I spent 10 months at Ditchling Road School as a London evacuee immediately following the outbreak of war in 1939. In July 1940 we were moved away from the coast. My recollections from this period are found at www.grandpa-leslie.com/brothers.htm

As I'm sure many of you probably know, Ditchling Road school is now called Downs Junior school. I left Downs in 2004, so not that long ago, I miss this school a lot. We often learnt about the war. Some classes used to go down into the air raid shelters, but the Ofsted inspectors said no when it was my years turn as it is unsafe.  We were all very disappointed as this also meant we couldn't do our end of year six play. Parts of it would have taken place down there to make it more life like. A few of the teachers went down there and took video fotage of it, then showed it to us wich was the next best thing. The main thing I can remember of it is a small child's bike - we believe a boy took it down there and couldn't bring it back, unfortunately we never got to do a play.

I started school at Ditchling Road in 1941. I remember the shelters in the playgrounds and waiting for my mother to pick my brother Michael and I up from school after the all clear. Miss Bland was my teacher at Margaret Hardy Secondary School in York Place. I still have my exercise book from my first year and my sums book, they were cut in half in those days. I remember picking up the silver paper after the air raids. We lived in Richmond Road and suffered a bomb blast when Rosehill Terrace was bombed.

Both myself and my father (and his siblings) went to Ditchling Road School, although it was The Downs by the time I went there! When I was an infant there, I recall laying down our mats in the (very drafty) hall for a sleep after lunch. Plus the dark granite stairway up to the Headmaster's office. I think Miss Turner was my first teacher. My mother was the lollipop lady around 1958/59 - the year I left. I remember also attending the 1st Brighton Girls Brigade meetings there and our subs were 2d but, if we paid with a "bun penny" which had Queen Victoria's head on, we only had to pay the 1d!

I was a pupil there between 1964 -1970 and vividly recall the pervasive smell from the abattoir which was located across Ditchling Road! I am trying to find anyone that knew me or a fellow pupil who is also now residing in New Zealand, Neil Scorgie? I was in Miss Spalding's class when I left and have fond memories of my time there.

I remember Ditchling Road School as being the sort of mid-point in the war years. I went there from Middle Street School with my very good friend Patrick Lettres in 1940. Patrick and I lived a stones throw from Brighton Station and we would walk down Trafalgar Street to St. Peters Church were we would board a trolley bus to take us to school. The trolley bus was always an event and we hoped that we would end up riding on all 49 of the trolley buses then in Brighton. They were numbered FUF 1 to FUF 49. We never did get to travel on all of them but always hoped we would get a ticket with a 7 on the end because it was supposed to be lucky. When we went home we often used to walk all the way and spend our penny fare on a nice sticky jam donut. School hours were 9am to 12pm and 2 pm to 4 pm.

Mr. Hunt was the Headmaster, and I remember Mr. George and another teacher who had a shaking hand which we all called "shell shock" as he had been in WW1. Of course in later years we now realised it was Parkinsons disease. There was a splendid wood- working area where I made a table lamp stand out of solid oak and got 9/10 for the final product.

Sports afternoons we used to go down to Preston Park where we played cricket of football. I remember Patrick had his own pair of football boots and we were quite envious.

Of course there was the inevitable visit to the air raid shelters carved out under the school playground and at this point I would like to correct an anomaly in the most excellent publication "Sheltered Lives" that depicted the school during the war years.

It was me, and NOT Patrick, who, when walking backwards fell down the air raid shelter. [page 8] Strangely there were no safe guards to ensure accidents of this sort didn't happen. Later on that same morning Mr. Hunt came into the classroom to enquire "Who was the boy who fell down into the air raid shelter?" Somewhat sheepishly I raised my hand and after enquiring if I was all right and did I wish to see a doctor, he seemed satisfied and left.

I remember the crash between two aircraft that happened when we were walking down to Preston Park to play football. Evereybody swore they saw 'swastikas' on the tail but in later years it was revealed they were in fact Beaufighters, the new nightfighter, and still on the secret list. Small pieces ended up in the park but a big chunk landed up near the old dust destructor. This aircraft was used very successfully and was equipped with the new 'radar'. Government handouts informed the general public that our success in the night skies was due to the fact that pilots ate a lot of carrots to improve their eyesight. A
story that was still believed until recently when a new report indicated that carrots did in fact improve your eyesight.

Looking back one never did realise what was fact and what was fiction. But in spite of everything we were healthy and we survived.

I remember the male teacher who supposedly had Parkinson Disease. I was under the impression that he had been gassed in the First World War. His name was Mr. Dibbens. When caught talking etc., during his maths class he would bend you over and hit the back of your legs with a plimsoll. He took a dislike to me and I rarely escaped this torture as he looked to single me out. I hated him and during my time when he taught me I certainly didnot do very well learning maths. He was my worst memory of my school days. He certainly could aim the chalk duster at you and bang heads together.

I have a correction to my last entry and I must thank my good friend Pat Lettres for jogging my memory, The teacher with the shaking hand was Mr. George. The other teacher I remember was Mr. Lugg, a somewhat portly gentleman who smoked a pipe. One day he put his pipe out, or so he thought, and in the middle of a class smoke began to issue from his waistcoat pocket. His pipe was not out and his waistcoat had caught fire. We all had a jolly good laugh.

I have never heard of a Mr. Dibbins and I assume he was a teacher in the girls section of the school.

I remember the name Martin Owens as I believe I was in his class. I do recall Miss Spalding and I do recall the Headmaster Mr Morgan. I left the school in 1970 and although my mother still lives locally, I now reside in Lincolnshire.

Thanks Roger for the reply, I remember you and in fact have a class photo from the 60s which I am sure you are in although I don't recall the Teacher. Another teacher you may remember was Mr Hinton who took games and Tony Foster who taught music. I was recently back in Brighton and was kindly given a tour of the school, remarkably little had changed.

Thanks for the reply Martin. I do remember Mr Hinton as he was the games teacher who used to smoke a pipe. Indeed his front teeth were worn away by years of pipe smoking. Also we had an exchange teacher, from America, who taught us in the third year. Her name I believe was Minnie Rostein who resided from Oregon. I can also remember the enormous playground with all the climbing frames and not a Health and Safety Nazi around for miles.

Mrs Rotstein ...I remember the awful culture shock whereby 'candy' was deemed a reward and, if memory serves me well, it was in the second year and her given name was Penelope?  Almost like a character from the Simpsons.  The third year was spent at the 'annexe' over the road and Miss Hake was the teacher?  Rather than clog up the web site you could contact me at fecrse@xtra.co.nz.  It would be good to keep in touch.

Hi, my granddad Donald William West was born in 1934 and he was evacuated to Ditchling, Brighton during the war. He is now terminally ill and we are just looking for people he may have been evacuated with, if any one knows this man please could you get in touch. Thank you for your time.

Another teacher at Ditchling Road Senior Boys School ( Re Mr Walls Comments) was a Mr Adennaur, the spelling could be wrong. I attended the school  1938 till March 41, I also remember also Mr urqurtt the wood teacher. My memories mostly are of watching the German Bomber formations from the entrance to the shelters when we should have been inside , I think us boys enjojed the excitement of the fighting up above. Cyril Pelham, New Zealand.

I go to Ditchling Road School but it is now called Downs Junior School as there is a separate school now for the infants. I really enjoy it there and the teachers are great!

No one seems to remember Mr.Dibbens my maths teacher who was the bain of my early schooling at Ditchling Road Primary School. In 1941 Miss Haffenden was the teacher for the 5 year olds. My Aunt was a hairdresser and gave me a perm which was a bit too curly and Mr.Webb made fun of me in front of the whole class. 'Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear' was the song popular in 1945 and he sung it to me in the classroom and the children laughed. I remember crying and not wanting to go to school the next day. How different it would be today. Miss Wymark was the cooking teacher (rice puddings balanced on the handlebars on the way home). Endless lessons in the air raid shelters waiting for the 'all clear'.

I used to go to Downs School during 1950's.  I remember Mr Dibbens (or was it Dobson?) - the children used to call him 'Dobbin'.  Didn't he also teach R.E?

I lived in Shaftesbury Place and in 1923 at the age of 5, I went to Ditchling Road Infants School. In 1928 I went up to the Senior School until 1932. At the age of 14 I went out to work. I played for the school football team in my last two years. We played Saturday mornings and Mr Fennimore took us to play other Brighton & Hove teams. I can also remember the following masters: Mr. Metcalf (the Headmaster), Mr. George, Mr. Addenaur, Mr. Medcalf, Mr. Ellis, Mr. Lugg and Mr. Virgo. I left Brighton in 1960 and now live in Southend-on-Sea.

I had Mr. Dibbens as a teacher in my last year of primary school, at the Downs. We thought he had been brain damaged during the war, as he used to shake so much, but now come to think of it he probably did have Parkinsons. My friend Shirley and I used to call him "Dib-Dob", but thank goodness he was never mean to either of us, although we were always very fearful of him. The year must haven been about 1957 or 58. Also Miss Bland was my science teacher at Margaret Hardy School. When I was about 14, she must have been too old at that stage to teach PE, and she was our science teacher. I have a lot of fond memories of the Downs School, and have written a much longer letter on the computer which I will relay on this forum one day.

I started at the Downs School in 1949 until 1955. I remember the teachers, Miss Young, Mr Newton, Mr Taylor, Mr Emmons was our Head Master and a very kindly man.

I was at the Down's School from 1953 to 1958. On my first day, winter 1953, there were huge icicles hanging on the school porch. In the infants' class, there was a real fire roaring in the fireplace, with the milk bottle crates put in front of it to thaw because they were frozen solid. I think we were given cod liver oil and lovely sweet orange juice as well as milk - am I remembering this right? Once I remember it bucketing down with rain so hard that we not only stayed under cover in the big playground shelter at break time but actually stood on the bench seat at the back because the rain was flooding the shelter. Does anyone remember the school choir, under Mr Taylor, winning an inter-school competition of some kind, with a song that might have been about Hiawatha? We were going to be in the radio afterwards, but when the radio team turned up unexpectedly to record, we were so unprepared we made a a complete mess of it and it was never broadcast.

I just came across this page whilst surfing the web. My years at Ditchling Road primary from approximately 1947 to 1953 were probably the best years of my life except for one female teacher and one male teacher who took P.E.   I was in the A class right through. Now retired in Oz,but still got my memories.

I started at Ditchling Rd School in August 1929, the teacher in the first grade was a Miss Andrews. She had her work cut out with 40+ children, ages varying from 4yrs 2 months to 4 yrs 9 months. The older children were given reading instruction, the younger, of which I was one, were not. I was frustrated because I was eager to read and write and was considered disruptive, I therefore left Ditchling Rd for Lewes Rd school early in 1931, where I was given more advanced instruction. My older brother Ron and my sister Elsie continued at Ditchling Road but, very sadly, Elsie died in March 1930 at the age of 10.

Does anyone remember when the original school railings were taken down. Was this part of the war effort?

We moved from Sayers Common to Viaduct Rd in 1942 and remember my sister walking me, age seven, up Ditchling Rd to my new school - what a large building (our old school had two classrooms and teachers about 35 kids from 4 to 11). My most vivid recall are the slides in winter down the length of the playground, cards and marbles against the cookery building wall. Miss Renno(?) was the headmistres who, over some time, read Jungle Book to us. Went onto Fawcett in 1960.

Does anyone remember Miss Porter from the Infants (always dressed in black) or maths teacher Mr Urquart?

The wrought iron gates and fences were removed from schools and houses about 1942. I lived in Richmond Road at the time and was quite upset to come home from school and find the heavy gates on our rented house had been removed. I used to love to swing on them. They even removed the hinges. Some lovely very old gates from manor houses etc., all went for the war effort.