Juniors interviewed Daphne (Class of 1949) and Rachel (Class of 1978) as part of their History project.
We were thrilled to welcome Daphne and her daughter Rachel back to St Helen’s to talk to the Juniors about their school experiences. The students, who are learning about the history of the School, had the opportunity to interview the alumnae to find out what school life was like during the 1940s and 1970s.
Daphne Robertson, nee Bradley, joined St Helen’s in wartime as a boarder. One of three daughters, all of whom attended St Helen’s, Daphne remembered the School during war time and recalled the stark differences between the School in that era and now. One of her first comments to the students was how lovely and warm it was, unlike in wartime, where fuel and any source of heat was scarce. It was wonderful that Daphne, aged 94 and one of the oldest Old Girls, was joined by her daughter, Rachel Green (nee Armstrong), who could reflect on school during the 1970s as a point of comparison.
Having spent a term researching the school, looking at archive material, writing and receiving letters from Old Girls, the Junior students in St Helen’s were bursting with questions and excited at the prospect of meeting two Old Girls in person. Being the youngest in the school, aged only 9 or 10, the Juniors were extremely interested to hear stories of boarding life, in particular any tales of high jinx or pranks played on teachers.
Rachel and Daphne were most accommodating and divulged some funny stories of filling classrooms with stink bombs to the bewilderment of teachers and pinching ice creams from the kitchens in the dead of night and scoffing them in bed. The students wanted to hear more such stories, and Rachel obliged by telling them of the pranks on their friends which included making up ‘apple pie’ beds so they could not get inside them. Next, she related that on one occasion, in protest at the early wake up call, they secretly and invisibly strung up fishing line along the corridor outside the dorms to catch Matron with her morning bell, who ended up in a complete tangle! Daphne amused her audience with a story of fleeing the boarding house using a Davy fire escape to post a letter after lights out, but this tale is best enjoyed from Daphne herself in the video below.
In addition to the tales of boarding life, the students enquired about school food in the past and were horrified to hear of the meagre offerings during wartime, and in particular the rationing of sweets and biscuits. They were equally surprised to hear that the school had no library in the 1940s, although by the 1970s, we were assured by Rachel that there was a library and many books to enjoy. A popular question was whether pets were permitted in school, and it was fascinating to hear that the boarders of the 1970s were allowed to keep guinea pigs, which were housed in guinea pig ‘flats’ in the gardens and remained the individual responsibility of their student keeper to feed and look after, so that in the holidays they had to accompany the students home. When asked about the old swimming pool, Daphne, who was very sporty as a First Team lacrosse and netball player in her time, shared the good and the bad. The pool was freezing cold and often ‘pea soup green in colour’ from the algae growing in it, but she did love jumping off the springboard! Reminiscing about the pool, Daphne went on to recall a past tradition, where the outgoing Prefects on their last day of school, would jump into the pool in full uniforms and boaters and when they came out, the other girls would throw flour on them! Daphne had been a Prefect, and later was made Head Girl, whilst Rachel had been a Prefect and Head of Boarding during her time at St Helen’s.
It was clear from the conversation that despite the harsh reality of life during wartime, Daphne and her friends, many of whom she kept up with her entire life, had a fun and memorable time at St Helen’s. Rachel painted a picture of a more relaxed school environment in the 1970s by comparison, where there were fewer hardships, a little more freedom during which much fun was had in the pursuit of japes and importantly many lasting friendships were formed.
In addition to enjoying her time at the School, Daphne clearly took full advantage of the educational opportunities offered and excelled in Mathematics whilst at school. She was the first St Helen’s girl to experience learning alongside Abingdon boys, as she studied Further Mathematics with Abingdon students. In our subsequent tour of the School, she revealed that on leaving St Helen’s, she went on to study Mathematics at university, which led her into the aircraft manufacturing industry, where she worked on complex calculations to determine the loads on aeroplane wings of bomber aircrafts. Wonderful to think that in the early 1950s, in what would have been a heavily male-dominated sector, there was a St Helen’s mathematician working on aeroplane design.
