Radipole Country Primary School in 196x

I moved to Weymouth in 1964 and transferred to Radipole Country Primary School, which was then a short pleasant walk away through woods. Those woods went many years ago.

When I first went to the school the main site was being built so we went to school in the manor house next door. This was the stuff of children's books with vast high-ceiling rooms and a garden that looked even more like the Wild Wood that the wood I walked through to get there did. I'm sure that it would not be allowed these days but it was a lot of fun at the time.

We moved across to the new school when it was ready. It was roughly L shaped with Infant and Junior wings and the hall and offices in the centre. I was in the infant wing and it was around that time that this class photo was taken. It could have been taken at the end of that school year, which would make it 1965 and I would have been 8.

Just in case you had not worked it out, I am the completely relaxed boy on the far right at the back. I can remember some of the other names, Janet Greenway lived just around the corner from me in Roman Road and Dave Ellis was not a lot further away in Spa Road, but mostly they are ghosts of memories.

My last day at school (1975)

I have been looking through old photos recently and came across these two from my last day at Weymouth Grammar School some time in the summer of 1975. That is me second from the right.

The photos were taken at The Admiral Hardy where we went at lunchtime for a beer or two. The one above was taken on the children's play equipment in the garden, a sort of rocking horse that was just asking to be sat on.

We all went our separate ways after that, and we had no email or Facebook in those days to help us to keep in contact, so this was the last day that I saw most of them.

The world is a funny place though and about twenty years later I found myself working with one of them at Logica for a while and another I now see occasionally in the pub as he lives in the area and his role in Camra sometimes takes him to my local.

A trip down memory lane

During a short break in Weymouth to see my dad and sister I managed to get some time to walk revisit many of the places that were important to me when I was aged around 7 to 12, this time with a camera.

Sadly the place that I spent a lot of my time back then, the woods off Mount Pleasant Avenue, have been replaced by the Relief Road and there has been much other building on what was woods and fields.

Even the river Wey seems to have decided that there is no place for nature in the new Radipole and it now dribbles its way towards the sea when once it flowed friskily. The water is brown and the river channel is narrow and chocked by plants. It seems to have lost the will to live.

Radipole Manor (pictured) is much as it always was but is currently being worked on; hopefully this will be a tasteful repair rather than yet another conversion to flats. I went to school there when I first moved to Weymouth in 1964 as it was being used as a temporary classroom during the building of the new Radipole County Primary School nearby.

The best part was playing in the large wooded grounds, something that the Health and Safety bureaucrats would not allow today.

A sign of the times

I am not planning to turn this blog into a rant vehicle but the absence of an apostrophe in the phrase "childrens play area" really bugs me.

This is a new sign at the recently rebranded Springhead pub in Sutton Poyntz on the east side of Weymouth. Somebody has obviously paid a decent wedge for this sign but neither the writer nor the purchaser picked up the grammatical error. Sad.

The pub itself is only average but is in a great location with a duck pond at the front and views of the White Horse from the garden in the back.

Art Deco in Weymouth

The Riviera Hotel Weymouth is a rather impressive building with stunning views across Weymouth Bay to Portland. Originally built as a holiday park it has is now a hotel aimed, judging by its brochure, almost exclusively at the silver generation. Unfortunately the area it is in, Bowleaze Cove, is mainly a large caravan park with attractions aimed at that market, e.g. amusement arcades.

My first house is for sale

I bought my first house when I was 25 after being gently forced out of the family home. I had been away to university but had then got a job back at home and so stayed with my parents.

I worked during the day, went out with my mates during the evening and slept during the night, for which I paid my parents £50 a month rent.

This arrangement worked well for me, i.e. I had a comfortable B&B, but mum thought that as I was earning quite well that I should buy a house. so she found one for me and I bought it. That was in 1982 and it cost me £22,000. I lived there for about four years during which time I got married and got a new job in London with Logica; both of which prompted us to look for a new house. We moved up to Kingston upon Thames in 1987 having sold the house in Weymouth for £35,000.

My sister, who now lives just around the corner from my first house, has just told me that the house is for sale again, this time it's on the market for £235,000!! This is what the estate agent says about it.

An opportunity to purchase a quite unique detached property situated close to Weymouth town centre and all its associated amenities. Benefiting from Upvc double glazing, gas central heating and valuable off road parking space, the accommodation in brief comprises of four bedrooms, lounge, kitchen/diner and bathroom. Internal viewings are highly recommended to appreciate the flexible accommodation.

LOUNGE 5.2m (17.1') x 3.8m (12.6') Upvc double glazed window to front, wall mounted radiator, coving, stone built fireplace.

KITCHEN/DINER 5.0m (16.3') x 2.7m (9.0') Range of wall and floor units with work surface over, inset sink unit, inset gas hob with oven under, built in dishwasher, plumbing for washing machine, space for fridge freezer, Upvc double glazed window to front and side, wall mounted radiator, door to side, wall mounted boiler.

BEDROOM ONE 3.8m (12.5') x 2.4m (7.8') Upvc double glazed window to side, wall mounted radiator, coving.

BEDROOM TWO 3.5m (11.5') x 2.7m (8.9') Upvc double glazed window to front, wall mounted radiator, coving.

BEDROOM THREE 2.8m (9.3') x 2.7m (9.0') Upvc double glazed window to front and side, wall mounted radiator.

BEDROOM FOUR 2.0m (6.6') x 1.9m (6.2') Upvc double glazed window to front, wall mounted radiator.

BATHROOM Comprising of pedestal wash hand basin, low level W.C, panelled enclosed bath with shower attachment, coving, Upvc double glazed window to side, wall mounted radiator.

OUTSIDE To the side of the property is a hardstanding area suitable for off road parking space with an up and over door.