Fair Oak Infants 1953

A Memory of Fair Oak.

55 years on I still remember the infant school in the village. The toilets were outside at the end of the playground with very cold seats in the winter - pre the flushing variety!! (or does my memory serve me wrong) and there was a round heater in the classroom that we all used to gather round in the cold weather. We used to walk up to the building that is now the Acorn club for some of our lessons.
I lived in Horton Heath where my dad's side of the family came from (Mum came from West End). We used to walk to school it was about a mile.
Dad was on the parish council for years and used to organize the Fair Oak fruit and flower show - We always use to dress up and parade round the village. One year my brother Bob went as 'the oak tree' and was dressed with branches sticking out all over him, another year my mum dressed my brothers as the 'fruit and flower show' with one covered in fruit and one in flowers.
Mrs Douse, Mrs Treasure and Mr Lewer I remember them all. Susan Hall, Jennifer Mitchell, Carol White, Pamela Brockway, Elizabeth Emmett, Madeline Toms to name but a few. I was Susan White in those days and my brothers were Bob & Jim.


Added 24 October 2008

#222928

Comments & Feedback

Memories came flooding back when I read the 'Memory of Fair Oak' written by Susan Sandy (nee White). I do remember Susan and her two brothers. I also lived in Horton Heath, close to the White family. Susan will probably remember me as Wendy Matthews. I am a couple of years older than Susan but do remember a couple of names that she mentioned - Carol White, Madeline Toms, Jennifer Mitchell. In my year there was Penny Norman who shared the same birthday as me, she still lives locally. I also see quite a few faces from the past as I have moved quite a few times but have returned to my roots in Horton Heath.
I also entered the Carnival, dressed as the Queen of Hearts, and remember dropping my jam tarts in the mud. I still have a photo of myself in my costume with Julie Denham and Christine Farley in their costumes. I used to enter cakes which I had made in the local fruit and flower show which Susan mentioned. My Uncle who was a baker in nearby Eastleigh used to judge the cakes. I won a few prizes although he didn't know which cakes I had made as the names of the bakers were concealed!
I used to go to the local chapel in Horton Heath, this is sadly no longer there. We used to go to the local copse and pick primroses, that has also gone too.
My friend and I frequently walk round Horton Heath and remark on the changes. It's sad to see so many of the old houses that are no longer there and there are proposals to build another 900+ houses in Horton Heath. Time certainly doesn't stand still.

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