Girls at Culford 1972 - 2012
40th Anniversary of Girls at Culford When the East Anglian School moved in 1935 from its site in Northgate Avenue, Bury St Edmunds, two new eras started. One involved the changes of name and venue within a parkland setting, some three miles to the north at Culford; the other was the creation on the same site of a brand new establishment, the East Anglian School for Girls, on the edge of a country market town. Some 35 years later it was obvious that the two schools were destined to become one. There had been significant changes in society during that one-generation phase from the aftermath of the Depression, through the Second World War, the consequent years of austerity, a decade of prosperity as well as a revolution in social outlook and educational philosophy. The town of Bury St Edmunds had also developed well beyond its pre-war limits. The Schools had several close links. During the war-years the girls had been evacuated to the Cadogan House and Junior School premises in the Park. They were both under the auspices of the then Methodist Board of Education and shared Chaplains. Formerpupils still recall the Reverends Stanley Rose and Arthur Hiscox. Several members of staff had connections with the Methodist Training Colleges at Westminster and Southlands. The Samuel Leigh Memorial Swimming Pool, built in 1937, was used by the girls who were bussed out for lessons. Collaboration took place in drama and musical performances. Speech and Sports Days, while not shared, were open for brothers and sisters to attend and, not surprisingly, pretexts were arranged for ‘friends’ to become ‘family’. Indeed as at any time, romantic liaisons featured either covertly or openly. September 1972 saw the first stage of amalgamation. Boarding may have Swimming Pool
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FOCuS
continued for the girls at Northgate Avenue, but a fleet of buses brought co-education for the whole of the school working day. In a television interview of Derek Robson (1971 - 1993) and Monica Tuck (1949 1974), the joint head-teachers, the quip was made that “two heads were better than one.” Here was Culford briefly in a unique position, as the first Direct Grant coeducational, boarding school in Britain.
Northgate Avenue
that their retirements were due, while others relished the challenges.
On that first day, the East Anglian Daily Times photographer was supplied with a step-ladder to take a shot of a long snaking line of brothers and sisters. Later in the week the Daily Express asked for similar facilities and so the siblings reassembled. The amalgamation was at all levels, with the only comparable coeducational East Anglian schools being Wymondham College and Friends’ School, Saffron Walden.
The members of staff at the EASG who became part of the Common Room on that first day or later included Alison Fraser, ‘Nurse’ Frost, Doreen Ginn, Laura Hunter, Jac Langdon, Jean Raynor, Jean Scott, Anne Sewell, Mary Slatter, Jean Taylor, Monica Tuck, Renate Wetherall and Joyce Withers. Some stayed and settled; some moved on, but all contributed.
There were many more individuals than pupils who had to make adjustments to the new regime. There were parents fielding different questions as they devised new routes; catering staff trying to assess different demands; and teachers having to present lessons to mixed audiences. Rightly so, many felt apprehensive. A number of staff at each school may have been relieved
Within two years the site in Northgate Avenue had been sold, the girls’ boarding houses were ready and the adjustment phase was over. The logistics of transport, moving, meals and co-ordinated activities had, on occasions, been taxing; they had, however, provided the basis for co-operation and collaboration. The fusing of two organisations was complete.