OUR FIRST VISIT TO CAMP, 1950
by Ann Kingston (nee Patrick)
"After we had finished our exams in June 1950 I
was one of the first group of third year girls to visit
Sayer's Croft Camp in Ewhurst, Surrey. The two
week trip away from school was arranged because
after the war few of us spent our holidays away from
home.
I recall the mounting excitement as I helped my
mother to pack my suitcase with my school uniform,
including a pair of wellington books (no jeans or
trousers). At that time we had to make sure we
took our ration books or we might not have had
anything to eat!
We all arrived early for school that morning to await
the arrival of the coaches, which I think were hired
from a firm in the Guildford area. I still remember
the thrill of taking our seats in the old coaches and
waving enthusiastically to our parents and friends.
The coaches were not the luxury ones that we expect
today so we had a very noisy and bumpy ride to
camp.
We all looked around with great interest at the
camp which had recently been vacated by the army.
Hanging just inside the doors of all the dormitories
were rows of long green army capes. There was
much noise as we chose our bunks, naturally
everyone wanted to sleep on the top bunk but with
staff consent we were allowed to change over bunks
at the end of the first week. This proved to be quite
a performance as we not only changed the sheets
and blankets but also the mattresses!
As I mentioned earlier we had to take our ration
books; the shortages of that time meant that there
was not a wide variety on the menu. With all the
outside activities we got very hungry. There was
always plenty of bread but only a small portion of
butter (about two ounces each for the week). Which
did not last more than a few days, we tried other
substitutes including tomato sauce and mustard! My
grandmother sent me a most welcome parcel which
included a delicious fruit cake and a bag of sweets to
supplement my Horlicks tablets. My friends and I
quickly ate these unexpected goodies.
Being a typical English summer we had to wear the
army capes many times and there was a great deal
of mud everywhere. One of my friends, Audrey, a
happy tubby character, was always slipping down
ditches and returning covered in mud, much to our
amusement. I do not remember doing much written
work but we were busy map reading, collecting
leaves and exploring the locality. One incident
which comes vividly to mind is three of us; Audrey,
Doreen and I setting off with a sketch map to
rendezvous with the rest of our party at a
meandering river. After a short while Audrey
wanted to 'spend a penny' and being town-bred the
countryside was not good enough for her and she
insisted on knocking at the door of a large imposing
house, accompanied by us naturally. The family
were somewhat surprised by our request but were
most kind and after giving us a refreshing drink of
orange offered to take us back to camp in their
black limousine. However we made our way on foot
to the village via the baker's where we bought a
cake each and eventually reached the rendezvous
point at the river where no one knew of our exploits
en route (the wrong route, incidentally!).
Another amusing incident was when we went by
coach to collect biology specimens. The science
mistress was determined that we should all walk
back to camp but unfortunately we all lost our way
and she even refused two lifts from a kindly coach
driver. We eventually found our way back just in
time for a much needed supper.
We played a lot of sport and even the most un-
athletic, like me, joined in and had fun. A few brave
souls had a swim in the small pool which was usually
occupied by an odd assortment of insects including a
small grass snake which someone insisted was a
python!
As these were the days before transistor radios,
television and discos, and we all went to bed at nine
o'clock, with lights out at nine thirty, we all tried to
learn deaf and dumb language so that we could
communicate in silence. I recall with relief that we
did not have a member of the P.E. staff in our hut,
as her group had to take an early morning run
before breakfast!
The staff only stayed for one week, changing over at
the weekend and Miss Jewell Hill came down in her
car several times.
I have few recollections of our journey back to
school but remember clearly being met by my Mum
and Dad in our little Austin Seven with its canvas
roof and I am sure that I had plenty to tell them of
my stay in the country."
by Ann Kingston (nee Patrick)
"After we had finished our exams in June 1950 I
was one of the first group of third year girls to visit
Sayer's Croft Camp in Ewhurst, Surrey. The two
week trip away from school was arranged because
after the war few of us spent our holidays away from
home.
I recall the mounting excitement as I helped my
mother to pack my suitcase with my school uniform,
including a pair of wellington books (no jeans or
trousers). At that time we had to make sure we
took our ration books or we might not have had
anything to eat!
We all arrived early for school that morning to await
the arrival of the coaches, which I think were hired
from a firm in the Guildford area. I still remember
the thrill of taking our seats in the old coaches and
waving enthusiastically to our parents and friends.
The coaches were not the luxury ones that we expect
today so we had a very noisy and bumpy ride to
camp.
We all looked around with great interest at the
camp which had recently been vacated by the army.
Hanging just inside the doors of all the dormitories
were rows of long green army capes. There was
much noise as we chose our bunks, naturally
everyone wanted to sleep on the top bunk but with
staff consent we were allowed to change over bunks
at the end of the first week. This proved to be quite
a performance as we not only changed the sheets
and blankets but also the mattresses!
As I mentioned earlier we had to take our ration
books; the shortages of that time meant that there
was not a wide variety on the menu. With all the
outside activities we got very hungry. There was
always plenty of bread but only a small portion of
butter (about two ounces each for the week). Which
did not last more than a few days, we tried other
substitutes including tomato sauce and mustard! My
grandmother sent me a most welcome parcel which
included a delicious fruit cake and a bag of sweets to
supplement my Horlicks tablets. My friends and I
quickly ate these unexpected goodies.
Being a typical English summer we had to wear the
army capes many times and there was a great deal
of mud everywhere. One of my friends, Audrey, a
happy tubby character, was always slipping down
ditches and returning covered in mud, much to our
amusement. I do not remember doing much written
work but we were busy map reading, collecting
leaves and exploring the locality. One incident
which comes vividly to mind is three of us; Audrey,
Doreen and I setting off with a sketch map to
rendezvous with the rest of our party at a
meandering river. After a short while Audrey
wanted to 'spend a penny' and being town-bred the
countryside was not good enough for her and she
insisted on knocking at the door of a large imposing
house, accompanied by us naturally. The family
were somewhat surprised by our request but were
most kind and after giving us a refreshing drink of
orange offered to take us back to camp in their
black limousine. However we made our way on foot
to the village via the baker's where we bought a
cake each and eventually reached the rendezvous
point at the river where no one knew of our exploits
en route (the wrong route, incidentally!).
Another amusing incident was when we went by
coach to collect biology specimens. The science
mistress was determined that we should all walk
back to camp but unfortunately we all lost our way
and she even refused two lifts from a kindly coach
driver. We eventually found our way back just in
time for a much needed supper.
We played a lot of sport and even the most un-
athletic, like me, joined in and had fun. A few brave
souls had a swim in the small pool which was usually
occupied by an odd assortment of insects including a
small grass snake which someone insisted was a
python!
As these were the days before transistor radios,
television and discos, and we all went to bed at nine
o'clock, with lights out at nine thirty, we all tried to
learn deaf and dumb language so that we could
communicate in silence. I recall with relief that we
did not have a member of the P.E. staff in our hut,
as her group had to take an early morning run
before breakfast!
The staff only stayed for one week, changing over at
the weekend and Miss Jewell Hill came down in her
car several times.
I have few recollections of our journey back to
school but remember clearly being met by my Mum
and Dad in our little Austin Seven with its canvas
roof and I am sure that I had plenty to tell them of
my stay in the country."
| PHOTO: First school trip (2 weeks) to "Sayer's Croft"camp in Ewhurst, Surrey 1950. |
| READ THE OTHER ARTICLE: Sixth Formers' view of Sayers Croft by Jacqueline Hendricks & Catherine Pearce (Lower 6B). |
| Article taken from the Rosa Bassett School - Pimpernel Magazine 1977. |
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