Gads Hill Place School

Adele you are correct, there was (still is?) a tunnel from the main house under the main road to the garden where the "Swiss Chalet" used to be in the garden there. I believe the chalet has long-sice been moved to Rochester Museum as I believe Charles Dickens used it as a summer house writing room. We used to be taken through the tunnel on Nature Study lessons. My memory is of it being quite deep with rusty old iron gates that had to be creaked open to let our crocodile of two's hand in hand to pass through.

Being just post-war, boy's prep schools were few and far between and as a concession, boys with elder sisters attending the school were allowed to attend up until they were about seven years old and could transfer to a big school. Miss Burt was the headmistress and my class teacher was a Miss Hewlitt.

My academic life started as a single lad in a class of 24 girls which I remember as quite normal and happy, the culture shock of being transferred to an ancient and very traditional all-male Public School was a challenge but also is remembered with affection.