Figure 1.--James has sent along a photograph of a friend in the Clare House school uniform.
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Figure 1.--James has sent along a photograph of a friend in the Clare House school uniform. |
HBC English readers have sent along some brief accounts about their school expeiences during the 1960s.
A reader tells us about the County Secondary School he attended in London. "I went to a County Secondary School in West London entering 1st Form in September 1959. The school was a "boys-only" school and although the school did have a uniform it was not compulsory to wear it. I wore short trousers because my mother preferred to have me wearing them - she told me many years later that she thought that be wearing them I would retain innocence for longer! Another reason was that our family was far from wealthy - my father had died when I was just three-years-old and I was the youngest of four children (two older brothers and an older sister). The clothes that I wore were generally "pass-me-downs" but in those days we were not fashion-conscious and seemed to understand the financial constraints within our family. I got my first pair of long trousers when I was 13-years-old but they were "best" and I was not allowed to wear them for school; these were originally worn by my brother who was nine years older than me. I first wore long trousers for school when I was about 14."
A reader writes, "My family came to Canada when I was a very small child (I was born in England) and my older brother attended a preparatory school in South London in the 1960's (I did also, but I was very young). It was called Clare House School and it was located in Beckenham, Kent. At this school, we wore a traditional school uniform of a red blazer with pocket crest, white shirt, red, black and yellow striped tie, grey shorts, grey socks with red tops, red school cap and black shoes. The prefects could wear long trousers. Some pictures are attached, taken in 1960. After we went to Canada in 1969, I started at a private school in Toronto, the Crescent School."
I remember my first year at grammar school. The previous year the first year boy had to wear the blazer with short trousers and turn-over-top socks wih the school colors. I assumed that we would also. I was at my friends house who had also passed the 11+ exam. His mother asked me about the uniform and I told her that we had to wear sjhort trousers. The school had, however, decided to make short trousers optional for the new boys. When mum took me to buy the uniform, somehow she knew about this and she bought long trousers for me. The outfitters still had both. The first day of school my friend and one nother boy were the only one that turned up in short trousers--was he ever steamed at me! Especially because his mother made him wear them all year as she wasn't about to throw away perfectly good trousers.
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