What were your school dinners like?

[BILL ELLIS]

I remember my first school dinner ever. This was at Nether Green School in the mid-fifties. We had something called 'hash' [a new word to me] followed by treacle tart. This was served on rather faded plastic plates probably in pastel pink, blue, yellow and green.

 

For school dinners we used to go to the basement of the Methodist Church next door. There were long trestle tables with benches each side and a chair at the top end. There was a kind of mini blackboard on the wall with a hand-written menu in chalk capitals. Mrs Dean was the head dinner lady, a small woman with a high voice who didn't like us coming in too noisily.

 

Dinners used to arrive in the back of a large grey van with the sign 'School Meals' painted on the side. Somebody I know said they once saw a container of stew [or perhaps I should say 'hash'] fall of the back off the van. The driver scraped it off the road and put it back in the container.

 

Different teachers had different ways of running things. The fairest one was Mr McGrady, who used to send us up in strict rotation starting with a new table each week. Some seemed only to notice only the children sitting near them - especially the ones who were sitting up straight. Mrs Korklein was a very short lady with very high heels, who was pretty assertive with the senior boys if necessary!

 

A new head followed Mr Thraves, Mr Simmonds I think. He had great vision to improve the school [including its awful outdoor loos] He wanted meals cooked on the premises. I wasn't sure what 'premises' meant but I thought it might be some kind of round shiny oven - a bit like the containers that brought in the hash I mentioned earlier!

[pattricia]

I used to love the steamed sponge treacle pudding, and sago milk puddings Bill.

[BILL ELLIS]

Loved the steamed pudding they gave us. Had never had anything like it at home: very happy introduction.

[pattricia]

Loved the steamed pudding they gave us. Had never had anything like it at home: very happy introduction.

 

The custard was lovely and thick. We didnt mind the lumps did we Bill.

[Donkey lover]

My favourite was the pin wheels served with chocolate custard. Yum!

[pattricia]

I remember the lovely creamy rice pudding. Mine was a private Catholic school so we paid for the dinners in our fees.

[soft ayperth]

The custard was lovely and thick. We didnt mind the lumps did we Bill.

 

At High Storrs in the 50s, ours was watery and tastless. School meals were generally awful with one or two entres being the exception. Scoring 1 out of 10 would be grissly stew, boiled potatoes and peas, the latter referred to as bullets which says it all. Completing this stomach wrenching affair would be sago pudding with a glob of jam in the middle or stewed prunes and a ladle full of that horrible custard.But then, there's be that one day a month when we'd get something like cheese and onion pie followed by treacle tart (custard usually declined). I'll give that 8 out of 10. School meals were prepared in a prefab building in the school yard.

 

One week me and my mates got fed up with the rotten dinners and decided to spend our dinner money on fish and chips at a local chippie. We got hauled into the headmaster's office for six of the best for "bringing disrespect to the school" by walking around the posh neighborhood eating out of newspapers.

[pattricia]

had to laugh at that roger. The Catholic nuns cooked ours on site, so they were delicious.

[OwlsChick]

I remember the lovely creamy rice pudding. Mine was a private Catholic school so we paid for the dinners in our fees.

 

I have said this before but here goes.....Its the rice pud with a blob of jam,which when stirred turned pink...

[neverthere]

I loved school dinners, the only thing I didn't like was the cheese wheels, plastic cheese stuff in flaky pastry. I was always up for seconds, thirds & even fourths if I was still in there at the end of dinner.

 

I miss the chocolate custard. The most popular dessert I remember was when we each got a cup of milkshake. They only ever did about 50 & there were 250 of us in the school so they never lasted long!