Lifelong friends who grew up together in Worthing celebrate Platinum Jubilee of friendship

Two best friends who started school in Worthing on the same day in 1952 are thrilled to be sharing their Platinum Jubilee with the Queen.
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Mrs Jill Brock from Climping and Mrs Sandy Wheeler from Findon Valley have been ‘very best friends’ almost all their lives and have seen each other through the highs and lows of life.

They are both 74, though Jill is six months older, and first met at West Park Infant School when they started school in September 1952.

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They still remember lining up to receive their coronation mugs in 1953 and are thrilled to share their special anniversary with Her Majesty.

Jill Brock and Sandy Wheeler, one of their favourite photos togetherJill Brock and Sandy Wheeler, one of their favourite photos together
Jill Brock and Sandy Wheeler, one of their favourite photos together
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Jill and Sandy both lived on the Maybridge Estate and would often play together, although it was really at West Park Junior School and then Worthing County Secondary School for Girls that their friendship grew.

Sandy said: “We don’t really remember much about infant school but we would have played together in the playground and the friendship built up from there.

“We both took the 11-plus but we didn’t pass, so we went to the secondary modern. That was what cemented our friendship.”

Sandy and Jill at primary schoolSandy and Jill at primary school
Sandy and Jill at primary school
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As girls, the pair loved dressing up and Jill remembers them walking up and down The Strand, clopping along in their mums’ high heels.

They also loved roller skating together and they would meet in the play area near their homes, where they always aimed for the metal bars.

Sandy said: “We spent hours and hours in the back field, hanging upside down chatting. We spent hours together as children. Our mums used to get together as well.”

They are both the eldest children in their families – Jill has a brother who is ten years younger and Sandy has two siblings, a sister six years younger and brother three years younger.

Sandy Wheeler and Jill Brock are sharing their Platinum Jubilee with the QueenSandy Wheeler and Jill Brock are sharing their Platinum Jubilee with the Queen
Sandy Wheeler and Jill Brock are sharing their Platinum Jubilee with the Queen
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As a girl, Jill was an excellent dancer and loved her ballet. Sandy also liked dancing and recalls the time they both went for the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy for a school production.

“I was quite adept but Jill was the best, though I always said she only got the part because she was the one who had the tutu,” she laughed.

It has been a running joke all through their lives, with Sandy saying ‘it should have been me’ at every available opportunity.

Among their many stories is the time they rode up to High Salvington on their bikes because there were rumours Frankie Vaughan had moved in.

Sandy and Jill on their first holiday together, in CornwallSandy and Jill on their first holiday together, in Cornwall
Sandy and Jill on their first holiday together, in Cornwall
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Jill said: “I don’t think we ever knew if he lived there for sure. But we took pictures of ourselves at the gate to say we’d been there and we had lemonade at the mill. Good memories.”

Their friendship has been all about laughter over the years, sharing so many good times together, as well as the difficult moments.

Sandy was married at 16 and moved to Dorking with her first husband for four years. She and Jill were not able to see each other much during that time but they kept in touch by phone or letter, and saw each other whenever Sandy came home to visit.

Both their first husbands were in the The Boys Brigade but as the years went on, they each married for a second time.

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Jill and Sandy said they were both lucky to have found the ‘light of our lives’. With Sandy’s husband Martin and Jill’s husband Dave, the friends have travelled all over the world together on some fabulous holidays.

Sandy said: “They had nothing in common. Dave supported Brighton like mad and Martin used to poke fun at him. Dave was into real ale and Martin couldn’t understand that at all. But in everything, we just laughed. It was the humour that kept us going.”

Martin and Dave, the husbands who had nothing in common but became good friendsMartin and Dave, the husbands who had nothing in common but became good friends
Martin and Dave, the husbands who had nothing in common but became good friends

Jill added: “We just used to laugh all the time.”

Sadly, Martin died in 2009 at the age of 68, and it has not been easy for Sandy but the friends have supported each other all the way.

Jill said: “We will always be friends. We are as close today as we were then. Sometimes we have taken each other for granted, I suppose, because we know we are always there, but it has been a huge support. I can’t believe we have been together for 70 years.”

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The friendship is continuing through the family, too, as Jill’s daughter is close with Sandy’s daughters.

Sandy said: “They always went to school together, so it is an ongoing thing.”

Celebrations of the friendship have included a trip to London to see Top Hat for their 60th and a mini cruise for their 65th anniversary. What will happen for the 70th is yet to be decided but Sandy said whatever happens, the Queen has been with them all the way.

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