Work was completed in early 2017 on the transformation of the former convent of the Sacred Heart of Mary on Upminster Hill to form seven apartments, with the addition of two five-bedroom houses to the south – collectively known as Numbers 1-9 Convent Close, St Mary’s Lane. It’s timely to explore the story of this little-known property, which for much of its history was a family home.
Few Upminster people had recently been inside this fine Grade II listed building, nor had they had a clear view of its frontage which for many years had been hidden by bushes & trees masking a clear view from St Mary’s Lane. The trees were removed as part of the development, and once the developer’s site hoardings were removed late in the process, the exterior of the beautifully restored buildings could be seen. Fortunately nine years ago I was lucky enough to be allowed inside and take photographs of the interior, some of which appear below.
Hill Place – rear October 2008
On the crest of Upminster Hill fronting the main road, an estate of eleven acres was created from lands adjacent to the main highway, together with a field of six acres, transferred in 1820 from the northern part of Hoppy Hall Farm, owned by the Esdaile family. A house, appropriately named Hill House, was built there, replacing an earlier property on the site.
Peter Esdaile, son and heir of the great Sir James Esdaile (c.1714-1793), had bought the property and four acres of land in February 1780 from Edward Keeling Reynolds, a Romford cordwainer. who had a few years earlier inherited the property from his aunt Sarah Waylett, widow of William Waylett. This copyhold premises was originally called Dowmans, held of the manor of Gaynes and had been owned in the early 18th century by John Everett (d. 1728), farmer of the adjacent Bridge House Farm.
When Peter Esdaile bought the property it was occupied by Slade Bowler and after Bowler’s death in 1781 by Thomas Leach Esq., who lived there until 1802. In January 1803 Esdaile extended the site northwards by adding the adjacent roadside waste, and the tenant then and until early 1809 was Mr Lewis (or James Lewis) Desormeaux. In 1813 Peter Esdaile leased Hill House to William Nokes, whose uncle William Nokes was the farmer of the adjacent Bridge House Farm and in 1820 William Nokes the younger purchased the premises from Peter Esdaile.
The younger William Nokes (1791-1871) was the son of James Nokes (1754-1838) of Hunts Farm, who had built Upminster Windmill in 1805. Like his parents, who were among the original founders of Upminster’s Chapel, William Nokes was a non-conformist whose children were christened at the chapel. His occupation was given in the baptism registers as a miller, while his brother Thomas, often described as taking over the mill from his father James, was described as a farmer of Hornchurch. According to Wilson, Hill Place served as the William Nokes’ office from which bookings & other clerical work for the mill business was carried out.
William Nokes spent a large sum of money in decorating the house, and improving the grounds “by planting an immense number of shrubs and evergreens”. This remodelling was performed by John Adey Repton (1775-1860), eldest son of the famous landscape gardener Humphry Repton (1751-1818) who lived only a few miles away at Hare Street, Romford (what we now call Gidea Park). Wilson wrote that Repton “revelled there in his father’s art of developing beauties, and rendering every point effective; conducting you over lawns, through green alleys, and round secluded shrubberies”.
As with many of the historic properties in Upminster owned by the Esdailes in the late 18th century majestic cedar trees were planted within the grounds. An article from 1935 claimed that the three specimens in the gardens to the south of the house were “said to be the oldest in England” and “at least 300 hundred years old” (i.e. as early as the 1630s) but this claim seems wide of the mark.
Cedar trees – 1920s
Nokes moved out of Upminster and when Hill House was offered for sale by auction in February 1827 it was described as “an excellent family residence … in good repair”. On the ground floor was a dining room “elegantly papered” and “finished with gilt moulding” and a “handsome profile Marble chimney-piece”. There was also a “cheerful good-sized Breakfast room, kitchens, scullery and larder. Upstairs a drawing room also boasted a marble chimney slab and a bow window “commanding the most delightful prospects” which were said to “embrace the truly fertile Kentish Hills and the constantly varying scenery of the Thames.” There were also two “best bed chambers” and three other bedrooms and an ante room “hitherto used as library”. The whole was said to be “especially calculated for the residence of a gentleman fond of field sports”.
It isn’t known whether this fondness for field sports applied to the purchaser Wasey Sterry, a 26 year-old Romford solicitor, but what is certain is that he was a gentleman from a distinguished family, whose father Benjamin Wasey Sterry was an Attorney of the Kings Bench Court at Westminster.
Tomb of Frances Sterry (1804-1856)
Wasey Sterry married in 1831 a Sussex heiress, Frances Tourle, and the couple soon produced four children, until Wasey’s untimely death in 1842 left Frances to bring up her four young children all aged under 10. Her late husband’s sister, also named Frances Sterry (and known as Fanny), in 1851 married Luther Holden, nephew of the Upminster Rector, John Rose Holden, and elder brother of his successor Philip Melancthon Holden. After the death of Frances Sterry in 1856 her younger daughter Frances became the ward of her aunt, now Frances Holden.
Extract from Upminster Tithe Map, 1842 (London Borough of Havering Local Studies Collection)
Wilson described Hill House in 1856 as a “villa, enclosed by handsome palisades, and partially screened by Acassias“. It was described as having three fronts, and as having been much enlarged by Wasey Sterry. Hill House was soon afterwards let to Osgood Hanbury, a banker, initially furnished, but unfurnished from 1860 after Mrs Sterry’s effects were removed and auctioned. Hanbury was living there in 1861 but that year he sub-let the property to William Kettlewell the owner of New Place and then to the recently-married Temple Soanes, a banker and merchant in the Russian trade. The delightfully named Temple Hillyard Hicks Soanes, soon put forward plans for alterations to Hill House to the executors of Mrs Sterry. They were initially unwilling to agree these changes but instead sought to sell the property to Soanes. However, the sale to Soanes was only completed in April 1867, when he agreed to pay £3,700 for Hill House and lands.
Soanes’ plans for his newly purchased home were ambitious and he let nothing stand in the way of their execution. He bought the Congregational Minister’s house which stood between Hill House and the Congregational Chapel and transferred part of an ornamental well-wooded paddock which he owned opposite to the Chapel Trustees as a site for a new Manse, which allowed the old Manse to be pulled down in order to extend Hill House to meet his plans.
Soanes’ designs to almost entirely rebuild Hill House in 1871-72 were prepared by William Gibbs Bartleet of South Weald (1829-1906), a prominent architect with a London practice who specialised in church architecture and who had redesigned Upminster’s St Laurence Church ten years previously.
The most impressive remaining features of Bartleet’s remodelling are the entrance hall, paved with black and white marble, and lined with carved oak panelling. From this rises a carved-oak staircase lit by impressive stained-glass windows made by the workshops of William Morris to designs by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). The windows to the side depict Lancelot and Elaine, whose story from the Arthurian legends inspired Tennyson’s poems, and may have originally been produced in 1870 for a house in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria. The windows to the front, facing St Mary’s Lane, showing five minstrels from Chaucerian stories and both windows are topped by five roundels of Penelope and other heroines from designs by Burne-Jones dating to 1864.
The works were completed in 1872 and the property, by now renamed Hill Place, was in Wilson’s words “a pleasing and important addition to the architecture of the village”. Despite the considerable expense laid out by Soanes on his new property it was put up for sale by auction in July 1873. The sale catalogue said that Hill Place had been erected “regardless of cost” and “fitted throughout in the most perfect manner with every comfort and convenience that consummate taste could suggest and lavish expenditure procure”. Downstairs the main rooms were a drawing room, a “lofty” dining room and a library or morning room, while upstairs were 15 bedrooms and dressing rooms
Soanes’ efforts to sell the property were unsuccessful so it was let to tenants and in 1878 it was occupied by John Ulrich-Truninger, a Swiss-born merchant. Finally in October 1881 Countess Helen Tasker, a prominent Roman Catholic benefactress of Middleton Hall, Shenfield, bought Hill Place for £8,000 and the 1882 Trade Directory says that she lived there occasionally. From 1883 meetings of the local branch of the newly formed Primrose League, an organisation for promoting Tory Principles, were held at Hill Place.
The 1886 and 1890 Directories show Hill Place to be unoccupied and after Countess Tasker’s death in 1888 her estates passed to the surviving daughters of Frederick & Ellen Willmott of Warley Place. The elder of these daughters (and Countess Tasker’s god-daughter) Ellen Willmott, the renowned horticultualist, bought her younger sister Rose’s share to become Hill Place’s sole owner. The 1891 Census shows the tenant as Henry Ferrers Ferrers, who was living on his own means.
Hill Place July 1880
Hill Place was now about to experience the most colourful period of its history after Edwin Sydney Woodiwiss took over the tenancy of Hill Place in December 1892 . He was about to celebrate his twenty first birthday and was already a gentleman of leisure, thanks to an inheritance of well over £30,000 (around two million pounds at current values) under the will of his father Sir Abraham Woodiwiss, railway contractor and Mayor of Derby, who had died in 1884.
Educated at Harrow School, where Winston Churchill was three years below him, Woodiwiss was a true Victorian eccentric. The month after coming to Hill Place he married Constance Wigg, daughter of Dr Carter Wigg MD of Hampstead and two children, a daughter who died in infancy and a son, were born in the next few years during which time Woodiwiss set about putting Hill Place well and truly on the map.
E S Woodiwiss and Dachsunds, 1897
Within months of moving there Woodiwiss had by June 1893 established a private zoo in the grounds. Three paddocks at the rear of the premises were given over to a selection of cattle: two Jersey heifers, a large zebu bull and a pair of pygmy zebus. He also became a celebrated owner and breeder of prize-winning pedigree Dachshund and Schipperke dogs and was said to have the largest kennels in England. By September 1893 Woodiwiss’ animal collection had expanded to include a Malayan Bear, an agouti (a goat-like creature), guinea pigs, a herd of alpaca (a type of llama), and bush-tailed kangaroos. Birds in his aviaries included a golden eagle, sparrow hawks, eagle owls & barn owls while a large collection of waterfowl– four flamingos, storks, herons, plus a flock of geese – occupied an artificial pond at the rear of the kennels. All were said to be housed due to the “local enterprise of Messrs Wilson and Hook, builders.” Locals recall that the ruins of Woodiwiss’s zoo and other buildings could still be seen behind the convent over 50 years later in the 1950s.
Woodiwiss later established a herd of over 20 prize Dexter cattle and also took to breeding Manx cats. In February 1895 he travelled to United States with his brother Samuel of Sedgemoor, Somerset, who was a breeder of greyhounds and collies, to exhibit dogs in the annual New York show, winning numerous prizes.
Hill Place 1897 OS Map
Woodiwiss also owned a 300 acre dairy farm at Westbury Farm, Cranham, in partnership with Mr George Seaton de Winton, sending milk to London and growing wheat and oats. It was through his partnership and friendship with Captain de Winton that a legendary episode in Upminster’s history arose. Not only was De Winton a gentleman cricketer for Gloucestershire CC, usually batting left hand in the middle of the order while the famous Dr W G Grace was then the county’s opening batsman, but he also played for the Upminster Cricket Club, which Woodiwiss was a keen member of.
On 21 May 1896 Dr Grace came to stay at Hill Place after playing for Gloucestershire against Kent at Gravesend, before going on to the Oval to play Surrey the next day. On the Saturday Upminster Cricket Club were playing Upminster Friars, a gentleman-farmers’ eleven at their ground opposite where Upminster Court was later built. “WG” took some batting practice and Charles Lazell of Upminster gained local notoriety when he demolished the legend’s wicket. WG later became the Friars’ President and presented them with a portrait of himself, which was later given to Upminster CC.
Woodiwiss brief but eventful stay in Upminster ended in January 1900 when he enlisted with the newly formed Imperial Yeomanry and departed for South Africa, serving in the Second Boer War. His herd of prize Dexter cattle was put up for sale two months later, raising £1,144. Initially a sergeant, Woodiwiss was eventually promoted to Captain, and for a while was a prisoner of war, eventually returning to Britain in July 1902 after the war ended.
Gravestone of E S Woodiwiss
Woodiwiss’ colourful history was far from complete. Emigrating to Canada in 1903, he initially farmed there but later became a real-estate agent and JP in Winnipeg. He returned to England, divorcing his estranged wife, remarrying in 1922 and raising a new family in Chelmsford, where he gained a reputation for breeding Abyssinian cats! Despite only living at Upminster for a few years he was buried in the same grave as his infant daughter Angela at St Laurence’s churchyard after he died in north London in 1940.
Edward Payton Wills (later Sir Edward), of the well-known Bristol tobacco firm, became the owner of Hill Place in June 1899, as well as the nearby Bridge House Farm, which Woodiwiss moved to before leaving Upminster.
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Dr J S Brookfield and his wife Sarah at Hill Place (Photo courtesy: John Stewart)
Hill Place was offered for sale in September 1902 and Dr John Storrs Brookfield MD JP bought the property in 1903 or shortly afterwards for around £5,500 and spent over £500 on improvements. The Irish-born eminent doctor (1845-1927) also had a residence at Brondesbury, where he was consulting physician to the Passmore Edwards Hospital, Willesden so may not have lived permanently at Hill Place. Educated at the University of New Brunswick, Canada he obtained his MA from Edinburgh University and was member of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was a Harley Street specialist and after his retirement to Upminster his skills were put to good use during World War 1 when he worked at the convalescent hospital set up at St Laurence Hall. His name may be all but forgotten in Upminster but it is still remembered further afield for on his death in July 1927 he left a bequest of £2,000 to the University of New Brunswick Canada for a scholarship in natural sciences, which is still awarded to this day.
When Dr Brookfield moved away from Upminster a few months before his death the Hill Place Estate was put up for sale and in May 1927 the Roman Catholic nuns of the order of the Institute of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, bought the estate and established a convent and private boarding and day school there.
Sacred Heart Convent – 1930s
Sacred Heart Convent late 1930s
Reverend Mother Leonard was its first Headmistress of this school which initially catered for around 150 pupils, girls of all ages and boys up to the age of 8. Most teaching was secular but one or other of the 16 members of the teaching order taught religious education.
New school buildings were planned in 1930, but had still not been completed when war broke out; a Georgian-style red brick chapel was built against the east end of Hill Place in 1935, but this had to be demolished in 1965 due to structural problems following subsidence.
During the war the school was evacuated complete to Chilton House in Buckinghamshire, reopening in Upminster in September 1946. The school ceased to be a private boarding school at the end of the Summer Term 1949, after which it was granted voluntary aided status receiving funding from Essex County Council as the education authority.
Sacred Heart Convent School, late 1940s
The Convent buildings were listed Grade II on 5 May 1999. The full listing is HERE
Although the planned redevelopment of Hill Place has severed the links between the convent and the school, at the same time they have breathed new life into the historic buildings which have survived largely intact due to their religious and educational uses since 1927. The plans aimed to retain, celebrate and enhance the significance of the building, removing later additions which were out of character with the original Victorian designs and adding new elements that aim to preserve the building’s character. By pruning the trees and shrubs fronting St Mary’s Lane, which were perhaps needed to preserve the privacy of the religious order, Hill Place has for the first time in several decades become a visible part of Upminster’s history.
The London Borough of Havering planning application reference is P.1084.14 and can be viewed HERE. There was public exhibition of the plans at the Convent by the Architects & agents on Tuesday 11th November 2014. Havering Council’s Regulatory Services Committee on 19th February 2015 agreed that the proposals would be acceptable subject to the applicants entering into a suitable (Section 106) legal agreement; listed building consent was granted in April 2015 subject to certain conditions.
December 2015
October 2016
Hill Place 22nd December 2016
24th January 2017
Interior of Sacred Heart Convent (Hill Place) – October 2008
Old Upminster 
Just as a matter of interest to you I was the very last girl to be accepted befor the private school closed in the 1951untill I joined the upper school at 11 yrs until I left school the head of the private school was St. Angela and Mrs Butler . The class room was right next door to the Reverand Mothers bedroom so we all used to tip toe passed in case she was there she was very old and often we would see her sitting up in bed as we moved round the convent . I was always at school very early as I went to 7am mass every morning with all the nuns and Sister Dorothy would make me breakfast every morning befor school started and I played with the convent cat . This was the happiest time of my life. I also visited the convent for many years after I left school to have tea with the Sisters taking my children too. Very sorry to hear that the Sisters will know longer be there I would love to know how I could get intouch with them. Regards Pamela Grieve nee. Taylor.
Hi Pamela
Many thanks for sharing your memories! I’m sorry but I don’t have any forwarding details but perhaps you could contact the school, as they may have information about where the surviving sisters retired to.
Tony
I remember you I think! Did you live down near Upminster Bridge Station? I think you were a year above me? I was Pat Shurmer then and in all the sports teams including the hockey team in which I think you played? Such a shame that the building that meant so much to so many is changing. Where is the school relocating to? Do we know?
Hi Pat, I remember you, I also attended Upminster Convent from 1957 until 1961. I was Rita Taiani and like you was very sporty. I still have some old photos of when we were in the rounders team and I’m sure you are in them. Over the Christmas period my husband and I went down memory lane and popped into the old school. We went through the main doors at the front and was amazed to see the old white and black tiled floor was still intact. I walked up to the doors leading into the main hall where dinner was served and again I have a photo of sitting at a very long table with Mrs. Braithwaite looking on to make sure that we were behaving ourselves. Lovely, lovely memories. Would love to share more memories with you if you would like to get in touch. I also remember Palmer Taylor who lived in the road next to Upminster Bridge Station.
Oh what a lovely message to pop up. I can still picture you in the hockey team. We did have good days at the Convention and that black and white tiled floor was beautiful, although not appreciated by us at the time. Memory lane journeys are usual good fun and provoke much chat. I’d really love it if you could scan any school photos you may have and email them to me? My email is
littlewoodpat@googlemail.com. I’m doing my family history and it would be great if I could add some pics of school friends and me.
All the best for 2017, may health and happiness abound. Pamela Taylor is also a familiar name. Pat Polmear is another girl who was in the hockey team and I remember Pat O’Leary . I could ramble on but won’t! So all for now and look forward to some pics if at all possible. Thanks for responding Rita. By the way, where are you living now? Ok, will close now.
Warm regards
Pat
Not sure I saw this in September Pat but the school is staying where it is – it’s only former convent next door that has been converted into flats.
I started at the convent in 1946 and left at the age of 15 in1952 . I too have wonderful memories of my time there. I am now 78 and look back on my time there with great love I always had the greatest respect for the nuns and and the teachings that gave me such a platform in life
Many thanks for commenting – please feel free to share more memories of your time spent there.
Hi Nova. I attended Minster House next door. There was a Nigel Kathro in my class – would you be related? I left about 1960.
Nigel Kathro is my brother and is living nr Southend. , he is 75 this year please let me know if you would like to contact him ! He lives in Hakwell village !
Yes Nigel is my brother and he remembers you ! He is now retired and lives in Hawkwell village very near Southend we both Remember our school life with great memories of both schools
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I thought I would just let you know that I have been appointed as the structural engineer for the re-development scheme and I was very interested to read your work. I recently undertook a survey of the building and can confirm that the internal woodwork and stonework has remained in remarkably good condition and largely undamaged. Obviously, with the building’s Grade II status, little alteration is to be undertaken to the main building which is largely limited to upgrading the heating and electrics and modifications to non-loadbearing partitions.
Daniel Staines – JMS Consulting Engineers Ltd
I attended a school reunion on the 2nd July 2016, having not been back to the school since I left in 1971. I was devastated to see that the Chapel is no longer there and that the Convent is being turned into luxury apartments. I do hope that someone cares for the interiors of the remaining school buildings. The “black and white” hall particularly needs restoration on the tiles, some of which have risen and cracked. They have been covered with “health and safety” yellow sticky tape! I hope there is a better solution to be found.
Hi Carole
Thanks for getting in touch and apologies for the delay in responding, as I’ve been away.
While I appreciate that the school & convent were very closely linked when you attended, this link became weaker over the years I believe, particularly after the nuns’ involvement in teaching declined.
The former convent buildings (Hill Place) were sold by the Order a few years ago & it is these buildings that are now being redeveloped into apartments. I’m not sure what you mean by the chapel – the original chapel at the east end was demolished in c.1965, around the time you were there. When I visited in 2008 (see pictures at the end of the article) one of the downstairs rooms served as a chapel for the nuns I assume – was this also used by pupils in your day? The school now owns & uses the adjacent “Old Upminster Chapel”.
The separate and later (1930s) buildings which are part of the school are retained & maintained by the school so if you have any concerns about their future maintenance you obviously need to share these with the governing body.
With best wishes
Hi Carol,. I kept looking out for details of any reunions but never saw any anywhere ! I had been to one many moons ago and would have loved to go back. I was at the Convent from 1957 until 1962 and that last reunion was the day after my 70th birthday, how memorable would that have been. Sadly, the end of an era of great memories!
Hello Pat
I only found out about the reunion through my sister who also attended the convent around the same time as you I think? Gillian Sumner she was then. She found out as a notice had been put up in the church porch where she lives (in Billericay) but I moved away years ago and now live in Berkshire, so would never have known about the reunion either. I did raise this issue on the day and was told there was a Facebook page. When I checked this out there had not been a “post” on there for some time. I think they need to improve their way of contacting old girls. We all gave our names and email addresses on the day, but I have heard nothing since.
It is only the old convent building being turned into luxury apartments, the school is still there and functioning, albeit that all the lovely grounds that were there in our time have been built on. The famous cedar tree is still there though!
Carole
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Rita taini, did you know shirley tiani?
I went to the convent 68 to 72,,
Margaret mccarthy, all us girls in the family went there,
Hi Margaret, Sorry it’s taken so long to reply but have only just noticed your comment. Shirley Taiani is my sister along with Linda, Wendy, Carol and Barbara, all who went to the Convent except for Barbara who went to a Convent in Dagenham.
Does anyone remember Mother Maria, headmistress of St Joseph’s primary school. I was there from 1958 to 1963.
Hi Catherine,
Yes, I remember her well. I was there from 1962 to 1963. She summoned my parents to the school for fighting with Gregory Townsend in the school playground!! I was only defending Wendy Lightbody’s honour.
Paul Croly
Thank you for replying Paul. I wish I could remember you. Mother Maria offered a prize for the class that collected the most money during lent. My parents didn’t agree with this and wrote to Mother Maria telling her that I was going give my lenten alms to the church. Mother Maria denied ever saying this and there was an awful row. Everyone was scared of the woman. She was nasty to me over this and rang my mother who was pregnant at the time, and had a row with her. My mother hung on her and was admired by other mothers for daring to cross Mother Maria.
I was a pupil at :- The Sacred Heart of Mary Convent School, as the school was known during the years I attended between 1951–1956. Mother Stephen was our Mother Superior. I have many happy memories of my time at the Convent and would be so pleased to hear from anyone who may remember me.
I also remember the beautiful gardens, rose arbour ,cedar trees with the naughty squirels, I seem to remember they were red, or was that wishful thinking? I was so sorry to hear the Old Chapel had to be replaced. We attended Benediction every Friday, if the weather was inclement, we were taken through the Convent rooms and huge kitchen, to keep our feet clean .
Kind regards,
Jennifer Andrews,
Now McGinn.
I started in 1957, mother Theresa was my first form mistress and Mother Stephen the Head. I loved my time there, Miss Braithwait, Science and Hockey, Miss Canty PE, Games and Athlketics and Miss MacIntosh Art were new teachers the year before (I think).
Bread days from long ago….
I remember you ! I think you had a blond head of hair I started at the convent in 1946 Mother Pauline was the first nun I saw but she left after I had been there a couple of years I loved going to school every day Mother Steven arrived in 1949 I think but yes Pat I definitely remember you
In 1962 I started at this school the nuns were fab and I sang in their Gilbert and sullivan productions my name was Tina Willis many years later when I sang on TV I received many letters from other popil who attended the school at the same time 90as l
Hi Guys – Wow, I’m so glad I found this site. I too loved this school, apart from Sister Leonard, who, unfortunately did not like me. I was very introverted and shy and was living at Hutton Poplars, a care home. But it is so great to hear the names Miss Braithwait, Miss Canty and Miss MacIntosh. I was really good at Art and have become an artist after training at St Martin’s School in London, but I also love Biology and PE. Wow! thank you guys. I was there from 1962-1967 and then went on to Havering Technical College to do a two year art course. I was always the tallest girl in the class and in the fifth year was the tallest girl in the school. I also was involved in the Gillbert and Sullivan operas. Does anyone remember the name of the Head Girl in 1996-97, who was mixed race and in a Barnardo’s care home, whom we all admired. I have done some research because I want to know what order the nuns were from. I found some information a few years ago that they were from a french order but have since lost this information due to moving etc. I also want to find out the name of a new nun that arrived in about 1962 and was my class teacher for year 1 and 2,. I have really fond memories of Sister Geraldine and many others. What a fabulous school it was, I often think of it. I have gone on to also study Geology on the Open University, as well as Literature and now in my retirement I am into writing, painting, photography, mycology, quantum physics. I’m a qualified teacher of English as a Second Language, and have travelled and worked abroad extensively. Although I did not marry or have children, which I knew at an early age would not be my destiny, I have had a very interesting and rich life. I hope you all have too. I would be happy to be in contact with any of you and of any of the research you come up with. Maybe we could create a website that brings that all together with our own memories. I have to say I am not fond of the new renovations to flats, but I probably wouldn’t be given the memories I have.
Hi Jeanette – you were there just as I left, I was 1957-1962 and the Misses Braithwaite, MacIntosh and Canty were new teachers at that time. I too loved my time at school although wasn’t the brightest as I was too fond of sport!!! I am still in touch with Margaret MacIntosh, (Mrs Ollington). Not sure how the other two are……we had a number of “Cottage Homes” girls, – the Driscoll twins, Vivien Ali, and Pauline ? are the only names I can remember (too many senior moments now!) Like you, I enjoy photography, painting, reading and walking (along our Suffolk coast)……not sure whether I have sufficient memories to contribute anything to a website, but who knows……I have a few buried photos (in my daughter’s loft as when we moved to France we didn’t have room to take loads of albums) We are back in the UK now and they remain in her loft!!! All the best for Christmas and the New Year…..
Dear PM LIttlewood – what is your first name? I think I remember that twins, were they identical? in which case it was them. But they were in my year I think. So the art teacher got married, great, I think she had red hair. I’m not sure I agree with you saying you weren’t the brightest as you were too fond of sport. I was too, I loved hockey, and trampoline and tennis and was a long distance walker and swimmer. Sportspeople are highly intelligent too, don’t put yourself down. I lived in Spain and became fluent in spanish, and taught English there. What did you do in France? You sound like the sort of person I could spend many hours talking to. Happy Christmas to you too. Let’s hope the future is brighter than it looks politically.
I was a pupil from 1964-1970. Sr Ethne was my form teacher and I was in Fisher House. I would love to attend the next reunion should there be one. I have very happy memories indeed.
When a small child I would walk with my brother and Mother past this building and I remember a little old cottage, it seemed, right close to the railings by the road and I would see in through the always open door a lady all in black sitting in the corner looking out at me. Being small and impressionable, I thought this lady was an old witch, very much in my reading books at the time, so grateful to hear that this was not the case and feel so bad that I thought this of the lady, as I scuttled quickly past……! Saw this revamped building last week and throughout my growing up years I knew nothing of this building or school, although I do remember seeing nuns walking in Corbets Tey Road. So glad that it has been restored, like the Windmill, though.