch cans 7" and life had 
begun agaiI~ in earnest . 

.All too soon that year was over and we retm11ed to civilisation 
and a boarding school for me. Horrors! The sehool; 
actually, I grew to love. It was interesting and I enjoyed evCl>y 
moment of it, but how I missed the early' morning scurl>y, our 
dinncrs under the trees and the freedom from shoes and rulcs. 
I didn't learn mueh that first ycar in a school, cxcept to occupy 
myself and be happy, but perhaps they were the most important 
things aftcr a11. 

* • 

Memories of Village School-Days 

~Iine was hardly a" Vietorian Childhood," but' when it 
was suggested that I write my impressions of my school' 
days, I realised that I first went to school over forty years agolamost 
half a century away. How crowded those days were! 

67 


I remember a tiny 'playground l'eserved for the infants, square, 
like a pocket-handkerchief, and an even smaller square cloakroom-
the "Porch "-where wet play-times were spent,
surromided by ddpping ·coats aud; not infrequently, Ulllbrellas 
which, once open, remained so! The day of mackintoshes and 
rubber boots had not yet dawned, How well I remember thosn 
lace-up boots which reached nearly to mY' knees, and which, 
when removed, were the banc of my lifn to lacn up again. Onn 

,of tlw nccasions neeessitatiIlg boot removal was for the measuring, 
and weiglling conncctcd with tlln School Doctor's visit, These 
annual visits were made even more unfortunate for me by onn 
exercise set to the whole school above Standard I, by the Headmaster, 
This consisted of a sum in which thn digits 987654321 
were multiplied by 123456789. Presumably thern was a correct 
answer, but I nnver remember getting it, although I worked on 
through the endless afternoon, 

In fact, I cannot remember nver learning tlw "times" 
tables, hencn my difficulties on thn day of thn medical iIlspection. 
Probably this was because my school attcndancn, as an iIlfant, 
was very patchy. I lmd whooping cough, a fractured collarbonn 
and an operation for adcnoids and tonsils, To say nothing 
of the absences made necessary by inclement weather and flooded 
roads, during these early years. In addition, I suffered acutely 
from earache, and this, too, contributed to thn gaps in myknowledge of basic number. 

The Standards I to VII were taught all together by three 
teachers in the largn T-shaped room. It was customary for 
Standard I to return to thn " littlnroom " for Scripture until the 
Dray Scdpture Examination following the March promotions. 
I well remember the added dignity these ex-iIlfants acquired! 
We, the First Class Infants, l'egarded them with mixed awn and 
envy as they trooped in each morning, these Beings from Beyond 
the Door. (Through this Door came FiIlal Authority to deal 
with those iIlfant boys who disturbed our Infant peace.) 

Scripture was my favomite Lesson and the stories I was 
told then have nnver been forgotten. Hophni and Phineas, 
Sisera, and Balaam were not just awkward names, but real 
peopln to me. No attempt was made to explain these stories. 
We were merely told them, and thcir charm nnver waned. 

The Headmaster was elderly-Iw had, in fact, taught my 
mothCl~and had a bcautifully kept beard which fascinated me. 
He was an excellent diSCiplinarian, iIl spite of snvere deafness, 
and was held in great l·espect by eve~yone. He possessed. a kcen 
sensn of humour, as his dealings with the older boys clcarly 
showed. The village youths wern much addicted to surreptitous 
smoking and his advice to the culprits, when referred to him, 
was summed up in his famous Eleventh Commandment-" Thou 

58 

'. 



shalt not smoke till thou art fully grown." He was, incidentally, 

a heavy pipe·smoker llimself. 

In the fanciful manner of cllildren I identified him with 

Boaz, probably because of his benign manner and patriarchal 

appearancc. lily adult conception of this Bible clmracter still 
bears a marked rescmblance to myoId teacher. For his" grandchildJ:
en," as he called us, he had a particularly warm affection, 
very well disgnised when oecasion warranted! (I had the dubious 
distinction of l'eceiving two strokes of the cane at his hand.) 
My mother belonged to the class of parcut WIIO punished wrong. 
doing at sehool with a further punishment at home. In school, 
at least, my brother's behaviour was exemplary, and the agony 
of mind I suffered, knowing he would" tell" directly he set foot 
iu the house ! I even prayed for his fall from gmce, so that his 
misdemeanour would cancel my own and so stay my mothcr's 

sentence of bed, and no candle ! 

Reading was the gt'eatest delight of my childhood and to be 

deprived of the means to satisfy this was punishment indeed. 

One of the greatest events of these early years was the arrival at 

the school of a branch of the lending library sponsored by the 

County AutjlOrity. I had, long bcforc, exlmusted all the reading 

material I could lay hands on in the village and I remember the 

care I took in cllOosing the longest books available in a vain 

attempt to eke out the pleasure until the following Friday. In 

this way I discovered Harrison Ainsworth, Charlotte Yonge and 

Fennimore Cooper. 

I might write about the Sunday School treats, the excite


ments of the occasional Parliamentary election and the annual 

Oddfellows' fete, or the trip once a year to the nearest town to 

buy shoes. Instea,l I will conclude by commenting that the 

11+ examination bogey is not confined to the present generation. 

What a substitute for tranqnillising pills was my trip in the side


car of a motor-cycle combination, complete with goggles, to 

" sit" for the "scholarship" at myoId grammar school, a 

distancc of twenty miles ! 

* • • 

On Discovering an Ancient (And Grubby) Photograph 

Now, I wonder, WIIO are these, 

All cap-all collar-all knees ~ 

I know! Naughty deportees 

Destined for the colonies. 

'£00 young' Maybe' escapees,' 

Truant from reformat'ries , 

No Y I wonder, who are these, 

All cap-all collar-all knees 1 

59 


This lad on the left, I fear, 

(Judging from his awful leer) 

Sinks the heart, and springs the tear; 

But wait ! Something pencilled here ! 

What does it say ?-No !-oh dear! 

" Me " 

• • * 

Reminiscences of My Schooldays 

The only thing I remember about my first day at school is 
-the moment of entering the classroom full of children and 
sitting down beside a 'big' girl-probably aged six-to learn \ 
from her how to plait with raffia. 

This was the beginning of three magical years in a 
.department where as far as I remember not a Cross word was 
spoken until the sad day when a strange teacher came to replace 
onrs whim she had broken her leg. The new te.~cher was of 
sterner stuff than our beloved lllisses Brown and Millar and to 
my utter astonishment I found myself actually being pmiished 
by her for the first time in·my school career. I must have been 
.about seven. I wllistled and was' stood' in the corner. 

In retrospect that event seems to mark the beginning of a 
new era, fqr upon my promotion shortly afterwards to the 
upper school with its more traditional discipline, life became 
bewilderingly unjust. Every moment of one's day was heavy 
with the 'big brother' watchfulness of the headmistress, a 
gaunt, ugly woman, dressed like'a Victorian duchess. There 
rema,ined, how()ver, the joy of music lessons with a young 
woman serene enough to weal' all during the lesson and throughout 
a visit from the 'head,a, daisy chain made for her by her 
pupil. 

The climax came whell an older girl, walking home with me, 
seized the tambourine I had for dancing class and rattled it at 
a passing horse. The next day I found myself in the terrifying 
presence in the drawingroom. We had been seen froni a long 
way off by a member of staff and as I was known to be in the 
tambourine dance the evidence was considered conclusive, In 
spite of a strong' sense of the injustice of the affair I was dumb. 
Silence was t.:tken for guilty, I was banned from the dancing 
exhibition and my hatband was solemnly removed from my hat 
for a term as I was deemed unworthy to Weal' the school colours. 
'.co an eight-year-old this seemed very hard. 

GO 

t {~

, ' :. ? . 

, . ~ , 



This pattern of be'vildering injustice contiuued for a timo 
and then, inovitably, thero began a course of behaviour which 
justified it, that is to say, after tho first spell of paralysed 
inarticulateness a spell of l'cbelliousness sct in. "''hen things got 
too bad and I had committed the crime, not once but several 
.times of going into the' woods,' a strip of shrubbery reserved for 
the boarders, my parents decided to remove me " for financial 
i'easons " and the tllird phase of my school career began. 

I now found myself in a vast institution for the education of 
about 900 girls and I spent most of the first few weeks getting 
lost. 

The School had been started about fifty years before for the 
education of 'young ladies' and there still floated about its 
remoter corridors and staircases a handful of " lady governesses" 
left over from the days when the only training a teacher received 
was by starting as a pupil teacher. These had now been relegated 
to the music departniimt' and 'were all almost indistinguishable 
from each other in their long flowing black gowns, elastic·sided 
boots, velvet throat pands, and Edwardi!lII hair·styles. Let mc 
hasten to add,·that cven to .us they were oddities. They disappeared 
ono by onc and were soon 'forgotten. 

Those who remained were qualified in tho modern senSe and 
looking back, I would classify them into .three groups, leaving 
aside a small rather colourless group of masters-those who could 
not keep order, thoso who kept it by dint of heavy sarcasm and 
those who kept it through respect and affection. 

In a school of this kind thero were hours and hours of 
boredom and the habit IlIad acquired of behaving badly seemed 
impossible to shake off ilven in a new school. There were so 
'many who were slich easy game-peoplo who should never 
havo taken up teaching. To this day. I ain filled with shame if 
I meet them when I visit my home to·wn. And yet ono feels 
angry with them, oven after all this time, for being failures. 
They should, one feels, either havo got tho upper hand or got 
out, instead of struggling on as martyrs to the young pitiless 
fiends we could be, and leaving us with nothing but remorse. 

Thero was the briliiant young mathematieian who was just 
too kind to cope with benches of nasty girls. But it is no use 
being kind when you are ~ teacher. The main qualities required 
were possessed by my last group-I am missing out my second 
gl'OUP, the possessors of the scorpion. tongues who maintained 
order, but achieved nothing else of lasting value. 

There ,vere six'ih my last group and they had two tliings in 
common besides a capacity for keeping order-an absoluto 

61 


sense of justice and a great love for tl.lC subject they taught. 
But the last quality would have been ineffectiYe without the 
first two. In the first place they won Our respect, then in yarying 
degrces our affection aud finally some. of them inspired some of 
us with love for their subjcct. 

Thrce of tllCm stand out particularly in my nlemory: 

" Susie" of tho i'cd hair, tawny eyes, and rich French accent, 
who hammered Fl'CncJl grammar into us and cRred so lnnch 

when we didn't come np to her expectations. "Jenny "'ren," 
llCad of the French department, small, darting and birdlike, 
also tremendonsly keen on her work and a ·splendid teacher. 
"The Bug "-affectionately so c.'\lIed because of a doublebarrellcd 
name with 'Boog'. in it-of flaming bushy hail', 
manly proportions and voice, pacing the room with the trend of 
a policeman and expounding His.tory, not without a strcak 
of Immol!r. 

How clearly I remembm' them in gcstnre and voice and how 
much I owe them ! 

The great event of the year was the concert on the last 
eyening of the summer term, held in a.large concert hall afoor 
the design of the .Albert Hall. At thiS, fiye hundred senior girls, 
dressed in white, occupied the organ gallery. The atmosph9re 
was at concert pitch. .All the teachers rose to the occasion,. in 
llarticular one who throughout the year trundled wearily up and 
down the many stairs of the school, wrapped in several shabby 
cardigans and shawls, with unkcmpt hail', sighing l'epeaoodly 
and complaining of draughts 01' rudencss. On the night of the 
concert she would emerge, like a butterfly from its cocoon, in 
dazzling white, silYer hail' dressed and groomed, a red rOSe on 
~Ier shoulder. Somehow she symbolised the whole atmosphere, 
and. afterwards when we jostled each other in the corri,dors 
behind th!, platforIl)., intensely excite\!.· ang. shouting goodbyes, 
'we saw them all in a softer glow and ,eml>raeed them all in one 
wave .of affection, .As we took leave of them, eventually, whcn 
our tlll:n mime, foi· the last time, we forgavo them all, or nearly 
all, and I hope they forgave us too'! ' 

"->3: 

• 

The Village School 

There were two.sehoo.ls·in the village, one the Church of 
England school, the other just called a,British School. I went to 
the Church of England. How superior wc children of the Church 
of England school thought ourselves ! I, with a numller of otllCr 

62 

• 



girls and boys, had to walk nearly 2 miles to get to school. 
There was an infant room, a middle room, and a top room; 
two teachers, and the Hcadmaster. I natnrally started in the 
infant class. I think I got on qnite well except for sewing: 
I was given a piece of calico to sew. I had to hem along one side. 
W:hat a job I had trying to get the needle throngh. It seemed so 
hard to do, and horrid red cotton made the stitches look s'o 
big. It got dirtier every time I tried to do it. One day, the teacher 
said, " I think yon are finding that a bit difficult." I burst into 
tears, and managed to say I was finding it hard. She took it 
from me, and I did something else. Time passed quickly and 
I was moved into the other class with another teacher. 

There was a lady in the village who was very interestcd in 
the school. One day, the teacher said this lady was going to 
give. a prize to the child who did the bcst sewing. I thought to 
myself, I'll never win that. We had to make a pinaforc-pinaiorcs 
with frills and lace were worn in those days. I sewed and 
sewed; eventually it was finishcd. After a while the teacher 
said the lady would be coming with the prize. When I got to 
school next day, thcre was a lovely doll sitting on the teacher's 
desk. All the children looked· at one another, wondering who 
would get it. DUling the morning the lady came in. She said she 
llad chosen what she thought to be the best made pinaforc. 
Imagine my sUl'prise when my name was called. I got up to 
receive the doll. How excited I was ! I could not get home fast 
enough to show my mother. The ~oll had a card around her 
neck, saying he!" name was Dorothy. What pride I took in 
making clothes for Dorothy. 

Every Christmas,. the same lady used to give both schools 
a huge Christmas trcc, loaded with gifts. It had to come to our 
school, as we had a big room for it. ~he two Headmasters used 
to stand near the tree, and all the children would line up, to get 
their gift. As. I got near, my eye caught sight of a skipping rope, 
with blue and white painted handles and bells on them. I thought 
I·hope, I Mpe, I hope I get that skipping rope. 4S!lly turn came, 
my Headmaster handed me the rope, asecond before the other 
master held abook. Did my He"dmaster know that I )vanted 
th!!t skipping rope so badly' Time passed agail,l and I was 
moved to the last room. I was very happy tl\Qre; the Headma~
ter was very strict but kind. Once a year an inspector used 
to come, and ask us qU'estiill;uj on vari,ous .subjects ..Qne year he 
caJ?1e and asked the. Qlass questions about Si!-' :Ifrancis Drake aud 
the Spaniards. Nobody anslvercd him; the master lookcd at 
me and said, " Hilda, stand up and give an account of the Spanish 
Armada.'! I thought to myself, I can't, I can't, then ,mother 

63 


thought, he (Headmaster) has always told us there is no such 
word as can't. I stood up, and did the best I could. It did not 
seem so hard after all. It must have satisfied the inspector, as 
lle said, " Thank you. That was very nice." I got as far as I could 
go in the school, and was vcry sorry when I had to leave. I had 
been very happy there. 

I have a faded photograph of the children I was at school 
with. I look at it sometimes. Some I remember very well: . 
this girl, who had a lovely singing voice, died when she was 
18 years of age; this onc could not speak very plainly, she als() 
died very young; this boy, killed in France; this onc went down 
oil H.llI.S. Black Prince. 

What sad things happen ill life, but nothing can take away 
the happy memories of • 

The Yillage School. 

* 

OLD GIRLS' SECTION 

Committee. 1957-58 

P"esident 

Yice-President 
Secretaries 

Treasurer 

Staff Representative 
Sports Representatives 

Oo""nittee Members 

Miss M. K. DUllford 
MJ:s. N. Raad 

G. Hussey (nee Woodman) 
A. Rawson 
J. Drew 
K. Drake 
R. Gibbs 
B. Knaptoll 
B. Carter (1I/ie illullins) 
A. J ollIlson 
B. Welch 
IT. Young (nee Clarke) 
O.G.A. London Meeting, March 16th, 1957 
TneOld Girls' Association held its third London Rellniori 
on Saturday, March 16th, at the Central Club of the Y.W.C.A. 
in Great Russell Street. There wer~ twenty members present, 
the same number as the previous year, though not the same ~ 
people. Tile two hours passed quickly, f6r there was so much 
hews to exchange. As 5 o'clock drew near', Miss Dunford asked 
us, as she hils done at every Lond~ll Meeting, " Is this Annual 
illeeting worth while Y" For ·the third time therc came the 

unanimous answer, "Yes. " )l 

64 


O.G.A. Summer Meeting, July 6th, 1957 
Uncertain weather probably accounted for the smallev 
number of members who met for the Summcr Reunion, on. 
Saturday, July 6th, 1957. The tennis match began at Ii o'eloek 
at tile School. Field in Wincombe Lane, but, after afew minutes' 
play, we had a thunderstorm and rain continued for most of the 
evening. We returncd to Barton lIm lIouse aud chatted until 
the Supper Committee were ready to serve an excellent buffet 
supper at 6.30 p.m. When we could eat no more, we had an 
informal meeting in which "Iiss Dunford gave us hcr news of the 
School. In spite of the rain, Old Girls wandered about School, 
looking at the new Library, etc., and it was not until 9 o'clock 
~hat the last one had departed. 

Fourteenth Annual O.G.A. Dinner, November 16th, 1957 

Only a few Old Girls came to support their tcam in the 
annual lIockey "latch with the School, but these few were 
rewarded with an exciting game which ended in a victory for 
the 01(1 Girls' team, the goals bcing 6-3. 

This formed a cheering prelude to our evening. 'Ve assembled 
at tile Grosvenor lIotel at 7 p.m. for the Annual General 
lIleeting. lIIiss Dunford was in the chair and, after welcoming 
members and giving a special welcome to Mrs. Raad, she gave 
us greetings from Old Girls unable to be present. These included 
Grcetings Telegrams from two of our oldest Old Girls, May Short, 
who came to school in 1885, and Annie Jamcs, who came in 
1870. It was decided that flowers should be sent to both these 
special Old Gir)s. 

After the Minutes of the last Meeting, the Treasurer reported 
a balance in the bank of £97 Os. lId. It was decided that the 
usual donation of one guinca to the School's Coronation Fund 
should be given every year automatically. As "Iargaret Baker 
had found it necessary to resign from the Committee, her 
resignation was regretfully accepted and Beryl 'Welch was 
elected to take her place. 

Miss Dunford gave a brief acc!!unt of the successful examination 
results of the past year; the new experiment of a senior 
and junior boarding-house at Sunridge and Barton JIiU; the 
expedition to Denmark; and the hope of a Domestic Science 
building in the near future. 

O.G.A. plans for the coming ycar were discussed and we 
.were all delightcd at Miss Young's proposal that the London 
:Reunion in March should take place at the Westminster lIospital. 

At 7.45 p.m. we moved to the upstairs Diuing-room for 
dinner. The toast of the O.G.A. was proposed by Wendy Case" 
who is training at the Rose Brnford'Sehool of Speech and Drama. 
She described her experiences in large Comprehensive Schools 
in London and said'hmv-grateful she ·was that she belonged to a 
school whose greatncss did not depend npon its sizc. Pauline 
Edmonds l'eplied to the toast and said how delighted she was 
to come back after several ycars! absencc. i\Irs. Raad proposed 
the toast of the School and wc all rejoiccd with her on hearing 
of her grandson's success in winning a State Scholarship. In 
replying to the toast, Clare narris, the nead Girl of the School, 
described the visit of i\Iay Short in the summer. She spoke of 
herself as a link between the present School and the Old Girls 
and of J)riss Short as a link between the Old Girls and the School. • 

For the sake of people who had buses to catch, we sang 
Auld Lang Sync at 9.15 p.m. but it was long after that liefore 
all the groups of busily·talking Old Girls broke up and brought 
onc of our very happiest reunions to an end . 

A Great Day, May 24th, 19'57 

For oycr a year now we have beon in touch with onc of our 

oldest Old Girls, J)ray Short, and the School has heard many 
stories about her school days here in the reign of l\Iiss Dunn. 
Then, unexpectedly, on J)ray 24th, she came to see us. She 
arrived by car and, as she cannot manage steps, she alighted by 
the big gatcs and walked slowly round to the garden entrance to 
the house on her crutches. She'ltad to keep stopping to point 
out things and places she remembered, and everY1,'here there 
were eager eyes watching from the windows. 

lIriss Short sat down just outside the garden door while the 
Sbi:th Form gathered l'ound her and the nead Gil'l presented hcr 
with roses. They could have gone on listening to her memories 
indefintely but wc wanted everyone to share in the happiness of 
the ,isit. So wc settled J)riss. SllOrt in my Study by thc open 
window and the whole school passed by, waving to her as they 
went, while she waved back, looking foi' all the world like a queen 

•

waving to her subjects. 

When at last it was time for Miss Short to go, the gil'ls who 
were near gathered round the gate; lIIiss Drake and the choir 
came out from the nan and, quite spontaneously, they all sang' 
to her before she left. 

66



i\Iiss Short said afterwards that it was one of the happiest 
days of her life. For ns it was a day that we shall long remember. 

M. K. DUNFORD. 
Our Oldest Old Girl 

Annie James (n6e Norton) came to school in 1870, first as 
a day-girl and later as a boarder. The Hcadmistress then was 
i\[rs. Tatchell. If there is any living Old Girl who can beat 
this record, we shall be very glad to heal' about hcr. 

i\I. K. DUNFORD. 

Former Members of Staff 

i\[rs. A,'>DREWS (nee Lay) is enjoying being a busy Minister's 
wife in Greenwich. Unfortunately she could not come 
to om· London Reunion because 'she was attending the 
opening of a new Congregational Church that day. 

Miss BEER, is hoping for a permanent post in the Exeter arca so 
that she can live at home with her mother, but meauwhile 
she has taken a temporary P.E. post there. We were glad 
to have her at our O.G. dinner. 

Miss DWlcSON came .for aflying visit during her first ieave. It 
was very interesting hearing about her work in the Government 
Grammar School in Iiorin. Unfortnnately slu~ has 
had to ltave an operation and was unable to go back, but 
hopes to return to Nigeria before the end oHhe year. 

i\Irs. JONES (n6e Handford) was in Shaftesbury for a flying visit 
and came to watch the O.G. hockey match. She has bcen 
on board ship with her hnsband in Liverpool for several 
months. Susan enjoycd this very much. 

MISS LOGG came to sce us on her way back to Cheltnsford from 
Swanage where she spent the Summer half-term. 

lIIiss L. RonsoN and i\1iss W. RonsoN arc now happily settled 
in their own home in SalisblIrY and several of the Staff have 
visited them there. . 

lIIrs. RO)IIIULOW-PEARCE has now retired and is living at Stceple 
Langford near Salisbury. 

Miss TOWELL is hoping to go to New Zealand in the near future. 

lIlJ:s.l1WmTE (nee Rhodes) was vcry plcased to sec Eileen Parsons 
when she called on her during the summer and to hear news 
of the School. She is still a lecturer in-Mathematics at 
Brighton Training College and lives at Shoreham, where 
her husband has a living. 

67 


~-~--

Engagements 

Diana Bowdcn to lIichacl Dawe-Lanc 
Rita Brain to Raymond Warren 
Wendy Colycr to Christophcr Ball 
Dorothy Coombs to Gcoffrcy Ransomc 
Joy 90dfrcy to Alfrc~:Gcorgo Gamblel! 
Mary Green to Dorck Hayward 
Gertrude Harding to Arthur Wills 
1.1argaret Hcnstridgo to Anthony Burt 
ratricia. lIilton to Kcnneth Risboy 
Eli1.abeth (Jean) Nathnn to Simon ? 
Sheila Shoppard to Denis Warehulq 
Joy Slade to Gcrald David SobclI 
Nancy Talbot to ,tUnn Roberts 
Ann \Vard to John Frank BlundeD 
Ruth \Varcham to Charles :lIcAllister 


Marriages 

, i.'.Iolly Alford to Petor Ridcout 
Brenda. Bracher to l!'lying Officer Eric :lIneoy 
1'18rioo Bright to Anthony Savage 
June Dowland to Bernard Dayliss 
Noreen Elford to Robcrt Hunt 
l.Inry Gatehouse to Kcnncth Unclerwood 
Veronica. Gray to Dr. Pot(lr HOllkins 
l'Iyra Hull to Charles Henry Drako 
Rita Jaeob to Raymond Hookins 
Dia:un Johnson to Sidncy Han·cy 
Yyonne l\lorgan to ? 
Shirley Pitman to l)etcr Compton 
:l\Iary Senior to Barry ~'oster 
Sallv Thome to l\lichnell)emberton 
Nuncy Talbot to Adam Charles Roberls 

Births 

Audroy AyIes (nee Busby). a son. Richnrd Harry 
Sallie Baker (nee Hellllnens). a daughter. Catherine 
Rita Banfield (nee Caddy), a son, Richard 
Sonya Barter (net Sidford), a son, Guy 
Mnry Bruee (nee Lo Bechee), a son, Simon Le Bcchce 
1\lary Burge (nee ~'anncr), a son, Allan 
Janet Burton (nee Riches), a son, Stephcn Dayid 
Pamela Cordcry (nee Mills), a son, Jonathan 
Ruth Drake (nee Bartlett). a daughter, Angelal\Iary 
Mollio Foot (net Wilson). a son, Stephnn Michael 
June Fudge (nie Bartley), a daughter, Wanda Gait 
Jenny Gccene (nee Purvcr), a daughter, Karcn Elizabeth (sister 


for Nancy Ann) 
Sally Harmer (nu Minchinton), a. daughter. Fiona Sara Jimo Camcron 
Gillian Hussey-(nu Woodman). a. daughter. Ruth Mary 
Nital\Iorgnn (nee Head), a daughter, Jane Mary Frances 


..

Una-Jane Nice (nit Laws), a son, Stephen WiUiam 
Audrey Reddy (nee,Sargcnt), a. daughter, Amanda Louise ,
Jeanne Stimer (nee 'I'oogood), a Ban 
Mary Straughan (nee LOckyer), a. Bon, Joseph 
Sybil'l'opp (nee Toomer), a Bon, Anthony Peter 
l\lary Underwood (nee Woodman), a son, Paul Jamcs 
Josephine Williamson (nee. Williams), a son, John 


68 


PA)IELA ALllEIUCCI (",ie Clierbury) (1951) now has two children 
and is hoping to bring tllem over from SalisbnrY to see us 
one day. 

CnnISTINE .AI,FORD (1955). On leaving Weymouth Training 
College Christine went, ,\ith a college friend, to teach iu an 
Infau~s School in London. She is looking forward to our 
next London Re·union. 

JENNY ALLARDYCE (1956) is very happy at the Bath Acadcmy of 
Art. 
J,\NET .AI.r,U)[ (1957) is working with the I.C.I. in I,ondon. 
Her family has now moved to Bonrnemouth. 

ROSE)[ARY ARNoLD.(nceMatthews) (1947). In April, Rosemary, 
with her husbaud and Richard (aged 3), sailed ,ou the 
Queen 11fary for U.S.A. where they are going to settle ou 
Long Island, New York, with her husband's family. 

LESLEY BENNETT (1955) completed her secretarial training at 
Bournemouth Municipal College but found. that office work 
did not satisfy her and is now seeking admission to a 
training college. 

l\[ARY BOND (1955) Ims ·finished her training at St. Gabriel's 
College in London and is teaching at Tisbury. 
PAULINE BAILEY (1956) is taking a secretarial course at the 
Salisbury College of Further Education. 

DI.INA BOWPEN (1954) is leaving the l\[oorlauds Infants School, 
Bath, at the end 'of her fourth term of teaching and is 
being marricd on December 31st. 

JULIA BOWN (1957) was accepted for the Civil Service and is 
working at Cheltenham. She is living in the same Y.1V.C.A. 
as }[avis Goodfellow. 

JEAN BitAIN (1957) is taking the Pre-nursiilg Course at the 
Snlisbury College of Further Education_ 
SUSAN BRoADnousE (1957) is working in the drawing-office of 
Telephone House in Bournemouth_ 
SAI.LY BROOKS (1957) is taking the pre-nursing course at 
Weymouth Teclmical College_ 
JILL CARDNELL (1954) is teaching at the Shrubbery County 
Secoudary Girls' School at Basingstoke and is specialising 

in Englisl1, Drama and Movement. 

SONYA CASSET.I, (",ie Zinkova) (1954) has had a shoulder operation 
in St. l\[artin's Hospital at Bath. She and her husband 
are looking forward eagerly to going to Rhodesia after 
Christmas.'· 
HEATHER CllEATER (1957) was awarded a Junior County Bursary 
and is training as a Nursery Nurse at the Chiltern Nursery 
Nursing Training College in Berkshire. 

69 


-SUS,\"N CLARKE (1956),is now trainipgat, Gny:s HospJ~al and is 
ve1'Y enthnsiastie abont it. She swims for her Hospital. 
GRACE COOJDlS (1949) is now teaching in Singapore, and.is having 
a wonderful time abroad. 
JENNlFER EmIONDs (1949) qualified as a S.R:N. at Hammersmith 
Hospital ann is now doing her midwifery coursc at 
the Quccn Charlotte ~ratcrnity Hospital. 
PAULll"'"E EmIONDs (1949) is still doing secretarial work in 
London and 11ltVing singing lessons from Gordon Clinton. 
MARY. EDMONDSON (1952) is now a fully traine!] nurse at the 
Westminster Hospital in London. 
CIIRIS1'INE EVANS (n<ieWilliams) (1939) brought her little 
daughter, Deborah, aged four, to sec us in November. Her 
husband is still teaching at Broekenhurst County High • 
School. 
~fAUREEN FFRENCII (1957) joined her mother in Argentina on 
leaving school. She is going to take a Secretarial. Course in 
Buenos Aire~ next year. " 
PAT GALLIVElt (1951) is now married and living in London . 
.ANN GIBBONS (1957) went to the Kent Connty Opthalmie 
Hospital at Maitistone for a few months until she was 18. 
Now she has begun her llursing training at Charing Cross. 
Hospital. 

AsLAUG GODESETH (1957) was awarded a Wiltshire Connty 
Bursary and is training as a phYSiotherapist at Bath. 
·GILLTAN GOWEN (1953) is now helping in the Chemist's shop at 


Tisbnry. 

SIIIRLEY GRAY (1957) is very happy in her training at the 
Weymouth and District Hospital and cannot think why 
she ever contemplated any other career. She is certain now 
that this is her vocation. . 


VERONICA GRAY went out to ~ralaya to tcach in iCuala Lumpur 
aud is now married to a doctor there. 
JEAN HALL (1948) is teaching at the ~roordown Junior School 
in BOUl'nemouth. 
GILLIAN HANN (1956) is very happy working in Bm'clay's Bank 
at Wiveliscombe"in Somerset. 
CAROL HARDING (1957) is working at Hine &, Parsons shop in 
Shaftesbury. 

M,mGARET HARD:nm (1949) is still Senior Staff Nurse at the 
Beatrix Nursery at East Knorle. She went to Switzerland 
with Margaret Baker in July. 

DL\NE HART (",ie ~ratthews) (1946) is working in a chemist's 
shop at Nakuru in Kenya where her husband is an Agri, 
cultural Engineer. 

JENNIFER HAltDll"'"G (1957) is" working with I.C.I. in London. It 

70 


JUDY HATIIERLEY '(1952) went to St. James Hospital; Balham, 
in September for a course in midwifery, instead of going 
to Salisbury Infirmary as a Staff Nurse. 

ROSElL\ItY HEDGES (1957) is working in an office in Basingstoke. 
SYLVIA ITIsCOCK (1957) is teaching at the Manor House School, 
Wimborne, until she is old enough to go to college next year; 

ANN HITCHINGS (1954) is now a fully qualified Nursery Nurse 
and is a Staff Nurse at the Beatrix Nursery at East Knoyle. 
She is learning to play the clarinet. 

BARDARA HORLOCK-JONES (1956) is enjoying her training at the 
Bath and Wessex Orthopaedic Hospital. She has bcen 
accepted for the Bristol Royal Infirmary later. 

SHIRLEY HOWELL (1956) is working in the office of J effreys, the 
Auctioneers in Shaftesbury. 
YVONNE HmIPmtIES (1957) has join~d CYllthia Humble at the 
Rural District Couu!'il's o!fices in Shaftesbm·y. 
HAZEL HUNT (1957) has entered on a course of secretarial 
training at the Poole College of Further Education. 

lIfARGAItET HUSSEY (1937) sees IIIrs. Andrews (,ice Laye) very 
frequently as their Clll"rehes work in close co-operation 
and they live fairly near each other. 

JANE'JAY (1957) is takiug the Sccretarial course at the Salisbury 
College of Further Education. 
HEATHER JESSIIOPE (1956) has emigrated to Canada with her 
family. 
ITILAItY JONES (1957) is enjoying her secretarial trainiug at the 
Salisbury College of Fm·ther Education. 
lIfEItRILL J ONES (1957) is helping her parents in the hotel at 
Knowle, near SOlihull, where they are working, and-taking 

a secretarial course at tIle samo time. 

RUTII JONES (1955). On completing her two years at Coventry 
Training College, Ruth was awarded a Bursary to the 
Rose Bruford School of Speech and Drama in London and 
llas joined ,Wendy Case there. 

PAMELA Lo'VELL (1953) has completed her training at the Royal 
Victoria and ,Vest Hants Hospital at Bournemouth and in 
April is going to St. Thomas' Hospital for· her Midwifery 
Course. She is in touch with Joan Peel (",!e Duke) and 
Christine Titt who are doing their nursing training at 
Bournemoutll. 

STELLA LUDLOW (1950) had to give up her plans to work for 

B.O.A.C. because of illncss, so she is still a Receptionist at 
the Great Western Royal Hotel at Paddington. She has 
llad two wonderful holidays, one in Paris and one in 
Scotland. 
71 


SIllRLEY McLEOD (1957) is working in an Accountant's Office, 
Adams & Wagstaff, in Salisbury. Her family may bl> 
coming from the Falkland Islands to settle in England 
next 'year. 

]IARINA MENDE (1955) has returned from Spain aud is in her 
second year at King's College, London. 
HILARY ~IOODY (1957) is thoroughly enjoying her Air Traffic 
Control Duties at Elmdon Airport at Birmingllam. DUI'ing 
November she waS sent on a three weeks' course near 
Bournemouth. 

A"N MORRIS (1957) is going to Brussels in a few weeks' time to 
live with a family and help to look after the three children. 
She hopes to go to Austria for Winter Sports and to Spain 
for a summer holiday. 

JEAN NATHAN (1951) hopes to eomplete her Librarian Examinations 
in December. She has enjoyed a temporary job as a 
bibliographer very mueh. She was helping the publishers, 
Whitaker & Son, ,vith the compilation of a huge five-yearly 
catalogue of all books in print at the pre~ent time. 
JEAN PARR (nee Williams) (1938) is now living jlt Wimbledon_ 
When she came to see us in November with her sister 
Christinc it was her first visit since she left school. 
EILEEN PARSONS (1955) is teaching at the Tavistock·Secondary 
~Iodern School, West Croydon. She is enjoying it although 
it is strenuous work. 
RU~'H PmLLIPs (1957). Before going to Southampton University 
to study for an Honours Degree in French, Ruth 
spent six weeks of the summer holiday working at. an 
orphanage in Strasbourg and enjoycd it immensely. 

MARY OmL\N (1952) is now teaching at the Somers HeatlL 
Infants School. This is on a new L.C.C. Housing Estate and 
is regarded as the model school of the district. She is having 
singing lessons from Gordon Clinton. 

SUSAN PALLISTER (1957) has bcgun her nursing·traiJ!ing at'the 
Westminster Hospital in Shaftesbury. 

MAy PADFIELD (1957) is helping to look after the children in a 
family at Milton near Gillingham, for the time being. 
JANICE PRIDDLE (1956) is working at a hairdresser's in Salisbury 


till she is old enough to train as a nurse. , 

ANN RAWSON (1947) represented the Young Conservatives of 
the Westbury Division at the Conservative Conference at 
Brighton and enjoycd it very much. 

SHEILA READ (1951) is now nursing at the Grove Park Chest 
Hospital, Marvells Lane, Londou. 
BETH REBBEcK (1955) is very interested in IlCr work at the 
Harrow Meteorological Station_ 

72 

.. 



HAZEL RIDEouT (1956) is working in Hine & Parsons' Shop in 
Shaftesbnry. 
:i\L\RGARET RosE (1957) is training as a Hotel Receptionist at 
the Sonth Devon Technical College at Torquay. 
HAZEL SALISBURY (1957) is taking the Domestic Seience Oourse 
at Salisbury College of Further Education. 

JANET SALISBURY (1956) is working in the i\Iinistry of Pensions 
and National Insurance in IJondon and is ~enjoying the life 
of a hostel there. 

:nL\Ry SENIOR (1947) is not a member of O.G.A., as she left us 
to go to the City of Bath School, but her contemporaries 
will be interested to hear that this year she received from 
Prineess i\Iargaret her B.A. degree in French and English, 
with second elass honours, at the University College of 
North Staffs; married Flying Officer Barry Foster' and 
began teaehing at Thomes House Grammar School, 
Wakefield. 

"VALERIE SnARP (1955) is working hard for her finals in the 
General Honours School at Bristol, and hopes to spend a 
fourth year at the University in the Department of 
Edneation. 

DIANA SIDFORD (1950) is planning to retm'n home from Australia 
next year. 
PAT SIDFORD (1953) is working at Bateman's, the opticians, in 
Salisbury. 

:BARBARA SMALES (1951) is still teaehing at Portland. In addition' 
she is a member of an active Drama C1nb, a Badminton 
Club and a '" oodwork Class. She is planning to work for 
a further academic qualification in History. 

JANET SQumES (1956) completed 110r training at the Salisbury' 
Secretarial College and is now receptionist for Mr. Pinniger' 
in Shaftesbury. 

NARY STAINER (1951) is teaehing in a British Forccs School in 
Germany. 
:BERYL STRETcn (1946) has cmigratcd to U.S.A. with her husband 
and is now living in Kansas Town. 

~RENDA TmILINsoN (1954) is still working in the School Dental 
Service in York and hopes to be able to take the six months' 
training to become a qualified Dental Nurse . 

.ANN WARD (1955) is lcaving the Wrens at Christmas as her 
wedding is planned for then 01' the New Year. She heartily 
recommends any girl to join up as a Range Assessor '01" 
Signal Wren. , 

JOYCE WAREHA~I (1957) is taking the Domcstie Science Course 
at the Salis~ury College of Further Education. 
lIELEN WATTS (1951) has visited School in a new capacity as 
Assistant to the School Dental Surgeon. 
73 


BARDARA WlIlTE (1956) passed her State Preliminary Exam, 
Part I at Bournemouth Municipal College and has now 
gone to train at the Royal Hants Hospital at Winchester; 
Her mother has married again and their new home is at 
W,oking]lam. . 

TESSA WRIGHT (1954) is now teaching near Shrewsbury. 
JANE WYLLIE (1956) is enjoying her work on a flower farm in 
Cornwall. 
JANET WY)Ll.N (1956) is working in Rutter &; Rutter's offices 
in Shnftesbury. 

lIfARy YOUNG, lIIatron of the Westminster Hospital, is now a 
member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of 
Nurses. She attended the International Congress of Nurses 
held in Rome in May, 1957. There were 3,000 members 
from 57 different countries at the Congress and they were 
all reccived in public audience by His Holiness the Pope 
in St. Peter's. 

Extracts from Letters 

1. WENDY COLYER (1956) ,wites from St. Clare's Hall, Oxford :-
I am thoroughly enjoying the experience of life in Oxford. 
St. Clare'S Hall has about forty girls rcading for Honours 
Degrees in Arts subjccts, and about the same number of 
foreigners taking courses in English. 

Since space is very' limited only the first-year Degree girls 
live in Collcge, and the others arc iil digs. In abtual fact, I live 
in the Principal's House, which is exceptionally pleasant and 
comfortable, and llave'a tiny bed-sitter of my own, with everything 
I wimt. Food is wonderful. 

Almos,t all the facilitics of Oxford University are available 
for us, which mcans that we have access to alllecturcs, clubs 
and societies. 

The work so far' has becn hard, but we manage to find time 
for a great many activities. Miss Drake might be interested to 
know that I have joincd two undergraduate choirs, and am 
singing'numero,l's wo,rks, from Sehubert to,Kodaly! I have also 
joi\led a club for guitar and folk song, play tennis and squash, 
and ltave johied the O.U. Yacht Club. It is all tremendous fun, 
and I am very much looking forward to all,the events to come 
during the next three ycars. 

2. 
JOYCE Cox (1956) ,erites jl"om the Royal Aircraft Establishment 
at Farnborough :-
We have 
nOw almost recovered from Rag, Week which 
74 

.., 

0.;,; 

.. 


was at the end of September and are settling down to work 
again. Everybody went completely mad ovcr thc Rag, 'however 
wc did manage to collcct over £700, which went to the hospital 
" and local, old and sick pcople. I was not a2tually on a float but 
helped with the collecting. I mn around jumping on buses and 


, stopping traffic. We had' a dance at the Apprentices hostel 
afterwards and for once I was glad to get into my hostel bcd as 
I was exhausted. 
'Ve have got our exams vcry soon, so I shall soon have t(} 
settle down and do some revision. I am taking A level next 
June in Physics, Chemistry, Pure and Applied l\Iaths, but we 
get another chance in 1959, as it is supposed to be a three year 
course. 

3. 
A..""N GmnoNs (1957) ,erites fro", thc Kcnt Opthalmic Hospita~ 
at Maidstonc :-
I had been nursing only three wceks when I did my first 
night work, then just reeently they put me on for a long period. 
It was a great stmin being ,alone on a ward of twenty· one 
patients, all "night. Still, the faet that I was alone and had to do 
things by myself has given me great confidence. 


IlIad not been here long beforc it was discovered that I 
could play the piano. The Assistant Matron asked me if I would 
play the organ in the hospital chapel. I' explaincd that I knew 
nothing of organs and could not play hymns very well, but said 
I would" have ago." I pulled out all the stops and played just 
as if it was a piano. The result was not too bad, consequently 
I played for the patients every Sunday for three months. 


4. 
JENNY HARDING (1957) writes fron. London :'
So Iar,TIiavefoiiiid"tlie "'01'1{ at I.OTvery illteresting, ii~ 
possibly after twelve months in this department, I may find it 
monotonons. I am in the Overseas Registry and my job consists 
of sorting both inward' and outgoing mail and filing copies of 
this. Our scction of the departmcnt deals with the Far and 
Middle East, the lIIcditerranean and India. .As I am a kcen 
stamp collector I am very plcascd tha~ I'm working hcre ! 


5. JUDY PEEL (1954) writes fro", St. Bartholomew's Hospital:I've 
now just finished three and a half months of night duty 
on a men's medical ward, whieh was a,very hcavy ward cspecially 
once tIle fogs and 'flu had set in, as we catcrcd cspecially for 
chcst cases. Nevertheless, it was a lovely ward and I was very 
sorry indeed to lcave it"as medical nursing is infinitely preferable 
to s~lrgicalnursing in my eycs. 


75 


The time is going so quickly now, as the S.R.N. exams or 
" Belting" as we call it here (since people wear .navy belts and 
<lilver bucklcs once they have Pilsscd S.R.N.. and the Bart's 
exams), draw near. The exams arc a long dr>twn out agony, 
lasting from· the cnd of January for tlll'ee weeks or. so, and it i~ 
so hard to try to start doing some studying-there's always too 
much else. to be done in one's off·duty ! 

6: JANET OGLANBY (nee Ayers) (1950) writes from Oxfor(l:'-: 
I am still in the laboratory at the Blood' Transfnsion Centrc, 
and vcry lmppy. It has expanded a lot since I first weut thero, 
and the work now covers much more ·ground, and is growing all 
the time. Although a lot is routinc, it is very interesting as we 
deal both with the actual blood bank and with ante·natal eases. 
1 always wanted something connected ,vith hospital work, not 
nursing and not office work, and this type of laboratory tech· 
llology is just ideal. I ·can hardly believe that I have been 
there nearly seven years, and been married· nearly three. 

1. 
BRIDGET SALISBURY (1957) writes froyn Offley Training 
Oollege, Hitehin (,"~ere they only have an intake of 
stlldents once every two years) :-
One of the main disadvantages of all the stndents being 
first years is that we have to discover everyt4ing for ourselves. 
We have had to set up on 0111' own·societies, but now we have a 
varied selection. 

. The whole college went on an expedition to Cambridge last 
week. We looked over Trinity College and King's College Chap cl. 
Wc also went to the special servicc, at Great Saint ~Iary's Ohurch, 
for students at Training Oollcgcs. I noticed that some stu(lents 
from Hockerill Training Collcge were there but I did not see 
Bm'bara Hitehings. In the cvening we went to a servicc at King's 
College Chapel. It was a very lovely service. 

Wc are at a very convenient. distance from London and so 
can go there quite cheaply if wc care to get up for thjl workp1en'strain 
at 7 a.m.! 'Ve have a special exenrsion to London 
on November 16th and wc can then go our· various ways when we 
get there. . . 

L.etters From Abroad 

~. GRACE COOMllES (1949) lOrites from Singapore :-

Singapore· is a ·mixture of ·East and West, although it is 
naturally predominantly Eastern.-There is an absolnte warren ; 

76 


of small dilapidated streets where people live in and over minnte 
Chinese shops. If one walks or rides along late at night, one can 
sce the night watchman or " jaga " sleeping on a bare bedstead 
acrosS the shop doorway. The people are mainly Chinese, 
although there are mauy races amongst whom, the Jlfalays and 
Indians come next in number. The Chinese appear to be more 
prosperons and are mainly the business people, while the Jlfalays 
take life more easily. The Indian Tamils are usually the labourers 
and the Sikl,s are the night watchmen. It was strange at first 
to sce the Chinese women labourers, who are exceptionally 
strong. They form their own co· operative society, are often 
unmarried by tradition, amI are affiliated to a sisterhood which 
provides them with a kind of social insurance. 

The various costumes of the 'races arc yery bright and 
colourful, but I think that the saris are more graceful than the 
Chinese cheongsam or the Malay sarong aud baju. 

The school in whieh I teach is the only,one which -has been 
built as such, the rest beiug converted army 'barracks, so I 
consider myself very fortunate. We work from 8.45 a.m. to 

12.45 p.m. and have the afternoon frec. At first it seemed a very 
long morning'out now I'm glad as it gets'so-terl'ibly hot in the 
afternoon. I I,aye 3,l six to sevcn·year-olds, which is a much 
smaller class than the one I had in London. 
I am sure that never before has a description of our Old Girls' 
:Badge been taken down in a police station by a Chinese inspector t 
I was unfortunate in having most of my money stolen when I 
first came out. Iliad to go to the Immigration Office and I saw 

a big notice saying "Beware of pickpockets." The place was 

packcd with people of many different nationalities. I casually 

-------Iookcd-in-my-handbag and-to-myindescribable-Iforrorfolilia-tlfi\fj 
both my wallet and purse had gone. I immediately went to the 
police station and for some reason the only identifiable object in 
my wallet was my Old Girls' badge. The inspector "took" 
down the dcscription of the corn shcaf and was rather puzzled 
by the Latin inscription undcrneath. Needless to say, it was 
nevcr recovered. I was amazed on entcring the prison to ! cc a 
person behind bars on, view to the public. Itwas a very interesting 
. experience but I would mther that 'it had ,been less personal. 
One day I saw Ann 'Tidy in one of the larger stores. She 
looks very well. 

'Vc had our half-term very early this term to coincide with 
" Deepavali " which is a Hindu festival. lily friend from home, 
who has come out to join mc, and I wellt to lIfalacea, which is 
160 miles up couutry Oil the Western coast of Malaya. We 

77 


I 
., 
I 
., 
travelled by bus and were the only ElII'opeans, as they usually 
go by train or private car, We went this way partly because we . 
thought it would be more interesting and also because it was 
cheaper. OnI'eaehing the Causeway, the maumade liuk between 
Siugapore and Nalaya, we lu\d to go through the Customs to 

ensure that wo were carrying no food whiel1 could fall into the 

hands of the terrorists. The jOlll11ey took six holll's and we 
passed many rubber and oil palm estates and stretches of jungle. 
~ralacca is one of ,the oldest towns in the Federation, having first 
beencaptnred by the'Portugnese in the sL--:teenth eentlll'Y. They 
built a fortress and a ehurch, ·the ~'uins of wMeh can be seen 
today. The Portuguese were ousted by t11e'Dutch iu the seventeeutli 
century and they in tlll'n erected several buildings wllieh 
are the oldest Dutch buildings in the Far East. The British then 
took over in 1820 and until ~[erdeka on August 31st, Malacca 
remained in British possession. \Ve saw a very old eemetery 
which made us realise that the Elii'opeans who came out here 
two or three centuries ago were re,,1 pioneers. ~Iost of them 
seemed to have died at a very early age. The district of MaL'teca 
is famous £01' its bullock carts which arc used extensively for 
labouring work. It was amazing to see them in the centre of 
the town with cars whizzing around and about them. On the 
retlll'n jOlll'ney·to Singapore we vowed that we would not travel 
by bus again as the seats seem to get harder and harder. 

Today we have been to book up for a cruise to Hong Kong 
and Japan 'for next year. I feel that it is silly not to take the 
opportnnity to, travel and that is the main ~I'eason why I enjoy 
being out here. However, I think that when I have been out 
-for two years it will be quite long enough, as I still find the heat 

rather trying. 

2.HEATHElt JESSIIOPE (1956) IV'.ites from Toronto:-

I remember .that beforc I left England .you aske!l mc to 
~vrite and give my first imllressions of Canada. 

Well, coming 11p thc St. L~wrence I was really awe-struck 
by the massive hills, pine covered, and such a lovely shade of 
green. The Iiills I'ise nearly sheer out of thc water, as there'were 
no cliffs at all. Thc occasional glimpse' of a roof-top through 
the trces was a lloint of.vivid colour (lots of houses have bright 
red, blne or grecn shinglcs). Then 'for miles and miles there 
would be no signs of h!\bi~ation ,~t :111-1 felt rather like an 
explorer, ~ , 

After an exccedingly smooth crossing and fairly good 
weather, wc disembarkcd ·at 'Qnebee in pouring rain. The 

78 


welcome given ,us by Customs officials with hot coffce and 
,cookies made up for the cold wcather reception. 

Off Newfoundland we had encounterecl thickiogs, and plenty 
of icebergs.(that is a sight to be remembered-dazzling white ice 
with a deep reflection of sea green around its base). I had cause 
to remember then the lessons Miss Piggott had given me in 
Geography' o,n Canada and had never expected to see. Thc sight 

of whales spouting was another interest, and we managed to tako 

some excellent photographs. 
The joul"lley from Qucbee to Toronto by train was very 

interesting. 

We stayed for about eight week~ in Lakefield (100 miles 
north of Toronto) with my Aunt. Lakefield was on the river 
Ottonabee, which opened out into a series of lakes wllieh all have 
Indian names. The Indian Reserve near there is quite ext~nsiye 
and has some well known beauty spots. One weekend we went 
up to Burleigh Falls wllOn they were in floocl, due to the heavy 
rain. The country aroUlid them was rich in colour and wild life. 
I have seen a bear, deer, squirrels and chipmunks in the woods. 
There are also beavers further north and lots ihore wild life'. 

'Vc have been settling down in our apJlrtmcnt, as we ]1~VC 

peen in Toronto abont five 01' six weeks now. 

Toronto really is a lovely city. .All except the main streets 
are tree-lined, and now at the beginning of the Fall, look lovely. 
The downtown stores arei enormous, and have everything under 
the sun. Some of these stores are sLx 01' seven floors high. Parliament 
Street is full of very modern buildings and offices, is wide, 
with trces and flowcr beds down the centre. Everything'looks 
clean and new. 

We are living about 800 yards from the beach. It is so 
unlike any beach I have ever seen. The sand is almost a silver 

colour, and tIle lake water which I insist on calling" sea" has 

also a silvery quality about it. There is a broad walk about 
three ya;'ds wide, nearly the length of the beach, with trees 

in places growing down tQ tIle water's edge. There arc very few 
rocks as grass grows amongs~ the sand, and houses arc not very 

far from the water, It, has a, very natw'al look, quite ,unlike 
BOUl"nemouth. . " , 

I must tell you a bout the trees. The colours of the changing 
leaves are magnificent. The leaves are deep yellows and ochres 
with splashes of l'ed and green and brown. 

I am attending Danforth Collegiate in ~he city, and am 
taking a,Commercial .A!·t Cow'se. This course also includes 

70 


--------------~~~,~,'T~'.~~~'qq.~------------~--------------------~~--~ / 

History, both Englishes, typing and gym. The sehool is very 
large, and runs about three dozen different courses. It was very 
confnsing on my first day there. There are 1,400 boys and 
200 girls attending day school and·they also run' evening elasses. 

Although Danforth Collegiate is quite an old sehool it 
hasn't many tl'aditions like the "High School." Somehow I 
miss these traditions now. 

• 

Training in Agriculture 

1. 
SEALE ilAVNE AGIUCULTURAL COLLEGE, NEWTON AnnoT, 
DEVON. 
The National Dairy Diplonla Course may be taken at Seale 
Hayne, and is a two-year course. For this a wide number of 
subjects are studied, ineluding Dairying, Dairy Chemistry, 
Bacteriology aud also a wide number of subjects . concerning 
agricnlture, including crop and animal ,husbandry-and even a 
detailed course in lIIcchanics. 

Before entcring Collcge a year's practical farming is a 
"must." Somc studcnts stay at school and takc Chemistry, 
Botany or Zoology at Highcr, and then do their practical, and 
so on to Collcge. The alternative being to get a good' Gencral 
Schools, including Chemistry or General Science and lI[aths; 
then to do a year's practical followed by a year ;>t a Farm 
Institute.. Gctting to Collcge this way saves a year, and also 
givcs an extra year's farming cxperience. This is a great 
advantage in both ycars, so long as one is preparcd really to get 
down to working at the scientific side. 

At the end of all this there are a variety of jobs to look 
forward to. These may include research, lecturing, laboratory, 
commercial work or practical work again. Thc latter is rcally 
rather a wastc, after two years' study.; and an equally good, if 
not better, job may be obtained by an Institute Certificatc. 

To conclude, I would like to emphasise the point that for the 
l'cally " scientifically mindcd " person there are many openings 
in Agriculture-and it appears that there will be even more in 
the future, as farming gets further and further' from the spade 
and bucket stage ! 

JENNY PROTIIERO. 

2. 
HARPER ADAMS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, NEWPORT, 
SIIROPSmRE. 
Harper Adams is considcrcd one of the" top" Agricultural 
so 


Colleges in England. Cirencester ,first, lIarper second, and 
Seale lIayne third. It is qnite a modern bnilding, comparing it 
with Shaftesbnry lIigh School. It was built at the beginning 
of the 20th century"in l'ed brick. 

The College has 200 men training for their National Diploma 
Agrienlture and National Diploma Poultry and 30 girls training' 
for the National Diploma Poultry. 

There are two girls' hostels. 0ne a mile from the College 
and the one I am in, which is next to the College. I consider 
myself very lncky to be in this hostel as girls of the other hostel 
have to cycle here to have their meals. 

There are 34 students in their first year training for National 
Diploma Poultry, which include 16 girl stUdents. Imagine my 
surprise when I found that one of these girls came from 
Stalbridge ! 

The poultry students are called poults and the agricultural 
students are called agrics. There are also some boys doing their 
praetical work on the farm here and who are hoping to come to 
College next year. These join in all the College activities and are 

nicknamed" Farm Pups." 

I find the work here extremely interesting and can realise 
now how much the vacation work I did at Lackham has helped 
me. 

0ur rising bell goes at 7.30 a.m. and breakfast is at 8 a.m. 
Lectures start at 9 a.m. and continue until 1 l).m. 'We have 
foul' lcetures in the morning with a 10·minute break between 
each one and a quarter of an hour break for coffee at 11 a.m. 
The afternoons we do practical work on the farm from 2 p.m. to 
4 or 5 p.m. 

The lecturcs include Bnilding Construction, which is mainly 
carpentry and building hen houscs, deep litter houses, etc. 
During these lectures we heal' about different kinds of wood, 
formation of different joints, preserving timber and isometric 
drawings. qtlier lectures are .Anatomy, Chemistry, Genetics, 
Pigs, Soils and Fertilizers; 'Breeds, Embryology, Poultry Rcsearch 
and Botany. Most of the' lectures we have in the National 
Poultry Institute, which is for the poultry students only. 
We have Anatomy, Chemistry, Botany and Agriculture in the 
College. 

We are free on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday afternoons 
but work Saturday mornings .. 

81 


. A grcat day of the tcrm was Rag Day in aid of the Cancer 
Research Fnnd. '" e managcd to break all records of previons 
yems by £200. "'e raised £700 plus altogether. 

Next week we have the Rugger Formal Dance in Shrewsbm-
y Wllich is' tllC last social event before the exams. 

J ANIOE SIDFORD• 

First Impressions of a " Physio " .School 

I've been here for nearly three weeks now, but to me it 
seems nearly a lifetime, because the time has flown so quiekly 
and there has been so much to do in such a little time. The first 
two days wcre bewildering, but after that-everything seemed to 
slip into place and through I still find the work difficult it is no 
longcr so confusing as in those first fcW' days whcn I knew no one 
and had to find my bearings round the School and Bath. 

We start school at 9 o'clock and finish at 4.30, and in this 
time we have six lessons, each lasting for approximately an 
hour. Thc Icssons include Anatomy, Physiology, }Iassage, 
Electro-~Iechanics, Exercises and Pathology, and at the moment 
most empllasis is being put on the Anatomy and Physiology 
since these are the exams which are taken aftcr eighteen months. 
~he first six months are devoted entirely to lectures, but after 
t1mt we are let loose in the departments for half a day at a time. 
The Hospitals in which we work are the Bath and Wessex 
Children's OrtllOpaeodic Hospital, Royal United Hospital, 
Manor Hospital, St. Martin's Hospital and the Royal Mineral 
Water Hospital for Rheum!!tics, and we work for a pCliod in 
each of these before we have finished our Course. 

The students have an association which arranges for 
various activitics. We hold an occasional dance, have a sltiflle 
group, and have lectures which are principally on medical topics. 
Wc also go to gym and swimming two evenings a week, and 
then thcre is the hockey team which plays its matches on 
Sunday afternoons, because there is not a field available at any 
other time. WllCn we have done all this we go home to three 
hours of study every evening and a little extra study over 'the 
weekend of course. 

The Bath School of Physiotherapy is in the ~Ianor House, 
where the Lord of the ~Ianor lived at Wcston; whieh was tlien a 
village at the Bristol side of Bath. Approximately 300 years· 

82 


ago it was a monastery and duri!ig 'Vorld War II it was turned 
into quarters for the United States Army. One can sce from this 
that it has ha,l a varied history. Next year will be the tenth 
auniversary of the Physiotherapy School, and by this time, 
400 students, including Hydrotherapy students, will have passed; 
through the school. 

I hope I have not discouraged future would·be Physiotherapy 
students too much, for although the work may be a 
little difficult in the beginning; it is very interesting and worth· 
while, aud you'meet people from all walks of life. I know" that 
I am going to enjoy doing this work, and suggest to those who 
want a worthwhile and stimulating 'career with a scientific bias 
that Physiotherapy may be the job for them. 

• • 
Asr,AUG GODESETII • 
• 
Swimming 
1. FOR A UNIVE"Alan, who 
RSITY 
on earth is going to swim backstroke on 

Saturday against London ~ " is a typical cry from the heart of 
the Women's Secretary to the Men's at frequent intervals 
throughout the academic year. Despite the fact that there are: 
nearly 3,000 students here, you are a magician if you can find 
more than a dozen swimmers-eight men and four womell 
respectively-who are willing, 01' able, to swim competitively 

against other Universities. As the minimum number for a 

free·style relay tcam is four, you can, if you are a mathematician 
like myself, sce that the women just make it, and the men 
manage thei!' polo team of 7, plus one. However, if we lack 
quantity (though as none of us are very frail in appcarance I 
am not sure that this is justificd) we have our share of quality 
and friendliness. In fnet it would be beneficial to anyone to 
join the club just to share in the atmosphere of true sportsman·' 
ship which our club has, and I am not boasting, built up to such 
a good standard. 

Being such a small club, nearly everyone is either a Captain, 
Vice·Captain, Secretary, Treasurcr or P.R.O., so calling a committee 
meeting is no difficulty at all: in fact you can quite 
easily, as is now our custom, make this all eXCUSe for a general 
congregation in the Coffee Bar after Club nights! At such 
meetings, all the fixtures (if they have been made and not los~, 

83 


in'the post by the Men's Secretary) are discussed and the i\Ien's 
Captain starts lecturing tcchnique to his polo team, while the 
Treasurer bewails the fact that" we can't possibly afford to go 
to Exeter; they. willliave to come to us." The Women?s Captain 
and Vice silently commiserate on the fact that they will h;we to 
swim Oxford between them as no one else is available-and order 
another cup of coffee ! 

However, all this gloom is immediately dispelled at a Gala. 
A University swimming match is something which has to be 
seen to be believed. Small groups form round the edge of the 
pool, and Captains of the two competing clubs tell each other 
the failings of their tcam. Snatches of conversation drift to those 
who are changing in the dark (and sometimes damp) cubicles. 
" ... the journey up, here was too much for her, so do you 
think we could just swim 50 yards tonight ... well, when last 
I saw Roger he was walking in 'the direction of the Sp,mislt 
Ballet, so perhaps we had better le;tve the breast stroke until 
last ... but, my dear, we haven't got two Butterfiyers ... 
diving' Wltat's that Y••• well, we'll make do without the 
goalposts-if we can find the ball ... " Finally, having whittled 
the distances to be swum, down to a minimum; having re· 
luctantly changed into bathing costumes and track suits; 
llaving realised that you are ltalf·an·hour late ah'eady, and that 
the hot meal that is waiting for you will be getting cold (which 
is far more important) you begin. The races are swum in good 
style and the Captain's word is gospel until he tells you" Don't 
swim all out in this one as you have to swim immediately 
afterwards in the team race," whereupon you fling yourself 
ferociously at the water (the best start of the evening !) mutter· 

ing "Resign, resign." It is surprising that after all this you 

swim at all, but you do, and sometimes at quite (~ reasonable 
standard. Events always include Backstroke, Breaststroke, 
Freestyle and Butterfly; Medley and Freestyle Relays for both 
the Men's and Women's team. 

Besides having a good swim, you have the opportunity of 
meeting students from other Universities. You gradually get 
to know all the swimmers at all Universities because of the 
small club uiemberships' (I am sure I have not",stressed this 
point). The evening meal after the match is therefore spent 
in relating the latest gossip concerning the notorious Smith of 
Birmingh!\m, Or eomp!lring notes on when you last did some 
training, or "Yes, we have a jolly good Captain, but let me 
tell you what he's l'eally like." All of this is, of course, in the 
best of-humours and nobody minds what is openly said of them 
(they have no option i). 

84 


I could tell you much more abou t our Club. How we lost 
a certain member in London; how another got off the Swansea 
train for a enp of tea, only to find on returning, the train gently 
steaming up the platform; how yet another discreetly (or so 
he thought) removed two Biology Pl'Ofessors (portraits thereof) 
from the walls oia Reading laboratpry; and last but not least, 
how some of us spent the night on the staircase in a hotel in 
Dublin dming the Varisities International match .. But, being 
the Women's Vice-Captain, Secretary and P.R.O. (you see what 
I mean) I must snatch my bathing costume off the radiator and 
daSh to the baths for my daily swim (yes, we admit it, we do 
train) or the Men's Secretary will be complaining" You're Wte 

again, lass." 

• V ALERIE L. SIIAltP (Bristol University). 
2. Folt A HOSPll'AL 
This can be described by only one word-hectic. Like 
everything else in a nurse's life, it has to be skilfully fitted into 
off-duty and any other activities one may participate in. However, 
we enjoy ourselves and do have an opportunity' of meeting 
more nurses from the other London Hospitals. . 

There are not many of us in the Swimming Club, but those 
who have joined meet every Monday night to train and discuss 
future races. .As soon as we are off-duty at 8.30 p.m., we chauge 
and go to the pool, which is situated under tIle Nurses' Home. 
After half-an-hour's swimming under the watchful eye of the 
Sister who comes with us, we have usually had enongh, so we 
turn to talking about the forthcoming events. It is always very 
difficult finding the nurses to swim in these, as some are on 
holiday and others I,ave gone home for their day off. Still, there 
is usually someone sporting enough to help us out. When all 
arraugements are made, we have some coffee and part for another 
week. 

Some of the hospitals I,ave a gala of their own, to which we 
are invited to swim in a team mce or a medley mce. The most 
important events are the inter-hospital mees. Heats are held 
for these, so that we usually all know one another by the time 
the finals come along. The heats this year were held in the 
Middlcsex and the finals in lIIarshalI.Street Baths. I must say 
we all looked very nice, as each hospital has its own colour 
which the nurses wear in the form of a wrap. We have yellow 
wraps and hats, with the ordinary regulation bathing costume. 

This year, we have not done anything outstanding, but have 
had a few placings in different mces, so that ,,:e are all fully 
determined to achieve more in the New Year. 'Vc might even 
win the Inter-hospital Shield from University College Hospital. 

SUSAN CLAltKE (Guy's Hospital). 
85 


Life Members since J\lnuary, 1957' 

Brown. Julin, Dunromin, Motcombe, Shaftesbury, Dorset 

Case, WemIy. Queen Street, GiUingham. Dorset 

Harding, Jenny, Tredcan Lodge, Chepstow 

Rosc;?alnrgaret, Higher Farm, Manston, Stuiminster Newton 

Bmin, Jean, South Farm, Ansty. Nr. Salisbury 

Annual Members 1956/57 '(since December, 1~56) 

Bond, Busnn, 12, The Elms, FO\"ant., Salisbury 

Culvcrhouse, Sally, H.Q.'] (B.R. Corps), B.O.A.n. 30 

HIl!W. Gillian, Wiveliscombc, Somerset 

Imb'cr, Eun. (nee Clarke), 'I'he Ship Inn, Shaftesbury 

Short, May, Grcnvillc Place Nursing Home, Blandford Forum 

'I'idey, June, 42, Cranes Park, Surbitan, Surroy 

'l'yler, Rosemary, Pidgeon House Farm, Sturminster Newton 

Woodman, Margarct, 24, Elmers Drive, Teddington, Middlesex 

WyJlic, J't Trcgiffian Cottage, St. Buryan, Cornwall 

Annual Members, 1957/58 

Alford, Christinl}, Sapsworth House. 122. Lower Clapton Road, E.a 
Bennett, Lesley, 11, lIIeyrick Park Crescent, Bournemouth 
Bond, l'IIary, 12, The Elms, Fovant, Salisbury 
Bond, Susnn, 12, 'I'ho Elms, FO\"ant, Salisbury 
Bro<'ldhous~ Susan, Cop~ic~ Bindon Lane, East Stoke, Wnrcham 
Cheater, Heather, 4tb, 'Irinidad Crescent, Parkstono, Dorset 
Edmonds, Jcnnifcr. 1, Southend Road, Beckenham 
Edmonds, Pauline, 1, Southcf!d Road, Deckenham, Kent 
Gmy, Sbirley, Brinseombe Cottage3,-Shaftcsbury 
Harding, Mnrgaret, Beatrix Nursery, East Knoylo 
Humble,' Cynthia, GIyn Gift. Mill Street, FontmcUl\[agna 
l\IcLcod, Shirlcy, e/o Mrs. Priddle, Prescombo Hquso, Ebbesboume Wako, Salisbury 
Welch, Boryl, Layton Lane, Shafteabury 
Woods, Dotay, Frc!lch:Mill Lane, Shaftesbury 

• 

To all Members of the School, whether near or far, 
We send Greetings and Good Wishes 


86