Elmers Court School

remember it like yesterday,your knee was cut down the bottom bushes,the trauma of leaving home at 8years old the misery of the lodge under Ralston & Co but the happiness when I shifted the the main house with Paddy Davis i/c and all my old pals we still have a photograph of Kevin fitzgerald and the rest of us on the ferry.In general happy days.

I was at Elmers Court School for a while around 1971 I think... I remember the main house well, the music room with the creaky floor next to the dining room to the back on the right of the main entrance and the big staircase up to the first floor. I was in the main house in the old building. I was in a dorm at the top of the stairs on the left overlooking the front at first and then later one at the back looking right out over the lawn running down to the foreshore.. I remember we were not allowed to play on that lawn generally and if you were caught running across it you were in trouble!! You had to walk round the path on the edges.. We rarely got to go on the foreshaw but it was a treat when we did as you looked out across to the islands and Isle of Wight. I was in the main house but I remember the lodges and the multistory extension to the left of the main house (where I think there were girls dorms as well)...there were some scary stories around about the lodges..! There was a big (well it seemed big to me as a nipper) hall at the back/side of the extension block with a stage and I think there was a sort of courtyard with temporary buildings which were classrooms. I remember well sitting in those classrooms for the compulsory weekly writing home period.. which I hated as I could never think of anything to put..! The gardens were great I used to wander off and explore on my own and with other lads, the big trees to climb in and the bamboo forest were great places for adventures.. We used to have to put all our stuff in the boot-room when we arrived back from outside and if you left a mess you were in for it, it never seemed logical as it was meant to be messy... I remember one time a pupil having an asthma attack in the showers and nearly dying. We were all chased out naked and wet whilst they dealt with the lad. We also used to go out for walks around the area and into the Beaulieu estate I seem to remember a favourite was going to see the devils fork in the woods. We used to get a packed lunch to take with us which was stacked up in metal storage tins outside the kitchen/dining area for us to collect. In the evenings we used to have some activities and I remember well making coconut ice and minty cake etc in the rooms upstairs. The most memorable thing from my time there was the morning call to wake us up which was in the main house played out on a set of tubular bells.!!.. I went back about 5 years ago for the first time and found it was a hotel. I sneaked in and had a very quick look around.. some things hadn't changed a bit..

I've just seen beamerjd's post above and my recollections are pretty much the same from my period there in 1957 and 1958. I was 7. I remember Mr Masters who was slightly intimidating and my housemaster Mr Masterson who was less so. I was in the main house on the top floor where there were three dormitories: Tudor (12 beds) Blenheim and the third escapes me. Anyone know? I had my first crush there for Pamela Webb. I wonder where she is now? Phillip Booker was a name I remember. My teach was Miss Borie and was spectacularly pretty. Mr Davis used to address me as 'Boy!' which to my 7 year old way of thinking was odd. I was very tall and managed to get into an adversarial wrestling match with a much older boy over a game of marbles. his name was Peter Dimble. On Saturday mornings we used to sit cross legged in the housemasters room listening to Uncle Mac on the radio whilst we took turns to ask for pocket money which our parents provided and had to justify why we wanted the requested amount. Davy Crocket theme tune was very popular on the radio then. I managed to wangle a look around the vacated Elmers Court when it was put up for sale about 1974ish and relived a lot of memories and saw parts of the house which were previously out of bounds.

I was in Elemers Court as a young lad. I have no idea what year, but it must of been 1965 to 1970 as Im 65 now and was born 1957. I have no idea at what age I was there. I remember a Mr Davies as I am a Davis as well but his surname was spelt differant to mine. I can also remember a master who had some sort of flat bat or wood which he used to hit his leg with when he want boys to move or somthing all a bit vague now. I had a room with a american boy when I arrived but then was moved to a large upstairs dorm. I do remember that looking from the main entrance one room I was in was on the right but not sure if that was a dorm or smaller room. I can also remember the dinning hall we eat in and the team shields for red, blue and green teams I think. Never been back there in all these years but would love to go some day. Does anyone know if you can look around without staying there as £200 to £300 for one night is a bit steep for me just to look round and bring back memory's.

Just got back from a trip to Elmers court. All a bit confusing where everything was. Any remember where the school dinning hal was, I can remember it from the inside but not the outside. Also I am sure the tennis court has been moved, I think it used to be on what is now the gold course. The class rooms, where were they. Also I remember Bamboo somwhere. People who used to be there when it was a school also mentioned they could see I.O.W. from the field which I also remember looking out at but on my visit I could not see much of I.O.W. as there is woods grown there now. I could see Lymington and maybe a right hand tip of I.O.W. but I remember seeing a lot more of the island than I can see 55 years later.

My name is john and i was in the main house mr and mrs hughin the 1980 iremember the teachers in classrooms and also the lough ans the jungle we always went to town on saturdays which was a long walk i remember David weather Shaun thorn and Nigel burrows we always had mash potatoe sausages and beansi also remember mrs smith mrs Davis mr thomas and mrs Brooks well thats all as i write this at the school as i calledit im now 56yests old and hope to hear from people that went here in the 1980s loveluy memerpes to never forgot as it eas then thankyou i also signedthe book put some words i started my name john leicesterhope to get a calendar thank you John