Calling on alums at school in the mid 1960's to 1970's.  Do you remember your teachers' names?

Ursula, who has a phenomenal memory for her school teachers, writes ..... 

Dear Pippa

It is quite extraordinary what one thinks of whilst driving to the “weekly shop” – in my case, to the exotica of Lidl in Devizes! For reasons best known to the less accessible areas of my brain, I tried to remember the staff who taught me when I started at the Grammar in, ye Gods, where did that time go, 1965.

I was doing quite well (it takes about 20 minutes from home to Lidl) and had retrieved a few names from “my early years” from dusty trunks in my memory:

Mrs Easton, who was my form mistress (1b!!) and had got married in the summer holidays. She taught geography

Miss Debney, my only history teacher (I went all the way to A Level) – and, in the 3rd year my form mistress – I still adore history, entirely down to her.

Miss House, scary, but she certainly knew all about English grammar – this has served me well in later years.

Miss Waldron, who had an interesting wardrobe of knitwear, but whose teaching of English literature was excellent (I read an article somewhere in which Victoria Hislop also praises her). To get a 7 from Miss Waldron really meant something

Mrs Beach, who shepherded us through “the facts of life” in biology

Mrs Wilkie who taught music. [On Radio 3, en route to Devizes this morning, they played “Vlatava” , and I remembered hearing this first then – it was probably what jogged my brain into reminisce mode]

Mrs Reynolds taught Art – her husband worked with my father at Fort Halstead.

I was never much good at maths – perhaps this is why I can’t remember who had the misfortune to try and impart figures into me at the beginning. Later, there was Mrs Finney and Miss Austin (who found religion, left and then returned to teach RE). It may have been Miss Clarke, my 2nd year form mistress

I may have had  Miss Moore for French – I know she taught me later, I still have, somewhere, my French grammar notes as dictated by her, in French, in later years.  She was also my form mistress in the 6th form – we had an “interesting” relationship, but, when forced, I can still speak enough French to “get by”! It could have been Miss Heys (another form mistress!)

Then I mused as to Scripture (note, not RE!) – I could visualise the tall, frightening, elegant lady – could not remember her name! She was VERY scary. Years later, when I was about 30, I was sitting with work colleagues, enjoying a lunchtime drink in the Rose and Crown, when I heard a voice I recognised, and saw this lady come in! Even at 30, I decided I did not want to be caught having a lunchtime drink and changed chairs to hide from her. I was convinced she would remember me. However, this morning,I could NOT remember her name, in my defence, I was (polite cough) 70 this year!!! So, this afternoon I went hunting on the internet. This brings me to why I am emailing you now. I found there is a Facebook page account for memories, fond or otherwise, of TGGS – however, I have not got, nor do I want, a Facebook account. I suspect there are still a fair number of refuseniks amongst your alumnae. I lack any children or grandchildren about whom I want to brag!! All I wanted was a nudge as to the name of the very scary Scripture teacher – from whom I hid some 20 years later. Lacking Facebook, I had to hunt all the harder, but, I did find her:  Miss Wolverson. She was very definitely old school, given she retired at the end of 1966, I am guessing that she had to have been born in about 1906!

Regards

Ursula Osmond

1965-1972