CCHS

An appreciation by Joan Gurney (Appleton, 1938-51)   

 

I first met Ethel at CCHS in the late 1930s when the school was based at Grey Friars and we were both pupils there, but I was a few years younger and do not remember her very well.  However, we would have crossed paths at the morning Assembly, met up in the playground and gone through the same school experiences in the highly disciplined atmosphere of that period.  I caught up with Ethel again in the early 1970s when we both returned to work in Grey Friars after it became the Adult Education centre and later the Adult Community College.

 

Ethel, the youngest of seven children, was born on 25th July 1926 at Bays Mill Cottages and died this year 2021 shortly after her 95th birthday.  Her father worked at Stanway Hall farm and the farm workers cottages were just off the Maldon Road in a very isolated position down a long narrow track, not far from the present-day Colchester Zoo.  The other half of the cottages was occupied by a family with eight children - Ethel’s only neighbours and companions.  Children in those times could spend a whole day playing in the fields safely and unaccompanied before returning home at tea time.

 

There was no electricity or gas at the cottages and drinking water was from a spring or a well with bucket or hand pump.  Washing water came from the water butt or nearby Roman River; candles and oil lamps provided light, and cooking and heat came from an open fire or log and coal-fired kitchen range.  Most local travel was on foot.

 

Ethel had loving parents and very supportive older brothers and sisters.  The family kept a pig and some chickens and tended the large garden which produced much of the food which fed them.  They had a strong relationship with the church and often attended All Saints (Shrub End) three times on Sundays.  Ethel always recalled the pleasures, as well as the hardships, of her childhood with great affection and I always sensed that her early experiences were very dear to her, but she never thrust these memories upon you.  Small details emerged gently and unobtrusively, but a whole storehouse of social history lay behind each tiny episode.

 

Ethel’s first school was in Straight Road, Shrub End - a walk of at least 3 miles along deserted tracks, muddy Butcher’s Wood and open fields.  This was a trusting era and so dirty boots could be left behind the bushes and exchanged for smarter cleaner school shoes towards the end of the walk, knowing that they would be safe and unharmed when collected for the return journey.  Ethel remained at this school until the age of 11 when she took the equivalent of the 11+ or an alternative test for entry to secondary school.  She was awarded a place at Colchester County High School for Girls in 1937 which was based at Grey Friars.  No doubt her entry would have been preceded by an interview with the formidable head mistress, Miss Ruth King, who instilled fear in any pupil - but Ethel’s strong character would have taken all this in her stride.

 

In the early stages of this new school, practical work was at the forefront.  Drawing, painting, nature study, needlework and gardening, as well as the obligatory English and maths, with some regimented gymnastics, filled the timetable as we gradually moved on to the more formal subjects of History, Geography, French, Science and Latin.  We remembered making our first garment - a pair of knickers in the school summer dress material - the school dinners, the team games, the glorious garden and the stunning architecture, all within the constraints of World War 2.  We were high disciplined, taught politeness, good manners, respect for our elders and, of course, support for each other as we ran for the air raid shelters or dived under our desks for safety.  Bullying was unknown.

 

Ethel left school at 16 in 1942 to begin her working life.  The war was still on and she joined the Civil Defence to become a telephonist doing a weekly overnight shift.  Her first job was an Accounts Clerk at Bland Fielden and Co.  She worked there for 10½ years and this developed her prodigious numeracy skills.  She made many friends, enjoyed her independence and holidays in Great Britain.

 

Ethel married Eric Munson in 1953 and gave up work, as was the custom at the time, to set up home in Berechurch Hall Road, and after her two children, Susan and Stephen, were born continued to manage the household, its finances and demands.  Once the children were of school age Ethel went back to work again - a dinner lady, receptionist and clerical assistant at a number of small businesses in Colchester.  But she always ensured that all these jobs fitted in with school times and her husband’s work, so that she was back when they returned home.

 

Ethel’s final job gave her the utmost pleasure.  She became a part-time clerical assistant at the Adult Education Centre in 1972.  She was at Grey Friars once more and stayed for nearly 20 years!  Her corner of the office - known as ‘Ethel’s Patch’ was a happy place, and she was adept at dealing with anxious adults who were coming back to education in later life and fearful of learning a new subject, skill or activity.  At the same time, Ethel remembered her school days there with enormous gratitude and how much she still enjoyed gardening, sewing and knitting - but her most enduring love was for her bicycle, which she rode daily until the age of 85 and then gave it away to charity for use overseas.

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