I Remember When With Milton Rendell

Do you remember when even in winter you still saw class mates with bare feet on a cold winter’s day. We must all have had the dirtiest feet on the planet but that simply was the way it was, you couldn’t play in puddles and walk in the drains on the way to school if you had shoes on. I think about how many times I kicked my toes running around the school yard or riding my bike, probably did more damage riding my bike and my poor big toes took some real punishment. Primary school was more about running around playing lots of games in the school yard at Guildford Primary School as I think it would have been at most schools. We used to have what we called outside sheds which were simply timber buildings you go into on a rainy day and run around in and also had small bench seats around the inside walls of the building. There were two of them at Guildford one at the back of the main bitumen area near the girl’s toilet and the other was nearer the prefab classes not far from where we played marbles. There were selected areas that the different grades used to play in at the school and of course in winter was footy season so we would try and have a kick of the footy with some of the teachers on the finer days. Of course, you also had your boat (stick) races in the drain at school near the front gate close to the prefabs as well. Imagination was your only limitation in primary school. High school was a big shift with dress codes and shoes, well they were a not negotiable and instead of the sheds like we had at Guildford at GOVO they had the hockey shed and for those who went there you know that is a story in itself.  Today I would like to thank all the people who give me feedback on these stories we share. It is greatly appreciated and hopefully they bring back a few memories and reminders from the past, it certainly is fun writing them and I do hope you enjoy them.