| Some Outstanding Memories of The Chichester Period by E. WYNN WILLIAMS (nee James). |
CHICHESTER
What a host of memories the name brings back to those who spent some of the war years
there! They were strange years, but, in spite of the war, in spite of great difficulties, they
were very happy ones.
My first memories of the actual evacuation are of those weeks in August 1939, when we
attended school every day, awaiting message as to whether we should evacuate the next
day or not.
At last, on Thursday, the 31st August 1939, the orders came; we were to leave the next
day, and on Friday, morning, September 1st, 1939 the staff assembled at the school at
6.30 a.m. for final orders and at twenty minutes to nine about 350 girls and staff started
their march to Tooting Junction, preceded by an enormous banner entitled L.C. C. H. 25.
Miss Murby and I were with our charges and the school filed out in silence. Miss
Coates could not bear this and for probably the first and last time in her life leapt to the
platform and played a march for us. The solemnity of the occasion was relieved and with
smiles the school set forth.
We left Tooting Junction at 9.40, all very thankful that the whole school had not been
separated but were all on the same train, going to the same unknown destination. We
had no idea where we were going, but in my coach, I remember Miss Hardy had a map
and on catching glimpses of the names of stations, the girls followed our route and there
were great speculations as to where we would finally arrive - and just before 12 we
arrived at Chichester.
Through a misunderstanding, a boy's school was expected at that time and we were
taken to the Boy's High School and the girls were billeted with hostesses; some of whom
had expressed a preference for boys.
Our feelings towards Chichester and their feelings towards us were uncertain to begin
with - we were such a horde of strangers to be thrust on them and as for us, we had no
real wish to be there at all; but after those first few days, we all came to like one another
and we evacuees had only the highest appreciation of all the kindness the people showed
us, who fed us, housed us, and cared for us in every possible way.
Streatham always did rise to the occasion. We had the feeling then that soon various
excursions would be banned so we made hay while the sun shone those first few weeks.
It was holiday time and mistresses took parties about. I can remember our first walk
over the fields to Dell Quay on the Chichester Creek. Miss Jennings and I took a group
of the 1st year with us. The tide was up and there was the glorious sight of countless
boats sailing up and down the Creek. From there we saw the line of the Downs, which
were to become so much a part of us all before we left. We also made quick trips to
Bracklesham Bay, Selsey Bill, East Wittering and West Wittering and only just in time
before the ban came - they were out of bounds.
Things began gradually to get organised but it was still in school holidays, for the High
School's term did not begin until late September, so there was no question yet of lessons.
Miss Davies formed work parties. The most popular was for fruit picking, especially
raspberries and currants and near Tangmere, a group of girls and staff sometimes picked
as much as 100 lb. of raspberries in one afternoon. Some went to Goodwood to help with
apple picking; some went near Dell Quay to help lift sugar beet and to lift potatoes.
Apart from work Parties groups were taken exploring the city, the Cathedral, the Bell
Tower, finding the history of the City and the surrounding country, discovering the
remains of the City Walls, dating from Roman Times, finding the sites of the old City
gates, with the four main roads laid originally by the Romans true to the four points of
the compass, North Street, South Street, East Street, West Street all meeting at the
Market Cross. We got to know and to love the City in those first few weeks.
The Market Cross, by the way, built around 1500, is one of the most beautiful in England
but to us it was an ordeal for it required great skill and courage to ride round it on a
bicycle and as billets were changed and became scattered all over the city, form
mistresses one by one felt their legs remonstrating more and more when visiting
regularly the billets of everyone of their forms. Gradually more and more rode bicycles
until almost the entire staff became cyclists. Miss Coates was one of the last staff who
was persuaded to learn to ride a bicycle. Her bicycle was called Esmerelda, and here
slow but steady progress in learning to ride was watched with great affection by the girls
and staff. The day she negotiated the Market Cross without any incident was a red
letter day for the whole school, for to negotiate the traffic round the Cross was as good
as passing a driving test.
But what about the evenings, when more than any other time evacuees felt rather
homesick and perhaps with no other children in their billet, felt a little lonely? Miss
Munro and the Bishop of Chichester came to the rescue.
From the beginning the Bishop proved himself a real friend to all evacuees. He was a
really great man whom we all loved. He moved to a house in Brighton and bequeathed
the Palace for use of evacuees. We met him and his wife, Mrs. Bell, a great deal before
they made their move and she told us that the last invasion of the Palace was sin the time
of the Civil Wars, when Chichester took the side of the King and the city was besieged
by the Roundheads. After some days, the citizens surrendered and on one of the
windows of the Palace's great dining room can be seen the marks of the stone where a
soldier chipped his initials and the date.
And now the second invasion of the Palace - by evacuees! We shall never forget the
utter beauty of the Palace and its grounds - lovely lawns, ancient trees, winding paths -
and the lower forms had their school there. The Bishop arranged one suite of rooms for
him to occupy when need by; stored furniture in some of the other rooms then bequeated
us and other evacuees the rest of the wonderful Palace.
There was a little private chapel in the Palace and there the Bishop would hold Family
Prayes every morning. His family and their servants would attend. He asked if we
would care to go and we joined them. Those morning prayers in the little family chapel
were a lovely start to the day and when he went he allowed us to go on using the chapel.
Mrs. Mann took the service and I played the tiny organ.
At the Palace then, Miss Munro ran her club at nights. Anyone who wished to could
come to the Palace after school hours, sure of a real welcome. They could play games,
card games, ping-pong, read books, play the gramophone, but chiefly enjoy the
companionship of other girls. Miss Munro carried the burden of the club mainly on her
shoulders. She arrived every day about 3 o'clock, prepared tea and buns, welcomed the
girls, helped them choose activities if they didn't know what to do. Then about 9 o'clock
several of the rest of the staff arrived to escort the girls home in the blackout. We would
divide the girls into groups according to the districts they were billeted in, then off we set
on a long walk, dropping one girl after another safely home, getting fewer and fewer in
number until the last one was deposited.
Reminiscence of the Bishop's Palace would be incomplete without a glimpse of the staff
fire-watching there. Whether we could have dealt adequately with a rain of incendiary
bombs is open to question but we did think that perhaps if an odd firebomb fell, we might
save extensive damage. We studied plans of the roots of the main building and its two
wings then one glorious day, all the members of the staff climbed out of a trap door under
the guidance of one of the old Palace staff to learn how to clamber, crawl and slither to
reach any part of the enormous area of roofs. It was a thrill and if only the girls had been
allowed to watch from the grounds how they would have enjoyed seeing us all clinging to
parapets and odd chimney pots, pretending we were not in the least bit scared.
Web master's Note: To insert section here (about the ceremony of the Keys...
(p.37).
The third year we were at Chichester, we had a weekend reunion of Old Girls who had
left school from Chichester. They arrived, some on Friday night, some on Saturday.
They slept on mattresses on the floor of the gym., got their own breakfasts, then the
Sixth Form took over and prepared lunch, tea and supper for the whole gathering. Oh
the cooking that went on, the pies that were made, cakes baked, salads prepared, all
organised by our girls with very little help from the staff.
I remember with great pride and affection, the performances of music and of plays we
had periodically at Streatham. We carried on our traditions in Chichester, and I can
remember a performance of Papageno under Miss Murby, which delighted the audience
with Mozart's songs and music, until - air raid warning! Everyone ran to the shelters in
the school grounds, but we returned to finish it.
There was a combined concert of choirs and pipers of all schools evacuated to Chichester
and the local critics gave it great praise.
There was a performance of "Comus", under Miss Murby and Miss Dawes, which gave
joy not only to the audience and to the solo singers but to others who could rollick as
sailors or leap and do grotesque dances as witches.
There was a pageant, devised by Miss Wilson, showing the history of Chichester, from
the encampment of the Early Britons at Trundle, on the Downs nearby, to the invasion of
the Romans, the building of the City and the City Walls, the Danish Invasion, the
building of the monastery at Selsey, the building of the Cathedral and the burning and
rebuilding of the Cathedral - I can still see the dance of the girls representing the flames
as the Cathedral burnt.
Then there was the great performance of "St. Joan", a school performance under Miss
Davies direction, in which, according to Streatham tradition, everyone took part; it might
be on the stage or behind the scenes; it might be on the nights of the performance or for
weeks beforehand, but we all became part of it. I shall never forget that performance in
Chichester the term before we left. It was a performance which moved everyone deeply.
What a strange chapter in the history of the school those four years were, but to most of
us it was an exhilarating, challenging chapter and one we shall never forget.
What a host of memories the name brings back to those who spent some of the war years
there! They were strange years, but, in spite of the war, in spite of great difficulties, they
were very happy ones.
My first memories of the actual evacuation are of those weeks in August 1939, when we
attended school every day, awaiting message as to whether we should evacuate the next
day or not.
At last, on Thursday, the 31st August 1939, the orders came; we were to leave the next
day, and on Friday, morning, September 1st, 1939 the staff assembled at the school at
6.30 a.m. for final orders and at twenty minutes to nine about 350 girls and staff started
their march to Tooting Junction, preceded by an enormous banner entitled L.C. C. H. 25.
Miss Murby and I were with our charges and the school filed out in silence. Miss
Coates could not bear this and for probably the first and last time in her life leapt to the
platform and played a march for us. The solemnity of the occasion was relieved and with
smiles the school set forth.
We left Tooting Junction at 9.40, all very thankful that the whole school had not been
separated but were all on the same train, going to the same unknown destination. We
had no idea where we were going, but in my coach, I remember Miss Hardy had a map
and on catching glimpses of the names of stations, the girls followed our route and there
were great speculations as to where we would finally arrive - and just before 12 we
arrived at Chichester.
Through a misunderstanding, a boy's school was expected at that time and we were
taken to the Boy's High School and the girls were billeted with hostesses; some of whom
had expressed a preference for boys.
Our feelings towards Chichester and their feelings towards us were uncertain to begin
with - we were such a horde of strangers to be thrust on them and as for us, we had no
real wish to be there at all; but after those first few days, we all came to like one another
and we evacuees had only the highest appreciation of all the kindness the people showed
us, who fed us, housed us, and cared for us in every possible way.
Streatham always did rise to the occasion. We had the feeling then that soon various
excursions would be banned so we made hay while the sun shone those first few weeks.
It was holiday time and mistresses took parties about. I can remember our first walk
over the fields to Dell Quay on the Chichester Creek. Miss Jennings and I took a group
of the 1st year with us. The tide was up and there was the glorious sight of countless
boats sailing up and down the Creek. From there we saw the line of the Downs, which
were to become so much a part of us all before we left. We also made quick trips to
Bracklesham Bay, Selsey Bill, East Wittering and West Wittering and only just in time
before the ban came - they were out of bounds.
Things began gradually to get organised but it was still in school holidays, for the High
School's term did not begin until late September, so there was no question yet of lessons.
Miss Davies formed work parties. The most popular was for fruit picking, especially
raspberries and currants and near Tangmere, a group of girls and staff sometimes picked
as much as 100 lb. of raspberries in one afternoon. Some went to Goodwood to help with
apple picking; some went near Dell Quay to help lift sugar beet and to lift potatoes.
Apart from work Parties groups were taken exploring the city, the Cathedral, the Bell
Tower, finding the history of the City and the surrounding country, discovering the
remains of the City Walls, dating from Roman Times, finding the sites of the old City
gates, with the four main roads laid originally by the Romans true to the four points of
the compass, North Street, South Street, East Street, West Street all meeting at the
Market Cross. We got to know and to love the City in those first few weeks.
The Market Cross, by the way, built around 1500, is one of the most beautiful in England
but to us it was an ordeal for it required great skill and courage to ride round it on a
bicycle and as billets were changed and became scattered all over the city, form
mistresses one by one felt their legs remonstrating more and more when visiting
regularly the billets of everyone of their forms. Gradually more and more rode bicycles
until almost the entire staff became cyclists. Miss Coates was one of the last staff who
was persuaded to learn to ride a bicycle. Her bicycle was called Esmerelda, and here
slow but steady progress in learning to ride was watched with great affection by the girls
and staff. The day she negotiated the Market Cross without any incident was a red
letter day for the whole school, for to negotiate the traffic round the Cross was as good
as passing a driving test.
But what about the evenings, when more than any other time evacuees felt rather
homesick and perhaps with no other children in their billet, felt a little lonely? Miss
Munro and the Bishop of Chichester came to the rescue.
From the beginning the Bishop proved himself a real friend to all evacuees. He was a
really great man whom we all loved. He moved to a house in Brighton and bequeathed
the Palace for use of evacuees. We met him and his wife, Mrs. Bell, a great deal before
they made their move and she told us that the last invasion of the Palace was sin the time
of the Civil Wars, when Chichester took the side of the King and the city was besieged
by the Roundheads. After some days, the citizens surrendered and on one of the
windows of the Palace's great dining room can be seen the marks of the stone where a
soldier chipped his initials and the date.
And now the second invasion of the Palace - by evacuees! We shall never forget the
utter beauty of the Palace and its grounds - lovely lawns, ancient trees, winding paths -
and the lower forms had their school there. The Bishop arranged one suite of rooms for
him to occupy when need by; stored furniture in some of the other rooms then bequeated
us and other evacuees the rest of the wonderful Palace.
There was a little private chapel in the Palace and there the Bishop would hold Family
Prayes every morning. His family and their servants would attend. He asked if we
would care to go and we joined them. Those morning prayers in the little family chapel
were a lovely start to the day and when he went he allowed us to go on using the chapel.
Mrs. Mann took the service and I played the tiny organ.
At the Palace then, Miss Munro ran her club at nights. Anyone who wished to could
come to the Palace after school hours, sure of a real welcome. They could play games,
card games, ping-pong, read books, play the gramophone, but chiefly enjoy the
companionship of other girls. Miss Munro carried the burden of the club mainly on her
shoulders. She arrived every day about 3 o'clock, prepared tea and buns, welcomed the
girls, helped them choose activities if they didn't know what to do. Then about 9 o'clock
several of the rest of the staff arrived to escort the girls home in the blackout. We would
divide the girls into groups according to the districts they were billeted in, then off we set
on a long walk, dropping one girl after another safely home, getting fewer and fewer in
number until the last one was deposited.
Reminiscence of the Bishop's Palace would be incomplete without a glimpse of the staff
fire-watching there. Whether we could have dealt adequately with a rain of incendiary
bombs is open to question but we did think that perhaps if an odd firebomb fell, we might
save extensive damage. We studied plans of the roots of the main building and its two
wings then one glorious day, all the members of the staff climbed out of a trap door under
the guidance of one of the old Palace staff to learn how to clamber, crawl and slither to
reach any part of the enormous area of roofs. It was a thrill and if only the girls had been
allowed to watch from the grounds how they would have enjoyed seeing us all clinging to
parapets and odd chimney pots, pretending we were not in the least bit scared.
Web master's Note: To insert section here (about the ceremony of the Keys...
(p.37).
The third year we were at Chichester, we had a weekend reunion of Old Girls who had
left school from Chichester. They arrived, some on Friday night, some on Saturday.
They slept on mattresses on the floor of the gym., got their own breakfasts, then the
Sixth Form took over and prepared lunch, tea and supper for the whole gathering. Oh
the cooking that went on, the pies that were made, cakes baked, salads prepared, all
organised by our girls with very little help from the staff.
I remember with great pride and affection, the performances of music and of plays we
had periodically at Streatham. We carried on our traditions in Chichester, and I can
remember a performance of Papageno under Miss Murby, which delighted the audience
with Mozart's songs and music, until - air raid warning! Everyone ran to the shelters in
the school grounds, but we returned to finish it.
There was a combined concert of choirs and pipers of all schools evacuated to Chichester
and the local critics gave it great praise.
There was a performance of "Comus", under Miss Murby and Miss Dawes, which gave
joy not only to the audience and to the solo singers but to others who could rollick as
sailors or leap and do grotesque dances as witches.
There was a pageant, devised by Miss Wilson, showing the history of Chichester, from
the encampment of the Early Britons at Trundle, on the Downs nearby, to the invasion of
the Romans, the building of the City and the City Walls, the Danish Invasion, the
building of the monastery at Selsey, the building of the Cathedral and the burning and
rebuilding of the Cathedral - I can still see the dance of the girls representing the flames
as the Cathedral burnt.
Then there was the great performance of "St. Joan", a school performance under Miss
Davies direction, in which, according to Streatham tradition, everyone took part; it might
be on the stage or behind the scenes; it might be on the nights of the performance or for
weeks beforehand, but we all became part of it. I shall never forget that performance in
Chichester the term before we left. It was a performance which moved everyone deeply.
What a strange chapter in the history of the school those four years were, but to most of
us it was an exhilarating, challenging chapter and one we shall never forget.
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