Icicle cold cure

I AM glad Sue Algar did not have to walk to school in the winter of 1947 (Gazette letters, March 7)!

There was indeed a long spell of bitter weather – I was 13 at the time and well remember walking to school with a pair of my dad’s socks over my shoes to stop slipping on the ice.

On reaching school, Miss Allan and other teachers had hot milk ready for us.

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At playtime some of them also played snowballs and we also made super-long ice slides.

One day, I decided that if I sucked a long icicle it would be better, because then I should be as cold inside as out.

It didn’t work!

At the time my home was in St Catherine’s Road near Butlins.

Through the whole of the bad spell I did not miss one day at school.

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I did a paper round too, remember, and could take you to the house of an old couple who took me indoors sat me by the fire and gave me a cup of tea to warm me up.

We tried to skate on the frozen Oyster Pond, which was fun.

By the way, after the war, Miss Allan felt that Horsham Road was becoming dangerous for children to cross to get to school.

She asked me to get to school early each day to collect the stop sign (which our school caretaker made ) and see the younger children safely across the road.

Can I claim to be the first lollypop person in Littlehampton?

Best wishes to any old girls of Elm Grove School, those were the days.

Audrey Hall

Snowdrop Cottage

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