Shute School, 1971 To 1974

A Memory of Shute.

I was only there for two and a half years, but it is still very memorable.
I traveled to the school from London and there would be a separate carriage for the school. From Axminster station we rode a bus up to the school. We always sang the Vietnam song ("And it's 1,2,3 What're you fighting for") as it seemed like our last moments of freedom.
We also rode the bus in the summer term, once a week, to go swimming at Honiton. It was an open-air pool, and I remember they had to test the water temperature before we could get in. I think it had to be 45' or more. Very cold!!
My best friend was Karen who was a day student, and it was unusual for a boarding student to have a day student as a best friend but we got on very well and played tennis together. Occasionally her family invited the whole class to her house, which was very large and had a pond with a boat and a punt in the the back yard. And her mother cooked fabulous food for us which was so wonderful after the school food.
I also remember playing lacrosse and rounders. And one term I took golf to get out of lacrosse. We played all around the sides of the playing fields which was very peaceful.
I remember gymnastics in the assembly hall in one of the side wings. There were classrooms up above where we learned French and Maths. The theatre was wonderful, I remember being in the Merchant of Venice, and a Christmas play written by a classmate about Christmas in a hospital. Also we did the Caucasian Chalk Circle by Brecht.
On Sunday evenings, if we had been good, some of us could go to Mardi's study and watch historical TV shows like Elizabeth R. I also remember how Mardi could draw, left-handed, a perfect circle on the board. I am amazed now, after reading a lot of these memories, how long Mardi had been there.
The other teacher that I remember well (although not her name) was a very tall blonde lady who taught English and Literature, and who directed the plays. Her husband had been deported from Czechoslovakia for being subversive.
We had a couple of boys as students in the last year, I think Mardi was testing whether she needed the school to be co-ed to be able to stay in business. But it didn't work out. I think the school closed during the term after I finished.