Patricia Dalrymple (nee Vickers)
Since last Saturday I have worn my Gold award badge as a tribute. I went to the same school as the daughter of Sir John Hunt of Everest fame who I believe was involved in the planning of the Award for girls. We began work in 1958/9 and completed all three levels before I left school in 1960 and receiving the award at St. James' Palace.
What has stayed with me?
The First Aid course, the Home Nursing course, the RLSS Distinction award.
The Constance Spry flower arranging course, an extensive guide to home entertaining,
A hike in the snow in East Anglia during which we visited Ely Cathedral and slept in army Nissen huts in a WW2 runway, the completion of the Snowden horseshoe and a canoeing course during a residential course in Wales.
Visiting an old lady in her home and when she was transferred to a residential home (it became a couple soon after she arrived). They each had a withered arm, one the left and the other the right so they sat so that their good arms were on the outside and managed nearly everything as one!
But not attached to any of the four activity groups, the mixing with girls from a totally different background from mine was a priceless benefit to the daughter of a Services officer from a girls' boarding school. That rates high, if not top, among the many, many reasons I have to be grateful for the experience.
After receiving a Maths degree from Oxford I spent 40 years teaching Maths, the most rewarding part of which was in Kenya for 8 years, where I was lucky enough to be able to work with the Kenya Institute of Education on a new Maths scheme they had. The contrast between the standard in the convent school in Nairobi and some of the village schools upcountry was remarkable.
Earlier experiences made camping on bird and animal watching safaris in the 1970s seem like 4star living! If there is any thought of a permanent tangible memorial to the Award, I should be very ready to contribute.
What has stayed with me?
The First Aid course, the Home Nursing course, the RLSS Distinction award.
The Constance Spry flower arranging course, an extensive guide to home entertaining,
A hike in the snow in East Anglia during which we visited Ely Cathedral and slept in army Nissen huts in a WW2 runway, the completion of the Snowden horseshoe and a canoeing course during a residential course in Wales.
Visiting an old lady in her home and when she was transferred to a residential home (it became a couple soon after she arrived). They each had a withered arm, one the left and the other the right so they sat so that their good arms were on the outside and managed nearly everything as one!
But not attached to any of the four activity groups, the mixing with girls from a totally different background from mine was a priceless benefit to the daughter of a Services officer from a girls' boarding school. That rates high, if not top, among the many, many reasons I have to be grateful for the experience.
After receiving a Maths degree from Oxford I spent 40 years teaching Maths, the most rewarding part of which was in Kenya for 8 years, where I was lucky enough to be able to work with the Kenya Institute of Education on a new Maths scheme they had. The contrast between the standard in the convent school in Nairobi and some of the village schools upcountry was remarkable.
Earlier experiences made camping on bird and animal watching safaris in the 1970s seem like 4star living! If there is any thought of a permanent tangible memorial to the Award, I should be very ready to contribute.
