Mary's Memoirs - A Poole Childhood, Dorset War Work and Post-War London, 1925-1950
Goldsmith's College, London
“I saved every penny I could for two years so that I had some pocket money when I went to college.”
By 1945 Mary had saved enough to go to college. She travelled to County Hall in Dorchester to apply for the largest grant she could. This paid for her food and accommodation for the two years that she was at college and she used her own savings for day-to-day expenses. There were no tuition fees – the course was free.
Prior to applying, she visited her old headmistress to ask where she should go. Her headmistress said that as she had been working in the company of men for two years she should apply for Goldsmiths which at that time was the only mixed teacher training college. Mary said it was excellent advice, especially coming from an elderly spinster who had never mixed with men in her life!
She also did unpaid Youth Work prior to going to college and this work helped her get accepted. The Youth Club was in an 18th century Quaker Meeting House, infested with mice. It was in the unlit back streets of Poole and she walked there and back alone in the dark every night. The girls there were from the very poorest, roughest part of Poole and it was very tough work but valuable experience.
Mary said the two years spent at Holton Heath and the Youth Club gave her a broad outlook on life. She did not regret a minute of it.
Mary arrived at College in October 1945. Goldsmith itself had been blitzed by V2 so she spent her first two terms at Nottingham University.
When she returned to London she lived in a hostel 12-15 miles away from the College – but she had a free train ticket. It was a lovely old house, once the home of Lord Castlereagh. He had committed suicide in the garden with a penknife. There 2-4 people to a room, and although rationing was worse that it had been during the wartime, they had an excellent housekeeper who ensured good meals.
“We enjoyed a very high standard of living, much more so than any of the other hostels. That was a matter of luck.”