Hello! My name is Mary Newman [now Hutchings] and I was at Bishop Fox's Girls' School from 1955 to 1962. I have read some of the entries and many of them make my own story seem most uninteresting: I didn't marry a fascinating Frenchman, I haven't travelled to the New World or to Down Under. Oh, how boring!!
I don't remember school as boring though - I loved it most of the time. I hated all P.E. except for tennis, which I loved. I so hated gym, netball, hockey, rounders and athletics that I used to hide in the cloakrooms and, eventually, the P.E. staff thought I had been excused P.E. That was what one of them wrote on my report once! Another time I just had "weak" written against it. Who cares? The P.E. teachers were Miss Donne, Miss Turner and Miss Colebrook-Davis.
As for other subjects, I adored Latin [crazy huh?] and even got an A Level in it. Miss Hutchinson was a rattling good teacher - she loved Latin too and used to grind her teeth while reciting Latin poetry. I also loved history right from the start. We had Miss Myatt in the first form - she was lovely and gave me many As. Then along came Miss Davis - not to be trifled with! But I still loved the subject. I also loved geography. Miss Wainwright succeeded in making it fascinating. I went on to read geography at Exeter University [history was my additional subject] and gained a B.A. Honours Degree, 2:1 in 1966. That's the most exciting thing that happened to me!
Miss Craig was headmistress and was the biggest, strongest character in my adolescent life. I also remember: Mrs Stevens, French [excellent teacher]; Miss Priest, English [very sweet personality]; Miss Pearson [later Mrs Reed], geography in the Sixth Form; Mr Reed, Science [we teased him terribly - I certainly did and so did Betty Hyde]; Miss Candy, Maths [but not after Second Form, as I was put into the second division and there remained!]; Miss Soul, Needlework; Mrs Wilkins, Cookery [both subjects yuck!], Miss Simmons, art.
Girls I remember were: Alison Hough, Gillian Thomson, Rosemary Williams, Diana Belt, Hilary Witt, Stephanie Field, Hilary Mapstone, Heather White, Judith Hearne, Phyllis Wase, Maureen Gamble, Sheila Kimber and more [short-term memory loss, sorry!]. I don't think all of these necessarily liked me. I don't remember any special friends. But I would love to hear from anyone who remembers me. I was the tomboy, short of stature and with cropped, brown hair and huge brown eyes - Miss Craig told me in first form to "stop looking at me with those eyes and don't SHOUT, child!"- this was because my Mum was hard of hearing and I had to shout at home.
Nearly forgot the rest of my life. I taught geography, history and R.E. - depending on what the headmistress required, at Saint Joseph's Convent Senior School, Taunton, from 1967 to 1975. That was when I met my future husband and moved away to Hatfield with him. He was working in the Home Office in London. I did supply teaching and then ended up as a clerical officer in the DHSS in Hertford. I transferred to the Taunton office in 1978 and we bought our bungalow at Wellington. We are still living in it and my last job [which I held for 13 years and loved], was back at Bishop Fox's as librarian.
The only travelling I have done is to Paris and the Loire Valley - present from my parents for graduating - and later several holidays in Austria and a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi. I told you it was boring! Now I am retired and spend time with my computers, my cat and my husband - in that order. I attend Italian classes, as that language was one I didn't study at school - I did French, German and my beloved Latin at school. Miss Kane taught German, which I started in the fourth year, after giving up the dreaded Biology. Our holidays now are spent in Snowdonia, North Wales, every year! I love those mountains. Who wants abroad when you have these wild mountains practically on your doorstep? Well, it takes me about six hours to drive there, but it's always worth it.
I'm very much involved in my local church, Saint John Fisher, in Wellington.
Would love to hear from Veronica Vickery, who was school secretary at Joe's. I remember her parents, Ray and Olwen, with much affection. I also taught her sister, Elizabeth[Buffy]
Hope someone will write!
Best wishes to all old girls! From Mary