Naps on a small camp bed
I first joined Elm Grove Infants & Juniors school when I was 3 years old, I think it was 1954. I remember the daily dose of cod liver oil followed by orange juice to wash it down, not very pleasant. In the early years we had to sleep for an hour after lunch, this was on very small camp beds. Later on, when we were older, it was cross your arms and rest your head on them. But we could not sleep, and we used to try to make each other laugh without being caught by the teacher.
Did you attend Elm Grove School? Please share your memories by posting below.
Tales of ‘The little rocking horse’
On your birthday everyone sang “Happy birthday” then you blew out the candle and were given a boiled sweet. In the junior school I remember Mrs Carter, she used to read us a page or two every day about ‘The little rocking horse’. I think she made that book last a whole year, it used to be our highlight of the day. Boys I remember are Gordon Beck, Andrew Loveridge, Roland Bryans, Tony Martin, Tony Avis, David Room, Barry Evans and Wallace Street. The girls I remember are Amelia Damario, Josie Simons, Frances Gretton, and Denise Battams. I may have spelled some of these names wrongly, and there are more people who I cannot remember at this time.
A chance to hold a girl’s hand
As other former pupils have said, the highlight of my time there was going to Burwash. I learned to read ordinance survey maps, canoeing, orienteering and many other things, like country dancing. When we were young, country dancing gave us boys a chance to hold a girl’s hand! All this for a princely sum of £5 for the week; which I had to save up from my pocket money. I could go on and on, but I would sum up by saying they were the most wonderful times.
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I remember Miss Mills was Head Mistress in the senior school. Playing netball and rounders. The people I remember were Cecily Rumble, Maureen Clark, Mary Homewood and Jennifer Dockerill.
Tony Whickham, I remember you well. I once came to your house in Elm Grove and was very impressed with a toy fort that you had. I was also at Burwash and so much of what went on there has stayed with me all my life. A fantastic time, where my love of walking, an appreciation of Nature and the countryside developed from that time. I think we were a blessed generation, we were poor but lived through times where we in the main did well enough to appreciate values, also no World Wars. It would be nice to hear from you and I hope life has treated you well. With kindest regards
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