In a group of six for a Blue Plaque launch

Previously I said I was in a group of six for a special event. Now I can tell you it was for the launch of a blue plaque on The Lodge of Paddock Wood Finishing School in Lightwater.

It was quite an honour to be included in the group of six, which included the Surrey Heath Mayor, Curator of Surrey Heath Museum, the owners of the Lodge, the past school students organiser, and yours truly.

The Lodge was home, as it says on the Plaque, to many of the activities of the school. The placing of a plaque on the building is a fitting reminder of the role it played in the life of the school.

Here are photos of the Lodge, the plaque and the launch party of six. Click on the images to expand. The role of the Lodge within the school is described in the Welcome page of Paddock Wood Finishing School website.

I won’t retell the fascinating history of school and it’s associated lodge, as it is covered in depth HERE, HERE, and HERE.

PS: My wife asked the question of me, who took the photo. It was taken by a member of Windlesham & Camberley Camera Club, suitably distanced from the group of six.

Mrs Rosette Savill’s story told in the country of her birth

One must respect the dedication, perseverance, and determination of those involved in historical research. I know of one such person, and it’s Pippa Anderson, whose resolve has been to promote an appreciation of the life and work of Mrs Rosette Savill.

I’ve reported, HERE and HERE, on the unveiling of a blue plaque on the original building of the Free French Rehabilitation Centre, and subsequent Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School, which the blue plaque acknowledged.

So that Mrs Savill’s story is more widely known in Monaco, the country of her birth, Martine and her husband Robert (former PW tennis & music teacher), who live in Monaco, organised that Pippa Anderson’s article appeared in Monaco Life.  You can read the article HERE, or by clicking on the image below. It’s fitting that Monegasques should know about her, and know that she lived in Lightwater. [Note: this article has been updated to include Martine and Robert Frost’s conribution].

Mrs Rosette Savill’s story told in the Camberley News

Pippa Anderson continues to do her ‘Woodies’ proud. ‘Woodies’ being girls who attended Paddock Wood Finishing School in Lightwater, of which she is one. Pippa is the instigator, along with Gillian Riding of Surrey Heath Museum of the Blue Plaque recently unveiled, on the remaining building of the now closed school.

I feel sure that its Pippa wanting the story behind the blue plaque, commemorating the work of Mrs Rosette Savill, to be told for everyone to read, and ensured the Camberley News & Mail covered the story, see copy of the article below. [Click on image to expand]

Video of the Blue Plaque unveiling ceremony to honour Mrs Rosette Savill

You may have read about the inspirational Mrs Rosette Savill from the numerous articles HERE about the Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School in Lightwater.

I reported recently, HERE, on the blue plaque unveiling ceremony to honour the school’s founder, Mrs Rosette Savill. I’ve found time to create a shortish video – actually it’s a little over 8 minutes – of the unveiling ceremony. Also, Surrey Heath Borough Council issued a press release on the event and attached some photos to it. You can read it HERE.

Lightwater’s first Blue Plaque commemorates the work of Mrs Rosette Savill

Pippa Anderson, and Gillian Barnes-Riding deserve our heartfelt thanks for their energies in arranging for the placing of a Blue Plaque commemorating Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School and the WWII Free French Rehabilitation Centre in Lightwater.

This afternoon, just after 2.0pm, the Mayor of Surrey Heath, Cllr Valerie White, unveiled the blue plaque on the School House of the Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School, one of the remaining original buildings on the site.

During WWII Mrs Savill was a Welfare Officer for the Free French Forces and the French Resistance Movement, and offered her Paddock Wood home as a rehabilitation and recovery site for injured Free French soldiers and resistance personnel. At the end of the war, those soldiers helped by Mrs Savill asked if she could arrange an English education for their daughters. It’s from these beginnings that the Girls Finishing School developed.

Today, over 20 past students and teachers witnessed the plaque unveiling, and afterwards listened to past student, Pippa Anderson, retell the remarkable story of Mrs Rosette Savill and her achievements. Here’s my brief photo montage ….. a video of the event, and image of the plaque will follow.

Camberley, the wartime location for ‘safe houses’ for spies, agents, and double agents

Maybe it was its nearness to military colleges, and its semi-rural location that made Camberley the perfect location for the secret services. This is my first post putting these stories together. It’ll need to do some historical research to make this a more readable story.

Mrs Rosette Savill

Living in Lightwater, I was fascinated to find that the precursor to Paddock Wood Girls Finishing was the secret wartime recovery home for the French Resistance Movement in this 1975 article,

“In 1941, Mrs Rosette Savill, her husband and her two sons moved to Paddock Wood, in Lightwater, which was later to become the Finishing School. The place was chosen because there was a French Military Hospital and large French Camp in Camberley. She also set up at her new home, under massive security, a secret reception centre for the French Resistance Movement, where agents could rest between spells of duty in occupied France. At the same time she and her husband converted the coach-house and stable-block of their property into a convalescent home where armless or legless French soldiers were trained to use artificial limbs supplied by Roehampton.”

Copyright National Portrait Gallery

More interestingly the wartime head of M15 – Maxwell Knight – selected Camberley as the location for a ‘safe house’ for his spies and agents. When Maxwell Knight retired from the secret services at the end of the war he stayed on in Camberley at The Homestead, 47 Park Road, Camberley. Maxwell Knight was the model for M in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series and Bond’s boss.

In an extract from One Girl’s War: Joan Miller (Brandon: Co. Kerry) 1986 there’s a reference to the location of the secret safe house, which I’ve yet to locate,

“At the beginning of May, when the Wolkoff case was at its height, M sent me off one day to Camberley, in Surrey, to look for a house to rent. The one I eventually took was called ‘Llanfoist’; set well back from the main London Road, about a mile and a half outside Camberley, in grounds complete with stables and garages and screened by a row of pine trees, it was ideal for our purposes. M needed the place as a retreat from the stresses of London, as a ‘safe house’ for agents, and as a spot where fellow MI5 officers, journalists and so forth could be …

Maxwell Knight’s post war life is described by Chris Rose in this newsletter,

A secret life as a spymaster combined with a passion for the natural world and an interest in keeping many unusual animals as pets was the life of Major Maxwell Knight who lived in Camberley. At the end of World War Two he started a new life as a much admired radio naturalist. He thought it would be a good idea to bring people together to enjoy and learn about the wildlife in the local area and the wider world. After an announcement in the local newspaper and a public meeting, the Camberley Natural History Society was founded in 1946.

And now to Kim Philby a famous, or should it be infamous, double agent. His traitorous deeds are described HERE. The Philby family lived at Crossways, Park Road, Camberley, where the young Kim Philby spent some of his early years. This extract from Browsings in Surrey Heath History, 2013, provides the background taken from local historian, Anthony Greenstreet’s , ‘A Camberley Matriarch: May Philby’.

Before he died General Duncan had detected that his second grandson, Harry St John Bridger Philby (1885-1960) known as ‘Jack’, was exceptionally gifted. He paid for his education which ensured that he became Queen’s Scholar at Westminster. This boy eventually became a brilliant but controversial Indian Civil Servant, renowned Arabian Desert explorer and orientalist, author, wealthy businessman, adviser to the Saudi dynasty, and Muslim convert. That alone should ensure his reputation as one of CamberIey’s most famous and colourful residents: but, beyond that, he was the father of the notorious traitor and spy for Russia Kim Philby (1912-88), part of whose childhood was spent at Crossways.

Hatip: National Portrait Gallery for Maxwell Knight image.

The enduring friendships of Paddock Wood Finishing School students

It gives me a warm buzzy feeling every time a new past student of Lightwater’s Paddock Wood Finishing School connects to past friends through this blog. I’ll not explain why here, as I’ve already done so in A happy ending to my Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School project, which contains links to all my blog posts on the subject.

One thing I haven’t reported on was the splendid reunion in June this year. Over 40 past students attended the reunion, with some travelling from Mexico, Columbia, Chile, Venezuela, Holland, Madeira, and all over the UK. I thought it would make the day a bit special to visit our Council chamber, and for me as Mayor to offer a short eulogy to the school. You can see photos of the event on the fstopstills website.

You might be wondering why people travelled so far for a reunion. Well, in talking to some of the past students, it was the ethos of the school, school founder Mrs Rosette Savill’s strength of character, and most importantly the fact that girls from different countries roomed together, and struck up enduring friendships.

The wonderful Pippa Anderson, a past student herself, organised this first reunion, has created the past students association, the Facebook group, and the Friends Reunited page. Pippa’s ever-expanding database of past students has, I think, over 120 names.

I continue to be delighted to receive posts on this blog from past students, which helps Pippa grow her database. However, it’s the student association, Facebook and Friends Reunited that will bring greater rewards of contact with past students, than this little blog can hope to do.

A happy ending to my Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School project

Earlier this year I recounted the story of an intriguing part of Lightwater’s past, and one that affected me. Lightwater was the home of the highly regarded Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School. It closed in the early 1980’s and houses were built in its grounds [I live in one of those houses, hence the connection].

My interest was aroused because some of the school buildings survive, now converted into up-market apartments, and some of the attractive gardens remain. I dug out the school’s history, published on this blog, and to my surprise received comments from about 30 past students, from around the world, looking to re-establish contact with one another.

My challenge to myself was to facilitate this contact. Rather wonderfully I met a local past student, who’s keen to be the worldwide contact point. She is Pippa Anderson, and can be contacted at pippa.anderson@me.com. The picture shows what Pippa is committing too. Good luck Pippa.

Rather than repeat the story here, you can, through my blog posts, see how the project unfolded:

• Friday Fact No.2 – my first post, suggesting the reason for the school’s closure
• The school history uncovered – which attracted messages from past students
• Getting in touch – asking past students to get in touch
• Meeting Pippa – who takes on the challenge
• An explanation – hopefully not being too pleased with myself

Pippa has, with terrier like skill and perseverance, collected a good deal more information and photographs, and as she says, there are “whispers of a reunion – what fun”. A happy story, don’t you think, with a happy ending.

Aaahh, if all the girl’s were as nice as this …

Yesterday, I had afternoon tea with delightful past student of Lightwater’s famous Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School.

Crumbs, if they were all a nice as this past student, then I surely know why they’d like to keep in touch with one another.

I’ve a few more small duties to do on this front. Pass on the email addresses I’ve collected, write a brief history of the school from my researches, and pass on my pictures of how the place looks now.

I was slightly flustered yesterday, I just couldn’t find the copies of the press articles on the school that Surrey Heath Museum had provided to me. Drat, drat, and a thousand drats. A museum visit beckons to recover lost ground, so that the past students can know a little more of the school’s history.

Lightwater’s famous Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School

In my second Friday Fact  I noted a probable reason for the demise of Paddock Wood Girls Finishing School in Lightwater.

I promised myself  to provide an update to the fascinating story behind the foundation and demise of the school. I can now tell the story, with information mostly derived from articles in the press during the 1960’s and 70’s, provided by Surrey Heath Museum, and with a bit of ‘googling’ by me.

Mrs Rosette Savill

Mrs Rosette Savill, a Monagasque [from Monte Carlo], was in 1939 running a successful couturier business in London. On the outbreak of the WWII, feeling this occupation inappropriate during wartime, she closed her business, and joined General de Gaulle’s Free French Forces, becoming a Welfare Officer. With the help of her husband and distinguished friends she set up and financed twelve clubs for officers and men.

The following is from an articles published in 1975:

In 1941, Mrs Savill, her husband and her two sons moved to Paddock Wood, in Lightwater, which was later to become the Finishing School. The place was chosen because there was a French Military Hospital and large French Camp in Camberley. She also set up at her new home, under massive security, a secret reception centre for the French Resistance Movement, where agents could rest between spells of duty in occupied France. At the same time she and her husband converted the coach-house and stable-block of their property into a convalescent home where armless or legless French soldiers were trained to use artificial limbs supplied by Roehampton.

In 1967 Mrs Savill was awarded one France’s highest honours, the local press reported:

Three years ago French Government officials began inquiries into Mrs. Savill’s wartime activities. They spoke to refugees and fighting men who fled to this country after the fall of France in 1940.

Secret agents who trained for resistance in a secluded house in Chobham Road, Camberley, were interviewed. So were blind and limbless heroes who recuperated at Paddock Wood. They questioned survivors from Nazi concentration camps who were brought to Paddock Wood the after the end of the war.

For Mrs Savill helped them all. She started by organising a committee to raise money for refugees pouring into Britain. She threw open her own elegant home at Paddock Wood as a country retreat for resistance fighters before they returned to France.

Back to the 1975 article, it continued:

For three years after the war Mrs Savill and her husband ran a Summer school at Paddock Wood, at first for the children of French Officers, who, having returned to France with a great affection for England, wished their children to learn English, then later, for students from all over Europe.

In 1949 Mrs Savill decided to open a full scale Finishing School. In this project she was greatly helped and encouraged by the four patrons of Paddock Wood. Among these personalities, with whom she had worked very closely during the war, were Lady Cynthia Colville, Lady-in-Waiting to the then Queen, and much concerned with young women’s education; and Lord Bessborough, a former Governor General of Canada. With the support of her patrons, and with her highly original system of mixing the academic, the practical, and the gracious in her syllabus, the Finishing School was an instant success.”

To get a flavour of the school, here’s the story of a pupil who was among the last debutantes. Well-known for her Dance School in Camberley, Lorna Timms was once a teacher of deportment and etiquette at the school.

But by November 1982 the local press were reporting, ‘Cash crisis at girls’ school’. The report said:

A financial crisis is forcing an exclusive girls’ finishing school to suspend operations at Christmas. The crisis has resulted from a decline in the number of of pupils due to the recession and political troubles abroad.

A couple of years ago Paddock Wood lost its Iranian pupils as a result of the revolution there. This year a couple of South American girls went home as a result of the Falklands crisis.

Sad demise, yes, but the school house remains, having been converted into flats. Also a large part of the gardens remain, including the ornamental lake and bridge, and wonderful Wellingtonia trees.

Oh yes, and I live in what were the grounds of the school, as do many hundreds of others. Happy to do so, just as I am.