More Memories of Living on Canvey Island part 2

Furtherwick Park School

I went to school Canvey county and Furtherwick Park School which was new when I started there at the age of eleven. The teachers were Mr.Goodfellow who taught music Mrs. White (French) Miss Dalrimple, Miss Langston (headmistress), Mr. Watkins (Headmaster) and others who I can’t remember.

All the girls had to make their own summer uniforms in the needlework class as it was called then. It was a yellow seersucker skirt and a white blouse, I still have a picture in my mind of the back grass and all these girls sitting on it at lunch time chatting all in yellow and white. We had to make our own aprons too. We also had to wear a navy blazer and blue and gold striped tie. In the winter we wore a grey pinafore dress or skirt.

When I was 13 all my class went on an exchange visit to Wolverhampton. I stayed with a very nice family. The man used to clean my shoes every night I remember. We went out every day on a coach trip. One day we went to Wedgewoods pottery factory and saw all the cups and saucers being painted by hand. Next day we went to Cadburys chocolate factory at bournville I think. I remember seeing hundreds of chocolates going along a conveyor belt, and before leaving every child was given a tin of chocolates and bars. I treasured this tin for years. This was the only time I ever went away as a child.