Christmas 1973

I think we had more friends in Jamaica than at any other time in our lives, with the possible exception of Maldon. It was partly that people just seemed.... friendly. Also, since many of the friends were associated with Excelsior School, we tended to hang together in the face of adversity; and our good fortune to live in the small community of the School Cottages helped.

This was the gathering for Christmas 1973. At left is Keith from No 2, the head of music, with his wife Diane and their three children. She no longer lived with Keith though the children usually did. Rick from No 3 is in a blue shirt and his wife Irene is behind him. Rick is holding Christian's hand.

To Gill's left are Bob (in glasses) and Cynthia Morris, Bob being the drama teacher and Cynthia, a Puerto Rican, worked in the film industry. Bob was an American, and they lived on a mountain out of town. Lizzie is in front of Cynthia.

Ian from No 4 is in glasses behind Rick and Irene, and his wife Cherry is at right with their son Mark in front of her. They had come to Excelsior as VSOs and stayed, Ian teaching craft subjects, Cherry PE.

We ate Christmas lunch as the heat of the day waned, out on the lawn in front of the cottages, having first cleared a number of poisonous black widow spiders from under the rocks. We then showed a film, using the school's projector. And we drank a fair bit of rum.