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News from Diana (Dinny) Turnbull (Wood) (1942-1955)
I entered Westwood House School as a very
shy five year old in 1942. My teacher was
Miss Brophy who was immensely kind and
reassuring. Kindergarten resided in the large
room to your left as you entered the main
imposing entrance, but I started in the opposite
room. It was a wrench to say goodbye to my
mother. However, we were set to work on
making dolls houses (one per child) out of
cardboard box with Miss Brophy. We had to cut
the windows with blunt scissors, then crayon in
the curtains!
Memories of my early days in school are hazy
but certain things stand out – the punctuating of
the day by The Handbell. This was a prized
office performed by an older girl six or seven
times a day. The Bell lived in the main hall on the
mantelshelf and the chosen girl had to ring it very
loudly in the central hall, then parade around the
outbuildings swinging her instrument high and
strongly. The ‘office’ of bell ringer was one of
many tasks performed by pupils for the benefit of
the smooth running of the School and the
manner of their performance was voted on every
week at Assembly. On Wednesday afternoons,
the whole school including staff and the
Headmistress assembled in the old gymnasium
(now the Chapel, I think) and everyone had the
right to vote on the quality of the ‘office’
performed – Fair, Good, Very Good and (rarely)
Excellent. These added points for your house. As
a small girl, I think I found these gatherings
rather tedious, but I can quite see that there was
a benefit and taught one the value of performing
mundane tasks well and of being accountable.
Besides the coveted bell ringer’s job, there was
waiting at table, laying up for lunch, form room
monitoring, stationery supplier and others. The
Head Girl and the Heads of Houses, for OAK,
ASH, LIME and BEECH used to sit at a card
table at the front and conduct the meeting. The
staff were also present and gave valuable insight
into how well (or sloppily) a job had been done.
In the early days, we used the Library and the
small dining room for lunch. The former was the
Form 2 class room and had to be converted
quickly so that lunch, preceded by Grace for
which we all stood, could be served promptly by
1.00pm. I remember the meals quite well. They
were basically the same from week to week: cold
sliced meat with beetroot and baked potatoes on
Mondays, fish pie on Fridays etc. It was of
course war time and our admirable cook Miss
Bins did a great job. Redmile (the gardener cum
handyman), used to make sure that the
vegetable garden was used fully to satisfy our
appetite. Puddings were frequently milk based –
rice, semolina, sago etc but the high spot was
the treacle sponge day or spotted dick.
When my sister and I needed to board for a few
weeks during our mother’s serious illness, we
Diana was Head Girl in 1954-55 and played the violin. Diana was the first student from our School
to attend the Royal Academy of Music in London and her sister, Judith was Vice House Captain
for Oak House. I had the pleasure of meeting Diana at the Reunion in July when she and a group
of her friends came back to visit the School (some for the first time since leaving over 60 years
ago!). I hope you enjoy reading Diana’s memories of her days at the School as much as I did
recording them.
Ivana Zizza
Diana (Dinny) Turnbull (Wood)
