New House
The name “Caldecott” then meant nothing to me. I do not remember even knowing the name of the “boarding school”, and I had no idea that this was to be only my temporary home.
My mother brought me to New House. We travelled up on the Southern Railway, arriving at Waterloo and walking across a sort of covered footbridge to Waterloo Junction. When I came to the Caldecott Reunion at Lambeth Palace in 2005 I noticed that the same structure appeared to be still in place, but the name had now been changed to Waterloo East.
On the platform was one of those machines for stamping out letters [e.g. your name] on a strip of tin. I was keen to try this. As I was doing so the heavy metal handle slipped and flew up, hitting me on the mouth. I still have a little bit missing from one of my front teeth.
From Ashford Station a taxi took us to Mersham. As we drove up the road [Station Road?] towards the traffic lights in the High Street I had the feeling that I had been there before [although this was impossible].
I do not remember much about the two months I spent at New House, save that the staff were [or included] Miss Fretter [in charge], Miss Audrey [Audrey Watson, who now lives in Bournemouth] and Miss Walker, who had a dog named [of course] Johnnie Walker.
I have two specific memories of New House. The first is of playing with a tennis ball on the tennis court and losing it during the early evening, when it was getting dark. After searching for a while I announced that I could not find it, but was told that I should go on looking and could not come in until I had found it. I think that even at that tender age I appreciated that it was my responsibility to find it but that common sense suggested calling off the search until morning, when there would be more light. I did find it, of course.
Now and then we would go up to play on the lawn at “Hatch”[but would not enter the house]. I still had no idea that I was destined to go there. One day when we were playing on the lawn I was asked to take something to the office.
I went up the front steps and into the hall, to find a very large and very majestic lady sitting in a chair in the middle of the room [This was of course Leila Rendel [Miss Leila], Caldecott’s principal]. She was quite friendly, saying something like “Hello, young man”, and asking who I was and where I was going. I then went to the office to carry out my errand.
Not long ago I discovered that later entrants to Caldecott had attended a formal interview. I think this meeting was my “interview”.
Miss Leila at 1964 Reunion