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Andrew has memories of his 10 years at St John's RC School in Brook Road South..and mentions evacuations to Cornwall and some of those dreadful punishments!--------------------------------------------------Andrews writes:I started at the infants after a spell in the “Bluebird” nursery located in the same road. The headmaster was Mr Boyle, teachers were Sister Oswald, Sister Benedict Joseph, Sister Dympna , Sister Xavier who was over six feet tall, and could aim a blackboard eraser at you with the ferocity and accuracy of a ballistic missile, and boy oh boy they all could aim the cane with the same accuracy and land it on the thumb(S)( if you got more than one whack). The only male teacher was Mr Cork, a truly inspirational man who sadly was not a well man.Many of us were evacuated to Cornwall, along with some of the teachers when the blitz commenced, and we returned to Brentford in 1941. Many times we were Marshalled out into the air raid shelters where we all said the rosary while the bombers were overhead.  I remember on one occasion when getting into the playground after the previous nights air raid, that incendiaries (fire bombs) had landed in the toilets as well as the school......no school lessons that day!The photo that showed part of the school was the infants, and about 10 yards away was a bakery located opposite the pub, and we could smell  the bread as it was being baked (Bread rolls were a penny and still warm) and a good enough reason for bunking out to sample them (cash flow permitting, not to mention a whack if you got caught) more to follow!----------------------------------------------------Thanks Andrew. Well survived!

Jim Lawes ● 4971d

My sister Gabrielle sung on that record Inchworm.  If you pass your 11 plus you would probably have gone to either Gumley House, St. Anne's or Lourdes Mount for the girls for the boys it would have been Gunnersbury.  I did pass my 11 plus and I did go to Gumley but both my sisters stayed at St. John's until leaving school at 15.  The senior part of St John's was in the Ham, Brentford which I think may now be the Teddies nursery.  The place used to flood frequently and the firebrigade often had to come to pump out the school and carry out the children.As for Sister Benedict, she wielded a cane like no one could believe.  She seemed ancient to me when I was 5 but didn't appear to be much taller.  She played the fiddle and was merciless with the cane.  She used to draw her arm back as far as she could before bringing it down as hard as she could.  I got the cane almost daily for being late.  We lived in Chiswick and one day as I approached the school I heard the bell.  I knew this meant the cane again so I turned round and went home.  I played in the garden on my own for what seemed like an eternity (I had no concept of time) then I got hungry and thought it must be home time so I went indoors.  My father did night work so of course he was in and battered me for playing hooky!  Couldn't win in those days.As for the football team, that would have been run and trained by Sr. Anton who used to run about teaching the boys how to play.  Don't remember Mr Clarke ever doing that but he may have done.

Bernadette Paul ● 4992d