MEECHING JUNIOR SCHOOL

"Susan Paine" on Page 10 is my mother! She never told me she'd been on such an exciting trip!

Wow, This I certainly do have a copy of. I wrote 'The Death of The Jelly Monster'. Hardly inspiring. My son was writing seventeen page stories at this age!

I went to this school and can remember a lot of the people in my class, so sad there are no pictures.

I can see my younger brother's name on the register, but I think I must have moved on to Newhaven County Secondary School.

I can see my name here, what an amazing document! I think the first 16 rows are the third year and the classes are denoted by the asterisks. These are large class sizes of 30 to 35 but it got worse at Tideway with classes of 45! I can’t believe that all the names printed here (about 300) were all housed in that tiny little school building! Does anybody know what the ticks alongside some of the names mean?

With the exception of maybe two or three I can remember all the names and most of the faces from my year, but I expect, like mine, those faces have changed over nearly sixty years! I remember being friends at some time or another with John Sexton,  Mark Rigby, Peter Wellburn and Donald Waller. I can still see Michael Taylor and his big warm broad smile lol. Also Susan Hickman (an early childhood playmate along with her older sister Edith lol), Karen Couch, Hazel Foster and Vickie Busk.

Some missing names are Martin Harvey and Michael Havard (or did they go to Southdown?), Jonathan Goodall, Jane Vacher, Julie Saunders, Lindsay Parris (a cousin of Roger Simmons as I recall) and wasn’t there a girl called Brenda Archer who was a friend of Deborah Porter? We had a boy who went to Lewes Grammar School but I can’t remember his name.

Somewhere out there is a group picture of us all in the playground. I haven’t got a copy but I think I’ve seen it on the old “Friends Reunited“ site? Along with a class picture of some of us at Meeching Infants. It would be great if they were posted here.

I recall most of the teachers, but in particular Mr Hughes, Mrs Saunders, Mrs Badley, Mr Cole, Miss Pelham and of course Mr Butler and Mr Babstock! I think I was taught for a while by Mrs Appleby in the Annex building up Meeching Rise. I’m surprised there’s no mention of Mrs Coleman. Maybe she only taught in the infants school? If I had to make a list of the most memorable teachers in my school time she would have to be at the top! I can see her now doing her floor walking duties in the church hall making us eat those terrible school dinners!

I doubt that most of the teachers are still with us but for the rest of you I hope that you’re all still alive and well and that you found your niche in life and if you couldn’t be amazingly happy, then like me, you’ve been reasonably happy. Kindest regards.