One Childs Memory Of Living In The Covent In Doverourt

A Memory of Dovercourt.

I have just been reading on the times of the floods in Dovercourt. My sister Rita and myself, known as (Rita and Mary Kelly), were brought up by the Salesian Sisters at the convent from babies until the time of the floods. The convent had to close, and we were then moved to another convent in Hastings called Sandrock Hall.I believe sixteen children made this move. It was really a lovely place to be, all the children there were so happy. We had our own 'Sea Garden' - when you looked over the wall, you were looking down into the sea. We had a pathway down to the sea where we could go swimming and fill our swim caps up with water, so the nuns could wash their face and hands. Also in the garden, the nuns taught us how to do a bit of gardening, we had little plots, sowed seeds and watched them grow, it was great when our flowers came up. I also remember when walking to school, we would walk through the park down to the school, which was next to the Parish Church, the nuns from the convent were our teachers, they would walk down with us and bring us back in the evening. At the time of the coronation, the convent didn't have a television, so the children went out to various places to watch it. I remember a group of about six of us went to a pub in the docks area of Harwich, I can't remember the name of the pub, but we had a lovely time there. The owners treated us really well.

I hope Ruth gets to read this snippet of information.

I am at present writing my life's story at my children request. I think this is very important for them so they can understand the way children in homes are brought up, especially if you have been brought up in an enclosed environment like we were.