A trip down memory lane

When I was a small child, in the time parents did not ferry their children to and from school, but they were shown the way and had to walk, I walked for two hours every day. School was from 9-12 and from 2-4. As it was a distance of 30 minutes for our still short legs, this meant we had one hour for lunch at home. My father would cycle back from work to have lunch at home as well.  It was a time when there were so few cars that we could count them, or at least the red cars we saw on our walk. A group of children coming from different directions would meet in a square, and from there we would walk together. Our route went through a very nice and leafy residential area. Nevertheless, it could at times be boring, especially in winter. But one of my fellow hikers, Jan Glas, was a very creative and imaginative story teller who kept us spell bound by his tall stories. Of course we believed them – and him. His father was the hero, who had fought with very dangerous boa constrictors, lions and elephants in the bush. Our knowledge was too limited to realise that some of those fear inspiring animals do not share the same habitat. But his stories made our walk a lot shorter and far less boring. Although later I learned that his father had never travelled abroad, the stories were still magical and it did not spoil the fun.

 I don't remember the play area in front of the school

 The "new" school and the view from the classrooms towards the woods

The view seems the same after all those years

So I wasn’t surprised when some years ago I discovered that Jan, whom I had completely lost touch with after primary school, had been writing several novels of adventure. This time, they were more realistic and described many aspects of his life and his hobbies. As a technician, a  man of science, a man interested in the two world wars which had raged through Europe, a man interested in aircraft and everything to do with flying, as well as a keen mountaineer in his spare time, he has written a series of novels with all those aspects in them. I learned he was widowed and childless, which was similar to my own state in life. I too started writing after being widowed. We shared the same past, the same primary schools, and were class mates. So today we met as I was interested what started off his writing and how he did/does it. We met in a restaurant in the dunes, battered by sea winds, baked by the sun. After almost a whole lifetime there were so many similarities, so many things which we both had gone through.  We exchanged our own books, and after an exchange over lunch of our past and past experiences, we drove off to one of our primary schools. It was a school which was brand new when we became pupils, and such a relief after our first school, the one which we walked to and which probably built up our physical strength and our love of hiking. That first school was old and had dreary corridors and high windows which prevented us from seeing much except the sky. The new school had very wide windows, picture windows in fact, and the class rooms were sunny and bright. Each class had its own small library at the back of the classroom and I loved the serenity of the place, the light, the sun coming in through the windows. In the first school I had felt a prisoner, in this new school I felt liberated.

 The modernised playground between the school and the church at the back of the school. Quite an improvement on what is was when I was young.

Well, today we went back. The school has been extended, it looks the same but is far more modern inside. A wing has been added to it, there is now a library, there are rooms where one can relax in nice chairs and cosy corners, and all the school boards are digital to mention just a few changes. We met the caretaker as the school was being redecorated during the two week spring holiday, and thus open. The caretaker, a former pupil as well, was interested in our story and allowed us to go inside and look around at leisure. He was our guide, but also left us to explore things on our own. The view from the school and my former classrooms was still the same. In fact, a kind of peace filled me. The sun was out, although it was a very cold spring day. But the houses were the same and looked so familiar. I had lived in this area and in the next street for so many years. The windows of the school still had this attractive view. A view of budding and flowering trees, of wide streets with little traffic, of big front gardens and houses sheltering under red tiled roofs.

 Some more pictures taken by the caretaker of the school, also a former pupil

 Jan Glas and I, former classmates

Behind the school was the church which our parents were so proud to have been able to finance with all the other members of the congregation. At that time, in 1954, it seemed quite luxurious and spacious. It had a basement with a kitchen and rooms for meetings, parties and other functions. After having our church services in the gym hall of an old primary school, at last we had our own church with a custom built, modern pipe organ! Fortunately the church is still there, although much closer to the school than I remember. It now belongs to another church denomination, but at least it is still used as a church. It looked simple, with the original wooden pews, but still functional, clean and modern. Before the church was built, I had an allotment there. They were school allotments, where we learned to sow and harvest potatoes, watercress and carrots, as well as flowers.

A for us new area in the school where pupils can "chill".

Not much seemed changed since the school and the church were built, quite remarkable in an area where change is the order of the day.

We said goodbye, wishing that we could meet with more of our former fellow pupils, if still among the living. But we also realised some no longer were, and even quite a few had emigrated to the USA and Canada.

1954-1955, Willem de Zwijgerschool

I am sitting next to the window and the central heating at the front desk with the round face and the straight hair, Jan is sitting left at the front desk in the second row, wearing a striped sweater.