COMMUNITY & EDUCATION


‘‘Wentworth Woodhouse instilled a sense of belief and hope that nothing should hold you back, most definitely not your roots’’


such as Gwyn, went on to teach alongside PE. Teaching didn’t just end when lessons did; students were always learning during their time spent at Wentworth Woodhouse. “We learnt how to be caring and compassionate which you need for teaching, especially if you work in deprived areas. When I was working, I’d often launder PE kits for students or provide kids with trainers if their parents couldn’t afford them,” Sue says.


Before women got the vote at 18 in the early ‘70s, the college was classed as in loco parentis, meaning staff had parental responsibility over students. This meant that anyone wishing to leave campus had to apply and were only allowed three per term. Students had strict curfews and had to sign in and out at the front door.


Sue remembers being on door duty one night in her third year when the bell rang at 10pm and an American gentleman asked for the directions to the golf course. “I told him to go back towards the motorway and drive 150 miles south. He was a long way from Surrey but this was decades before Sat Navs.” Surrounded by art, culture and


history, the faculty’s fascinating setting also had a lasting impact on many of its former students’ lives. They danced in the same marble saloon where Anna Pavlova danced for King George V in 1912, others studied in the library where aristocrats had studied before them. Wentworth Woodhouse instilled a sense of belief and hope that nothing should hold you back, most definitely not your roots.


After qualifying, most students went on to teach, taking posts across the country in varying types of schools. Many past students


also kept up their sporting hobbies and interests.


As the first cohort to qualify, Sybil says she was literally thrown out of Wentworth Woodhouse by the remaining younger year groups. “Of course, it was all safe and rehearsed onto gym mats but they threw us onto the front steps – a tradition I’m not sure they ever continued.”


She went on to teach for many years at a girls’ grammar school and continued to play netball and cricket for the midlands before taking early retirement in her 40s with her husband.


“It was the wrong decision for me and I lasted 12 months before I began leisure work. I’ve taught everyone from toddlers to pensioners in swimming, trampolining and gymnastics but primarily ladies keep fit classes since 1980.”


Now approaching her 90s, Sybil still runs two popular classes a week in Macclesfield, where most, if not all, of the members are younger than her.


Sybil was also a founder member of the Old Students’ Association and has held every post on the committee except secretary; she was the group’s long-serving treasurer for over 60 years.


Chris now lives on Alderney but spent many years teaching in Croydon where she also became a lacrosse selector for Surrey schools – a sport she learnt at college. She and her husband then moved to Scotland where she was asked to be Vice President for Scottish Lacrosse. Since moving to Alderney over 20 years ago, where the main mode of transport is by boat, Chris has also become a boating skipper and now teaches navigation at her local sailing club.


Aside from her Olympic feat,


Sheila and her husband John were awarded an MBE for services to sport in 1975.


“When we got the letter through, I said what have we done? The only service we’ve done is to ourselves. John and I wanted to give back and put this MBE to good use so we help organise tennis tournaments in Sheffield.”


Sheila also went on to teach a certain Dame Julie Kenny, current chair of Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust, when she was a student at Myers Grove School. Although originally from up north, Gwyn stayed in South Yorkshire after college and taught at two schools in Doncaster. When her own children took their swimming lessons, Gwyn, a former butterflier, offered to help teach where chance saw her come across former college mate Sue 20 years after qualifying.


Like Sue, Gwyn has since gone on to volunteer at the house and is currently one of the guides on the new rooftop tours who will also be helping Sue with the college tours. She is also the current Vice President of the Old Students’ Association and is excited to be holding their annual AGM at Wentworth Woodhouse for the first time next year. For Sue, she liked the peace and solitude village life gave and has never returned to the ‘rat race’ urban lifestyle from which she came. She spent 38 years in teaching until she says she was too old to inspire! Her sporting prowess continued, playing badminton, tennis, volleyball and basketball at club level as well as netball and athletics at county and regional stages.


Once marriage and children commandeered her time, she became a coach and umpire for


more elite performers.


As for Lady Mabel, its face as a training institute changed somewhat towards the latter end of its life. In the early ‘70s, amidst a government reorganisation, the Ministry of Education wanted the Wentworth site to provide 650 places and open the college up to other subjects such as Geography and Environmental Studies. The new single-occupancy concrete accommodation blocks were built at the top of the drive along with additional lecture rooms, open teaching areas and a pool. By 1977, the college had amalgamated with Sheffield City Polytechnic and would later become part of Sheffield Hallam University. It still specialised in PE-related degrees, with the main change being men were now able to apply to study there. The Wentworth campus finally closed in the summer of 1986. Having volunteered at the house since 2012, Sue Gravil is proud to finally introduce a Lady Mabel College tour which will take place once a month.


Upcoming dates:


Saturday 14th September, Thursday 17th October, Friday 8th November, Thursday 1th December


All dates start at 11am and cost £25 per person with 50 percent discount for National Trust members.


To book your place, visit www.wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk


aroundtownmagazine.co.uk 49


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