Kingsthorne School, 2010

“I was at Cranbourne Rd.School from about 1940 to 1946.If I remember right kids could start before their fifth birthday at the time to allow mothers to go to work.For the first few months I was there we attended mornings only.After we started attending afternoons we seemed to get air raids on a regular basis just about finishing time so was stuck in the shelters instead of going home.”

“… When this was over a teacher played a gramophone record, for us to march out to it was always the same record “Marche Militaire” by Schubert … As I progressed through the infants I was given the job, with other boys, as a milk monitor. … Each pupil was given a Gill of milk morning and afternoon, a gill was a quarter of a pint”

“The school never had any sports teams until Mr Jones and Mr Harvey arrived, they organised a football team with practice after school, we didnt have any school colours or jerseys so we played in white “T” shirts on which the girls from our class had had sewn the school initials in yellow on a green background all made from felt. … Most of our matches were played at Holford drive playing fields”

“IJoined Cranbourne Road infants school in 1939. Teachers I remember are Mr GIles and Miss Acton. In the case of Miss Acton I have a vague memory of an RAF officer sitting in the corner of the classroom during lessons during class.”

“The performance at the Town Hall we sang a Sea Shanty I think it was call ” Away Down ” we were dress as Jack Tars with black round hats made by ourselves and horiz stripped tops what a day”

“I was at Cranbourne Road school from 1952-58. … There was a climbing frame in the side playground we called the Jungle Gym (I thought it was Jungle Jim). … Steve Winwood was in my class. I remember he was a good pianist even then. There was a school musical ‘Peter Pan’”

“I also remember the old world war 2 air raid shelters that were behind the wooden classrooms,the white rabbits in the central green and trips to burford road playing fields.”

“… I recall the main part of the building being built in what i can only describe as being a sort of a 50p coin shape if viewed from the air with the two halls being built / placed either side … In the centre of this main building block was large grass / garden area which when i attended the infant school we used to hold our sports days on.”

“… I was so proud to be house captain of Emerald house and secretly had a crush on the boy captain for the same house. The other houses were Topaz, Ruby and Sapphire.”

“The headmaster was Mr Worral, he drove a Daimler. … Mr Alderwick was caretaker.”