St Jamess Church Of England Primary School Emsworth

A Memory of Emsworth.

I was born in a little hamlet called Ratham nr Bosham but moved to Southleigh Farm, Southleigh Road before the age of 2... Come school time it was the local Church of England School then in Emsworth itself. We had to cycle nearly 3 miles to school, we would park our bikes up at an "uncle's" house, then go to see Mr Williams for sweets in North Street... I seem to remember we could have 1 penny per day or a comic per week - obviously we would choose a pennies worth of sweets which always seemed to buy a lot - then mum would pop in to see Mrs Cutts in the wool shop, whilst my brother Raymond Kingshott and I would cross the road to got up the Church Path past the church, through the Lych gate and into school... The teachers that I can were Mrs Langford, Miss Smith-Wright and Mr Stevens (Stephens) and finally Mrs Handford who was the headmistress... I do remember the christmas party that she gave in this year and how special it was - I seem to remember all the children having a Christmas present - she was later replaced by Mr Hyder ('Spider')... who was beastly to us children - but that is just a childhood memory nothing more. The names of my school mates escape me already some 50 years on - goodness. One name I can remember is Roseanne Williams... The school is now a community centre and I have been back for a look around - and it is not the same. I look back now and realise just how wonderful that school was and how good an education it gave me.