JUNIOR SCHOOL

The Old Junior School now a house

During this time of war I attended Pett village school which was nearly three miles away from our house by road but shorter across the fields.  Mother would take me in the mornings and then come and fetch me when school finished. We would often get half way across the fields when German Planes would suddenly appear and start firing at us with their machine guns, I can remember many times ending up in a pile of stinging nettles with Mother on top of me.

I had a very varied young life but living in an area occupied by military personal I was restricted with playmates as most of the local children were evacuated causing me to make my own entertainment. The village school I attended in Pett taught about 50 children. While I was there we took the 11 plus examinations to determine whether we went to either Rye Grammar or Rye Secondary Modern School. My Sister and Brother were at Pett until they left at 14. All the time I was at Pett School due I think mainly to my parents having very little money I was bullied either about my clothes or because of my looks. Having to wear glasses because of a life time squint and having very short straight hair I was always called “Uggles”.  I very rarely had new clothes at this time in my life and could never understand how some children had  a different set of clothes for Sunday’s while I had the same made up clothes passed on for my mother to size down to fit me.

My Auntie and Uncle lived in Pett and with their adopted daughter Valerie who is nearly two years younger than me but although cousins we have always had a very close relationship throughout our lives. As she and her parents all lived very close to our school I used to have a lovely cooked lunch with them while the other children had to make do with school dinners or sandwiches.

I was still at the village school when my sister joined up for the Woman’s Royal Air Force to work with Barrage Balloons, she was sent to many places two of which included the South of England, the Tower of London and Scotland. Later my brother enlisted into the Royal Army Service Core driving amongst other things Ducks which drove on land and water. This meant that I was very much left to my own devices for amusement and would spend hours picking primroses in the spring, black berries in August and mushrooms, hazel nuts, and  chestnuts in the Autumn  or just clicking away with my Mums old box brownie camera! Looking back I can understand why it is now that I can cope with long periods of my own company and always find something to keep me occupied because when I was young I had no choice.