A bit about me......
I started teaching at Aldbury Village School in the mid 1970’s. There was a Victorian building which housed the main school and a black wooden ‘temporary’ classroom (the Shed) at the back. There were three classes of approximately 15 children, the top class was housed in the Shed presided over by Mr. Potter.
I see from the current website the ‘temporary’ building is still being used!
The atmosphere was relaxed, child centred and, on the whole, very happy.
I was at the start of a new life. I had recently qualified as a teacher and had relatively recently been widowed.
I had two adopted children and a new husband, a donkey, a pony and a goat to care for, not to mention two much loved geese and a labrador: life was very full!
Village life was a revelation to me, I was born and bred in Lewisham, went to school on Blackheath and spent all my time in or around that area.
I had a great love for the country, though. Probably engendered by forays into Kent for summer holidays and blackberry picking.
I can still remember the smell of wild blackberries in the hot sun and the cruel scratches of the brambles.
I loved my house in Aldbury at the entrance to the Old Isolation Hospital with its acre of wild ‘garden.’ I loved the hills and the forest surrounding our valley in the heart of the Chilterns. Most of all I delighted in the charm of Aldbury itself and its inhabitants who made up the mix of local people and newcomers who were gradually infiltrating the area.
I had no idea that this idyllic start to my teaching career would lead me into the scary world of war and the junior Ministerial post I held in the Ministry of Education in Kosova during the aftermath of the Balkan conflict.
I am still involved in a village school as Vice-Chair of Governors. I still delight in the children I have the privilege to teach now and then.
I count myself lucky to live in a white painted ‘cottage-in-the- country’ with, chickens and dogs on the edge of a village with its pub, ancient church and a school.
After my travels I revel in our green and pleasant land.
I see from the current website the ‘temporary’ building is still being used!
The atmosphere was relaxed, child centred and, on the whole, very happy.
I was at the start of a new life. I had recently qualified as a teacher and had relatively recently been widowed.
I had two adopted children and a new husband, a donkey, a pony and a goat to care for, not to mention two much loved geese and a labrador: life was very full!
Village life was a revelation to me, I was born and bred in Lewisham, went to school on Blackheath and spent all my time in or around that area.
I had a great love for the country, though. Probably engendered by forays into Kent for summer holidays and blackberry picking.
I can still remember the smell of wild blackberries in the hot sun and the cruel scratches of the brambles.
I loved my house in Aldbury at the entrance to the Old Isolation Hospital with its acre of wild ‘garden.’ I loved the hills and the forest surrounding our valley in the heart of the Chilterns. Most of all I delighted in the charm of Aldbury itself and its inhabitants who made up the mix of local people and newcomers who were gradually infiltrating the area.
I had no idea that this idyllic start to my teaching career would lead me into the scary world of war and the junior Ministerial post I held in the Ministry of Education in Kosova during the aftermath of the Balkan conflict.
I am still involved in a village school as Vice-Chair of Governors. I still delight in the children I have the privilege to teach now and then.
I count myself lucky to live in a white painted ‘cottage-in-the- country’ with, chickens and dogs on the edge of a village with its pub, ancient church and a school.
After my travels I revel in our green and pleasant land.
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