St. Mark's C. of E. Infants School, Highcliffe, 1964
An old newspaper cutting, believed to date from October 1964, when I was still at St. Mark's C. of E. Infants' School in Highcliffe, Dorset (though at the time was still in Hampshire). I'm seventh from left in the centre row.
Looking back at it now, more than 60 years later, it's interesting to pick out a few of the people and see where they are now.
In the centre row, Penelope Clewer (second from left) was a remarkable young girl who, tragically, suffered from a life-limiting disability, which she bore with great courage and without a hint of bitterness. Everyone who knew her, loved her. Her twin brother, Christopher, further along the same row, found faith at the age of 18 and became a church leader in Plymouth, where he still lives and works for Churches Together in Plymouth (ctip.org.uk/).
Paul Derham (centre row, extreme left) came from a Mudeford fishing family, but instead of joining his father and grandfather as a fisherman, joined P&O as a Navigation Cadet, gradually rising up to the rank of Staff Captain and serving on Canberra, the old Oriana, Island Princess, Royal Princess, Pacific Princess, Sky Princess, Victoria, Arcadia, Aurora and the new Oriana, but in 2003 he returned to his roots when an opportunity arose to purchase the Mudeford Ferry, which operates across the 'Run' at the mouth of Christchurch Harbour (www.mudefordferry.co.uk/skippers/).
Robin Roberts (centre row, fifth from left) was one of those children who always seemed destined to succeed at whatever he did. He graduated from Westminster Medical School, University of London in 1982 and is now a leading cardiologist in Harley Street, London (www.topdoctors.co.uk/doctor/robin-roberts).
As for me, I graduated from the University of London in 1979 and went on to join the Ministry of Defence as an intelligence analyst, but left in 2012 when the opportunity arose for early retirement. I now spend my time studying insects, with a few published research papers to my credit (www.researchgate.net/profile/Julian-Hodgson/research).
And for the rest of the class, I have no idea where they are now, though I hope that they all went on to find happiness and success at whatever they chose to do and wherever life took them. They were nice kids.
As for the school itself, I cannot in all honesty say that I enjoyed my time there. The buildings were cold and draughty, the toilets were outside, with just a corrugated tin roof over the boys' urinals, and the playground sloped, which wasn't great for ball games. The school closed shortly after we left, replaced by a brand new primary school that was built within the grounds of Highcliffe County Junior School; the old school buildings on Lymington Road, however, are still there and are Grade II listed. I drove past them a few weeks ago, which brought the memories flooding back.
St. Mark's C. of E. Infants School, Highcliffe, 1964
An old newspaper cutting, believed to date from October 1964, when I was still at St. Mark's C. of E. Infants' School in Highcliffe, Dorset (though at the time was still in Hampshire). I'm seventh from left in the centre row.
Looking back at it now, more than 60 years later, it's interesting to pick out a few of the people and see where they are now.
In the centre row, Penelope Clewer (second from left) was a remarkable young girl who, tragically, suffered from a life-limiting disability, which she bore with great courage and without a hint of bitterness. Everyone who knew her, loved her. Her twin brother, Christopher, further along the same row, found faith at the age of 18 and became a church leader in Plymouth, where he still lives and works for Churches Together in Plymouth (ctip.org.uk/).
Paul Derham (centre row, extreme left) came from a Mudeford fishing family, but instead of joining his father and grandfather as a fisherman, joined P&O as a Navigation Cadet, gradually rising up to the rank of Staff Captain and serving on Canberra, the old Oriana, Island Princess, Royal Princess, Pacific Princess, Sky Princess, Victoria, Arcadia, Aurora and the new Oriana, but in 2003 he returned to his roots when an opportunity arose to purchase the Mudeford Ferry, which operates across the 'Run' at the mouth of Christchurch Harbour (www.mudefordferry.co.uk/skippers/).
Robin Roberts (centre row, fifth from left) was one of those children who always seemed destined to succeed at whatever he did. He graduated from Westminster Medical School, University of London in 1982 and is now a leading cardiologist in Harley Street, London (www.topdoctors.co.uk/doctor/robin-roberts).
As for me, I graduated from the University of London in 1979 and went on to join the Ministry of Defence as an intelligence analyst, but left in 2012 when the opportunity arose for early retirement. I now spend my time studying insects, with a few published research papers to my credit (www.researchgate.net/profile/Julian-Hodgson/research).
And for the rest of the class, I have no idea where they are now, though I hope that they all went on to find happiness and success at whatever they chose to do and wherever life took them. They were nice kids.
As for the school itself, I cannot in all honesty say that I enjoyed my time there. The buildings were cold and draughty, the toilets were outside, with just a corrugated tin roof over the boys' urinals, and the playground sloped, which wasn't great for ball games. The school closed shortly after we left, replaced by a brand new primary school that was built within the grounds of Highcliffe County Junior School; the old school buildings on Lymington Road, however, are still there and are Grade II listed. I drove past them a few weeks ago, which brought the memories flooding back.