J & J. Edwards

Chris Snuggs: I remember going to J&J Edwards a couple of times, but not with my parents. Why would that have been? And HOW did we get our uniform? By mail order? I never remember actually going with my parents. But we must have got the uniform BEFORE we went, no? Maybe my imminent brain transplant will fix my memory problems ....

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.