J & J. Edwards

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Barry Clark: They were at the open/visiting day, when we wen to look around, and they took our measurements then.

Peter Warne: That's a bit like asking who held the camera for Neil Armstrong. I was living in Germany when I first went to Woolverstone, and I remember my mother sewing name tags into all my clothes. I arrived on the first day with all the regulation kit, blazer, shorts, jacket, cap, overcoat, socks, rugby kit, gym kit. So yes, where did it come from?

Chris Snuggs: So, we MUST have got the kit before we went, but that raises another question. I remember my primary headmistress recommending WHS to my parents, but did they decide to send me there WITHOUT VISITING it? I certainly do not remember a visit ..... I'm pretty sure the first time I ever saw WHS was on turning into the drive on the coach from County Hall. And I guess that forces boys were even LESS likely to have visited the school before their parents decided to send them there - which was kind of an act of faith ....

Roger Evans: I too lived in Germany, and I know we bought the "regular" kit. Grey shirts, grey shorts, before departing a day or two earlier before school start to go to Grimwades (or was it Edwards? ) to get the School specifics, typically those clothes with badges.

Peter Warne: Snap. my mother sewed the tags too, and I still have ONE of the 6 (think the check list mentioned) handkerchiefs - unused with my name sewn in.

Barry Clark: There was a visiting day for the entry of '58. I made friends with Roger friend that day, and remember the fitting, but not much else except the glorious view over the Orwell: prettier by far than my view of the Thames in Woolwich.

Chris Snuggs: I don't think I was there. At any rate, I don't remember it. That view was (and of course is) stunning. I had previously been on summer camping holidays to Devon and Cornwall, but even so, it takes one's breath away.

David Waterhouse: I was interviewed at County Hall by Mr Smitherman, with my mother who had travelled from Germany, but there was no visit to the school. They must have had a prospectus and possibly personal recommendations; I imagine the fact that Smitherman had been head of Prince Rupert School in BAOR - one of the few alternatives - might also have weighed in the balance.

Peter Warne: that must be why I arrived a day early to start school; that always bothered me, thinking someone had made a mistake. And also why my mother came with me, not my father, who would have been less use sewing on nametags.

Richard Stokes: We got our gear at Grimwades near the town hall.