OLD SOUTHDOWN SCHOOL

Another nice pic of the old place, Laurie.

A little story concerning the car park. A small group of us, mostly from the top end of Gibbon Road, Northdown Road etc, had been 'milk monitors' since Southdown School was at its original site at the end of Southdown Road. During morning break, we'd collect the empty school milk bottles in their crates from each classroom, stack about four crates on a special trolley and push them back to the kitchen ready for collection.

This was easy in the original school as it was all indoors and on one floor. At Church Hill, things were different, as we had to carry the crates down the stairs and we weren't allowed to go through the hall. Mind you, we could then get a bit of speed up on that trolley as we went around the outside of the buildings, which was fun.

Trouble is, one day we got a bit too much speed up, came around the corner of the building you see at the left, along the side and into the car park, where the slope took over. The trolley did eventually stop, helped by the side of one of the teacher's cars! How we escaped that with no punishment I'll never know. I guess no-one saw us running with the trolley and our claims of "It was just an accident, sir!" were believed!

When my oldest son, Adam McIntyre, was at the old Southdown he was in a class with Mrs Robinson. Years before that, the hut which was that class room was where our cookery class was when I was at Hillcrest. The boys did gardening, I think with Mr Hopkins.

Who else remembers Mr Herman and Miss Parkinson and when we all got put in huts for 2 years until the building as it is today was built! Southdown = best time of my life!

I remember scoring 2 goals on that pitch for Brighton against Arromanches in the final circa 1975.