Lawrence School, Lovedale

This afternoon I took myself off down the road to Lovedale, to see Lawrence school, the school Nanny and all her brothers and sisters attended, and where her father was the Resident Medical Officer. After about 40 minutes of waiting at the gatehouse I was given permission to enter the school. A khaki-clad guard who came up to my shoulder took me on a tour of the grounds - at the double. I asked to see the hospital wing, and he quick-marched me off down there. No sooner than I stepped foot inside, the clouds that had been gathering ominously let loose in a torrential tropical downpour. I was shown round by the nice RMO. As it was after the long weekend, the wards were almost empty - the only residents a group of senior boys who had been caught swimming in the lake and were being made to stay in the hospital wing as punishment! She showed me the clinic, which aside from the addition of a modern telephone appears to have changed little since great-grandfather's day.

After a roundabout route that took us through the kitchens (where I was given chapatti and yummy biscuits), I came to the office, where I was allowed to look at the old student records. The girls' ledger still holds the admittance record of a 9-year-old Nanny and 11-year-old Aunty Fan, in February 1929 (the boys' ledger bears the record of Reginald Leonard and Robert Hastings Hughes) - with a note, "withdrawn 18/12/31 to be day scholars as father appointed R.M.O. of the school."

Interestingly, several entries had the note "withdrawn (date) - proceeding to England."

Chemistry lab - again, I could easily imagine that not much has changed since the Hughes sisters and brothers studied here.