I have been very interested in recent articles about Mellis, where I was born in 1943.
I went to both the old school, and the new one (for a year) before going to Eye Grammar Scool in 1954.
My mother (Dorothy Dye) still lives in the village, being its oldest resident. She is 'famous' in the area for her priceless collection of photographs and is often consulted by people seeking information about the old days in the village, or tracing their family tree.
I was particularly interested in the picture which was the subject of Arnold Garnham's letter.
I was at school at the same time as nearly everyone on that picture, but I believe I only missed out on being in it myself as I was probably a year younger.
I remember my very first day at school. Mother took me there in a small seat on the back of her bicycle.
As we arrived at the school, I somehow managed to get one of my feet caught in the spokes of the rear wheel so it was back home again for the rest of that day!
Robert Arbon and I were very good friends as we lived very close to each other.
We used to go around together all the time, and were always out and about in the fields, climbing trees, going bird nesting etc.
When the old school closed, I remember that we had to walk down to the new school carrying books and other items from the classrooms.
As Arnold said in his letter, I also remember the disrepair of the classrooms in the old school, the two coal fires and how we used to stand round them in Winter play-times and lunch times to try to get warm.
It was pure luxury to move into the new school.
We used to live next door to the new school, and one thing which stands out in my mind is the fact that I was still probably the last person to get to school in the mornings, just before the bell! I was never the keenest person to get out of bed!
Another memory which sticks in the mind, is when I was a teenager, we all used to frequent the Railway Tavern, where we played all the latest hits on the juke box.
The highlight of many evenings was a large gang of us all piling into the back of Michael Wicks' pick-up truck and going down to Eye to get fish and chips from Phil Cadey's fish shop.
I do have hundreds of happy memories of my chldhood in Mellis.
I eventually moved to Ipswich in 1968 where I still live.
- Read readers' Mellis Memories in full here:
Lauren Fox - School in the 1990sDawn Francis - Mellis in the 1950sArnold Garnham - Schooldays in the 1940s and 50sValerie Grose - The Railway Hotel and village lifeSuzanne Lawrence - 1994 nativity playJoy Mathews - The old school dollWhat are your memories of life in Mellis in the 1950s? Did you attend the old or new village school? Write and tell us: Mellis Memories, Diss Express, Mere Street, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4AE or email editorial@dissexpress.co.uk
