Contents
The Gallery
College Trips
Göttingen 1955
The trip was described in a College Magazine article; reproduced here and illustrated with photos taken by Dave Turner.
A VISIT TO GERMANY, 1955
After a typical College meal, we set off for Harwich. There were two bus-loads, one for the girls, the other for the boys of the party. On arriving we were checked through the Customs and crossed to the Hook of Holland by night boat, where once again we were ushered through the Customs. We travelled through Holland by train and finally arrived at the station in Goettingen to be greeted by our German friends, who escorted us to our respective hostels.
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Dave
remembers that the crossing was made in the SS Duke of York. The
ship was launched in 1935 as a two-funnelled steamer for the LMS Railway's
Heysham to Belfast service. After service in WW2 she was rebuilt with a
single funnel and transferred to the Harwich to Hook of Holland route. In
1964 she was sold to Chandris Lines and was re-named Fantasia, running
mainly on cruises in the Mediterranean. She was scrapped in the
mid-1970s. |
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Adrian 'Fred' Mowser and Marian 'Woolie' Pullen on the train. | |
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Above and left: The boys' hostel, reported by Dave as being "not as good as it looks" certainly bears little resemblance to the postcard! The name Waldheim translates as 'forest home.' | |
The next day we were officially welcomed to the town by members of the town and school authorities. A speech was given in German and several photographs were taken, some of which adorned the front pages of the following day's local press. The remainder of the holiday was spent in visiting such places of interest as the demarcation line between Eastern and Western Germany, a horticultural show in Kassel, and various castles of historical interest. Several of the German girls invited the whole party to their homes. We each went to the home of our own German friends on Sundays. In this way we were introduced to German family life. Several German farms were visited and compared to those in England. Plans for hiking had been made, but were changed, either because of our plea of fatigue or because of the weather. The German day starts much earlier than do our English days.
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The boys' group on a field trip - looking pretty fed up. |
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A larger and more lively group, with 'Garth' Hobday at back left. |
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The boys were roped in as extras for a film being made in the town - click on the photo for more details. |
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An extra's lunch - frankfurters and a roll - provided by the film crew. |
The town possessed a hockey team, consequently eleven of our girls were rounded up to provide an opposition. Thus, on the last Sunday of our stay, we sallied forth to play our first game of international hockey, only to be severely beaten. Perhaps it was due to conditions underfoot, or it may have been the misinterpretation of German rules, or even the ride to and from the hockey field in an English army lorry.
But, all too soon, the last day arrived. We collected some souvenirs, had a farewell party all together, and returned to our respective hostels to spend our last night in Germany. Our holiday, for which we all thank Mr. Dudley and Mr. Hobday, had come to its close.
HEATHER SMITH
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The end-of-trip party. |
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An enlargement of the above to help in identifying faces (you'll need to use your browser's scroll bar). |
Keith Adkins has recently discovered some of his photos from the trip:
