Give me horsemeat over salad anytime!
When we reached the ripe old age of eleven in secondary school we just wandered off the premises at lunch time and scoffed chips, burgers etc to our hearts content
Weâd even venture as far as Jo Lyons in The Kings Road.
There was a lovely lady who would allow us extra portions of chips for the asking price, we clubed together and bought her a little present if my memory serves me well when she retired.
For dessert a quarter of American hard gums might set you back 10p!
Happy days until the headmaster got wind of the situationâŠhis dinner money coffers must have been seriously depleted
It was a weekâs skiing holiday, several different central London schools were involved, the fella on the right became my buddy, I canât even remember his name now. In retrospect it was incredibly well organised. We were at liberty use the facilities in the hotel. The bar was one of our favourite haunts, coke and crisps galore! Weâd hang around the town and chat to the local Austrian kids. Of course the subject of girls cropped up, âDo you have birds?â one young lad asked. He obviously hadnât been on a school journey to England! After dealing with a couple of bouts of homesickness it became such a liberating and eye opening experience for someone who had just turned eleven!
That must have been an enlightening experience, at such a young age Chilli. Brilliant!
I remember there being a school journey once, for a week, for a Geography project but I didnât go, being an only child my parents were very protective! I always went on the end of year day trips to Margate , and of course, being in London, we were often taken to visits to museums. We must have seen them all, during all my school years. We went to London zoo more than once, I remember.
Oh, I forgot one particular secondary school memory - our âUpper Schoolâ building was located in the street where Gary Kemp lived at the time. I think you all know who he is. We saw him a few times ,when we used to pop out to the sweet-shop at break time, but were too shy to ask for an autograph! How silly of us when I think about it now!
Oh, yes, we also used to sneak out at lunchtime, just to go for a wander, especially the nearby park, where weâd spend lunchtime swinging away.
My school memories, on the whole, are really great!
Couldnât afford tp go on the Mediterranean Cruise, still, no worries, probably would have forgotten about it by now anyway.
More importantly, havenât forgotten about what poverty looks like
Thinking then that you went to school in Islington Rose? The museum trips were terrific werenât they?
My school was in Fitzrovia W1âŠFoley Street to be precise.
It was unusual in that the junior playground was on the roof in the shadow of The Post Office Tower. One of the kids who lived very close by narrowly escaped death when a hefty chunk of debris smashed through her bedroom ceiling when the IRA planted their bomb in the very early seventies.
Thatâs how a gang of us got to Rome with Sid the Latin teacher. By rail through France,Switzerland and Italy.I enjoyed the train journey as much as the destination.Fresh croissants for breakfast.I could never look at a slice of Mothers Pride again.
Apart from flying home from Germany in a military aircraft as a mere babe when my dad left the army the Austria trip was the first time Iâd really flown. It might seem a bit silly by todayâs standards but it was profoundly exciting. I dreamt of flying for weeks afterwards⊠seriously!
Thatâs right, lived and went to school in the borough of Islington - Holloway/Highbury areas. I donât know the places you mentioned, although sound familiar.
Wow, that poor girl must have had a, shock, what a fright for her mum and dad!
She was very lucky indeed.
Unusual playground, yes.
I remember many London schools looked like your one, my primary and secondary schools definitely did!
Went to an all girls school - we had a lovely teacher of English, she encouraged my love of reading. The man who taught French would probably be arrested these days! Letâs just say he was very âhandsyâ!
Yes I remember sports day. We didnât have parents attend , thank goodness. Mine wouldnât have shown up anyway.
I never knew anything about navy blue knickers. We had a specific gym suite that had to be worn. I wore short shorts underneath and refused to take them off for any reason. I donât recall any backlash regarding wearing shorts. I was fairly good at sports so donât remember being hassled. The only sport I wasnât fond of was field hockey. Some girls took the opportunity to whack our legs on purpose.
I only have a faint memory of my school days . This became obvious at class reunions when I noticed how much my school mates can still remember. School must have mattered more to them while my focus was on the sports club where I spent most of the time and which, as a counter-world, clearly had a stronger impact on me .
Even as a young boy it struck me that physical education was the most bizaare of all school events. In contrast to other subjects we never practised what we, all of a sudden, were tested in. We were kept busy by doing all sorts of silly ball games but, the next day, were then expected to put the shot wide enough, run 1,000 metres in a given time, perform certain gymnastic exercises, and so on. Either you could do all that without preparation or you got a bad mark. I wouldnât have expressed it like that back then but it was your genes, your genetically determined physical abilities, that were graded, not your abilities or skills acquired through practice and training as the word physical education would imply and as it was the case in other subjects. Not surprising, I disliked PE although I was the most active sportsman outside school starting aged 12 and remaining to be one up to the present day.
The pics show my class in the first form taken in 1962 and all dazzled by the sun and part of my school as it looks today, the headmasterâs office being above the main entrance. The usual class size was around 30.
I always went on the end of year day trips to Margate 
, and of course, being in London, we were often taken to visits to museums. We must have seen them all, during all my school years. We went to London zoo more than once, I remember.
