Perfect School Days

A Memory of Henley-on-Thames.

I was also a pupil at Friar Park from 1955 to 1962. I have nothing but wonderful memories of this amazing school. As a little girl the endless drive with rhododendron bushes eventually opening into this huge circle where an Edwardian Gothic mansion stood, will always be etched in my memory. The incredible sweep of the lawns on the West Terrace leading down to carefully contrived pools and bridges which hid amazing caves and tunnels that eventually led back into the school itself, were like a Gothic fairytale. At the Christmas Fair the nuns used to open these faintly lit caves, and around each corner you always expected to see at least a goblin sitting with his legs crossed!

I can remember the nuns making all of the costumes for the Christmas plays which were performed in Henley Town Hall. The memory of classical music drifting through the doors of their large workrooms as they sewed it seemed all hours of the day before opening night.  If you had to have a fitting, a novice would come to your class and spirit you down, you had to stand very still to please them otherwise the pins would stick into you.

I was good at tennis and encouraged to play in matches. Even as a little girl I can remember they were always quite competitive but really a lot of fun, with the nuns cheering you on. I can remember winning a small cup which I have to this day.

I had a wonderful education at Friar Park. If you were weak in a subject, the nuns would tutor you after school, however everything had to end by 5 oclock for evening prayer. To this day the sight of them silently moving around the perimeter of the great hall towards the chapel will always live in my memory. Like the little bronze cross I was given before I left, I have carried the compassion and kindness I learned from this period of my life, with me always. There was something very magical about this school, and I am sure that many former pupils feel the same as I do.