Maria the Cook
Elizabeth Warren read in a local newspaper that Maria Kirchleitner celebrated her 100th birthday on 23 February 2004. Maria was Cook in Earl's Avenue from 1947 and moved to Grimston Gardens in 1952. Girls may remember asking her "What's for lunch, Maria?" and getting the reply "Wait and see!" She stayed until the School closed in 1967. We invited her to the reunion in Folkestone on 17 October 2004 as our Guest of Honour and she came marching in looking 20 years younger than she is, an example to us all.
With sadness we must report that Maria died on 28 February 2005, aged 101.
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Moya Kennedy
Our dear Miss Kennedy died in April 2003 at the age of 93. She taught dancing, and Cecchetti ballet in particular, to countless St Margaret's girls as well as children from other local schools. Somehow we felt she was ours. After the School closed she formed her own school of dancing, and retired at the age of 80. It was wonderful to have seen her at several annual reunions in recent years.
Maureen was a regular visitor to Mrs Whiteside, later Mrs Smyth, living in Spain, and sent flowers every birthday until her death on 4 August 2005 at the age of 96. She was not really ill: just very tired. We sent a donation in her memory, and it will be spent on new hymn books for the Anglican Chaplaincy in Calpe.
Right: Mam'zelle Rothenbuhler in the 1990s.
SMOGS IN AUSTRALIA
An off-shoot of SMOGS, known as SMOGSOZ is comprised of Old Girls who meet for lunch from time to time: Caroline Hardy, Lynn Perry, Gillian Hindley and Monica Armstrong. Lovely idea. How about a SMOGSCAN in Canada, or SMOGSUSA, girls?
A STRANGE ARTICLE, AND A PRIZE-WINNING RESPONSE
As a few of you noticed, an article appeared in the Mail on Sunday of 1 May 2011, written by someone called Wendy Leigh. She wrote of a terrible school which she joined in September 1960 aged 12 as a boarder and was there for six years. She describes it as "an institution that crossed Colditz with Holloway Prison", with Radio Caroline blaring out 24/7. A Mr Payne washed the girls' hair, Panama hats were worn both summer and winter, and the same food was served for all meals throughout the day, whether baked beans or tinned spaghetti. The English teacher persecuted her because her mother had lodged a complaint.
There were two strange clues that make a link to St Margaret's: a photograph of young Wendy in white shirt, dark tie and beret, and reference to navy-blue uniform and being marched in 'crocodile' down Folkestone High Street. St Margaret's was the only girls' school in Folkestone in navy-blue. But if Wendy was writing about it, then not only is her description full of inaccuracies, it bears no resemblance to the happy, wonderful school we all remember with affection. Actually there was a Mr Payne, a dentist whose surgery was almost next door to the main school building in Earl's Avenue. Lovely name for a dentist.
Jennifer Bateman (our hostess at so many annual SMOGS reunions) decided to respond with a letter to the Mail on Sunday, and to our delight hers was the Prize Letter of the Week, winning a one-night stay for two in a luxtury hotel! This is what they published:
Boarding school was a real education
Wendy Leigh portrays her Sixties boarding school in Kent in a terrible light. Like Wendy, I went to a school in Folkestone, but my experience at St Margaret's was different to the spartan regime she describes. Mine was as near to Malory Towers as you could get. The food was excellent, with a cook very fussy about what she would serve to 'her girls'. Bullying was minimal, and on Saturdays we were allowed out in pairs. However, like Wendy, we were banned from browsing in Woolworths. For entertainment, we had a record player, a radio and, on Sunday, the cinema. It might have been the same town but Wendy missed out on a very enjoyable educational experience.
Congratulations, Jennifer. We salute you! And we are glad you enjoyed your prize. Jennifer and her sister stayed at Hartwell House near Aylesbury, Bucks. which she describes as being like 'Downton Abbey', waited on by butlers.
Greetings from the Milton family in Australia. L-R: Greg, Molly, Barbara, Sue. June 2011.
Here is our Janet King (now Janet Elliott) who has decided to semi-retire at the age of 77 from her rare herbs and plants business. Her clients have included HM The Queen, the London School of Pharmacy, the Eden Project and TV's James Wong, presenter of 'Grow your own drugs'.
