From nursery to senior school

Started in the nursery class

My twin sister Belinda and  I were at St Paul’s School from 1959 when we started in the nursery, until 1967 when we moved to senior school. I remember Mrs Strip the nursery teacher and the very lovely Mrs Fletcher, who taught in the reception class. She went on to teach in the new St Paul’s when it moved to St Nicholas Road. We also had Mrs Shough, Mrs Slack, who was very strict, and Mr and Mrs Donaldson. The smell of Mr Donaldson’s pipe has stayed with me all these years; he was an inspiring teacher. I remember playing British Bulldog in the hall upstairs. Ended up at the old casualty at the hospital after being pushed into the old metal radiator; luckily I had no lasting injuries!

Helping with school dinners

I especially remember our lovely school dinner lady. Dinner was served in the hall round the corner from the school. I used to help clear the tables after the meal and wash up. The dinner lady used to buy us sweets as a ‘thank you’. Some of our friends were Leslie Shirley, Graham Bullier, Vanda Jaquanelli, (her parents ran the fish and chip shop at the bottom of Ship Street), Andrew Matashak, Sabina Watts, Michael, who was confirmed with us at The Good Shepherd Church, to name a few.

Did you attend St Paul’s School? If you can share your memories with us, please post a comment below.

The lady in the cottage

Does anyone remember the cottage at the very end of the top playground? A lady lived there who was quite a character. She used to get very cross if any balls went into her garden, and would shout over the wall at us. That whole area at the back of West Street was surrounded by fishermen’s cottages. There was also a large old red brick building which I think was a meat market in the 1960s although I’m not sure what it was originally.