However, the idyll that was London Colney didn't last. My Father was posted to an armaments factory in South Wales. I left Parliament Hill at the end of the Summer term 1943. "We are sorry to lose her" the Headteacher wrote on my final report!!! (Tongue in cheek perhaps?!!) Dad and Mum, me and the twins ended up in Rhigos, near Neath, South Wales.
We were allocated a bungalow, purpose built, and had other families whose men had also been recruited to work in the factory, in similar bungalows around us, mostly Londoners, like us. Being, as these women felt, being dumped in a remote Welsh valley did not suit at all.
The homesickness was exacerbated by the fact that the locals did not take to these Londoners. The London wives were offended by the custom of the local women to immediately start speaking Welsh when they entered a shop!! They resented the fact that they were not wanted by the Welsh and my Mother didn't have the indispensable sister Em to assuage the loneliness.
But the situation did have it's moments – when leaving the bungalow it was often necessary to usher out the sheep who used our porch as a refuge when the weather was inclement, which, being Wales, it often was! It was essential for the wives and children to make friends and the children and I quickly gathered a circle of mates to roam the countryside, climb the hills and paddle and swim in the ice cold streams which abounded locally. It was a perfect playground. But, of course the play had to be subjected to the need to attend to our education.
As a selective student I was awarded a place at Aberdare High School. Like the London wives I was regarded with what amounted to suspicion by my fellow pupils and seemingly by the teachers, one of whom seemed to take delight in embarrassing me by commenting on my London accent with some disdain. However, in my first report for the term ending 31 March 1944 the form teacher wrote: “Jean has worked steadily and done well to gain third place. She is a sensible and reliable member of the form”!!!! How things had changed since St Albans!!!
I left Aberdare Girls County school on 28 March 1945. The war was drawing to an end and we were able to return to London. Our house in Welling was rented out and we had to wait for the tenants to vacate 63 so once again Auntie Em stepped into the breach and we returned to 4 Humber Road. We were there when Mr Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe. Being on Vanborough Hill above Greenwich we had a wonderful view of the celebration on the river and in the rest of London.
For me it was yet another school!! This time admission was more formal. My mother was to take me to the school to be interviewed by the Head teacher! I will never forget approaching this very grand building and walking along the very grand corridor towards the Headmistress's office. As we did so Miss Fryer, the Head teacher, came towards us. She was an immensely tall, imposing woman and my mother was quite short. I think my mother was as intimidated as me!!! I started at the County School for Girls, Dartford in the Summer term 1945.
I think the standard at Dartford must have been higher than my previous school since my reports were poor in comparison and I struggled, but I made many friends who have remained loved friends to this day. My school days came to an end in July 1947 much to my regret, but since I didn't know what I wanted to do and the idea of going on to further education was not what we did in our family, it was decided that I should leave school. It was some consolation that I could meet some of my friends who continued on at school since we belonged to the same hockey club, Crackenford Ladies Hockey Club was a prestigious hockey club in Kent and I had many happy years playing on Saturdays. I also played mixed hockey which gave me some insight into the male psyche that I hadn't acquired at the all female school!!
Comentários