Friends School Lisburn goes viral.

My ears pricked up when I saw Friends School featured on our local news a few days ago because I just happen to be a past pupil, and a pretty bad one at that!

Well it looks like things might have changed a bit since the '60's and early '70's when I was a pupil there. I moved to N. Ireland from England at the age of 13 and I was unhappy leaving my school and all of my friends.

I was placed at 'Friends' towards the end of 3rd form and put into the bottom class to see how I would progress. Ha! It went from bad to worse.

Moving up into 4th form, it was GCSE's then, and the groups of subjects I had to study were not really of my choosing. I wanted to do Domestic Science and Art and along with that came History (boring), Music (couldn't read a note), Geography (o.k.), English Lit. (Shakespeare- no thanks!). Then the usual core subjects, English, French and Maths (to this day I can't do the most basic maths).

Thank you to the maths teacher who stood and flipped his ruler through my hair when I couldn't do the sums. I remember you.

And in those days you had to kneel on the floor and a measurement was taken from floor to hem to ensure your gym slip was the required length. Too short and you were in trouble.

I spent a lot of time getting into trouble.

Aren't they lucky, those pupils of today?

Just take a look at this........

House of the Year.

Watching House of the Year (episode 3) on BBC1 last night I was surprised to see Craigdun Castle featured.
I knew it as Peter Stott Martin House.

My first job was residential as a nursing auxiliary here, in the late 60's early 70's, when the house was run as a holiday home for people with MS.
The photo I have posted is a postcard and my bedroom was above the front door.
Later on I upgraded to the posh bedroom, the two windows 2nd floor up on the right of the house.
That room had a washbasin and wooden shutters and a desk that my sewing machine sat on -because even in those days I was sewing and used to make some of my clothes.
And up in the tower, that they talked about in the show, we played table tennis.
It never dawned on me that I was living in a castle!