Jewish girls boarding school

From the private collection of Jane Manaster
From the private collection of Jane Manaster
From the private collection of Jane Manaster
From the private collection of Jane Manaster

Mansfield College was a Jewish girls’ boarding school on Cromwell Road Hove. In 1930 it was bought by two of my mother’s sisters, Nancie Hart and Enid Alfandary who lived with her daughter, Jane, in a flat at the top of the school.

No talking after lights out
I think a language school is now at number 47, where the Mansfield stood. We visited occasionally from our home in Southport, and I remember a playroom with a rocking horse and a piano, and my Auntie Enid insisting the girls finish their meals, feeding them with a spoon when they rebelled. Auntie Nancie was the headmistress and strict, especially after ‘lights out’ when the girls had to stand in the hall if they were caught talking!  Both were great fun as aunts but took their professional life very seriously.

Spending a week as a boarder
We visited occasionally, and one summer a cousin and I spent a week there, as boarders. We loved all the unfamiliar traditions – like the older girls turning their budding fronts to others in the dormitory so no one could see their back when they were dressing as that was rude!!

Great tales to tell
Lately I have tried to find people who knew the school as pupils, teachers, or staff.  Two women, in their nineties remember white uniform dresses, walking to the pier …. and their French teacher.  During WW2 the school was evacuated to North Wales and several Jewish refugee girls attended and have written to me.The ‘younger’ pupils, now in their late seventies remember much more and have great tales to tell, and recently I heard from a teacher who was there in the 1950s until it closed in 1958.

I wonder, does anyone else remember the school at all?

Comments about this page

  • I remember my grand aunt Mademoiselle Alice Cledou spent many years as french teacher.
    She talked to us about Miss Pool and when she died in 1991,at 104 years old. She was always in contact with Vivian Hellis (or Ellis )and his sister Herminie…nephews of Miss Pool who was the headmistress. We have always a tea pot gived by Miss Pool.

    By Eric Dassas (29/02/2008)
  • I was truly touched to hear someone still talking about Mansfiled College. I was there from 1955 – 1958 when the school closed. I was the last Head Girl of the school for a year or two. I have very fund memeries of Manasfield College and  one of the girls in the School picture. I am still in touch with several of the gilrs in that picture. I took my O levels at Mansfield before proceeding to Warren School where I took my A levels. If you need further information , memories or names of the other sudents or teachers, please let me know. I will be happy to share. Could you send me the name of the teacher who left in 1958. Was it Miss Mitchum or Miss O’Reilly ? I love to hear from you. Latty

    By Latifeh Manavi (Latty) (31/12/2008)
  • I spent three years in Mansfield College starting when I was six years old in 1952. I still remember how they shoved the porridge down my throat every single morning and then made us line up at the toilet door to have a bowel movement. I have never been able to even look at a bowl of porridge since then. I remember the room with the piano and rocking chair. One day my older sister bought me a huge doll with hair. They did not let me keep it on the premise that the hair was unhygienic. Also it was a kind of culture shock to me having been extricated from Baghdad , my family, and the middle eastern culture with all it’s warmth and informality and having been put into such a cold emotionless environment. I don’t think anyone would be allowed to run a contemporary school in this manner.

    By Hilda Shamoon (09/03/2009)
  • I went to a Jewish boarding school called Ariah House in 1958-9 and have searched the internet without any luck. Any information or photos would be fantastic. Regards.

    By Marylyn Dunford (02/06/2009)
  • I was also at Ariah House, from 1959 to 1960, and have been unable to learn anything about the school. I too would welcome any information or photos of the place.

    By Paul Maltby (18/06/2009)
  • My two sisters Angela and Renee and I went to this school having left Baghdad in 1950. I was under 5 years old and did not speak a word of English. Laura Silver, an English student there of my age taught me English, she and I are still in touch. I now live in Toronto, Canada and am a grandmother and mother of two children. I remember both Mrs Hart and Mrs. Alfendary and the famous room with the piano and rocking horse. One afternoon I was Cinderella and rode in a “coach” which the older girls had turned upside down will the legs pointing to the ceiling. I was probably the youngest student in the school. I also remember stories of EO the monkey, the underground bomb shelter with a ping-pong table in it and “Davey” fire drills out of the windows.

    By Yvonne Shapira (nee Cohen) (13/09/2009)
  • My mother was Nancie Hart, one of the principals of Mansfield; the other was my aunt Enid. Aryeh House was a school in Upper Drive, Hove above my own prep school, Cottesmore. I don’t know much about the school except that it was one of the four Jewish schools in Brighton and Hove. One other was Beaconsfield College owned by the Lyon-Maris family. The fourth was Whittingham College whose headmaster was Mr Halevy. I think that the teacher, Colette O’Reilly, left the school before 1958. She and I were a couple for a time and were very attached to each other. I don’t remember a Miss Mitchum but there was a Miss Mitchell, I think, who was the niece of my mother and aunt’s nanny, Louie Mercer. I don’t recognise Hilda Shamoon’s description of the school. The rocking-chair was a rocking-horse and had been given to me by my grandmother. My mother giving it away to a neighbour when she retired was a bone of contention between us. Memory can play funny tricks and 6 years of age is a long time ago when one is an adult. I would take issue with the statement that porridge was forced down the throats of the children and I do remember that pupils were allowed dolls. The post-breakfast lavatory visit was possible. At my own school we had to sign a book each morning with a tick or a cross!

    By John Hart (27/10/2009)
  • My memories of Mansfield College are still vivid. My sister Jaqueline was only four years old when we were in North Wales which was at the beginning of WW2. We were well taken care of and I remember walking into the village in our uniforms with some of the other girls and going into the grocery shop to buy Cadbury drinking chocolate (if they had it) as everything was rationed. When the war ended, I remember the joy that went round the school, and we finally returned to Hove where we stayed for a further year or so. Oh, how I hated walking in “Crocodile” form along the seafront but we were allowed to go out as a privilege on our own on a Saturday. The good memories outway the bad ones of missing my family. I would have loved to have been at the re-union

    By Maureen Janes (02/12/2009)
  • I too was at Aryia House School in the Upper Drive, Hove, just before the war in 1939. I was there when the headmaster’s mother died and the whole school had to march behind the coffin on its way from the school to Brighton Station. The headmasters name was Mr. Eliasoff. The school was evacuated to Hennllan in South Wales on the outbreak of war, and my two younger brothers, Jefferey and David went there but I didn’t. They told me of horrid stories about the castle that they lived in in South Wales and that the Italian prisoners of war working in the fields nearby were fed better than they were. My younger brother, David was given two left shoes to wear and he suffered to this day with a bad right foot. He is now in his seventies.

    By Gerald Lewis (05/01/2010)
  • I went to Whittingham College for 1 year in 1967 until the schhol closed. Does anyone have pictures or stories to share from that school?

    By Roman Furberg (20/02/2010)
  • My elder sister, Frances Myers, went to Mansfield College from 1945-1948. I would love to hear from anyone who may remembers her (I appreciate you will be in your 70s). She came home in 1948 after I was born and began a “normal family life” for the first time. Her father had died in WWII when she was three months old and had been looked after by our grandmother while our mother went back to work. My mother sent her to Mansfield College when she was five to give her a stable life and friends of her own age. She re-married in 1947 and I was born in 1948. My sister and I were always very close despite the big age gap. Sadly she died in 2008 but I would appreciate any memories of her.

    By Hazel Leventhal (01/02/2011)
  • I was at Mansfield from about 1955-58. I remember Miss O’Reilly, Miss Mitchell and Mrs. Glastonbury (the aunt of the cricketer Peter Glastonbury). I would love to be able to contact Latifeh Manavi. In my time, most of the girls (maximum 36?!) didn’t have English as their mother tongue. What happened to the Murad and Joseph girls from Bahrain? And the Eisenberg girls (Elfride & Edith) who went on to live in Israel and Judith Tomaschoff who was on the ill-fated ElAl plane which strayed into Bulgarian air space and was shot down. Judith died. There is an Aryeh House reunion every so often – if anyone contacts me, I can put them in touch with people who go to the reunion.

    Editor’s note: Just to remind people that unless the email address is in the body of a message – it doesn’t show. And sorry but we can’t get involved in acting as a third party in email swops – we get too many requests.

    By Laurie Miriam Winstanley (Lorraine Brandon) (02/05/2011)
  • I live in Miami, Florida. I attended Beaconfield College from the age of 7 to 10.  I am 78 years old and that would be from 1940 to 1943.  Then it was a co-ed school and I have a picture somewhere that shows about 30 people including Lion Maris, Nurse and others.  I remember Elsa Merrin from Germany. Please email me if you were there then. gezgerald@msn.com

    By Gerald Halpern (05/06/2011)
  • My mother worked at Mansfield college in the early 1950s before I was born. Her name was Jane Culligan from Drogheda Co. Louth. She used to tell us about the school when we were small children and regrettably I have forgotten most of it except for Miss Alfandary and her liking for Chanel No.5 which wafted ahead of her and warned of her approach. Also there was a little Jewish girl called Denuta whom my mother was particularly fond of. The rocking horse was mentioned too. My mother always had Chanel when she returned to Ireland and a piano, which she played wonderfully ‘by ear’.

    By Joseph Donnelly (08/06/2011)
  • I attended Aryeh House School from 1950 to 1956. Many of us have found each other through the internet and have organised two reunions in Brighton in the past several years. Another one is being scheduled for either 2012 or 2013. If you are interested in learning more about the reunion, please contact me. Otherwise, if you join Friends Reunited on the internet, you will find a list of registered Aryeh House students and the years they attended the school. Latty Manavi, are you related to Essi Manavi who attended Whittinghame School in the 1950s?

    By Parvis Nourafchan (04/07/2011)
  • I was looking at some old photos of my parents and found a pic of my mother at the school around 1935/36. I googled the school to see what I could find out and the second photo on the right is the same picture. My mother is on the left second row from the back, third girl in. There is a message on the back of my picture – the name mentioned is Fortugines. Any clues who or what this was? My mother’s name was Astna Lynn from Manchester. Is there anyone around who remembers anything about her?

    By Elissa Larah (in Israel) (09/08/2011)
  • Thanks to those of you who run this website so well, I have made several connections in researching the history of Mansfield College. The new ‘contacts’ have come from as far away as Australia, Israel, and the United States. If any other former pupils, their friends or families would like to get in touch, do please email me at janeman@earthlink.net.
    [Editor: You are most welcome, Jane.  We’re pleased to be able to help!]

    By Jane Manaster (19/08/2011)
  • I was a student at Aryeh House in the year approx 1934 1938. The school was firstly situated in Sussex Square Kemp Town. Then eventually moved to the top of the Upper Drive. The religious teacher was a Mr. Potash and the sports master a Mr. Davies. I had an article in the 9th May edition of the London Daily Mail which was quite fruitful but I would very much like to contact some of my fellow students such as Mostyn Gilbert, Ivor Rosen, Phillip Rosen, or any others. I have many memories which I will gladly share. My family and I now live in Melbourne Australia. My e-mail address is alexj@melbpc.org.au. Alex Jaye.

    By Alex Jaye (originally Jacobs) (27/09/2011)
  • I came to Hove as 9 year old refugee in 1939 and attended Aryeh House School. I knew no English but there was a special class for foreigners and I soon picked it up. I remember being on the school playing fields on the 3rd September listening to Chamberlain’s declaration of war. My father and an adult cousin were also there helping to dig trenches for air raid shelters. The Headmaster’s mother was very kind to the refugee boys and we were often invited to her flat and given apples. I remember taking part in the procession following the hearse when she died. I also remember Mr Davies who tried to teach me swimming by taking me some way out to sea and dropping me! Not very successful! I left the school in the summer of 1940 before it was evacuated and we moved to London in time for the Blitz! I would be very happy to be contacted by any contemporaries who are still around! george@vulkan.connectfree.co.uk

    By Hans Georg (later George Hans) Vulkan (06/12/2011)
  • I attended Aryeh House from 1953-4 and would love to see photos. I remember two names – Maxie Belson and Alan Bright.

    By Peter Kutcher (15/08/2013)
  • In a very late answer to Joseph Donnelly, Danuta’s surname was Costa, I think.

    Laurie Miriam Winstanley: I remember well the Murad sisters and also their father and mother who were fairly frequent visitors. They were a very nice family. My mother, Nancie Hart, was particularly affected by the death of Judith Tomaschoff as was everyone who knew her. My mother used to say that she was a lovely and very intelligent girl.

    By John Hart (28/12/2013)
  • I boarded at Aryeh House, from 1947 till about 1954 – I am now 70. I was so young to be boarding. My teacher was Mr. Eliasoff. I would love to find out a little more about this. I still have my first school reports. Can you help me?

    By Pat Gold (10/01/2014)
  • I attended Aryeh House from 1949-1950 as a seven year old.  It was something out of a Dickens’ book.  The teachers were sadistic and life was very unpleasant.  I wrote about my experiences in my memoirs, ‘No Ordinary Woman’. I remember names such as Jane Tripp and Sammy Benedeham.  Would love to talk to others who were there at that time.

    By Valerie Byron (22/01/2014)
  • I was  a boarder at Aryeh House, Hove. UK, from 1953 to 1956. I am in contact with a number of people from the school. If you would like to write to me I will forward your emails on. I too would like to find some people that I remember. Regards

    By Clyve Gindill ( Sinclair ) (01/03/2014)
  • Hi, I boarded at Aryeh House School in 1960-61, it was co-ed. Mr. Eliasoff was headmaster, I think his sister helped run the school. The school closed down and the property was sold soon after. I remember a teacher called Miss Burns and some of the students were Susan, Linda, Tony and Hayden. Rivka Nahmani 

    By Rivka Nahmani Shusterman (15/03/2014)
  • Hi, I boarded at Aryeh House and would love to get into contact with others who were there in the mid-to late- fifties.  My email address is sivi.h@sky.com.  I notice that Parvis Nourafchan was talking about reunions – I would love to be included in any future reunion.  However, I couldn’t find contact details for Parvis.  I also remember Clyve Gindill (Sinclair) and again would like to be in touch.  If anyone from that time at Aryeh House could contact me, that would be great.  Best wishes.

    By Sivi Harounoff (13/05/2014)
  • We were on vacation in Newport Rhode Island and feeling nostalgic. I told my daughter I would love to go to England and visit my school but I don’t have the address, she said ‘I’ll find it for you’. We were having breakfast and she started looking on the internet when very excited said, ‘mom I think you are in this picture’. I could not believe it was me in a group picture. I have this picture in my album. Thank you Jane, now I have the address. I now live in NY and would love to see anyone who attended the school that year. I will also be in England this summer.

    By Violette Copelman (18/06/2014)
  • In continuation to my previous comment I forgot to mention the year I attended Mansfield College. The year was 1956-1957 and my name was Violette Zahabian.

    By Violette Copelman (18/06/2014)
  • My mother went to Mansfield College in 1943, she will be 80 in a couple of week’s time.  All she remembers is that she was evacuated in the War.  Does anybody know anyone who was at the school at that time?

    By Diane Rees (10/07/2014)
  • I went to Mansfield College from 1953 to 1955.  I remember the Murads – Lily bullied me with the help of Yvonne Joseph.  I remember Lorraine Brandon and was very friendly with Judith Tomaschoff who lived not far from me during school holidays with her aunt and uncle.  I remember Hilda Shamoun although I do not remember  porridge or anything else being forced down my throat.

    By Jackie Stayt (Moss) (10/08/2014)
  • Hi there, does anyone remember me – my name was Shirley Fine. I was in Wales around 1940/41. I then went to Hove. I also lived in Southend-on-sea. I would to hear from anyone. Please email my daughter Laura on Laura@gsa-marketing.co.uk

    By Shirley Goodman nee Fine (21/09/2014)
  • Over the past few years I’ve been in touch with several  former Mansfield College pupils and their families.  I am writing a history of the school from its founding in the 1890s in Maida Vale to its closing in Hove in 1958. The World War 2 years in North Wales are a considerable part of the story. The school belonged to two of my mother’s sisters, but even without that close connection, it is still a fascinating story…. almost ‘behind the scenes’ at a Jewish girls boarding school, but with no scandals! If you have more to tell, or questions to ask, I’d love to hear from you. My email address is jmanaster@yahoo.com.  

    By Jane Manaster (03/10/2014)
  • In answer to Diane Rees’s question as to whom was at the school in 1943, I can remember a few names (although I was away at boarding school during the holidays, a few girls stayed for the holidays).
    Eunice and Hazel Levene. I saw Eunice about 15 years ago at a party organised by Jane in London.
    Barbara Landau
    Susi Deutsch. I kept in touch with Susi. She died about 3 years ago and Jane, her friend Rita Davies from Pentrefoelas, and I placed a bench in her memory in Pentrefoelas churchyard.
    Paula Goodblatt
    Anthea Goldman
    Helen ?
    Irene and Gaby Jacobi (I saw Irene who lives in NJ about 10 years ago).
    If Diane reads this and is interested, I am sure that I can dig out a few more names.

    By John Hart (27/10/2014)
  • I was at Mansfield between 1953 and 1955. When I lived in Israel between 1963-1977 I caught up with Esther Israelchvili, Dalia Lieber & Ilana Steinhauer, also Helene Kohn who married one of Les Compagnons de la Chanson.

    By jackie stayt (10/11/2014)
  • Hi to anyone who remembers me from Aryeh House around 1953 to 1955 as I was a snotty nosed bespeckled pupil there who went on to Preston College. I have mixed memories but have recollections of ex pupils i.e Peter Taylor, Alan Bright, The Isserlins, Jonathon and ?,Raymond Lantin, Maxie Belson, Peter Kutcher, Parvis Nourafchan, Clyve Sinclair, Sivi Harounoff, Derek Harris, Howard Vanderberg. My beautiful svelte girlfriend Jean Simmons (would you believe) and others that shared the sick bay with me when I contracted Chicken Pox. I also recollect Mr O’Neill and his lady friend teacher whose name escapes me and the tuneful caretaker Mr Bailey if my memory is still intact. My mos clear recollections of the school were the arms find under the sports pavilion in the top right hand corner of the playing field, the round metal goalposts which I collided with often as the schools goalkeeper. The day a fellow pupil and I were playing Jokari when he hit me over the head accidentally and I ended up with stitches but thankfully no memory loss and the times we watched films on low pews in the assembly hall with me holding Jean’s hands. If anyone remembers me I would love to chat about old times at Aryeh House. Shalom Aleichem to all my forthcoming readers  email, diangabbyk@hotmail.co.uk (I am currently social secretary of the OPCPO Old Preston College Pupils Association who currently are 20 members strong including wives/partners etc. We meet twice a year for our reunions in Brighton. Do get in touch please.

    By Harold Kayser (originally Kaiser) (16/11/2014)
  • Further to my previous thoughts above about Aryeh house, I know we had a royal blue blazer, matching cap and tie and the badge on the blazer was either a picture of the scrolls in two parts or Star of David or similar. Perhaps a future reader will respond to this and remind me. Was there a scrolled segment under the shield shaped badge? I also recall the small Shul tucked neatly on the side flank of the main building and the dusty track behind the tennis courts where I often went to pick wild blackberries from there behind the school wall or chat to Jean and the rest there. It was always a good hiding place when playing silly games etc and sure I frequented it on many occasions. I think we even kicked a football about on the tennis court tarmac where the central net was missing! The football playing field doubled as a sports day arena and the sandpit where I “saw stars” when hit with that Jokari bat and used for the long and high jump events on sports day that  I mentioned in my previous paragraph posted a few days ago. Did the school organize a 7 mile cross country run towards Devil’s Dyke and down to Hove Park and back where the Brighton and Hove Goldstone Ground stood or perhaps it was from  Preston College where this event took place? I also remember playing for both school and college in both cricket and football matches against each other. Invariably Aryeh house was beaten most of the time and that was probably me playing for both at the same time. I was not at Aryeh House too long in years and imagine not many ex pupils will remember me but hey ho it’s worth a go. Shalom Aleichem from me to the one or two that do.

    By Harold Kayser (17/11/2014)
  • I’ve just discovered this page and have always wondered and wanted to reconnect with anyone who attended Aryeh house boarding school 1955 – 61. My experiences were very traumatic. I do remember Parvis and the Nobel brothers and the sister of Mr Eliasoff. Love to hear from anyone. My email is Barbara.breckman@gmail.com

    By Barbara Breckman (07/08/2015)
  • Hi, have just seen a comment from Barbara Breckman. I attended Aryeh House 1960-61 but  cannot recall Barbara – we were probably in different age groups. I do remember a student named Hayden Noble – didn’t realize there was a brother as well.

    By Rivka Nahmani Shusterman (21/11/2015)
  • I have gone through the mails sent about Aria House and there are those that were there about the time I was there 1953-1954 (about a year and a quarter, I was 6yrs old when starting there). Are there no photos what so ever of the school? I am sure maybe in the town hall archives must be something. Is there a chance someone could do a bit of digging? Appreciate any help, thanking you in anticipation.

    By Peter Kutcher (07/01/2016)
  • Close call, but it seems no posters were there in 1962. Anyway, if it turns out that someone who was there at the time happens to read this, it would be nice to share a few words. I don’t recall the name of the principal during my stay, though he was a fierce proponent of the cane and terrified us boys. The two teachers I do recall, were Mrs Kimber, dear old soul gave me a D for music, generously noting that my “intonation is incorrect”; and Abraham Benady,  thoroughly nice guy who tolerated said intonation challenges with true grit though he did seem to scratch his head quite a lot whilst coaching me on my bar mitzvah piece. Best to all.

    By David (05/05/2016)
  • There have been additions since I last looked…. Violette Zahabian, I think I have an autograph from you in my ‘Treasure Box’ and I remember you Jackie Moss.  If anyone wants to renew contact, my email is  lauriemiriam@gmail.com  would love to hear from you.  I still wonder what happened to the Murad and Eisenberg sisters.

    By Laurie Winstanley (Lorraine Brandon) (10/05/2016)
  • I attended Whittingehame College Brighton in 1950 /1955 and we had regular dances with the girls from Mansfield College. The name I remember was Barbara Goodkind. I wondered whether she is still around and would like to meet up?

    By Basil Mann (12/08/2016)
  • I was at Hannah House when I was 4 years old in 1951 and then went up to the big school, Arieh House, until I left in 1956. I have a group photo from Hannah House if anyone is interested. My particular friends were Simone and Brenda Baruch from Egypt. Barbara and Maxi Belson from Canada, Barbara Levine, Lucy who I think was a day pupil, Anthony and Graham who were twins. I remember the polio scare when Anthony contracted polio. I remember Mr Eliesof and kicking him and screaming when my mother left me there. Going back to school on the train from Victoria Station (seems like something out of Harry Potter). Miss Essie, Mr Bailey, Miss Andrews and Captain Jackson. Saturday afternoon walks in Preston Park, watching the people playing bowls. Sports day marching around the playing field singing Anu Anu Hapalmach and wearing white divided skirts and blazers. Learning Hebrew with an Israeli guy who spent more time talking about his experiences in the War of Independence than actually teaching us Hebrew. Sitting in the classroom waiting for our names to be called on every third Sunday when it was visiting day, hoping that my parents would come before lunch. My email is gonenlynn1@gmail.com

    By Lynn Gonen (22/10/2016)
  • I lived in the Upper Drive at No 3 near The Drive from 1951 while still in nursery school. I heard about Arie House from mum when I used to ask if there was a Jewish school in Hove and she said it’s a boarding school. I often wished to know about it as there was a lot of antisemitism in the schools. but I never saw arie house. I live in Israel now. My maiden name was Angela Stone. 

    By Angela Borochov (02/12/2016)
  • My mother emigrated from Lithuania to England sometime in 1938. She would have been 12 years old. She was enrolled in a Jewish boarding school in or around London, perhaps the Brighton area. My grandmother was not able to apply for a visa to stay in England so she went back to France until they were able to emigrate to Canada in 1939.  I am researching out the story my mother wanted to tell, but could not.  I am looking for the name of the boarding school, and the dates she was living there?  I’m not positive but there may have been boys at this boarding school too.  Also, German was the language promptly spoken at this school.  If you have any information concerning a school fitting this description, I would love to hear from you?  Thank you.

    By Sharon Easton (22/03/2017)
  • There have been several additions since I last checked the page. Fortunately my cousin John Hart is more diligent than I am and keeps up better with the site. I am now forging ahead with the book on Mansfield and having completed the early years until the move to Pentrevoelas in the summer of 1940, I am continuing through the ‘war years’ with all the memories you have sent me. But keep them coming, probably most of you are children, even grandchildren of the Mansfield pupils. Do, please, email me at janeman@earthlink.net. I live in Texas but distance has lost its earlier meaning. If this is posted soon, I wish you all the very best for Passover. My kitchen is redolent with the aroma of matzoh ball soup, hopefully overwhelming the less pleasant odour of the gefilte fish.

    By Jane Manaster (09/04/2017)
  • I was at Aryah House in Upper Drive from 1955-1957. I remember Mr Eliasof caning at least one of the boys. I remember getting the strap for supposedly talking after lights out. Horrible, horrible school. The PE teacher was an ex-con and got taken away. I do remember Simone and Brenda Baruch as they were in the same dorm as me. They were part of the good thing at the time. I remember them getting food parcels and giving me a taste of sugar cane but there are not many good memories.

    By Jean Simmons (07/05/2017)
  • I went to this school in 1952. It was an awful place. The head mistress was Nancy Hart, it was run like something from the Jane Eyre era. Really cold  and strict for a little girl of 7 who cried herself to sleep every night hugging her Hank cowboy doll.

    Fortunately my Father took me out of there one cold and windy night after a half term visit and an altercation with Nancy’s husband.

    By Ruth Aylward (20/05/2017)
  • I seem to remember vaguely being told about the incident when some awful pushy and difficult parents of some child at Mansfield  kicked up a fuss and my father was asked to get rid of them with daughter. The father of the child was lucky not to have been thrown out on his neck as my father had been a boxer and a rugger player. I do remember during the war, in North Wales, my mother used to take into her bed a 4 year old child who was very homesick and cried and cried and cried each night. Ruth Aylward writes about an “altercation”. It would be interesting to know what it was about. Can she tell us?

    By John Hart (29/05/2017)
  • Dear Lorenz,
    Sorry but we have had to delete your post. We are no longer allowing the posting of requests to find third parties, as sharing information like this breaches their privacy. We recommend you try social media websites if you want to track old friends or neighbours.
    Comments Editor

    By Lorenz Sandhofe (12/06/2017)
  • I went to Aryah House in about 1949 with my little sister. I was six year’s old.  We hated it and cried all the time. I was in the sickbay with Measles too! I do remember prayers at bedtime and the letter writing “Dear Mummy and Daddy, I hope you are well and happy”.  We were not allowed to say how we really felt! 

    By Anita (27/11/2017)
  • I went to Mansfield College from 1955, when I was six years old, to 1958. There was very strict discipline; I recall a teacher breaking a ruler on my knuckles when I asked to go to the toilet during a class! Living conditions were harsh with cold dormitories and bathing limited to three times a week. However, despite this, I feel the lifestyle was healthy, with long walks every day. Also, the education must have been good, in that, on leaving , I succeeded in passing the difficult entrance exam and interview to St Paul’s Girls School London, where I remained for the following 9 years.

    By Jackie Samuel (06/01/2020)
  • I attended Aryeh House School between 1953-1957.
    Strangely enough as an adult my wife and I moved from London to a house virtually next door to what was the school, subsequently a housing estate.
    I was involved with the first reunion when a lot of charming people came from around the world to reunite at my home after approx 50 years.
    I was/am distantly related to Peter Taylor whose whereabouts has been lost in the fullness of time. It was his parents who were responsible for my incarceration at that penal institution which almost certainly coloured my future life.
    Some of the people described in this article I have met and others like Peter Taylor, Rita Shear and the Hannah and Simone Baruch sisters have not been found.
    Reunions are a way to satisfy needs and expectations. However long ago relationships don’t always offer what one expects. I found the momentary connection pleasant but not enduring and the strange feeling I had all those ago about one specific person was exactly the same a life time later !
    Memories flooded back to the locker room where ones tuck was stored. There was also an unexplored bomb discovered in a field that had to be disarmed. That was particularly scary , as was being beaten for minor infractions by sadists regularly
    I remember the sports field and the bathroom with 3 baths in parallel that all us 7 year old boys washed in simultaneously whilst jumping and splashing around everywhere like mad frogs.
    Then there was Mr Fleming and Miss Maguire who were Irish and particularly nasty to us tots. Mr Eliasoff was the Principal of the school at the time I was there. He may well have been the headmaster prior to my arrival.
    I have met some who loved that place and other older generations who had the opposite opinion.
    I still have my blue blazer badge with the Aryeh House logo ….heaven knows why! I also have my childhood tiny Tzsus which gathers dust with a handkerchief with my name tab sewed onto it. Strangely I have retained memorabilia from an unpleasant time in my life , but the strangest irony is that I bought a house that virtually backed onto the old school. All I can think is that I subconsciously needed to exorcise the demons.
    My best wishes to all whose path I have crossed.

    By Simon Weinberg (31/05/2020)
  • I was at Aryeh House School from 1945 – 1948. It was a horrible experience, run by Mr. Eliasoff a sadistic principal who loved to cane boys. It was not uncommon, for pupils to attempt to run away in an effort to return home. If any persons reading this, were aware at that time, I would be pleased to hear from you…irvag@sky.com

    By Irving Goldstein (27/06/2020)
  • I was at Areyah House from Sept 1947 for at least two years. I was almost four when I started, when Mum’s wicked Aunt Alice was taking her off to Paris for some time. (Can’t remember why, but Mum saw the Duke Ellington band there.) After a while, I stopped boarding there and walked to school. At some point, my friend Bob, his Mum and Granddad, were sharing Mum’s bungalow in The Droveway, and Bob and I used to walk to school. We enjoyed it best on rainy days and would play in the gutters on the way and in a bit of waste ground outside the north-west corner of the school.
    I don’t have too many memories of the school itself, but I DO remember the chickens. No one else has mentioned them. I wonder why. There were a good many, enclosed in chicken wire (what else?) in the south-west corner of the playing field.
    Simon Weinberg has stirred my memories of the three baths, though, and Anita reminded me about the letters home. Mum kept a lot and showed me much later. They all began as Anita said and mine (hypocrite!) went on to aver that I, too, was well and happy and to ask, ‘please send me….’
    Mum took me away from there and sent me to Whittingham College.

    I was a boarder there, too, and certainly ran away three times. But it wasn’t too bad, to tell the truth, though the breakfasts didn’t include egg & bacon! But I learned chess there. I learned to dislike pop music, to my eternal delight, and I read a book called ‘Black Evans’, which certainly shouldn’t have been in a school library; the hero was a Welsh boy who certainly didn’t follow the rules but did well, nonetheless. A powerful influence on my whole life.

    I also remember there were a couple of wooden huts in the field behind the school. One day someone discovered a load of coke under them and we all got filthy digging it out.
    There was also an empty barn-like structure with one side missing. The plaster on the ceiling was coming off so we all improved the moment by getting more and more off and skimming it at each other. That was good, too.
    Mostly, I was in the sick bay. In one year, I managed to get Chickenpox, Bronchitis and Mumps.
    I must have left in the summer of ’51, because I was definitely at Goldstone House School (overlooking the football ground) when the King died in February ’52, and the Head got us all listening to a repeat of the announcement when we got in to school in the morning.

    Allan Moss.
    (themagnificentgoldberg@yahoo.co.uk)

    By Allan Moss (25/10/2020)
  • Two more things:
    First, I’ve not been sure where Whittingham College was. I think it was in one of the roads off Surrenden Road, but I’m not sure after all this time. Can someone help on that?

    Second, we had a song at Whittingham, based on a popular song of the time called ‘Music, music, music’ which as about the music teacher – Charlie something.

    ‘Put another nickel in
    in old Charlie’s biscuit tin.
    When he plays his violin,
    it’s murder, murder, murder’.

    Can anyone remember this?

    Allan Moss.

    By Allan Moss (26/10/2020)
  • Correctly this school above, now demolished and redevt as a housing area, is Whittinghame College in Surrenden Rd by [architect] Vivien Pilley 1936. The Nairn & Pevsner guide to Sussex in 1961 described it as-” An excellent job and early for its style and function at least as far as England is concerned. It is for 100 boarders and cost no more than £16,000. Long, white main block of two storeys, reinforced concrete with staff rooms, common rooms, dining room. Fine spiral staircase in the middle. This leads up to dormitories. On the N side the seperate assembly-hall and gymnasium. Single storeyed class-rooms project at r.angles to the s.front.”

    By Dr Geoffrey Mead (27/10/2020)
  • I believe Whittingehame College was in fact an
    all boys school. I now live in Whittingehame Gardens (the site of the old college) and while researching the origins of the unusual name, discovered that it was brought down from East Lothian by the founder, Jacob Halévy, when he began a new jewish boys school at 62, The Drive, Hove in September 1931. The college subsequently moved to a new site on Surrenden Road. Later, when the site was sold for redevelopment, it relocated to Handcross, but then became insolvent.
    Every other year there is an old boys reunion in Brighton which culminates in them visiting the site of their old school. Clearly there are fewer and fewer each time but they come from, quite literally, all corners of the world.
    There is a wealth of information about the history of the school/college online, including many photographs.

    By Alan Phillips (27/10/2020)
  • Thanks very much to you both for that information.

    Alan – could you put up the address on which there’s a wealth of information about the school, please?

    Allan Moss

    By Allan Moss (29/10/2020)
  • To Allan Moss,
    If you simply Google “Whittingehame College” you will find a number of sites with info. Make sure to be careful with the spelling of “Whittingehame”, however, as the correct name includes the letter “e” twice, as I have written.

    By Alan Phillips (29/10/2020)

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