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Lourdes Convent

School memories of the late 1960s
By Josie Campbell

I was nine years old when I started at Lourdes Convent in 1966 and I left just before it closed about 1970. There was a long drive leading up to the school, with the main convent & senior school on the left and the junior school & kindergarten on the right. When I started the kindergarten had boys & girls but the rest of the school was girls only.

Sixth formers in a hut
The 6th form was a hut in the playground west of the convent and the 1st year seniors were in a large double hut east of the convent on the other side. The hut was still there in the 1980's when I returned for a school reunion. The other senior classes were in the main convent. The convent accepted day girls & boarders. The boarders would have their dinners in a separate dining room to the rest of us.

Sporting activities
The senior & junior school each had their own playgrounds & playing fields and they shared the tennis/netball courts. The highlight of my time in the junior school was when they purchased a large trampoline that during the summer months we had outside in the garden, I think we called it a garden as it was more like a garden with an enormous tree in the middle, whereas the field in the seniors was more like a field, just a large open grass space, at the back of the school. Sometimes I would use the back entrance that led into CornwallGardens to walk home with a friend.

The tuck shop
I remember the junior school having a tuck shop and just before morning break we would buy crisps, then go into the playground to play, some of the games we played were cats cradle, hop scotch & French skipping.

Strict rules on uniforms
Our uniforms were navy skirts or tunics no more than 2 inches above the knee, it is just my imagination or do I remember one of the nuns with a measure having us all line up? Pale blue blouses, navy & cream striped diagonal tie, navy V neck cardigan or jumper with blue & cream stripe round the bottom edge and cuffs, navy raincoat, navy blazer with braiding round the edges and a Nnavy felt hat.

We hated our boaters
In the summer we would wear a grey & white striped dress, if I remember rightly the stripes were horizontal for the top part & vertical for the skirt part, and of course our blazer & a straw boater. Many of us hated the felt hat and boaters and took them off as soon as we were off school grounds, but if someone saw us and reported it to the school we would get a good ticking off.

This page was added on 31/01/2008.

Comments:

Where was Lourdes Convent?

By John Leach (03/02/2008)

Lourdes Convent was between Withdean and Preston, I'm not sure if that would be London Road or Preston Road. It was nearly opposite Clermont Road.

By Josie (04/02/2008)

It was in London Road, just north of Harrington Road. It is now the Preston Park Hotel.

By David Fisher (05/02/2008)

The actual main convent was knocked down in the 1970s and I think it is now flats that are on the site. The junior school building is still there and is still a school.

By Josie (06/02/2008)

Would you like to hear about Lourdes Convent in the 1950's? I still have nightmares about it. Five years there gave me a lifelong terror of nuns, even though I now know that they have human bodies under their habits.

By Anne Bayley (07/02/2008)

I remember the convent well. I was a boarder from the age of nine (1963) full-time for a couple of years, then a weekly boarder and eventually a day-girl. I left when the school closed down and went into the sixth-form at Cardinal Newman.
It was just as you described and brings back a multitude of memories - mostly unhappy.
For the boarders it really was Draconian. Terrible food, long hours of study, very controlled free-time and very early bedtimes, with strict supervision. If one broke the rules one was easily punished. The nuns were not very sympathetic - and if one was ill - you could never see a doctor - my broken ankle was ignored for 3 days until my mother came and whisked me away to see our family doctor who sent me to the hospital for an x-ray - it was in plaster for 6 weeks. Gosh, I could go for ever - the memories (and smells - does anyone remember the dirty towel in the cubby hole in the main hall!) are all so vivid still. If anyone has any photos it would be so good to see them.

By the way, the flats that now occupy the site of the senior school are Kingsmere. It is such a shame that the chapel was demolished it really was such a beautiful building; there was also a gorgeous magnolia at the entrance near the gates that had the most magnificant blooms every year.

By Carol Pariser (Nee Evers) (12/03/2008)

I attended Lourdes Convent between 1954 and 1959. I have so many memories of the place and my friends there. I too was totally intimidated by the nuns, although I realize now what a good education I received there. I remember walking up the driveway every morning and the first Reverend Mother (French) checking the length of our grey flannel shorts as we went to sports. I would love to hear from any of my classmates. I live in San Francisco after many years in Washington D.C. Glad I found this website!

By Janice Prossor (now Leach) (23/04/2008)

I attended Lourdes Convent from 1959 to 1966 (1st form to upper 6th)and remember it fondly. I was in the huts for my fifth and lower sixth years. I am still in touch with a few of my friends from those days although some of us have scattered abroad, I am living in Chicago. I completely agree about the excellent education imparted there. I remember the magnolia tree in the drive and the beautiful chapel - it was heartbreaking to hear that it had been demolished and the school replaced by flats. I remember Mother Margaret Mary, Mother Lutgarde, Mother Catherine and Reverend Mother Paul although I must say some of them not too fondly.

By Pat Holmes (29/07/2008)

Does anyone remember Miss Welstead who taught English literature?

By Dorothy Wrack (29/09/2008)

Hello Janice, I remember you well. Do you remember you cut my hair once! Do you remember Sister Claire, the cook? "Awful!" I'm still living in Brighton, just grown up a bit now. I would like to hear from you, you can contact me on either of these addresses, josiebets@yahoo.co.uk or bluey.atkins@bluebottle.com. Heres hoping.

By Josephine Walsh (13/11/2008)

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