June 2003
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20,
Merton Hall Gardens Tel 020 8715 6549 June 2003 Dear Vadhans and Friends Worldwide, The sun is blazing after a Monsoon downpour, and we may as well be in Kurseong! So it is an appropriate setting to start this newsletter. As most of you know, since Des White died Crystal David (Cowan) has been typing the newsletters. Those who know Crys will agree with me when I say she has the biggest heart in the world. I have dubbed her "The girl who can't say No." She leads a very busy life and is always helping people. Meanwhile, my daughter has donated her old computer to me, and hence, this is coming to you via my own inept hands. Please be patient as I do hope to improve. Crystal has offered to act as my adviser, for which I am most grateful, just as I am for the years of hard work she has done for me and Vadha As ever, I enjoyed the Reunion on June 14th. (There is a reason for the underlined date as will be revealed later). The atmosphere was, as usual, a very happy one, even if we did not have any members from abroad.. We did receive thoughts for us from Barbara Todd (Barnett) on behalf of all W. Australian Vadhans and from John Webster. I was really overjoyed to welcome Nora Solomon, (who came with Peggy Littlewood), as she has been unable to attend for a few years. We had the "Hattons" present. Len and Derrick had brought Dorothy King (Hatton), who was to be 94 the next day. So we all sang Happy Birthday to her. They also brought Derrick's daughter, Leslie Baker, who looked so young I thought she was his granddaughter! (Shows my age!) She is the same age as Cheryl Isaac (Mordecai), and Amit Bose, but they missed each other, as she went to D.H. in the middle school years, and Cheryl amd Amit were there in the early years. We did miss Max, but Kersey Moddie wrote of him. "Max featured very prominently in my school days as I can sincerely say he was my "best friend" during the five or six years we were together in the wane class. Apart from members and "other halves", we do have some regular visitors, such as Frank Feegrade (a "Goat"!) and Donald and Helga Stiffle . Monica Fosberry used to attend all the reunions with Audrey Shave (Barraclough), but, sadly, Monica passed away last month, and we really missed her. She was a good friend to Vadha. I read out Radhashree Moktan's latest letter. She said "Could you kindly let all the members know that Dow Hill and Victoria will be celebrating their 125th Anniversary sometime in May 2004, The dates and programme are not yet finalised, but both the schools have requested me to let you all know, and ask for your valuable suggestions and guidance. Kindly help the schools to celebrate this occasion in a befitting manner. A magazine will be published on this occasion. Interested Vadhans are invited to contribute their articles. I will let you know the exact dates of the programme as soon as they are finalised." So, get cracking!! Radhashree wrote in a previous letter "The DHR has improved a lot after being declared a World Heritage Site. It has come to my knowledge that the DHR track up to Kurseong was laid in 1879. In the same year V.S. was also started as a Railway School at Constantia Don't you think they should have been declared as World Heritage Sites together?" In her Christmas letter, she continued her reminisces of her attending the June 02 Reunion. "In school everyone was so happy to hear about the Reunion. I told them how you organise the tea party, lay out of the tables and food stuff like singaras, pakoras, sweets, etc, not forgetting the sweeping of the floor and someone in the kitchen making tea. It was a terrific experience for me, which I can never forget." I was tickled pink as we accept sweeping the floor, etc , and is not noteworthy here! But I must say I would greet my Mali and Borchi with open arms!! Peggy Littlewood and I provided some light entertainment as a result of our meeting with Betty Vanerstrom (Griffiths) up in town, earlier this year. We recalled Nursery Rhymes and poems in Hindi and Bengali. There was one that Peggy had learnt from Miss Sengupta (Senny) and did not understand a word of it! We will ask Amit or Dipak to translate it! I remembered a few verses of "Hara Dhomay Dhoshti Chaylay" that Senny made us enact in a concert! Good fun. A letter from John Gardiner has just arrived, and I am sure you will enjoy his comments! "The highlight of the day was the floor show the return of that successful show biz team of Peggy and Grace the "Dow Hill Dolly Sisters". Well done! I hope in the near future I will see someone on "Stars in their Eyes" intone, "Tonight, Matthew, I am going to be Grace Pereira!" OH ! John! But I must say, I have been told I look like Charles Hawtry from the "Carry On " films!! Amit Bose told us of his frequent visits to Katmandu, (on business), where he meets a number of ex Victoria boys. He named a few Big Shamsheer, who retired as Ex Chief of Staff; two other Shumsheers, the Ranas and many others who all passed on their good wishes. Amit said that as he visits so often,he would like to extend an invitation to any who wish to visit Nepal, to do so as his guests. WHAT a temptation!! In Calcutta Amit attended the annual reunion of the Old V.S. and D.H. Association run by Aloke Nandi and Pronob Roy. The latter started this Association at the time of the School's Centenary Celebrations, and has taken up the job of organising the get togethers again.They may have a "Monsoon Ball" later this year. We all send them our very best wishes. One of the books on India that I have really enjoyed reading this year is "The Garlands of Rampur", by Jill Cartwright. It evoked so many memories of our lives in India, and I was delighted that I did not have to read the translations of the Hindi words! I will append a flier for this. Jill was prepared to attend the Reunion, but I felt it would not be fair to her AS we had our AUTHOR with us! Stanley Prins has published his book, "Summoned By The Bell" which contrasts the sombre tones of the War Years with our carefree lives at the Hill Top during the same period. Those attending nearly didn't see him or the book as Stanley notified a number of members to attend the Book Launch on June 7th!! As a result I was inundated with calls. So who doesn't read the Newsletters?!! Stanley started by recalling some anecdotes. 1)
Mordecai Cohen's saying , on seeing someone carrying comics into church
"You mustn't take those into church because the Padre will CONFIRM
them! I have a few copies for sale, at £7 00 plus postage, so do apply to me, or directly to Stanley. Like me, I know you will enjoy it, just as he did in writing it.There are 52 photographs and all but a couple come from the albums kept by his father and himself.The book gives a plethora of facts about the school, the district and times, but also abounds with anecdotes and personal experiences, making this a pleasurable read, and a book to keep for its nostalgic and historical value. It's also OUR book, and, in my opinion, is GREAT. However, as Stanley printed only a limited number, get your copy soon as I do know they are selling like hot cakes. I
displayed a number of photographs and articles: The list of Vadhans who attended were: Barbara Barnett (Todd); Janet Mead (Simpson); Betty Brown (Copley); Shirley Hegarty (Webster); Shirley D'Silva (Sheldon) and Molly Gauntlett (Sheldon). The web page for this is www.vsdh.org/vsdh/perth reunion/index.htm. This should be underlined, but I don't know how to do this yeti! John included pictures with names and I placed Shirley D'Silva's (Sheldon) photos with these. Shirley also displayed the quiz, which she won, on the Schools, I will append this for you to try, and answers will be in my next letter! John Feltham is publishing some of the Headmaster's Diaries on the Web warts and all. He would appreciate any VS School Magazines that members wish to send him, especially the years 1951 53. Shirley D'Silva wrote about the Reunion and other get togethers in Perth."About 20 of us met for tea. John talked about his years in Victoria and his life after school. We had a super tea, thanks to everyone for their delicious contributions. During our stay in Perth with Molly and Bruce we met Janet (Meade), Betty (Copley), and Barbara (Barnett) for lunch. We took Sally (the youngest Sheldon), who was not a Dow Hill girl, to the lunch, surprising the ladies who hadn't realised there was a 4th Sheldon girl. Just before leaving Perth, Molly and I went again to lunch with Betty, Janet, Barbara, Norma Curnow (Somers) and, to our surprise, Joan Steinhouse (Peters) and Dorothy Roberts (Swan Brown) who were also visiting Perth from London and the USA, respectively. Of course we talked non stop? Isn't it amazing how Dow Hill girls continue to be able to meet wherever they go. We, also, had a most enjoyable evening at Sally Stewart's (MacDonald) and her son John's beautiful home. Sally showed us the video that John had taken at last year's Vadha Reunion in London, and Molly enjoyed seeing all the familiar faces.(Please note, I didn't say old!) Sally even cooked a lovely meal for us, and she says she can't cook. During the New Year's Eve Dance I went to the Ladies, and as I opened the door two ladies were standing there. I looked at one and apologised for barging in, and then said "You're not Natalie Noney?" and she said "Yes and you are a Dow Hill girl one of the Sheldons". The other lady turned out to be Thelma Johns (Miller), the Music teacher! And both were looking so well. Fancy meeting two DH teachers in a Ladies! Will be visiting Gretna Green in Scotland at the end of August. Do you think I might meet a VS boy or a DH girl? they seem to be everywhere!!!" Grace here VS boys galore for sure if Jim isn't going to be there. Or are you two going to make it legal at last?! Athough
I take it for granted that Vadha members work towards ensuring the Reunion
runs smoothly, I must say a very big "Thank yo u" to their "Other
Halves" and friends who pitch in throughout the "do". I
did mention Irene Sheldon's husband Sam Wayman who helped Dereyck on the
desk. (the paper work did tally with the cash!) and Shirley Sheldon's
husband Jim D'Silva, who helped with 1001 jobs! We also thanked Tony for,
yet again, bringing the equipment and making the tea. He is a real stalwart,
as we all know. The list of those who attended the Reunion and "Business
Matters" that arose from it will be at the end of the letter. I sent the January newsletter, as usual, to Reginald Moulding, and was so surprised to hear from his wife that he had passed away in November, aged 80. He had secondary cancer of the liver. They had been married for 53years, and Joan said he was a very loving husband and father.When she was iii, three years ago, Reg never let her go anywhere by herself. She said that, after the family, he had only two loves his Regiment and Vadha. Many of you will know of his allegiance to the Welsh Regiment Association and the British Legion. One of their reunions sometimes clashed with ours, but he still came on to us, however late. Peggy Littlewood recalled he was on the first committee of Vadha, and was the Treasurer for many years. In Stanley Prins's book he publishes a letter from his father to Reg, which Reg had kept over all the years, in it he wrote "You appear to be the same old Moulding displaying your sense of responsibility, administrative abilityand energetic doing of a job qualities which lead to your attaining the leadership of the troop, and the command of the troop." With it is a photo of a very young Reg. I. and many others missed seeing his smile at the Reunion, and I know "Jundi" will not be forgotten. I have just heard that Audrey Callanan (Clump) has lost her husband, and we send her our love and condolences. The next is just so sad as to be traumatic. Daphne Brown's (Hardinge) letter shocked me rigid. She wrote, "As you know we went up to spend Christmas with my daughter Lynne and her three beautiful sons my beloved grandsons Morgan(18), Corrin and Drew (twins aged 16). We had the most perfect Christmas Day which ended in a nightmare no one should undergo. At 11.30pm on Christmas night, we got a call to say that Corrin had been involved in an automobile accident, and had a serious brain injury he fought valiantly for 7 days, but the fight was too hard and the cost too high, and he quietly slipped away from us on January 1 st." None of us can really understand what the family are going through. All we can do is send them and Daph our love banal as that may sound. For those who remember Joyce Dobra's (Staynor) father as a Maths Master in VS and then as a school inspector, will not be surprised at this snippet from her letter. "All 5 grandchildren have my father's mathematical gift. Peter, aged three, can count to 20 and recognises lots of numbers beyond that." Joyce has not been very well, but we hope she is better now. Cherrie Pateman (Vaillant) writes, "I was a "Thirties girl, acid well remember the Dormitory Matrons Stuart, Finney, and Mack. Gosh! They were dragons, but with kind hearts really, and I'm jolly glad I grew up with them around. Although I left soon after war was declared anti moved to Allahabad far the War years, where i was in the WACIs, my memories of Dow Hill are very real and will never be forgotten. Last time I wrote to you I mentioned about bell ringing, and the lovely Catholic Church across a bridge above a turbulent jhora and John Feltham from Australia sent me some beautiful photographs of the places I recall. Friendships from the Hills and across the Seas!! never fade" (Thank you, John. G) Tom and Iris Newbould continue globetrotting, and I enjoy his accounts of their holidays. He wrote "We visited our friends in Bangalore. Over the years they have introduced us to many interesting people, and this year they invited the Dalai Lama's sister Pema and her husband Tempa to meet us. I had a wonderful time with them. They knew Victoria, Dow Hill, Goethals and St. Helens. Perna was in the Convent for a short time. Tempa went to school in the Kalimpong Homes. He took the last Senior Cambridge exam to be held in India which was some time in the 60's Maurice Rassaby, in Australia, would like to know if anyone knows the whereabouts of a friend of his. George Moore, now aged 75 76 used to live in Free School Street in Cal. George went to St. Xaviers College and had three or four elder brothers. He went to Sydney where Maurice met him in 1950, prior to George's leaving for New Zealand. Kersey Moddie sent me an article on Lieut General Jackie Jacobs, who is the Governor of Punjab. It states that he said " I am not aware of it . I have not sought anything" as VHP has mooted his name for the Presidency of the country. He was talking to the Tribune, and suggested, when "asked about Maharashtra Governor P.C. Alexander's possible nomination as NDA's candidate in the coming presidential election he said, "Congress President Sonia Gandhi herself will oppose it, ,as we cannot simultaneously have a achristian President and Prime Minister". Kersey, himself wrote, " Of all VS old boys Jackie has attained the highest rank. He was in VS from 1934 1940. When India defeated Pakistan in the last war and Bangladesh was set up, Jackie commanded an Armoured Brigade under Geneeral (now Field Marshall) Maueckshaw. I was very pleased to receive a letter from Elaine Halpin (Halifax). She was/is in Canberra and described the disasters there, of drought, heat and fires. Everyone was instructed, if going away to "Take the jewellery, family photos, all certificates and important papers, precious things, and then if there is any room left in the car, to get in. Of course, if the car is stolen ! Reminds me of the wartime days in India, when Mum kept a suitcase by the door packed with clothes, in case we were bombed out. Of course, if that did happen, we would not have wanted to be seen dead in those awful clothes. Remember?" Well Elaine, I do remember the War years, but living up country we never really knew about it! I recall lots of chocolates, etc from both the Yanks and British troops stationed near us. Dereyck, living in Cal, actually remembers the bombs that fell. We, recently, wrote about our Wartime memories for our granddaughter's school project, and they were read out to the class as they were very different from those of other grandparents. Pity your book wasn't in print at the time, Stanley!! Again, I digress! Elaine was renovating a house of hers and may well have sold and moved on by now. It is a GOOD THING she is on the Internet, and thmnks to Aubrey and John will , hopefully, see this. A new member is Phyllis Adams (Vail), who is in Hampshire. She is now in touch with Audrey Callanan (Clump,) Alice Higginson (Saunders) and Hazel Morrison (Francis) who were her contempories. Good news. Anyone else remember her ? Alice wrote "My life continues at a quiet pace, but I continue to enjoy my literary group meetings. The organiser of one of these groups told me the other day that a member had said to her, "How well Alice reads." I don't repeat this to blow my own trumpet, but to say that I wanted to reply "I was educated at the best school, called Dow Hill, near Darjeeling. Later on I invited her over and told her of our life in India. She seemed impressed!" Alice doesn't sound too quiet a life! I received "Reminiscences" from our other Alice Wrigley (Hardaker). She wrote, "Whenever I see a flock of birds I am reminded of the poem we used to utter; "One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a letter, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told." At the closure of the Girl Guide meetings on the top flat, we would salute, face the sun and sing "Day is done, Gone the sun, From the sea, from the sky, All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh". Yes, Alice, we used to call it "Taps". Can anyone tell me why? You will see from the updated address list that Quinton Baddeley has moved to be nearer his daughter and family. This also means he is within a mile of his very good friend Charles Downey. Quinton had major surgery recently, and neither surgeon thought he would survive the operation, leave alone walk out two weeks later. He just is one helluva cussed soul!! Seriously, though, it is good news. Warren O'Rourke was very complimentary about the Newsletter, but there won't be one if YOU don't send in the "News". He wrote, "The newsletter always raises my expectations, nor have I ever been disappointed. The Hilltop will always have that effect on most of those who schooled there, stirring imaginations in a myriad ways. Victoria was an exceptional school, and so I believe , was Dow Hill. Other hill schools might have out performed the Hilltop in a variety of ways, but the Hilltop schools were pre eminent in their spirit of student independence. The schools gained our loyalty in large part from traditions that infused student body and staff. Speaking for VS, it was no accident that the school houses were Mallory, Irvine and Kellas mountaineers, a group known for private motivation and immediate team co operation rather than establishment loyalties. Discipline was individual rather than institutional. VS did have hierarchies of headmaster, staff, head prefect, prefects, student body all subservient to democratic tradition, which every now and then asserted itself. From what I have read in the Vadha news letters, something of the school spirit endures." I really do believe, Warren, that what you have said encapsulates the ethos of our time in the Hilltop Schools. Rita Graham (Pinto), has the same feelings, expressed thus; My memories of DH are very mixed; good and bad; but undoubtedly we have much to be thankful for. We survived the bad, and have gone forth with our heads held high for the quality of education and its breadth of interests. A priviledged experience. Yes, our lives at the Hilltop reflected all life, in that there were lots of good and some not so good happenings. It may be honest to look at the entire picture, but my personal feelings are that there is an over abundance of the negative nature of the world around us, and so, I prefer to reflect on memories and news that give pleasure, happiness and amusement. I know my ethos is to emphasise the positive and present a missive to give enjoyment to Vadhans and whoever may read these newsletters, Be Happy, Love, Grace.
Victoria. Ian Anthony, Derek Avery, Robert Avery, Amit Bose, Geoff Carrau, Lloyd Crump, Sydney Duke, John Gardiner, Bob Hale, Lewis Hardy, Richard Hardy, Derrick Hatton, Trevelyan Howe, Mike Kelly, Stanley Prins, Len Rousseau Hatton, Dipak Sengupta, Ronald Seymour Shove, Richard Slacke, Nora Solomon, Gareth Swan Brown. Dow Hill. Dorothy Anthony (Wheeler), Olga Barker (D'Sena), Alison Blunt, Loma Buckle, Shirley D'Silva(Sheldon), Muriel glendinning (Seymour Shove), Gloria Gripton (Sadler), Rosemary Ingels (laRevierre), Dorothea Inglis (Myers), Cheryl Isaac (Mordecai), Yvonne Jackson (Keymer), Dorothy King (Hatton), Peggy Littlewood, Megan Myers (O'Rourke), Grace Pereira (Lochner), Arleen Rice (D'Sena), Audrey Shave (Barraclough), Sheila Smith (Raymond), Nora Solomon, Gwen Upshon (Howe), Irene Wayman (Sheldon).
Crystal used to get the newsletters printed at her Church Office, but was having a lot of trouble, as they let the forecourt for parking during Wimbledon Tennis weeks. It is very lucrative, as you can imagine. Poor girl would not be able to park at all, sometimes. So I found a printing firm very nearby, cheaper than others further afeld. It is still more expensive than the Church Office, and , therefore, I hope you will agree to an increase of £1 in the subs for membership. That means it will be £3 00 for locals and Europe, and £5 00 for abroad. Don't worry if you have already paid your membership fee for this year, as there is enough in the kitty to cover at present. The Vadha account is in my name as a "business" account requires at least two signatures to draw any money and, therefore is not always convenient. So, please make out cheques to me. An astereisk by this means you are owing subs.
Mrs. Mary Balakrishnan, who lets the hall to us, in Greenford, has, kindly held the price at £200 00. To cover this and incidental expensives I asked for £3 00 per person at the door. Hence, we need at least 70 people to cover this. This year 64 people attended. Through the generosity of some members we were able to break even. This year, Mary asked if we could finish earlier to accommodate an evening booking that, naturally, costs a lot more.in discussing this with members and their friends, Dorothea Inglis's (Myers) sister in law, Jean Reynolds, who attends the Reunion annually, suggested we use her church hall in Raynes Park (near Wimbledon). Being a member of the church she can book the hall for £60 00. This includes the use of a fully equipped kitchen and the services of the caretaker, who will set up the tables and chairs, and clear away afterwards. The hall is nearer to Raynes Park Station than the Greenford one is to Sudbury Hill Tube Statiion. There is a car park near the station as well as on street parking (as we have at Greenford). The mainline train from Waterloo runs to Raynes park, stopping at Wimbledon. The District line Underground terminates at Wimbledon and a bus from there drops one about 50 yards from the Hall. Raynes Park is just off the A3, which, in turn, is at Junction 10 of the M25. Jean has, very kindly, made a tentative booking for us, but I am sure you will appreciate we must let them know, one way or another, ASAP. Therefore, will you, PLEASE, fill in the slip below and return to me, not later than JULY 3 i ST. Next year's Reunion will be on Saturday 12th June the SECOND Saturday of the month as usual , whichever venue is chosen.
Please
tick the venue you would prefer for the Reunion. |
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| Sent
in by Sally Stewart (MacDonald).
I had a lovely visit from Michael Dutton an old friend and ex North Pointer and as we were browsing through the `net we came across some wonderful photographs of `old' Darjeeling. There, was the Chowrasta, and we just naturally fell to discussing Michael's horses! He owned a few which he raced at Lebong (the highest race course in the world). During the off season, one could hire Michael's horses for leisure riding, from Tenzing's stables on the Chowrasta ... where I had a first contact with these Jekyll and Hyde characters. One of Michael's nags had the most imaginative name viz `Let Me Fly'. He was a `First Class' (!) horse and he had honed a talent for racing flat out and then digging in ... resulting in hapless rider demonstrating wonderful display of involuntary flying Yes - dangerous - why then does the memory make me smile! I guess because I never knew of any serious injuries. I did a little bit of `er - `riding' too and was invariably relegated a `Third Class' horse with long eyelashes and a sleepy look about it (‘butter wouldn't melt’ etc ...) My nag seemed to suffer a morbid reluctance to leave the cosy stables and his/her buddies but, on the home stretch, `it' seemed to recall the gentleman's profession (!) to which it had been bred and would revert, suddenly and without warning. I remember feeling thoroughly peeved when a small whistle blowing, peak hatted gendarme waving his arms, warned ‘ME’ - as my wretched nag galloped at a dangerous lean, around the bend up from the Hill Cart road and belting flat out past Keventer's and Pliva's - that "I' was breaking the speed limit through town! His shrill whistle blowing ... my shrill shrieking "ROKO - "ROKO" (1 was only lately out of DH and hadn't yet learned to swear!?) - of no avail. Quite a tamasha - oft' repeated - for the benefit of gin swilling Planters lounging on the verandah of ’The Club' above I recall being helped off the beast at journey's end (`Darjeeling Jitters) - and having to sit down for a bit. Once you got the hang of it and remembered to stand in the stirrups and clutch the nag's mane (nevermind the reins) the experience of riding a Lebong `racer' was quite ...... exhilirating! I wonder if anybody attempted to ride out to Tiger Hill? I was naive enough to brave the pilgrimage at some unearthly night/morning hour and it was not long before I opted to turn back. My tat had tried, quite deliberately, and time and again, to lurch me off it's back and down the very precipitous fog shrouded hill side. The path cut from the vertical hill was truly narrow and I wonder still, at the surefootedness which allowed it to turn about without falling off! (I don't like to think about it). Did
you ever have the delightful experience, on the route around the bottom
of Birch Hill - of your rapidly trotting tat doing it's best to rub your
leg off against passing lamp posts? With hind sight, you simply swung
your endangered limb over and rode side saddle (sort of) then revert until
the next time. Lamp posts (or telegraph posts) were few and far between
- thank gosh - although one tended to watch for them and be distracted
from the view. I have such a clear mental image of 'other' people who
had gotten used to this performance, chatting gaily away all the time
swinging their legs gracefully over and down as we bounced along. I did
not chat - I was always grim. And another thing - do you remember being
humiliated by the bored stiff syce, following along behind us novices,
firmly grasping the end of tat's tail while intoning his mantra, "one
- two - up down one – two - up - down one - two ". I NEVER
got the rhythm and When
during the war, GI(s) spent R&R at Kurseongl/Darjeeling - they rode
the |
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| If anyone is seeking further information on a member listed here, please contact either Grace Pereira, or myself.
UK Adams
Mrs Phyllis Clamfield Hants Vale |
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