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Arthur Derrick Huthersall Foster stationed at Hawkinge with

RAF.

KNGF rented Athelstan's old gym from Claude Counsell,

ex-head of Feltonfleet School.

KNGF purchased Beachborough School's old chapel

moves to Westbrook House and erected at the Playroom.

KNGF installs Sgt Major Norris and family at 50 Shorncliffe

Road. He becomes caretaker and PE Instructor .

Humphrey Household arrived.

1940’s

Jim Metcalfe (ex-MTB commander ), Richard Campbell,

Michael & Sheila Blee arrived on staff.

Mr Judd, local estate agent, donated part of his garden to

the school. It became known as Sherwood Forest.

KNGF purchased Leigh House.

The 'covered way' was erected

1950’s

1960’s

1970’s

1980’s

1990’s

2000’s

Swimming pool donated by the parents and built by the

pupils.

KNGF retired and presented cheque at a party at the Grand

by former Head Boy Richard Thompson.

KNGF took over at Hon Sec of Radnor Club.

Dover College takes over Westbrook House under Richard

Rottenbury.

KNGF a common sight in town in his striped blazer and

straw boater.

New masters – Richard Wood (2 nd Master), Brian 'Digger'

Stanley, Brian Cooper.

School does well in European Judo Championship, National

Ski Championship (Aviemore), Shepway Schools Swimming

Gala. School choir sings in Rome for Pope John-Paul II

Link block between Old Fosters and Lawford is built.

Heads change rapidly – Stephen Abbott, Roger Lewis and

Lesley Watson.

100 th Anniversary of Dover College.

Dover College breaks away from Westbrook House.

Westbrook House merges with St Mary's College (formerly

St Mary's Convent) to become St Mary's Westbrook.

John Ryan, author of Captain Pugwash books visits and

donated illustrations to school.

Richard Rottenbury dies ~ Humphrey Household dies.

Roger De Haan elected Chairman of School Governors.

St Mary's Westbrook becomes member of COBISEC

Swimming pool filled in.

St Mary's Westbrook ceases to exist and Westbrook House

is born again

Any information or facts about this era greatly appreciated.

Westbrook House ~ It’s Past & Present.Last month I received a call from Mr David Lyne-Gordon. An ex pupil of

Westbrook House School. He explained he was preparing to write a book

about the school and continued to tell me of the research and information he

has managed to collect so far. I found his story and plight really interesting

and decided to do a running feature over the next 3 issues on the history of

this school and the people attached to it.

David would like anyone who has any information or knows of anyone who

either worked or went to Westbrook House School to contact him by email or

leave a message on the official web site.

officeoldwestbrookians@gmail.com www.oldwestbrookians.cjb.net

The following is a very brief outline of the information collected

about each era from the 1940’s to present day. Could you add

any information to this date line?

Dat

e Li

ne

of F

acts olkestone was once a thriving seaside resort with a

pier and ferry terminal, many fine hotels and guest houses,

a theatre, cinemas, golf course, school and colleges, and

the world famous Leas with its water-driven lifts. Since I

arrived in the early 1960’s much of the town has disap-

peared - the Pleasure Gardens Theatre, the Hotel

Continetal Wampach, the Odeon Cinema, Bobby’s

Brampton Down School and now the heart of the town is

being redeveloped. The leas is still with us and there is still

one lift, the golf course is a housing estate, many of the

schools have be turned back into flats, the pier is merely a

couple of rusty stains on the forshore and the harbour is

sadly derelict. Buildings are not merely the sum of their

parts; they are like time capsules that capture the essence

of their inhabitants and the events that have taken place in

and around them. Folkestone had some beautiful buildings

and still does have a few classics such as the Leas CLiff

Hall and the Grand and Metropole Hotels. Thoses that

have vanished have in main left nothing but a smudge in

the town’s historical record. Not all our lost buildings have

been 2redeveloped2, some were casualties of war ~

Athelstan and Feltonfleet schools on Shorncliffe road, the

Parish Church on Sandgate Road and a certain greengro-

cers shop in Tontine Street. Many buildings have remained

but have changed use ~ Bobby’s, the exterior promises

grandeur within, but one is disappointed. The Town Hall is

now a cinema-cum-bookstore and the Methods Church on

Grace Hill is now an eatery!

Legacy..... Times Gone By

Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit

F

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Westbrook House School is

Folkestone’s only preparatory school.

Founded in 1947 by Kenneth ‘Fozzie’

Foster who hailed from Selby, the

school was a dream job that he ran until

1968. It has now been taken over by

Naill Washington-Jones, who, deter-

mined to bring it back into prominence

in Kent after years in the educational

wilderness, said recently: “Westbrook

House had been through the doldrums

following many successful years as

Westbrook House, Dover College Junior

School, Dover College Prep and in 1994

Westbrook House again. This school

has had more incarnations than the

Dalai Llama! In 1997 it came together

with St Mary’s Convent as St Mary’s

Westbrook. On the face of it, this

seemed to be a sensible idea, but as so

often with schools, they were in fact two

horses pulling in different directions.

The schools were separated again in

July 2005”.

he Old Westbrookians’ Society

was founded in 2006 to research the

school’s past, perserve the memory of

its founder and to promote the new

Westbrook House School’s future.

During one of its many reincarnations

the history evaporated and its staff and

pupils passed on or moved away to the

four corners of the world.

At this point in our research we have

more questions than answers. We

know a great deal about life at the

scholl, activities undertaiken by the

pupils at school and on trips away, but

we are still in the dark in some areas:

* Where has all the stuff from Athelstan

and Feltonfleet Schools gone (they wew

both destroyed during WW2)?

* Is there anyone in the area who

attended the FOlkestone Trained

Nurses’ Institute at 56 Shorncliffe Road?

* Why did Fozzie move to Folkestone

after the war? (His brother, Groupie,

was stationed at Hawkinge, but was that

enough reason to set up a school in the

town?)

* What did Groupie do during the

wars?

* How did Fozzie finance his school in

1947?

* What part did Lady Bicester and

Lady Ellenborough play in the school’s

early days. And, what was the connec-

tion between the Fosters, Bicesters and

Ellenboroughs?

* Fozzienamed his school after a

country house where he had played as

a child. Where was that house and

does it still exist?

* Where did the ‘playroom’ originally

come from? And where did it go during

Richard Rottenbury’s trnure? (Fozzie

purchased it secondhand from

Beachborough School, but where was it

originally made?)

These are a few of the many

questions which need the

attention of amature and

professional sleuths.

Each month there will be a

new selection of questions as

well as a selection of answers

or “breakthoughs” in our

researchs.

T

So, if you fancy being a bit of a Sherlock Holmes,

please get in touch and of course, if you attended

Westbrook House School, Dover College Junior School

(Westbrook House) and St Mary’s Westbrook between 1947

and 2005 as a pupil or teacher, and would like to help,

please contact the Old Westbrookians’ Society

by emailing me at

officewestbrookians@gmail.com or visiting the web site

www.oldwestbrookians.cjb.netand leaving a message in the guestbook. We look forward

to hearing from you all, all you sleuth out there!

~ Omnia mutantur, nihil interit ~

~ Everything changes, nothing perishes ~