Remembering the Junior School 70 Years Ago

The Stanfield reunion on May 9^th was a great joy to me admiring all the new buildings and sharing memories with many old girls and teachers. Three generations of my family started Merchant Taylors’ in the reception class. My mother, Margery Aizlewood (nee Pattison), started in 1914 when the reception class was on the ground floor of the 1620 building. When I started in 1944 the reception class was in Daisyfield, a large house in Blundellsands Road East.  However, I was to become one of the first pupils at Stanfield. To quote from Sylvia Harrop’s book ‘In May 1945 the Governors took out a ten-year lease on another large house, Stanfield, which was about equidistant from the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools, had large grounds and had previously been used as a private school.’ We moved from Daisyfield into Stanfield at the start of the summer term in 1946. I look back with fond memories of my early school days and the friends I made. Little did I know then that my daughter Ruth Sugden (nee Hollinghurst) would enter Stanfield in 1980, creating more happy memories for me. Maybe her young daughter Anna will one day become a fourth generation Merchant Taylors’ girl. My sons Paul and Mark were also at Merchant Taylors’. I thank all the past and present Headmistresses, Governors and staff of the school for their foresight and wise decisions over so many years, making Merchant Taylors’ the fine school it is today.

Joan Hollinghurst (nee Aizlewood)
MTGS 1944-1957