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I believe I am the only surviving member of my year; and I have very little to tell. I cannot remember ever having to go to the air-raid shelter. I do remember the solemnity of the laying of the foundation stone by councillor Mrs Petty, the Lady Mayoress. I think only the sixth form were invited.

I remember the disappointment of Miss Welbank considering the sixth form study ( a beautiful room at the front of the building on the first floor overlooking the drive) being too remote from the rest of the building so she denoted a stock-room in the middle of the class room block on the first floor — we rarely used it, mind you she herself used a stock-room for when she took A-level history and signing points etc — her secretary had quite a trek to find her when the phone went etc.

It was lovely not having to trek to playing fields and to have facilities for coaching tennis on the doorstep and to have sports day on our own grounds. Likewise Speech Day in our own School — not having to trek to the Central Hall. We thought the new dining room wonderful and the covered way to it.

As for cookery, only a year at the most, and I believe that was shared with Laundry — where we learnt about; blue bags, how to make starch, rinsing, boiling, mangling, dolly tubs and dolly pegs, I don’t remember where the clothes were dried but I do remember having a practical test in ironing.

I shall always remember and be grateful for the good grounding I received in needlework classes. Everything we made — we learnt a new skill — shoe bags — seams and chain stitch (our names) needlework wrappers (stitching on of tapes) and needlework aprons (binding with cross way pieces, even the pin cushion (button holes with a ribbon threaded through for decoration) our cookery aprons and hats (blue check with a cross stitch trim) and so on. The last thing I made was a dressing gown for college. I wonder how many of us wore the camisoles we made (exercise in adding lace)? So different to the textile and nutrition courses of to-day and of course laundry courses are no longer necessary with the invention of the automatic washers.

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