omnia mutantur, nihil interit f -...
TRANSCRIPT
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Arthur Derrick Huthersall Foster stationed at Hawkinge with
RAF.
KNGF rented Athelstan's old gym from Claude Counsell,
ex-head of Feltonfleet School.
KNGF purchased Beachborough School's old chapel
moves to Westbrook House and erected at the Playroom.
KNGF installs Sgt Major Norris and family at 50 Shorncliffe
Road. He becomes caretaker and PE Instructor .
Humphrey Household arrived.
1940’s
Jim Metcalfe (ex-MTB commander ), Richard Campbell,
Michael & Sheila Blee arrived on staff.
Mr Judd, local estate agent, donated part of his garden to
the school. It became known as Sherwood Forest.
KNGF purchased Leigh House.
The 'covered way' was erected
1950’s
1960’s
1970’s
1980’s
1990’s
2000’s
Swimming pool donated by the parents and built by the
pupils.
KNGF retired and presented cheque at a party at the Grand
by former Head Boy Richard Thompson.
KNGF took over at Hon Sec of Radnor Club.
Dover College takes over Westbrook House under Richard
Rottenbury.
KNGF a common sight in town in his striped blazer and
straw boater.
New masters – Richard Wood (2 nd Master), Brian 'Digger'
Stanley, Brian Cooper.
School does well in European Judo Championship, National
Ski Championship (Aviemore), Shepway Schools Swimming
Gala. School choir sings in Rome for Pope John-Paul II
Link block between Old Fosters and Lawford is built.
Heads change rapidly – Stephen Abbott, Roger Lewis and
Lesley Watson.
100 th Anniversary of Dover College.
Dover College breaks away from Westbrook House.
Westbrook House merges with St Mary's College (formerly
St Mary's Convent) to become St Mary's Westbrook.
John Ryan, author of Captain Pugwash books visits and
donated illustrations to school.
Richard Rottenbury dies ~ Humphrey Household dies.
Roger De Haan elected Chairman of School Governors.
St Mary's Westbrook becomes member of COBISEC
Swimming pool filled in.
St Mary's Westbrook ceases to exist and Westbrook House
is born again
Any information or facts about this era greatly appreciated.
Westbrook House ~ It’s Past & Present.Last month I received a call from Mr David Lyne-Gordon. An ex pupil of
Westbrook House School. He explained he was preparing to write a book
about the school and continued to tell me of the research and information he
has managed to collect so far. I found his story and plight really interesting
and decided to do a running feature over the next 3 issues on the history of
this school and the people attached to it.
David would like anyone who has any information or knows of anyone who
either worked or went to Westbrook House School to contact him by email or
leave a message on the official web site.
[email protected] www.oldwestbrookians.cjb.net
The following is a very brief outline of the information collected
about each era from the 1940’s to present day. Could you add
any information to this date line?
Dat
e Li
ne
of F
acts olkestone was once a thriving seaside resort with a
pier and ferry terminal, many fine hotels and guest houses,
a theatre, cinemas, golf course, school and colleges, and
the world famous Leas with its water-driven lifts. Since I
arrived in the early 1960’s much of the town has disap-
peared - the Pleasure Gardens Theatre, the Hotel
Continetal Wampach, the Odeon Cinema, Bobby’s
Brampton Down School and now the heart of the town is
being redeveloped. The leas is still with us and there is still
one lift, the golf course is a housing estate, many of the
schools have be turned back into flats, the pier is merely a
couple of rusty stains on the forshore and the harbour is
sadly derelict. Buildings are not merely the sum of their
parts; they are like time capsules that capture the essence
of their inhabitants and the events that have taken place in
and around them. Folkestone had some beautiful buildings
and still does have a few classics such as the Leas CLiff
Hall and the Grand and Metropole Hotels. Thoses that
have vanished have in main left nothing but a smudge in
the town’s historical record. Not all our lost buildings have
been 2redeveloped2, some were casualties of war ~
Athelstan and Feltonfleet schools on Shorncliffe road, the
Parish Church on Sandgate Road and a certain greengro-
cers shop in Tontine Street. Many buildings have remained
but have changed use ~ Bobby’s, the exterior promises
grandeur within, but one is disappointed. The Town Hall is
now a cinema-cum-bookstore and the Methods Church on
Grace Hill is now an eatery!
Legacy..... Times Gone By
Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit
F
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Westbrook House School is
Folkestone’s only preparatory school.
Founded in 1947 by Kenneth ‘Fozzie’
Foster who hailed from Selby, the
school was a dream job that he ran until
1968. It has now been taken over by
Naill Washington-Jones, who, deter-
mined to bring it back into prominence
in Kent after years in the educational
wilderness, said recently: “Westbrook
House had been through the doldrums
following many successful years as
Westbrook House, Dover College Junior
School, Dover College Prep and in 1994
Westbrook House again. This school
has had more incarnations than the
Dalai Llama! In 1997 it came together
with St Mary’s Convent as St Mary’s
Westbrook. On the face of it, this
seemed to be a sensible idea, but as so
often with schools, they were in fact two
horses pulling in different directions.
The schools were separated again in
July 2005”.
he Old Westbrookians’ Society
was founded in 2006 to research the
school’s past, perserve the memory of
its founder and to promote the new
Westbrook House School’s future.
During one of its many reincarnations
the history evaporated and its staff and
pupils passed on or moved away to the
four corners of the world.
At this point in our research we have
more questions than answers. We
know a great deal about life at the
scholl, activities undertaiken by the
pupils at school and on trips away, but
we are still in the dark in some areas:
* Where has all the stuff from Athelstan
and Feltonfleet Schools gone (they wew
both destroyed during WW2)?
* Is there anyone in the area who
attended the FOlkestone Trained
Nurses’ Institute at 56 Shorncliffe Road?
* Why did Fozzie move to Folkestone
after the war? (His brother, Groupie,
was stationed at Hawkinge, but was that
enough reason to set up a school in the
town?)
* What did Groupie do during the
wars?
* How did Fozzie finance his school in
1947?
* What part did Lady Bicester and
Lady Ellenborough play in the school’s
early days. And, what was the connec-
tion between the Fosters, Bicesters and
Ellenboroughs?
* Fozzienamed his school after a
country house where he had played as
a child. Where was that house and
does it still exist?
* Where did the ‘playroom’ originally
come from? And where did it go during
Richard Rottenbury’s trnure? (Fozzie
purchased it secondhand from
Beachborough School, but where was it
originally made?)
These are a few of the many
questions which need the
attention of amature and
professional sleuths.
Each month there will be a
new selection of questions as
well as a selection of answers
or “breakthoughs” in our
researchs.
T
So, if you fancy being a bit of a Sherlock Holmes,
please get in touch and of course, if you attended
Westbrook House School, Dover College Junior School
(Westbrook House) and St Mary’s Westbrook between 1947
and 2005 as a pupil or teacher, and would like to help,
please contact the Old Westbrookians’ Society
by emailing me at
[email protected] or visiting the web site
www.oldwestbrookians.cjb.netand leaving a message in the guestbook. We look forward
to hearing from you all, all you sleuth out there!
~ Omnia mutantur, nihil interit ~
~ Everything changes, nothing perishes ~