Education was really important in her family, and her parents were keen for Sarah to go to university and have a good career as a grammar school teacher.
My dad took me to a Beethoven concert as a treat for passing the 11 plus.
Once a month she was allowed to go to the cinema and the ice cream parlour. Her mum would know the exact show she was seeing and which bus she would get home.
Sarah loved 'Eleanor Rigby' by The Beatles:
It’s this business of wearing the face that she kept in a jar. Respectability and outward appearances were vital in my family.
When she was 16 she went on a school exchange to Germany. It was her first time abroad, and she went on the train on her own. It was a fascinating experience, and Sarah went to classes and travelled a little.
One Saturday afternoon, Sarah was out driving with her boyfriend in his mother’s convertible car when she was spotted by a teacher.
The teacher thought Sarah should have been doing her A-level homework instead and reported the sighting to her mum, who told her off.
Sarah was in sixth form at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. She and her friends were convinced that they would all be blown up before the summer exams.
With the future suddenly much less certain, Sarah abandoned her plans for university and switched to nursing training. Her parents were not pleased.
At 18, Sarah left home to start nursing training in London, living with other students in a nurses' home.
When she wasn’t doing classes or on shift, Sarah had a taste of freedom and leapt at the chance to explore the sights of London. But this moment of independence was short-lived.
Living in the nurses’ home was like being at boarding school, with very little independence for the student nurses. The matrons measured their skirts to check that they were the regulation length.
Student nurses often dated male medical students, but the girls were treated far more harshly by the staff if they broke the strict rules. One Sister would wait on her balcony and pour water from a watering can onto any couples she thought were lingering too long when saying their goodnights.
You’ve been out there quite long enough, Nurse!
Sarah met James in her first year of training. They started dating and got engaged when Sarah was 19, marrying a year later.
They had to ask Sarah’s father for permission to marry because Sarah was still a minor.
Sarah was unprepared for married life.
I had no idea. I can remember trying to cook chops and asking "How does the oven switch on?"
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Sarah had three children by the time she was 27. The family lived abroad for a while because of James’ work.
She stopped nursing because shift work did not fit round caring for young children, later retraining as a teacher. She was good at her job and worked her way up to being a headteacher. Sarah loved teaching and retired at 60, before becoming a magistrate and working part-time until 70.
With two well-paid jobs, Sarah and James bought a large house in a desirable village, within an easy commute of town. They love travel and going to the theatre and Sarah loves spending time in her garden. Her children are in their forties now with children of their own.
It took me longer than most to gain in confidence. I love seeing my children, especially my daughters, being so much more sure of themselves.
Credits:
All images: Candice Purwin