Flockford Manor School

Julieanne Spicer-Coombes

Description

Amanda Bonnington had a dilemma. Her mother had died she was a baby, and following the death of her father and brothers in the Great War, she was alone, owner of a large manor house in a village in Surrey, wealthy and had time on her hands. She had grown up with a belief that she had responsibility for local people, some of whom she employed. The solution was simple--start a school! But it wasn't as easy as she had thought, and Nan has to find a way to be useful and.... In this first book, we find out how Nan begins to make her own way in the world and to be an example for the girls who join the school. Along the way, the girls have fun exploring the local area and grounds, visiting a village farm and generally having a jolly good time!

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 mars 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528955478
• Langue: English

Extrait

Flockford Manor School
Julieanne Spicer-Coombes
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-03-31
Flockford Manor School About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Chapter 1-Nan and Elizabeth Chapter 2-The Prefects Arrive Chapter 3-Poppy and Violet Chapter 4-Flockford Manor School Chapter 5-New Term Chapter 6-Violet Talbot – Dormitory Captain Chapter 7-Welcome Back! Chapter 8-First Night Chapter 9-News from the Staff Room Chapter 10-The Problem with Prep Chapter 11-Miss Bonnington Apologises Chapter 12-A Visit to the Farm Chapter 13-The Third’s Good Deed Chapter 14-Nan’s Dilemma Chapter 15-A Geography Lesson Chapter 16-Fun with Shower Caps Chapter 17-Mrs Kinaird’s Request Chapter 18-Alice Intervenes Chapter 19-Miss Bonnington Acts Chapter 20-The Prefects’ Point of View Chapter 21-Half-Term Plans Chapter 22-A Visit to “The Birds” Chapter 23-Violet and Anastasia Chapter 24-The Bravery Club Chapter 25-A “Midnight Feast” Chapter 26-The Carol Service
About the Author
Julieanne loves reading classic The Girls’ Own Book of the early 20th century. She doesn’t agree with the current thinking which suggests that children only want to read books which reflect their own experiences and lives but thinks that reading can take readers into worlds they could not otherwise inhabit.
So, in Flockford Manor School , she has created an imaginary world in which she would like to live, set in the village in which she grew up herself. Some places’ names are real, but all characters are invented. She hopes you will enjoy reading about Flockford in the first book of the series as much as she has loved creating it.
Dedication
To Lou, Dawn and Lynn
Copyright Information ©
Julieanne Spicer-Coombes (2020)
The right of Julieanne Spicer-Coombes to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788783088 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781788783743 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528955478 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Chapter 1-Nan and Elizabeth
There was the bang of a door; somewhere, in the deep recesses of the large Manor and a merry voice called out.
‘Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Where are you?’ As the owner of the musical voice came out of the back of the building, the sound of her voice became louder. Standing at the foot of the broad wooden staircase that led upwards from the centre of the entrance hall she stood, and hanging onto the wooden post on the bottom stair called again, this time directing her call up towards the higher parts of the building.
‘Elizabeth! Eliza – oh! There you are!’
‘I’m here, I’m here,’ replied the person, who was obviously Elizabeth. Coming carefully down the stairs, her arms were full of bed linen and white muslin dormitory curtains. The tall woman, her long brown hair fastened in a bun at the nape of her neck with a clip, paused. Her brown eyes were sparkling as she looked at her caller, waiting to hear what would be said.
‘Will you ask the girls to get coffee ready for the mistresses in the Staff Room, in half an hour, please?’ Elizabeth’s interrogator was young very young and looking younger than her 26 years. Small and slim with her warm brown wavy hair cut to a shoulder-length bob and brushed to a high sheen, she made an attractive picture. The cutting of her hair into a bob had caused talk in the village when she’d first appeared in the new style, but she had always been quick to be at the fore-front of new fashions and anyway, bobs were so much easier that all that fiddling with long hair in the mornings. Hazel eyes framed with dark lashes were her best feature, and she was known for her always immaculate presentation: nails beautifully manicured, and dressed at all times appropriately, her shoes shining with hard brushing and stockings trim, Amanda Bonnington was a pleasure to look at and the warmth in her voice (no one to date had ever heard an icy-note creep into her words) drew people towards her. She often found that people wanted to protect her, perhaps because she was young and had no family, but her physical appearance hid a determined character and an independence that was, this term, to prove a stumbling-block to the school.
However, now Elizabeth had placed her burden on the table in the middle of the great hall. ‘Don’t you trust me, Miss Nan?’
Amanda, called Nan by those who knew her best, had the grace to blush. ‘I’m sorry. Of course, I trust you. I simply feel a little anxious before term begins. There always seems to be so much to arrange.’
‘Haven’t I taught you that you cannot do everything yourself? If I thought I had to do all the jobs in the kitchen myself, I would have not been good at my job. Once my maids know their work, I have to trust them to do it. I’m old enough not to have to be reminded about these things, aren’t I? And I’m old enough to remind you of things. Have you decided yet which dormitories you want made ready? The maids need to get them prepared, and Frank,’ Frank was Elizabeth’s husband and, like his wife, had worked at the Manor for many years, ‘needs to know about storing the trunks.’
‘We are going to finalise those details at the Staff meeting, whilst we have coffee. Alice will let us know what she has decided about trunk storage. I am sorry, it is all so last-minute.’ Nan looked contrite, reverting talking to her house-keeper as her Nanny, which Elizabeth had been for Nan and her two older brothers, both of whom had died in the Great War.
Elizabeth relented. She, too, sometimes found herself acting the role of Nanny rather than house-keeper, although she was meticulous about avoiding this when the school was in the house, and neither girls nor Staff ever saw the slips of role between the two of them. Despite that, Elizabeth and Frank both understood that Nan’s youth and inexperience explained the protective attitude often shown towards Nan by people who should be respecting her in her role as Head Mistress of Flockford Manor School. It was usually unintentional but did not bode well when parents appeared to feel that they had to treat Nan as a child, rather than simply placing the care of their girls into her hands and expecting her as a wise adult to make safe and correct decisions for them.
‘Don’t you worry, my dear. Coffee will be ready in the Staff Room by eleven o’clock. You can tell me at lunch in the kitchen what I need to know, and I will get the maids to arrange the dormitories.’ Seeing that Nan was beginning to fidget Elizabeth laughed and said, ‘Off you go then!’ It was ten thirty now, so Nan fled to her office to arrange the papers she would need at the meeting and to make clear in her mind some of the things they needed to discuss. The school didn’t have a secretary and no agenda had been made so the meeting had the potential to become muddled. Nan blushed to remember one meeting in the second term of the first year when she had forgotten to mention a new pupil who had subsequently arrived expected by no one except Nan herself.
The Staff of Flockford Manor School were fortunate because they were given living arrangements in the Manor for the whole year and here was no obligation for any to leave the school during the holidays. However, as would be expected, several had taken holidays or had visited friends for varying amounts of time, but in the week before the term began all the mistresses were back, each making their own preparations for the coming girls.
At five minutes to eleven the adjoining door between Nan’s office and the Staff Room was open. Nan could see and hear the mistresses as they wandered in from their various activities and poured their coffee. In the week before term began, a certain formality began to be felt in the air and mistresses moved with briskness as they arranged orders of books and supplies, making out lists and ideas for the teaching of their subjects.
There was laughter and friendly chatter as they took seats at the large French-polished winged table. This was only used for official work, or if a someone needed space to lay out her books and papers as she marked her lessons. Usually their own desks set around the edge of the large room were sufficient for their work. Besides their desks, each mistress had a book-case next to her chair against the wall. They also had a notice-board each, mostly with details of their own time-tables on them, which made it easy to locate them, should that be necessary.
All nine members of Staff, eight mistresses and Matron, sat at any seat apart from the top one which was left for their Head Mistress, and because the table was so large, at present the far wing was lowered so that they congregated at one end of the table. It was during this final week before school returned, that the official Staff meeting was held to establish who would be allocated to each form as form mistress as well as more exciting things like visits or trips. For all the Staff bar one, the teaching side was a mere formality since each would teach her own subject. There was only one new member of Staff to introduce: Ruby Ringer who would teach geography and be form m